Even though the winter of 2017-2018 was devastating to many of my plants, my chick and hens didn't seem to notice. They came through the winter nicely. I bet I've had these chick and hens for over twenty years.  The scientific name for this succulent is "Sempervivum," (from Latin) which means “live forever.” I have occasionally sold them at my plant sale when they are overabundant. I can always depend on them to happily increase back to a huge clump. Some of these chick and hens change color from green to burgundy - bonus! Unfortunately, I don't know the exact variety of Sempervivum mine are because I bought them at a garage sale.

No special care is needed for chick and hens, except to enjoy them -- no fancy soil or fertilizer, although I have read that they prefer a sandy soil. Mine are in part-shade and get the west sun from about 12:30 pm to 6:00 pm. The rock that some of my chicks live in does have drainage on the bottom for when it rains heavily. Chick and hens don't like being waterlogged. Being a succulent, they prefer being on the dry side and are extremely drought tolerant. This is great because if you forget to water them, no worries! I'm confident that just about anyone can grow chick and hens, no matter what their garden skills are.

Whenever I go to garage sales I am always on the lookout for this multi-use tool. Its official name is Vintage Metal/Wood English 3-Tine Hand Garden Fork, but I just refer to it as "the claw." It's one of my favorite garden tools. You can't have too many of them! They go for about $15-$30 on eBay, but mine are the garage sale version for $1 or $2. This claw is awesome! When transplanting daylilies the dirt from the root ball can be removed so easily. It makes what could be a hard job, easy. It's also great for uprooting shallow-rooted weeds.

We painted our two  claws bright red and accessorized them with fluorescent tape so they don't get lost in the garden. Last week one accidentally got thrown into the field along with a bucket of weeds. Uh-oh, instant panic mode!  Luckily, I quickly spotted and retrieved the claw in the pile of weeds thanks to the bright red paint and fluorescent tape. Happy me, because I'd be lost without it!

Over the last few years I have added more red daylilies to my collection because I had very little of that color in my garden. One of my favorites is 'All American Chief.'  What a perfect northern daylily! You simply plant it (anywhere) and it takes off and grows like a champ. And those blooms! They are all 9" in diameter. The foliage is attractive and contrasts nicely with the red flowers. All American Chief makes quite a statement when it is in full bloom. My husband doesn't remember many of the daylily names in our yard, but he definitely knows this one!

Hybridized by Van Sellers and registered in 1994, All American Chief is a dormant tetraploid that grows 32" tall. This cultivar appears regularly on popularity polls and won the Stout Medal in 2008, which is the highest award a daylily can win (plus three other awards). The takeaway? This daylily is a sure thing! If you don't grow it, you really should.

Now that May has arrived, spring is finally back on track after the brutal April that we had. It was one for the record books in western Wisconsin. We had a total of 19" of snow, which was 17.3" more than normal! We also had a 69 degree temperature spread, winding up with an 84 degree day on April 30th. Go figure.

Quite a few of my daylilies did not fare well over the winter. Many of them died or had rotted crowns. I think much of the damage happened during the three-day rain/ice/snow storm we had in mid-April. The poor plants were covered with thick sheets of ice.

I get so disappointed when I have a huge, beautiful daylily clump that dies back to only one wimpy scape after a bad winter. Then I end up coddling the plant along for three more years, only to have it happen again. For the daylilies pictured, this wasn't the first time they had a near-death experience. So I made a difficult decision....as beautiful as these flowers are, it was time to say goodbye. These daylilies had never thrived like my other plants did. For this reason I discarded them in the field. Wisconsin was clearly not their happy place.

The good news? This ultimately makes my downsizing effort easier and I have space for a new daylily or two.

Pictured: Four of my recently discarded daylilies: 'Mountains Bow Down' (lavender-mauve), 'Fashion Police' (yellow with mahogany-red eye) and 'Off Beat' (cream with purple eye), and 'Before Night Falls' (Cream-lavender with a black-red eyezone)