in my own backyard

Dorothy said it best, "... if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard ..."

I was recently inspired by an issue of Garden Design Magazine. It's not a magazine I often pick up and I only happened to glance at the latest issue because it was the topic of discussion in a work meeting. I thumbed through an issue while visiting my local independent bookstore. The pages showed ubiquitous modern architecture with polished metal accents, pristine pools, formal plantings and artistically placed palm trees ... nothing that pertains to the reality of a front lawn trodden by bovines and perennial beds ravaged by rough-and-tumble neighborhood dogs. But then ... daylilies.

My front lawn features a hillside with swaths of orange daylilies ... or "ditch lilies" as one website described them. An invasive plant that shouldn't be sold at garden centers because anyone who has them will gladly give them away. I started resisting them with Roundup early in the spring. They completely overpowered the stairs leading to my front door and the short bloom time of only a few weeks in July rules them out as an option for total occupation, the way I see it. But what could be paired with these behemoth plantings ... aha - more behemoth plantings of hardy cultivars that will duke it out with daylilies. Thank you, Garden Design!

If you can't beat 'em - join 'em. I started thinking about how I could extend the season of orange blossoms atop lovely arching stems. There must be ditch lilies, or hybrid cousins, that bloom later in the season. I started researching - only to discover a hatred that exists for the plant and its invasive attitude. I decided that the Helenium Mardi Gras would have to carry the burden when ... this morning, I walked into my backyard to discover a mound on double-petalled ditch lillies just starting to bloom. Eureka! The solution was right there in my own back yard - literally.