June is Day Lilies . . .

 

June --  the roadsides  and stream banks in our area are ablaze with wild orange day lilies. Hardy, rapid growers, they do well wherever there's a bit of sun and moisture. Each plant produces multiple blooms and each bloom lasts only a day -- hence the name.

But they aren't wild and they aren't lilies. Hemerocallis fulva is an import from China and Japan that naturalized long ago. The unopened buds are good in stir fries and the flowers can be dipped in tempura batter and fried to produce a lacy, mildly oniony tasting treat.

There are only 20 species of Hemerocallis world wide but breeders have come up with some 20,000 hybrids, a few of which are blooming in our yard just now.

And there's always room for more.

Sundry Snaps

The black walnut trees are loaded with nuts -- which sound like gunshots when they fall on the metal chicken house roof and act like ball-bearings when you step on them en route to feed the chickens.

A Japanese Anemone blooming in my friend Josie's yard makes me think of a Pheasant Eye daffodil.

Evening sunlight

A young turkey -- the 'beard' on his chest suggests he's probably a male and thus called a jake -- he'll be a tom when he matures. For more about turkeys -- go here ,

X-rated okra. Enough said.

A shy young possum, out on his own for the night and making the best of the dog food that I forgot to cover. Look at those sweet white-tipped ears!

And yes, another sunrise -- this one really made me think of early Technicolor -- as in Gone with the Wind. And no, I didn't fool around with the special effects -- it's as it was.

Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums are such rewarding flowers -- easy to grow, undemanding, and beautiful.

As soon as the danger of frost is past, soak the seeds saved from last year's crop (or from a package) for a few hours, then poke them into the dirt. You'll be rewarded, in time, with cascades of yellow, scarlet, orange, coral, cream, and apricot, as well as lush green foliage.

And for a bonus, both leaves and blossoms are edible - a little spicy, like water cress. And of course, nasturtiums are part of the crop on Elizabeth's Full Circle Farm.

". . . we got a call from Lidio -- their usual supplier had let them down and they have a huge wedding party tonight and their chef was pitching a fit because he didn't have fresh nasturtium petals for the salads. . . . Kyra and I picked all the nasturtium blossoms-- get this, the chef only wanted red ones no orange, no yellow." (Ben in Art's Blood)

I'm not that discriminating -- and I use the whole flower, not just the petals.