i plant happiness - blog

mini iris 'orange tiger'

5/21/2023

'Orange Tiger' (Bennett Jones, R. 1987). Seedling# M379-1. This dwarf bearded iris is 11" in size. Wisconsin bloom starts early to mid-May. This resilient iris is consistently beautiful every spring with little to no care.

Awards:
Honorable Mention 1990
Award of Merit 1992
Cook-Douglas Medal 1994
ISM Cup for Best Out of Region Iris in 1989 (Memphis, TN 1989)

Happy Mother's Day

5/14/2023

mister lucky

5/7/2023

Here is my favorite ‘old’ daylily. Since I grow primarily dormants it is, oddly enough, an evergreen, but if I keep it protected it grows great.

Mister Lucky (Sellers, 1975) Award Winner
Mid-season bloomer 28" tall (34" in my yard) 4" bloom, Evergreen, Tetraploid - Red with dark red eyezone

He's as old as the hills, but still holds a prized, protected spot next to my back door. Every bloom is perfect, the clump is well-behaved, has a nice foliage and the color is exquisite.

hymn to her

4/30/2023

Hymn to Her (Rice, John & Annette, 2010) is one of my late-season bloomers. H2H begins blooming at the end of July when some of my other daylilies are winding down, so I always enjoy seeing this girly-pink haloed confection. Although she is registered at 35" tall, in my garden she is always grows 39" or more. The 5.5" blooms are very ruffled, consistent and waxy in texture. This dormant tetraploid daylily was hybridized in Kentucky but loves life in Wisconsin, even with our polar vortexes.

I am assuming that the hybridizers are fans of The Pretenders who released a song entitled "Hymn to Her" in the '80's (a piece of trivia).

strutter's ball

4/23/2023

Strutter's Ball (Moldovan, 1984) is one of my all time favorites. I have grown this award winner for over 20 years! Truly, one of the best sunfast purples you can get, this beauty withstands all types of weather conditions. A dormant tetraploid, Strutter's Ball grows 28" tall in my garden. The prolific flowers are 6" in size and the plant typically blooms from early July through mid-August. I would recommend this daylily to any northern gardener.

heavenly orange blaze

4/16/2023

Heavenly Orange Blaze (Gossard, 2009) is one of my early blooming orange daylilies. The large 8-inch fluorescent flowers are quite a sight to see when in peak bloom. It is a dormant tetraploid that grows 41" tall. We purchased this plant from the advice of a Wisconsin Daylily Sociey member who was helping at the annual sale. He told us that Heavenly Orange Blaze was one of his favorite garden plants. We are very grateful for his tip!

Happy Easter!

4/9/2023

pre-colored eggs

4/2/2023

Who needs to color eggs this Easter? Not me! Our next door neighbors raise a variety of different chickens. Depending on the breed, the egg color varies. I guess this is how green eggs and ham originated. Seriously though, we love to get free range eggs from our neighbor. They are delicious!

heck yeah!

3/26/2023

A skewed look at the tiny bits of daily life that surround us.

ring the bells of heaven

3/19/2023

Ring the Bells of Heaven came to me as a division from my friend Mary's plant. I had admired it in her garden. It is a prolific grower that quickly established itself in my daylily bed. In fact, it grew 10 inches taller than its 24-inch registration height and had to be moved to a larger flower bed! Hybridized in 2006 (Carpenter, J.) RTBH is an award winner with 5.75" blooms. It is a dormant, tetraploid that loves the good life in Wisconsin.

peak week

3/12/2023

Now that winter is almost over, I have been reminiscing about the beautiful daylilies that bloomed last summer. Peak bloom in our area in western Wisconsin occurred around July 20, 2022. Here are a few photos.

Daylilies pictured include Blueberry Breakfast, J.T. Davis, Final Destination, House of Misrepresentatives, Dean Corey, Sabine Baur, Time Stopper, Ruby Spider, and Stranger Than Fiction.

air horn - deer chaser

3/5/2023

No matter what we do to try to protect our daylilies, dozens of deer invade our beautiful flowers. Ange has come up with a new technique to scare away the deer and amuse himself at the same time. He rigged up an air horn to scare the deer out of our yard that insist on milling around. He uses a bicycle pump to fill up the air horn, which is good for about 10 very loud blasts. The only negative is when the deer are in our yard at 7:00am! The deer are now so sensitized that all he has to do is open the door or window and the deer instantly vanish.

luna

2/26/2023

After losing his beloved rescue cat, Sophie, of 12 years, my son Shawn made the decision to rescue another homeless cat. He found Luna on petfinder.com. Luna is a beautiful dilute tortie estimated to be around 5 years old. She was found living with her 4 small kittens in a 4-inch gap between a comedy club and another business in downtown Milwaukee. Because she had to do so much fending for her kittens from stray cats, raccoons and opossums, other cats seem to put her on edge. Luna is slowly but surely becoming acclimated in her new home and becoming more affectionate as each day passes. She is one lucky girl!

PS . Two of her 4 kittens have been adopted and the other two will surely find homes soon.

new series

2/19/2023

New Series is one of my keeper daylilies. I have grown this beautiful plant for over 30 years. The 7-8 inch flowers are spectacular during peak bloom. This award winner was hybridized in 1982 (Carpenter, K.). It is a semi evergreen diploid that grows well in Wisconsin's climate. New Series is a perfect border plant as it only grows 25 inches tall. It is mid season bloomer in the landscape. Two thumbs up!!!

love is in the air

2/12/2023

A reminder that love can be found in the most unexpected places. Happy Valentines Day!

Photo taken by Patty in Tucson Arizona

echinacea double delight

2/5/2023

'Double Delight' blooms throughout October.

Double Delight is one of my favorite perennial companion plants for my daylilies. As long as you cut the spent flowers, it will continue blooming until frost. It has a compact habit with multiple blooms on each sturdy stem. They are incredibly drought tolerant and easy to grow.

DETAILS

Botanical Name Echinacea Conefections™ 'Pink Double Delight' PP18803
Hardiness Zone 4-9
Light Requirements Full Sun
Flower Form Large, 3" flowers with a fully double center surrounded by a single layer of petals.
Foliage Type Mid green leaves, lance-like rough and slightly toothed
Height/Habit 18 - 24 inches
Spread 24 inches
Soil Requirements Average garden soil, well drained
Will Tolerate Acidic Soil, Clay Soil, Dry Soil, Loamy Soil, Sandy Soil

my friend charlie

1/29/2023

I bought My Friend Charlie about 8 years ago and I love it more and more as each year passes. It makes a stunning large clump. Charlie is a Paul Owen daylily (2012). This dormant tetraploid daylily is very hardy in Wisconsin. It grows 34 inches tall with beautiful 7+ inch blooms. It is a mid-season bloomer that lasts well over a month!

tiny creatures

1/22/2023

While deadheading my daylilies during the summer I come across a variety of insects that are an integral part of my garden. I thought I would share a few of them.

nature's blue witches brew

1/15/2023

Nature's Blue Witches Brew (Story, 2010) is one of my favorite bicolor daylilies. This daylily came from my friend Sally. I love the unique smokey lavender-cream color. It is very hardy in Wisconsin and grows 38-40 inches in my garden. The flowers are four inches and they bloom from July 12 through August 7. This one is a keeper!

arizona dreaming

1/8/2023

Our friend Patty took these photos in Tucson, Arizona. Since all we have is snow in Wisconsin, I thought I would share these sunny warm pictures.

Fun fact – in the U.S. Saguaro cactus only grows in southern Arizona.