The daylilies are coming fast and furious, accompanied by a fierce outbreak of mosquitoes. I have 189 varieties of daylilies. My sister, Beckie, and I collect these and together we have 225 varieties. We also belong to the Bismarck-Mandan Daylily Club and have great fun together at the annual auction.

On Sunday, my absolute favorite of all of the 189 burst forth with its first blooms: Wide Wide World. There will be weeks of pleasure from this plant, which I strategically placed right next to my patio for maximum enjoyment.

Wide Wide World.

Yellow Titan daylily.

In the vegetable beds, Jim has so far trapped 15 voles, so he is triumphant. The magic formula turned out to be half a peanut superglued to a mousetrap, and he runs his trap line twice a day. The photos below show the initial crop of new potatoes and the damage the varmints can do if left unchecked.

He also spends a good portion of his time harvesting vegetables. The cucumbers are coming on big and pickle-making will commence any day now. His special thrill was discovering that his pepper crop is ripening early this year. Peppers are tricky to grow here in the north country and last year, he had to ripen these in brown paper bags, late in the autumn.

Below is a gallery of some of the newest daylilies to open, along with a few zinnias for good measure.

Tijuana daylily.

Roses in Snow daylily.

Dominic daylily.

Profusion Orange zinnias that survived the slugs.

Profusion Yellow zinnias that survived the slugs.

Love in the Library daylily (naturally, one of my favorites).

Siloam Red Ruby daylily.

Siloam Tiny Tim daylily.

Fireberry daylily.

Big-hearted Jim daylily.

Rock Solid daylily.

Ice Carnival daylily.

Night Embers daylily.

Chesapeake Crablegs daylily.

Prairie Home Companion daylily.

Coyote Moon daylily.

Ernest daylily.

Ernest daylily.

Alabama Jubilee daylily.

Another Day daylily.

Siloam Ury Winifred daylily.

Radiant Simplicity daylily.

Zahara Double Raspberry zinnia.

Further in Summer than the Birds –

Pathetic from the Grass –

A Minor Nation celebrates

It’s unobtrusive Mass –

No Ordinance be seen –

So gradual the Grace

A pensive Custom it becomes

Enlarging Loneliness –

‘Tis Audiblest, at Dusk –

When Day’s attempt is done –

And Nature nothing waits to do

But terminate in Tune –

Nor difference it knows

Of Cadence, or of Pause –

But simultaneous as Same –

The Service emphacize –

Nor know I when it cease –

At Candles, it is here –

When Sunrise is – that it is not –

Than this, I know no more –

The Earth has many keys –

Where Melody is not

Is the Unknown Peninsula –

Beauty – is Nature’s Fact –

But Witness for Her Land –

And Witness for Her Sea –

The Cricket is Her utmost

Of Elegy, to Me –

— Emily Dickinson