Un-Daylilying and Echinacea

 It is time to start cutting back Daylilies already.  Over the years I have learned that cutting back the whole clump is far better than trying to clean them up one by one.  Even for the rebloomers.  If you cut them to the ground, they will rebound in two weeks and look fresh for the rest of the season.  Because they bloom in succession, when the first bloomer gets down to one or two stems left I just go ahead and cut them so I don't have to cut everything down all at once.  I cut a few a day and then it doesn't seem like such a big chore. 

To do this I have this cordless hedge trimmer.  I use the grass shear blade which works perfectly.

Some of them start to get down right ratty looking.  They only have one or two blooms on them and one or two buds to follow.  At this stage there is no question they should be cut back.  The only question is do I want to do it today?  Or tomorrow?

With just one variety gone at a time, the landscape doesn't look too bare.

Some of them don't really need to be cut back.  They might just need some old, dry stems removed.

Others in the nether regions of the landscape still look fine from a distance.  In these cases I just remove the netting.  The one below is always the last to bloom.  It is up front by the fence line so the deer are pretty bold.  But still, the netting is holding out well.  Some of the buds have been snipped in half where they have poked through the net.

Some of the nets worked fine but are a little worse for wear,

The next up in the flower show are the Echinacea.  

Prima Ginger Echinacea and the first Monarch butterfly of the season

This is a clump of two colors of Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit but one plant has reverted to the basic Echinacea Purpurea which sort of stands out like a sore thumb

One of several plants of the seed mix Mellow Yellow from Baker Creek that I winter sowed last spring and planted out in the late summer last year.

We're still not done with Daylilies.  Daylily of the day:  Anzac