'Grey Witch' is one of those unique daylilies that you can look at and never mistake it for another. It has an unusual grayish-lavender coloration that can even look chalky some days. The color was definitely inherited from its famous parent, 'Trahlyta.'

This 36" tall spider was hybridized in 1999 by Margo Reed at Woodhendge Gardens in North Garden, Virginia. (It grows taller than its 30" registered height in my garden.) Grey Witch is a very hardy dormant diploid that grows wonderfully in Wisconsin. It's a robust plant that increased rapidly for me. I had a good-sized clump in just a few years. Blooms are 6" in size and bloom time last summer was from July 9 through August 9.

American Daylily Society Awards:
Award of Merit: 2009
Honorable Mention: 2005

Note: Over the past four or five years I have been a daylily foster mom for Grey Witch. At the end of the 2020 season, Grey Witch moved back home. Due to aggressive downsizing this year, I made the difficult decision not to keep two fans. It is, after all, a fantastic plant! No worries...I can visit Grey Witch any time I want :)

Every entity has its own set of terms and acronyms, and daylilies are no different. Daylily details can be very helpful when purchasing plants because it helps you narrow down exactly what characteristics you want, to avoid disappointment later. (Perhaps you want only a late-season blooming daylily, for example.) Many of these terms are listed on a daylily's name tag, or if you purchase online some or all of the registration information is typically included.

This list is in no way comprehensive, but it does cover the most commonly used terms and acronyms that I've come across.

So here's the 411...

Hybridizer:  The person who bred the hybrid daylily by hand pollination, and in most cases introduced or registered it with the American Daylily Society

Ploidy:  The number of sets of chromosomes of the daylily

• DIP: A diploid daylily has two complete sets of chromosomes in each cell, 22 chromosomes
• TET: A tetraploid daylily has four complete sets of chromosomes in each cell, 44 chromosomes

Tetraploids are typically more sturdy with heavier petal substance, while diploids are more delicate and graceful in appearance. When hybridizing, a diploid cannot be crossed with a tetraploid and vice-versa.

Foliage:  This refers to whether the foliage stays green instead of dying back through the fall and winter

• DOR: This daylily foliage becomes dormant in the winter
• SEV: This daylily has semi-evergreen foliage
• EV: This daylily has evergreen foliage

Fan - A complete division of the plant which consists of leaves, crown and roots
SF/DF = Single Fan/Double Fan
Scape - The flower stalk above the crown
Scape Height - The mature average scape height

Bloom Season: Approximate time of flowering (determined by the hybridizer at their location; this may vary slightly if you live in a different location)

• EE - Extra Early
• E - Early
• EM - Early-Midseason
• M - Midseason
• ML - Mid-to-Late season
• L - Late season
• VL - Very Late

Bloom Terms:

• CMO - Cold Morning Opener - Some daylilies are reluctant to open if it's cold. CMOs are great for those of us in northern growing zones
• DBL/Double  - A daylily which has additional petals and or sepals. Single daylilies have only three petals and three sepals. Doubles are layered or have the extra petals/sepals sticking up into the air
• EMO - Early Morning Opener
• EXT - Extended Bloom - Flowers which stay open over an extended period of time
• FFO -First Flower Open - Usually the first flower of the season for a particular plant
• FR - Fragrant - Most daylilies don't have much fragrance but a small percentage do
• Miniature  - Daylilies with flowers less than three inches
• NOC - Nocturnal - This is a daylily that opens or begins to open late afternoon or in the night
• POLY - Polymerous (outdated term was Polytepal) - A daylily which has four or more petals and four or more sepals in a flat whorl
• RE - Rebloomer - A daylily that will rebloom and send up new scapes later in the season. This happens more often for early bloomers, or for plants that have a longer growing season
• Spider  - A flower that has petals at least four times longer than the width of the petals
• UF/UFO -  This is a daylily that has unusual characteristics on three sepals or petals

Daylilies pictured: 'Webster's Pink Wonder' and 'Lounge Lizard'

'Bass Gibson' has been growing in my garden since August 2017 when I started off with two small fans purchased from The Lily Auction. This year, Bass finally decided it was truly happy in its new home and really took off.  Wow, what a showstopper! (Note: This is why it is so important to allow a daylily to grow in your garden for *at least* three years before deciding to keep it or part with it.)

Hybridized in Kentucky by John Rice (2006), Bass Gibson grows 32" tall. The 5.5" blooms are sunfast, prolific and consistent (bud count: 21-25).  The large fringed/toothy yellow edges are over-the-top striking. This dormant tetraploid bloomed in my Wisconsin garden from July 12 through August 12.

Bass Gibson has 86 child plants on the record, which indicates how popular this daylily is and that its genetics are much sought after by hybridizers for their future introductions.

American Daylily Society Awards:
Award of Merit: 2012
Honorable Mention: 2009

October has arrived and we are under pressure to do last-minute transplanting and prep our gardens for winter before the impending first frost. Every weed we can remove now is one less weed waiting for us in the spring. Which brings me to the topic of crabgrass...could there be a weed that's more persistent?

My son helped me with some daylily transplanting last weekend. Firestorm (pictured) is one of the daylilies he dug up. We found the dang crabgrass not only tangled up *within* Firestorm's rhizomes, but also growing directly *through* Firestorm's rhizomes! (See photos below) And those rhizomes are dense and hard! That's how tenacious crabgrass is.

Crabgrass is an annual weed that invades flower beds and lawns.  A single crabgrass plant can produce 150,000 seeds during the growing season, and that's why controlling it is so difficult.

Organic mulches can help manage crabgrass in garden beds. Covering the soil with a mulch blocks light from the seeds and prevents them from sprouting. Spread a two- to three-inch layer of fine mulch or a three- to six-inch layer of coarse mulch, avoiding plant stems. Fine mulches include leaf mold, garden compost and well-rotted manure. Wood chips, shredded bark and straw are some examples of coarse mulches. Be sure to replace the mulch layer as it thins out. Mulches are not entirely foolproof, but they sure do help!

For more crabgrass information:
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/garden-care-tips-kill-crabgrass-killing-plants-104109.html
https://naturalawn.com/lawn-care-tips/crabgrass-what-it-is-what-it-looks-how-remove-it