About five years ago Ange bought a bunch of blue plastic fiber IKEA shopping bags at a garage sale. We re-purposed them for weeding and they turned out to be the best garden helpers ever. There are three sizes –small medium and large. They are lightweight with large carrying handles. What a find!

This little gem came from the bargain bin at a local big box store. If I remember correctly, I only paid two dollars for it. Since being planted 'Buff Pixie' has thanked me over and over for giving it a place in my garden. The soft buff-orange sorbet color is so striking that it almost glows in the flower bed. Buff Pixie grows 8 to 12 inches in height. The large blooms look the best in a mass planting. I grow my plant in 100% sun, although it will grow in part sun also. Bloom time is in early summer, before the daylilies start blooming. When I see this Asiatic bloom I know that it won't be long before it's daylily time.

If you want a great weed assist, look no further than your pitchfork! When it comes time to weed I dig through the entire flowerbed with my pitchfork to loosen the soil and free up all the weeds. I have used this method for years and it is very effective, making hand weeding absolutely effortless.

Next to the pitchforks is the heirloom 'Aunt Helen's Iris.'

My daylily beds are all weeded and mulched, ready for summer. The daylilies are looking fantastic after all the recent rain and it should be a stellar bloom season. Annuals will be added in the next week or so. Thank you so much to my dear friends and family who helped me get these flowerbeds in order. I am overwhelmed beyond words.

Shoutouts to Blake, Tara, Mary, Mary, Sally, Jim, and Tami. And, of course, Ange.

Spring! That's a word, in my mind, that is synonymous with 'wet.' With the recent rain we've had, my flower beds have been quite soaked and muddy. But that never stops me from working outside, as long as I have my garden Muck Boots to wear. They are 100% waterproof and perfect for soggy spring days, or after a summer thunderstorm when you just *need* to get out in the garden. With a thick sock inside, they feel comfy like slippers.  What I really like is that I can slip them on and off without even bending over. Plus, they are easy to scrub and wash off with the hose. No more wet feet! 

The Original Muck Boot Company

'Buckeye Barnstormer' is one of my awesome little overachievers. This 100% double daylily is such a show off that I have it planted by the back door so you can appreciate it every time you come in and out of the house or drive up the driveway. It makes a beautiful clump and the foliage is very nice.

Hybridized in Iowa by Ralph Haehn and introduced in 2000, this semi-evergreen diploid grows 26 inches tall. It is a perfect plant for in front of the border. Blooms are 4.5 inches in size. Buckeye Barnstormer bloomed from June 27 through August 1 last summer. It is very hardy and consistent in Wisconsin. One of the parents of Buckeye is the Stout Medal winner Siloam Double Classic. I have grown Siloam Double Classic and Buckeye definitely inherited the vigorous nature of its parent.

I don't have a good track record with tulips. I can't tell you how many tulip bulbs I have planted over the years –doubles, species, parrot, Darwin hybrids, tall ones, short ones – you name it, they just about all vanish.  The deer love them and the buds would often get eaten before they opened. If that didn't happen, the squirrels, voles, moles, or rabbits either dug up or ate the bulbs before they could grow. My red and yellow tulips are the lone survivors. They aren't fancy, but boy do I love to see their faces every spring. They are tough characters that have somehow defied all odds.

'Only Just Begun' has been with me on my daylily journey from the very beginning of my obsession. I have grown this cultivar for over 30 years and I am in love with it today just as much as the first day I saw it bloom. OJB is a 1976 Gilbert Wild daylily – you've no doubt heard of Gilbert Wild of Missouri, right? I'm pretty sure just about everyone in the daylily community started out with Gilbert Wild daylilies. I remember spending hours paging through their catalog, marveling at all of the different types and colors of daylilies that were available.

Only Just Begun is a dormant diploid daylily that is very hardy and consistent in Wisconsin. Although registered at 26 inches tall, my plant is so happy it typically grows up to 33 inches tall. The 5.5 inch waxy, cream–colored blooms have a slight tinge of pink. Dainty ruffles are an added bonus. Last summer, OJB bloomed from July 2 through August 4. This prolific superstar looks wonderful whether it's 60° or 100°. Rain, shine, wind, whatever, it always looks perfect. 

'Charles and Cynthia' is a gorgeous pink and purple combination with a vibrant yellow–green eye. It also has a delicate white edge that sports occasional shark teeth. Hybridized in North Carolina and introduced in 2012 by Paul Owen, this daylily was named to honor his good friends Charles and Cynthia Lucius.

C and C is a northern hardy dormant tetraploid that grows 27 inches tall with large 6 and 1/2 inch blooms. It's a vigorous midseason bloomer with a bud count of 21 to 25. Last summer it bloomed in my garden from July 4 through August 10. This tidy, well–behaved plant is planted by a tiered retaining wall and it never disappoints me. It is noteworthy to mention that one of its parents is the well-known award–winning daylily God Save the Queen.

OMG!  Ange went outside one morning to find just about all of my chick and hens beheaded. Many others were pulled out and scattered around the lawn and the driveway. This is a first as they have never been bothered once in the last 20 years! It's a heads–up for us; we now have one additional area that needs to be sprayed regularly with Liquid Fence… oh dear/deer!

The second photo shows the chick and hens in happier days.

It all started one morning when a chubby woodchuck was spotted standing up on his hind legs with his front paws on the glass entryway door peeping into the office. Imagine the chaos if he got inside! To make matters worse the front door would, on occasion, stay open a little bit due to the vacuum in the vestibule each time the door was opened and closed. Yikes! 

Just outside the entryway there were large, overgrown, 20-year-old evergreen bushes. They looked pretty rough. Rabbits would nest in the bushes and litter would collect on windy days. It was time for shrubbery removal. In place of the shrubbery, a small patio was put in. Staff members worked on the project a little bit at a time. A bistro table and chairs were placed on the patio so that when people attended meetings they could sit outside and take phone calls in privacy. This looked 100% better than the ratty old bushes. Shade plants such as mini hostas, Beacon Silver ground cover and Purple Palace coral bells were planted around the patio. And best of all, no animals came close to the entryway door anymore.

Shrubs were removed from other areas around the building as well. These areas were turned Into perennial gardens. A few plants were purchased, but the majority were donated by staff from their home gardens. Perennials included shrub roses, sedums, several dwarf bearded irises, different decorative grasses, echinaceas, 'Little Joe' Joe pye weed, coreopsis and a variety of daylilies. Daylilies included Red Volunteer, Star of Fantasy, Custard Candy, Family Reunion, Leebea Orange Crush, Only Just Begun, Strawberry Candy, and American Revolution. Finally, annual marigolds and petunias were planted for constant color through October.

When the flowers were in bloom the compliments started rolling in. Visitors enjoyed looking at the gardens . Now the office looks just as beautiful on the outside as it does on the inside - definitely a win-win!

I was so excited that my photo of 'Firestorm' was chosen as the cover girl of the Great Lakes Daylily Magazine for Winter 2022. The cover article was about favorite older cultivars. I have had this wonderful plant for many years and it will always have a place in my garden. Be sure to read the article on page 42; you will get lots of info about 'older' tried-and-true daylilies that you may want to grow.

If you love daylilies, click on the link below and read all the great information inside. I always look forward to getting this magazine, whether it is in digital or print form. I get this magazine as part of my membership with the American Daylily Society. Check it out!

http://www.adsregion2.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Great-Lakes-Daylily-Winter-2022-Digital-Version.pdf 

        "Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."
                                                                                                                       - Robert Bault

Here are some photos of my dear friend Sharon's beautiful perennial garden. As you can see, she loves  the pink and purple color palettes. Daylilies are a predominant part of her garden, but she also has a wide variety of other perennials. Enjoy!

The days are getting longer, the birds are singing when I wake up in the morning and afternoon temperatures are nearing 60°. Spring is on the way. It's time to start thinking about what I will need to start gardening again. Here are a few things I like to have ready-to-go:

• Liquid fence – we like to start putting deer deterrent on our plants before they start growing. By doing this we can train the deer to stay away from our flowers before they actually come up. It's also nice not to have deer foot prints in the garden, especially if it's been raining, because they put big holes in my flower bed.
• Garden gloves – you can never have too many garden gloves.
• Kneepads – gardening can't happen without these!
• Garden tools – make sure your pruners are cleaned and oiled, your shovels and implements are in good repair and clean, and you have a sturdy wheel barrow ready for action.
• A new supply of mulch – I like to get an early start on weeding so that we can lay the mulch down as soon as possible. We usually order half a dump truck load and have it dumped close to the garden for easy access.

Let the fun begin!

Pictured above – 'August Wedding' in front with 'Bela Lugosi' in the background

I am in love with orange daylilies and the big, bold 'Fiesta Latina' checks all the boxes for me. It is a beautiful vibrant orange, has a large bloom and is a consistent performer. Hybridized in North Carolina in 2007 by Bob Selman at Blue Ridge Daylilies, Fiesta Latina is a dormant tetraploid that grows 36 inches tall in my garden. Last summer it bloomed from July 3 through the first week in August.

I have this daylily planted in a very prominent spot by my backyard patio, so when I sit outside I can enjoy it up close. It is planted by dark purple, near white and red daylilies that bloom at the same time so that the bright orange pops.

With spring right around the corner, I am already looking forward to seeing this beautiful mini iris. My friend Sally gave me a division of 'Captured Spirit' from her garden about ten years ago.  What a joy this delicate ruffled iris has been! It has reliably bloomed and happily multiplied year after year. Captured Spirit bridges the bloom gap between my daffodils and tall bearded irises.

Captured Spirit is a standard dwarf bearded (SDB) iris hybridized by Hooker Nichols (in Texas) and registered in 1980 as an early bloomer. Registered height for this variety is 13 inches, but mine rarely grows taller than six or seven inches. This may simply be the difference between growing in Texas as opposed to growing in Wisconsin.

If you make sure Captured Spirit gets six to eight hours of sun, has average, well-drained soil and some water it will reward you every spring. It is cold hardy to US Zone 3 (-40 °F to -35).

Here is one of my blooming superstars, 'Custard Candy.' This daylily is hardy, prolific and reliable. I love the delicate yellow–gold edge around all of the petals. This plant earns its garden space and then some. It's a perfect daylily to grow at the front of your border. Hybridized by Patrick Stamile, this award–winning dormant tetraploid was registered in 1989.

Custard Candy grows 24 inches tall and has flowers that are 4.25 inches in size. Bloom time is early midseason in my garden, from June 22 to August 1. This daylily is one of my all-time keepers. 

AHS Awards:

• ​Stout Silver Medal: 1999 – The highest award a daylily can win
• Award of Merit: 1996
• Honorable Mention: 1993
  
• Annie T. Giles Award: 1996

My experience with Dormant, Semi–Evergreen and Evergreen daylilies in Zone 4
 
Although I grow all three foliage types of daylilies, my western Wisconsin garden is predominantly filled with dormants. Over the years the dormants have thrived the best in our northern climate. Nothing seems to faze them…even a polar vortex. I grow many semi-evergreens that do very well, but I have had much more difficulty growing evergreens. Of the daylilies I would lose each winter, most would be evergreens. So obviously, I am much more cautious when it comes to growing evergreens. With a little extra TLC, like protection by the house or a location by a warm sidewalk or rock border, my six evergreens grow wonderfully and I have had them for many years ––  they include J.T. Davis, Joan Senior, Lotus Position, Mister Lucky, Wings of Chance, and Waxed Legs.

​Foliage habit definitions from the American Daylily Society:

• Dormant/deciduous –In science, dormancy describes the temporary suspension of visible growth of any plant structure containing a meristem. The term “dormant” is not restricted to deciduous plants but also applies when plants that retain some, or all, of their foliage suspend growth and have dormant buds. All daylilies, regardless of registered foliage habit, suspend growth when it gets cold enough.
• Semi–evergreen – The foliage of semi-evergreen daylilies dies back nearly to the ground in very cold climates. Some green will be seen near the base. Generally, semi-evergreens wait until spring to resume growth.
• Evergreen – The foliage habit of daylilies that retain their foliage throughout the year. In cold winter climates, evergreen daylilies over-winter as a mound of frozen pale green foliage. Evergreens may resume growth during a mid-winter thaw in mild climates. Evergreen daylilies do not set resting buds.

Pictured is the dormant daylily Dean Corey