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spider daylilies

11/29/2020

A spider daylily has flowers whose petal length is four times the petal's width or more, a ratio of 4.0:1 or greater. The long, narrow petals give the blooms a spidery-like appearance. Spider daylilies are currently more prevalent in diploid daylilies. Diploids appear more delicate and graceful in their appearance (as opposed to tetraploids that are more sturdy with heavier petal substance).

My experience tells me that most gardeners either love or don't love spider daylilies. There is rarely ambivalence of opinion. Spiders can, however, become an acquired taste, much like black coffee. I do know gardeners who have slowly come around to appreciating them over time. I really love spiders; the more bloom diversity I can have in my garden, the better.

Here are photos of seven beautiful spiders. The pictures will speak for themselves.

Daylilies Pictured: Red Ribbons, Heavenly Flight of Angels, Holly Dancer, Miss Jessie, Suzie Cream Cheese, Waxed Legs, and Wilson Spider

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year-round garden whimsy

11/22/2020

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My favorite garden whimsy is the kind that stays outdoors all year-long. In our gardens we have a variety of antiques made of hard-core cast iron that don't mind the extreme temperature fluctuations in Wisconsin. There's no need to shuttle them back and forth from the gardens to the garage or basement each season. This eliminates one more garden task to make our lives easier, and you can't argue with that!

Here are just a few examples of the whimsy in our yard. Believe it or not, we purchased most of these items at garage sales.

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water collection system

11/15/2020

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Does water collection interest you? Pictured is the system we used for many years. We have a well, so we felt good about saving the well water for our personal use. While our collection system was in place we rarely needed to use any well water for our flower gardens. My husband put this system together after watching all the YouTube videos he could possibly find on building water collection systems. He created this hybrid from the ideas he liked best. He did a great job, because these barrels certainly retained water!

We used eight-60 gallon water barrels. They were hidden from the eyes of any visitors. One set of five sat behind our garage and the other set of three were disguised underneath our sun porch and covered with lattice. Hoses were available to attach to the system, as well as the ability to simply place a watering can under the spigot. We had easy access to water wherever we needed it.

Our recycled barrels (of lemon-flavoring) were from a local brewery. It's important that the barrels come from a food-based source, since any chemical source would obviously be bad for the plants. Also remember that as rain water flows over a roof surface it can pick up pollutants such as bacteria from birds and other animals, and chemicals from roof materials. Consider these factors when using rain barrel water on edible plantings as opposed to flower gardens. For more information go to: https://www.epa.gov/soakuptherain/soak-rain-rain-barrels

Note: After we remodeled our garage to make it larger we lost the space needed for the rain barrels to sit. I posted this information in case anyone was considering water collection.

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2020 star - bill norris

11/8/2020

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I first saw a huge clump of 'Bill Norris' growing in my friend's garden about 25 years ago. At that moment I knew I had to have it! Bill is considered a classic daylily with its round, full form and delicate ruffles. It is an exceptional plant, verified by all the awards it has garnered, and the 101 child plants on the record.

Bill Norris, a semi-evergreen tetraploid, was hybridized by David Kirchhoff and registered in 1993. This brilliant gold beauty has perfect, consistent, waxy 5" blooms. The blooms are early morning openers (EMOs), plus they have extended bloom into the evening and are fragrant to boot! Bill also exhibits rebloom, even in Wisconsin's northern climate. Last summer in my yard, Bill Norris grew 28" tall and bloomed from July 3-September 13, at which time a rebloom scape full of blooms was ready-to-go when the deer ate it.

American Daylily Society Awards:

Stout Silver Medal: 2002 (the highest award; only one daylily can win this award each year)
Award of Merit: 2000
Honorable Mention: 1997
Junior Citation: 1993
President's Cup: 1997

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2020 daylily downsize

11/1/2020

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2020 marks the first year that I did not purchase any daylilies since about 1990! My lifestyle has changed over the past two years, and to that end I have done more downsizing. It was hard to make these decisions, but on the positive side, it warms my heart to know that each and every one of these plants went to a really good home and will be taken care even better than what I could have!

Downsized plants include: (Pictured alphabetically from top-to-bottom )