"Mama's Cherry Pie" (Faye O. Shooter, 1999)

Mama's Cherry Pie is my website (and Facebook) cover girl right now. Depending on the weather conditions, she looks a little different each day; but always beautiful. This daylily is reminiscent of cherry pie and ice cream on a hot summer day.

Mama's Cherry Pie came to my garden as a division given to me by my friend Roger. Roger has been a constant inspiration to me. He is a daylily judge and also hybridizes new cultivars. Roger owns Eastbrook Gardens in La Crosse, with his wife Carol. They grow 800+ named cultivars in a naturalized setting that should be featured in Better Homes and Gardens. I can literally spend *hours* walking around looking at all the different plants. Roger has hundreds of hybridized seedlings that he's growing on and watching carefully to see if they warrant registration. Every time I go to their garden I marvel at all he has done.

If there's a worthy daylily, Roger knows about it. I'm so happy he shared Mama's Cherry Pie with me.

**  Check out "Eastbrook Gardens" on Facebook. Carol worked very hard uploading hundreds of photos!

Anti-clutter, organization, lists, and labels....just a few of my favorite things. I always love to hear the gasp of first-time visitors to my garden, "Your plants have NAME TAGS? OMG!!! I didn't know plants actually had NAMES." Or, "I thought they were all just daylilies!"

Well, YEAH, daylilies have names!  Name tags make it very easy for me to give a quick answer to a friend who loves a certain daylily and asks what it is. And know exactly what is planted in what place even though it's not blooming at the time. When you have as many plants as I do name tags are a good thing. They also come in handy when I'm deciding what to move around in the fall.

I've tried a number of different labels/tags over the years. What works really well for me are the metal name tags I have purchased from EON Industries. I bought the 6" tall labels. (Pictured above) I punch the names out on an old-school Dymo tape-maker and stick the labels onto the metal tag. I purchase the Dymo labels from local discount stores. I've had some tags last up to 10 years. Like most everything, they will deteriorate over time with our harsh winters. To preserve them over the winter, every fall I push the stakes down into the dirt and cover them with mulch. My biggest problem is deer stomping and crushing my labels. Liquid Fence keeps the deer away during the summer, but when there's snow cover they just walk right over my plants (AND name tags).

EON Industries  - Take a look at what they offer.

Every fall I update my plant labels. I make sure all the names are readable and I replace the metal plant stakes that have deteriorated or been crushed -  good TV task.

FYI - Make sure your labels are clearly marked for use in the garden or outside. One October, a friend labeled her entire garden with a new battery-operated, hand-held label maker. She is not an innate organizer, so this was a grueling task for her. All good intentions aside, the following spring she found a garden full of white, blank labels. The winter had washed ALL her names off. *Not happy* is an understatement! Her garden remains, to this day, unlabeled. 

Temporary Labels (e.g., plant sale, divisions for friends)
Aside from my permanent labels, I also utilize temporary labels. When I have my plant sale I like to have each plant labeled so that buyers can look at a big photo board to see what each one of my plants look like. For this purpose I use mini-blinds purchased at garage sales, either super-cheap or even free. Ange cuts them up into various sizes with a point on the bottom to slide into the dirt easily. (Another good TV  job.) When I write the info on the labels I use a waterproof laundry marker. These labels are usually good for about one season. The mini-blinds deteriorate rather fast, but they serve the purpose I need them for. I also use them when I purchase plants and have them in temporary pots and don't want to forget who's who. Very cost-effective :)

The star of my show in 2013 was "Greywoods Dottie Do Little." (Wilkinson, 2004) What a little powerhouse! This beautiful daylily bloomed just about all summer, sending up scape after scape. It started blooming on July 8th and I saw the last bloom on September 14. In addition, the plant just about doubled in size. That's something to be said after the hot, dry summer we had last year.

This gorgeous daylily was purchased in August 2011 on my annual trip to the WI Daylily Society sale at Olbrich Gardens in Madison. What makes this plant unusual is that it's stippled. It looks like a paintbrush was sprayed all over the petals with little pink dots. It is a double bloom as well. Every bloom is consistent, vibrant, and it looks beautiful even on a near or above 100 degree day (and we had quite a few of them) -- definitely a "two-thumbs up" daylily.

It's getting to be that time of year again--garage sales. Everyone has cabin fever and is anxious to get out and start treasure hunting. I'm one of them! I have my "I need" list all made out. This year I'm looking for 1 and/or 2 gallon plastic plant pots for my plant sale.  Does anyone have a bunch in their basement or garage?

To celebrate the upcoming season, here's a photo of me and my forever and always friend, Sandy, at one of our past garage sales. Even though it's a ton of work, we always manage to have lots of fun whether or not we make much $$. We're recycling!