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Visiting gardens allows me to discover plants that I like the look of and frequently inspires ideas for what to grow here. Seeing them in growth, rather than just in a photograph, helps me to decide what plants I do and don’t like. Sometimes I’m surprised by how much I like a flower ‘in real life’ that seemed insignificant in pictures. This happens quite frequently with those that look lovely when planted in combination with something else.
Considering how much I rave on about plants, you might be surprised that there are some that I really don’t like. Yes, it’s true! I have become more and more aware of my preferences in plants as a result of garden visits, which is very helpful in planning my own garden.
One of the things that has become more apparent to me as I’ve been looking at the plants in other people’s gardens is that I very much prefer single flowers and semi-doubles to double-flowered varieties. The flowers you see here are all daylilies (Hemerocallis), but my reactions to them are very different. The cream-coloured flower in the top photo looks very like a lily (you might think it was, if not for the long, strap-like leaves that give its identity away). It looks elegant, exotic, but not overly fussy. I like it – it could easily fit into the planting here and would be a good addition for pollinators. (That particular daylily was attracting lots of hoverflies, as were the lilies in the same garden.)
My feelings towards the double orange daylily above (I think it is Hemerocallis fulva ‘Flore Pleno’) are entirely different. It provides a patch of vibrant colour, although I’d prefer a ‘clean’ orange without the reddish markings. But that’s a little irrelevant because I simply do not like the flowers. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know that I love most flowers. Not this one! I feel that the inner set of petals completely spoils the look of the flower. I prefer the simpler shape of the single flowers of the daylily below.
That preference for single flowers applies to other plants too, e.g. dahlias, where I’ve never much liked the very double forms such as cactus dahlias and ball/pom pom dahlias. I do, however, like the looks of both the single and semi-double dahlias. These also have the advantage of offering easily-accessible pollen and nectar to bees and other pollinators too, so would be much more suitable for my garden. Being able to see the differences in these flower forms when I visit gardens is an invaluable aid in forming my opinions of plants and choosing which ones to grow. So I am grateful for the opportunity to see plants I don’t like! (And those I do.)
Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature 
I agree, I usually prefer single flowers. As for daylilies, I don’t much like them and I couldn’t really say why. I know they are very popular, especially in America and they come in ever more amazing colours but they leave me cold. In my last garden there was a large clump of one (Hemerocallis fulva I think) which I found very diffcult to get rid of. Another dislike is Hypericum and again I don’t know why. Masses of sunny yellow flowers should appeal but yuck, I hate it.
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I’ve always been put off daylilies by the sheer volume of leaves – fine if you have a big enough garden, but if not, plants need to earn their space. I wouldn’t grow them anyway because, like lilies, they are very toxic to cats. Nowadays I seem to be going for a slightly more naturalistic look that some plants just don’t suit.
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I’m totally with you about preferring single flowers. And I don’t mind daylilies, but you are right about the leaves. I’m hoping that by removing the raised bed mine don’t get damaged by snails next year. If they do then they will be removed.
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S&S seem to go for flowers, especially those you’ve been anticipating for ages. Wouldn’t be so bad if they confined themselves to the leaves (although I’ve had them eat their way through the stems of young plants, killing them entirely). Hope removing the raised bed works and leaves them with nowhere to hide!
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“Considering how much I rave on about plants, you might be surprised that there are some that I really don’t like.” You’re right, I am surprised. I assumed you love all flowers, even if you prefer some to others.
Not having heard of semi-doubled flowers, I turned to the Internet: “Unlike many varieties of double flowers, semi-double petals allow you to see the center of the plant. Examples of semi-double flowers include gerbera daisies, certain types of asters, dahlias, peonies, roses, and most types of Gillenia.”
The third word in your title made me think about the fact that we can’t usually prefix Latin dis- to a native English verb like like. For example, we can’t say dislove, dislatch, disload, dislock, or dislearn. In all of those cases we negate the verb with our native prefix un-.
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Hehe, I just don’t usually photograph plants I dislike. (There aren’t many.) I hadn’t known the distinction between single and semi-double until recently and had assumed that they were all singles. I hadn’t thought about the difference between dis- and un- before, but it makes perfect sense. 🙂
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I prefer the simplicity of singles. It always seems to me that doubles are trying too hard, like the kid at the front of the class waving his hand furiously in the air in the direction of his teacher, as if saying “look at me, look at me!”
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I’m with you on that – singles have such a lovely, natural feel and I reckon they are becoming more popular in modern planting trends. Doubles often feel too fussy to me. Maybe wanting to have a garden that feels relaxed makes me prefer the quietly elegant to the noisy one shouting for attention! (Though I’m happy to photograph the attention-grabbers in other folk’s gardens, but not grow them in mine.)
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Lilies galore! Lovely pictures, Ann!
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Thank you Indira! It’s a good time of year for flowers!
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I was amused by my own response to your post. For the most part, I really, really don’t like daylilies of any sort. My least favorites are the yellow and orange ones that fill ditches here; they’re so common in that setting they’re sometimes called ditch lilies. That said, I came upon some doubled orange daylilies in an east Texas ditch, and I loved them! I’d never seen anything like them; perhaps the setting helped to make them more appealing. A few of them, surrounded by a variety of dark and light green foliage, was lovely. I do doubt that they’d be as attractive en masse.
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I’m amused too, Linda! Maybe there’s an attraction in something that’s a bit different to what we’re used to. 🙂
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There’s no question that the unusual or unexpected can catch the eye. On the other hand, there is that old saying: “It’s a great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” The plant version could be, “It’s a great flower to see in someone else’s garden, but I wouldn’t want to live with it.”
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I think a lot of gardeners would agree with that! There are plants that I like to photograph but don’t want to have in my garden, hehe!
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Always something to be learned in visiting gardens! As I continue to whittle down my daylily collection, I find that the ones I keep are either the spidery open types that are “see through” or the small flowered ones where there is a bouquet instead of one or two fleshy flowers. It certainly makes them easier to combine with other plants and brings more balance to the garden.
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Visiting gardens tends to fill my head with possibilities – but then I have to remember that my garden isn’t big! 🙂 (But no daylilies here because they’re toxic to cats.)
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