Is this the best idea ever? My friend, Donna, repurposed a non-working grill as her planting station. In addition to being a great decorating accessory, it's also handy for storage. She keeps it on her deck for convenience. When Donna finishes potting up her plants she just closes up the grill top, sweeps the dirt off the deck into her flower garden, and voila, all looks neat and tidy. I thought this was so clever that I just had to share Donna's photos with you.

As much as gardening makes me happy, there are a few things I find somewhat annoying.
Here's my top ten:

1. Checking the weather to make sure rain is NOT in the forecast. Spending half-an-hour spraying deer deterrent on all my flowers while it's sunny. Hearing thunder in the distance not two hours later, followed by a rainstorm that lasts only long enough to wash off all the deer deterrent.
2. Planting a new perennial and finding it the next day all chewed up and lying on top of the soil about a foot away from where it was planted.
3. Constantly digging walnut trees out of my flower garden. I do not love walnut trees; thank you very much squirrels.
4. Moles burrowing underneath my new daylily babies and heaving them out of the ground.
5. Finding a dead, rotting whatever in my flower garden.
6. Watching a bunny eating a daylily scape that I can't get to quick enough.
7. Same as #6, but replace the word 'bunny' with 'deer.'
8. Japanese beetles 'doing the nasty' on my daylilies. Really?
9. May gardening in my winter coat. I love Wisconsin.
10. W.E.E.D.S.

Pictured: Daylily 'Green Mystique' inundated with Japanese beetles

Jerry Hyatt is one of the most interesting daylilies that I grow. His look varies depending on the weather and temperature, and he may (or may not) change throughout the day. I'm sharing a few of his different faces so you can see for yourself. I love the animal-print spots in the first photo!
 
Hybridized by Curt Hanson and introduced in 2004, Jerry Hyatt is a semi-evergreen tetraploid that grows about 27-28" tall and has a 6" bloom. He's an award winner that received an Honorable Mention Award in 2007 and an Award of Merit in 2012. Jerry is a new plant to my garden and thankfully he appears to be happy here.

Jerry Hyatt is a child of the tetraploid Trahlyta, which is where the grey/violet tones come from. I grow the diploid version of Trahlyta, which I have had for many years (and would never part with).

Peak bloom is over in Wisconsin, even though some of my late daylilies are still blooming. For whatever reason, my garden never seems to grow exactly the way I planned or imagined it to. As hard as I try, there are always those areas that need to be fixed. Sound familiar? As the season winds down, I have started my list for fall transplanting and dividing. It's my annual attempt to make my flower garden look even better next year. Those of you who garden know how painstaking the decisions can be. Especially when you are dealing with the ever-present trifecta of size, color, and bloom time being different for each individual plant. In addition, there are so many variations in soil and location (even within my own yard) that can impact the plant's growth, not to mention weather and temperature!

Questions I have asked myself:

• How did that daylily grow six inches taller than its description? I can't see the plant behind it!
  
• Why did this one only grow 25" instead of the anticipated 35"?
  
• Who planted THAT plant there? Couldn't have been me...
• Did a mole burrow underneath this poor daylily?
  
• What was I thinking when I put those two peach plants next to each other?
• Did I really manage to leave an open space in the garden with no bloom in mid-July?

I rest assured knowing that Mother Nature always gives me a second (third, and fourth) chance to get it right. So as long as I'm able, I'll just keep on trying...thanks Mom!

Pictured: Daylily 'Carnival in Mexico'