Fall transplanting came to an abrupt halt with this weekend's 31 degree weather, harsh winds and snow/rain. I had planned to move a few more daylilies, but I guess at this point I'll call it good for the season. Realistically, this kind of October weather is not uncommon in Wisconsin.

Transplanting this fall was quite a bit easier because I used a new transplanting helper tool that Ange fashioned out of a 4"x4" piece of wood. This tool was especially effective when digging my larger plants to make them easier to handle. If you've ever dug out huge daylily clumps, you know how heavy and unruly they can be!

You can do this by yourself, but it is much easier with two people. When digging out a huge daylily clump with your shovel, you can raise the plant up and wedge this wooden tool underneath the root ball so it is easy to use a claw tool to remove the excess dirt. You can clean the root ball off completely by wedging the tool on all sides the plant. The plant will be considerably lighter, especially if the ground is heavy with moisture after a rainfall. Then the plant is easy to re-locate or move to the dividing table. I'll take any help I can get to make this (sometimes) strenuous job easier.

Pictured: The daylily being transplanted in these photos is 'Woman's Scorn.'

I usually hype annuals and perennials that I like, but today I want to talk about an annual that I think was an epic fail -- Red Double Wave Petunias. I expected that they would bloom profusely like the regular Wave Petunias that I love. Uh...no, far from it! After giving them three months to do something, the Red Double Wave Petunias were dug out and disposed of. Marigolds were planted in their place that are happy, blooming like crazy, and look 100% nicer.

I'm sharing this so you don't have to experience the extreme disappointment that I did. And just so you know, it wasn't only me. My good friend, an avid gardener, also bought these annuals and felt exactly the same way I did. She disposed of her Double Waves as well. Simply put, we would never purchase these again. In fact, we don't want them even if they were free!

Two garden helpers came to the rescue last Sunday afternoon, for which I was very grateful. My 'grands' made fall garden cleanup a breeze for me! The daylily scapes were flying as the two of them pulled off the dried-up scapes, put them in a wheelbarrow, and disposed of them in the field. This saved me an enormous amount of time. An A+ effort! After the work was done, Grandpa took them on a tractor ride to the farm next door to visit the goats.

Last week the daylilies got their haircuts (trimmed foliage) and medical checkups (weeded) in preparation for winter. It's a big job, but I like to have my gardens thoroughly in order before winter. Believe me, it saves a lot of work come spring. A few plants were dug out to remove dandelions that somehow ended up in the middle of the clumps. The recent rain we've had made that job quite a bit easier than I expected.

We have started moving daylilies around, as well. You know the drill, the trial-and-error garden game of getting the right plant in the right place (yet again). I plan to have that job completed within the next couple of weeks. I like to have all my transplanting done by mid-October to allow the daylilies to settle for about a month before we get a hard frost. (I'm not too happy about that thought...)

'Dean Corey' has really been impressive this year. Dean was a bonus gift daylily on an order I placed two years ago. Hybridized by Goldner-Pruden in 2008, Dean Corey is listed as a midseason bloomer, but in my yard it is more midseason-late with bloom from July 23 through September 10.  And this is a tall plant! It grows every bit of the 40" tall it is registered at and the flowers are  7" in size.

My plant grows in 100% sun. In the early morning Dean is quite vibrant and by late afternoon the color mellows to a beautiful pastel (like photo #3). I love both looks and the bloom substance remains impeccable all day.  What an amazing daylily this is. If it is growing this well after only two years in my garden, I can only imagine what the future will bring! I love seeing these cheerful blooms all the way into September.

As I crossed the border from Ireland into Northern Ireland my first thought was how much the beautiful rural scenery reminded me of western Wisconsin, but once in the populated areas the country had a flavor all its own.

Titanic Belfast (pictured above) opened in 2012 as a tribute to Belfast's maritime heritage on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard in the city's Titanic Quarter where the RMS Titanic was built. (The RMS stands for Royal Mail Steamer/Royal Merchant Ship.) Also noteworthy is that filming of Game of Thrones seasons 1-7 took place in Northern Ireland including the Titanic Studios in Belfast.

What I found most interesting were the painted murals on Belfast's 'Peace Walls.' The Peace Walls are located in what was once an area of violent conflict decades ago (The Troubles). The murals are definitely a walk through the history of this city. Recently painted murals are more graffiti-based and convey a message of peace. I posted just a few for you to see, in addition to some city photos.

Visiting London had always been one of my dreams. What  I loved the most about London was the diversity. It was not unusual to hear five or six different languages in a matter of minutes while out walking. I enjoyed a conversation with our Iranian Uber driver and hearing his story. And it was fun taking a photo of a family on the London Eye and having them take our photo despite the fact that we didn't totally understand each other's language.

Along with the diversity came a great variety of ethnic restaurants to experience. I ate, for the first time, at a Lebanese restaurant (loved it). Traditional breakfast buffets in the UK always included trays of sausages, mushrooms, baked tomatoes, and baked beans--regular and barbecue! This, in addition to, porridge, eggs, crumpets, scones, fresh breads, croissants, muffins, a variety of granola, clotted cream, jams/marmalade, and several cheeses. Believe me when I say eating breakfast each day was awesome. Coffee was WAY stronger in the UK than in the US. There was a little water-adding going on at first, but after a week or so, not so much :)

What was hard to get used to in London was the insane amount of traffic! You better pay attention, because Londoners don't dally around. It was disconcerting to have four lanes of fast, congested traffic (driving on the opposite side of the road than in the US) and seeing bicycles and motorcycles whiz by *in between* the four lanes of traffic. Not to mention cars jumping the curbs to cut in front of each other. "Mama Mia!" to quote our Italian driver as he yelled and gestured out the car window on the way from Heathrow Airport. With 8+ million people, intense traffic is expected, but if I had to drive in London on a daily basis I'm pretty sure I would need anxiety meds.

While in London a few of the landmarks we saw included London Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, St. Paul's Cathedral, Kensington Gardens, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Westminster Abbey, and Hyde Park. We also took a Thames River cruise to see Tower Bridge and toured the Tower of London, in addition to visiting a few pubs. London is a contrasting mix of contemporary modern architecture alongside of historic buildings from centuries past.

Photos: The London landscape of the Thames River taken from the top of the London Eye, a pub that served fish and chips, the doorway of a pasta/pizza restaurant, me on the London Eye, the Tower of London, a British Royal Guard, and Tower Bridge.

Where did the summer go? Mornings are getting cooler and mist-covered. Crickets are everywhere, and they are huge this year! There are only about 12 daylilies still blooming in my yard, but I am thankful for my late bloomers. They continue to add color to my flower beds when most of my other daylilies have dried up scapes and much of the foliage is starting to look ratty. I always trim my daylily foliage this time of year to keep my yard looking neater. After the trim I can check around each plant and make sure no moles or bunnies burrowed under or around them and pull out any invasive weeds that I couldn't see otherwise. Every single plant gets a check-up.

The recent fall-like weather has been great for transplanting. I appreciate every single day that I have been able to be outside.

Four of my late season daylilies pictured include:  'Deliverer' (coral), 'Heavenly Starbrite '(yellow-green), 'Hymn to Her' (pink), and 'Suzy Cream Cheese' (pale peach)

It's that time of year...time to shuffle daylilies around my yard, while deciding what will stay and what will go. To complicate matters, last weekend I purchased more daylilies at the Wisconsin Daylily Society Sale in Madison. Their annual sale is one of the premier daylily events, not only in the state of Wisconsin, but in the entire nation. This year my friend Sally joined Ange and I so she could experience the adrenaline rush of  being in the huge tent, surrounded by 700+ different daylily cultivars. You have to fill what is on your list and make some quick decisions, because there are dozens of other daylily addicts on the exact same frenzied mission that you are. Plants disappear fast! And yes, time definitely stands still while you are rushing around the tent grappling for daylilies.

This year the sale was held at Olbrich Park, right next to scenic Lake  Monona and the weather was absolutely perfect. I bought some plants that were on my long-standing wish list and got some for friends and family, as well. Sally purchased some super daylilies for herself, her mom, and her sister who are also daylily aficionados. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at "Monty's Blue Plate Diner," one of our favorite places to eat when in Madison--it's a renovated gas station. And we managed to squeeze in a visit to "Penzey's" which is nearby East Towne Mall.  This was Christmas in August!

All told, the three of us had a most awesome day. More please :)

Wisconsin Daylily Society
Monty's Blue Plate Diner
Penzey's Spices

Over the past two weeks I visited England, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland and loved every minute of it! The weather was amazing -- 60's to very low 70's. Upon my return, it was quite a shock to step off the plane into the humid high 80's in Minneapolis. It took a day or two to re-acclimate. When I organize my photos I will share some of my experiences. In the meantime, here are photos of what I missed in my own garden while I was traveling. Sorry/not sorry :)

I'm gifting myself with a couple of weeks away from technology. My blog will be on hiatus until August 18th.  We'll catch up then!

Pictured: Twin fawns that visit my yard daily - Mom is hidden in the thicket, watching.

'House of Misrepresentatives' really came into its own this year. This daylily has grown in my garden for the past few years, but this year it really demanded my attention. What blows me away is the beautiful color of the large 8.5" blooms. Unfortunately my photos are unable to convey the vibrant violet plum color that I see. The blooms are perfection -- no wilting or fading on these waxy flowers (bud count 21-25). House of Misrepresentatives is a dormant tetraploid that grows  43" tall in my garden, a bit more than the registered 29". I guess that happens when plants are happy. House is a midseason bloomer that started on July 17 and as you can see by the photos has many more blooms ready-to-go.

House of Misrepresentatives is a Wisconsin-bred daylily hybridized by Nate Bremer (2011). I grow a few other Bremer daylilies and all of them are hearty growers that thrive in our crazy climate. And it's always a plus when the daylily's name makes me smile.

My early daylilies have finally started to bloom this week. This year has to be a record for the latest bloom-start ever. That being said, when I was dead-heading flowers yesterday morning I stopped by 'Spacecoast Cherries and Cream' and marveled at what a beautiful garden plant this is. It's reliable, consistent and never fails to put on a show every single day during bloom season. This daylily has acclimated to Wisconsin very well, and for a Florida-bred daylily, that's noteworthy!

Spacecoast Cherries and Cream is a 2000 Kinnebrew daylily. It is a semi-evergreen tetraploid that has 5.5" blooms (bud count: 21-25) and grows about 27" tall in my garden. Last year's bloom time was from July 2-August 3. This daylily also holds up wonderfully in the hot sun. The first photo was taken at about 7:00 am, while the second one was taken a few hours later.

Since nothing much is going on in my daylily gardens just yet, I thought I'd share one of my old-school scarlet reds from last year, 'Chicago Apache.' As you can see, this daylily is a blooming superstar! I had trouble capturing the beautiful velvety look the blooms have in real life.

Hybridized in 1981 by James Marsh/Roy Klehm, Chicago Apache is a dormant tetraploid that has five-inch blooms and grows 33" tall in my garden. It's a late-season bloomer which is very desirable. Last year's blooms were from July 24 to August 27. This year my plant is huge after all the rain we have had. The scapes have not started peeking out yet, but I'm confident that this season it will put on a show even better than these photos! Chicago Apache is an American Daylily Society award winner as well.

Tomorrow the calendar turns to July and there are no daylily blooms to be seen anywhere in my garden. None. That is definitely a first! But instead of whining on that topic, I will instead talk about what is blooming...this gorgeous Dwarf Asiatic Lily named 'Tiny Skyline.' The color on this one is sublime. Photos hardly do this beauty justice.

Developed in the Netherlands, Tiny Skyline was originally bred for containers, so they are also great front-of-the-border plants. The large golden-orange flowers are between 5-6" in size. These Asiatics are super easy to grow in full sun or part shade in just about any type of soil. Wisconsin bloom season is usually from the end of June and into July.  These dwarfs can grow up to 14-16" tall, but at my house they typically stay between 12-14" tall. I'm just happy that something is blooming in my yard! The Asiatics definitely bridge the gap as I wait for my daylilies to take off.

Ange and I decided to plant some spruce trees on the small parcel of land we own across the road from our home for some visual interest during winter. After pricing trees ($$$) at various nurseries, Ange decided to go a different route and visit a Christmas tree farm instead. Awesome idea! We bought six four-foot trees at a very reasonable price. So, as of today, our new spruce trees have settled in and they have a forever home that every Christmas tree only dreams of.

Recently I visited Sunset Gardens in Galesville, WI. What a fun place to go! They have absolutely anything and everything garden related: annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, whimsy, plus they offer landscaping and floral services. I'll let the photos do the talking.

After visiting Sunset Gardens, Ange and I enjoyed breakfast at The Garden of Eatin' cafe in the Galesville town square. I'm pretty sure this is only place around where you can eat a great breakfast while listening to Led Zeppelin -- and how perfect is that?

Visit Sunset Gardens website: http://www.sunsetgardensgreenhouse.com/
Visit the Garden of Eatin' website: http://gardenofeatinwi.com/

2019 has been a particularly brutal year for Spring Sickness with my daylilies. Every year I get maybe one or two plants that exhibit Spring Sickness, but this year I bet I have between 15-20. I have added five photos of different plants affected by Spring Sickness. I don't panic when I see this because in most cases I can simply remove the affected foliage and as the weather warms up the daylilies continue to grow and bloom completely normal.

The exact cause of Spring Sickness remains a mystery, and it appears in daylilies throughout zones 3-9 in the United States. Typically the entire daylily clump is not affected -- usually it's only a couple of fans. There is not a definitive answer for why this happens. A fungus of some kind is suspected, but as of yet it's unproven. It is also worth noting that daylilies are randomly affected. Just because a cultivar has Spring Sickness one year this does not mean it will be affected next year, or ever again for that matter.

To read more about this phenomenon: http://web.ncf.ca/ah748/qanda.html

Ange and I recently demolished our rock garden with the help of our neighbor. I will miss the garden, but the demo was necessary for a few reasons:

• Ever since we added an extra garage and widened our driveway, the rock garden was an obstacle to drive any vehicle in-or-out of the new garage.
• Snow plowing was difficult. Since the big boulders were right next to the new driveway, there was no place to push the excess snow.
• Black Walnut trees grow behind the garden and even though the plants tolerated the juglone toxicity, they never really thrived.
• And I can't lie, I'm okay with having one less garden to maintain.
  
  

We have fond memories of building this garden well over 20 years ago. All of the boulders came from a stone quarry in Minnesota. Since each boulder weighed a few hundred pounds we constructed a home-made rock harness and hauled the boulders with our John Deere lawn tractor, taking turns harnessing rocks or driving the John Deere. Once we got the chosen boulder close to the spot we wanted to put it, we used huge crowbars and 4x4" wood segments to leverage the boulders into place. And believe me, you have to be very mindful of your fingers when you do work like this. After working all day at our jobs, the garden came together very slowly, a few hours at a time when we were able.

Now the garden is gone; the dirt has been leveled and seeded with grass. The perennials were relocated or given away, and the boulders are by our neighbor's fish pond. We did keep a few of our favorite boulders to incorporate into our landscape at a later date. After pondering this demo for a couple of years, this was the year that it finally came to fruition. Happy face/Sad face.

The dwarf bearded irises are in full bloom! It's always exciting to see big bursts of color in May. Dwarf irises are a wonderful addition to any garden because they fill the bloom gap between the daffodils and tall bearded irises. I grow about ten different varieties of minis. Today I'm showcasing one named "Jazzamatazz" that came to me from my friend Sally's garden. It has a fragrance that is reminiscent of chocolate. If this showy perennial has one fault, it's that it multiplies too fast!

Jazzamatazz was hybridized by Heidi Blyth in 1986 down under in Pearcedale, Victoria, Australia, but it also grows in the U.S. Zones 3 to Zone 8b. It is very hardy here in Wisconsin. Jazzamatazz is happy in full sun to part shade. Mine is in an east-facing location. This iris is registered as growing up to 15" tall, but mine rarely gets taller than about 10." In my yard Jazzamatazz reliably blooms in mid-May every year.