I can't wait to get busy in the garden with my new weeding tool, called a 'Carrot Design Cape Cod Weeder.'  It was a Christmas gift from my dear friend, Sharon. She has one just like it and found it very effective at removing dandelions and other weeds, especially those close to the edge of sidewalks. The blade is stainless steel and super heavy-duty.

I had never heard of this garden tool before, and apparently that's not unusual. Cape Cod weeders weren’t known outside of the Cape Cod area until the 1980’s when Snow & Neally of Bangor, Maine began to market them throughout the country. The story about the Cape Cod weeder is that many years ago a woman living on Cape Cod designed this weeding tool. It is a knife-like tool used to slice weeds and loosen difficult soils. It is especially handy when working in tight places. Basically, it’s a curved forged steel blade secured to a wooden handle.

Now all I need is for last Thursday's snow to go away so I can get to work. Watch out weeds!

Information about the Cape Cod Weeder from: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/

What a find this cute little petunia was! Last spring I purchased this annual at the local plant hut from the 75% off clearance table. I had never seen this variety before so I thought I'd give it a try; what did I have to lose? The plant looked a little rough after being on clearance table, but once home I planted it in some amended soil, fertilized, watered, and that made all the difference in the world. It promptly returned the favor by looking fabulous! I gave my Supertunia fertilizer every couple of weeks throughout the summer to keep it blooming in top form.

Supertunia 'Daybreak Charm' has a striking color combination with the greenish-yellow throat surrounded by the vibrant electric pink edges. The flowers are a bit smaller than traditional petunias, but they still put on a great show. Daybreak Charm grows about 10-14" tall and spreads out to about 18-24" wide. Supertunias are very drought-tolerant and they love the hot sun. Mine looked perfect, even during the few summer days when we had temps over 100 degrees. Deadheading is not necessary either! Like most other petunias, by August, you may have to give it a manicure. My Daybreak Charm continued to bloom until the first frost in fall.

You can use Supertunias in the landscape as a groundcover, but they are also great spilling over the edge of a planter or a hanging basket.  Note that butterflies love these petunias just as much as I do.

This gem came to me from my sister-in-law Sandy's garden. Sissy Sandy is a red and purple daylily connoisseur. Her lovely garden has dozens of variations of these colors. About six or seven years ago she divided her huge 'Persian Ruby' plant and gave me half.  I planted mine in a location where it gets sun until about 3 pm in the afternoon and it is growing quite happily. Hybridized by Dan Trimmer and introduced in 1998, Persian Ruby is one of those no-fuss daylilies that increases well and blooms reliably (bud count: 26-30). The huge, almost eight-inch flowers are gorgeous and consistent. This 30" tall, dormant tetraploid daylily is quite a head-turner at peak bloom. Last year in my Wisconsin garden bloom time was from July 10 through August 8.

And with these good looks, of course this cultivar is a multiple American Daylily Society award winner:

• Honorable Mention: 2005  - The first official “stamp of approval” by the American Daylily Society
• Award of Merit: 2008 - Performs well in a wide geographic area
• XLD (Extra Large Diameter) Award: 2009

So if you want a daylily that's a 'sure thing,' I think Persian Ruby fits the bill.

On a dreary, 'fake-spring' afternoon I spent some time on my laptop going through photos from last summer. I deleted images I no longer wanted and re-arranged my keepers. I came across photos of this Asiatic lily that I just had to share. 'Suncrest' is such a beautiful lily. It is a hardy grower that I'm confident *anyone* could successfully grow. It grows approximately 3-4 feet tall and thrives in Zones 4 to 9. (I live in Zone 4.) It grows so robustly that I transplanted mine to partial shade to slow it down a bit! What I really like about this lily are the different looks that it presents. The buds are green with a touch of rose. When they first bloom, the flowers look lime-y green with burgundy speckles over a yellow base. As the bloom ages it morphs into a pale yellow color, as you can see in the third photo. At peak bloom it often looks like the plant grows two different color blooms simultaneously.

Suncrest is a Longiflorum-Asiatic (L.A.) Hybrid Lily. L.A. lilies are hybridized for better performance, bigger blooms, and a vase-life that is the longest of any lily. For those with allergies, they are virtually scentless. I purchased my Suncrest at the Saturday State Street Markets in Madison many years ago. As annoying and awkward as it was carrying this lily around in its pot, while trying to maneuver around tons of people at the markets (without whacking them in the head with my plant), it was totally worth it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

(And yes, the calendar says that it's spring, but I consider it 'fake-spring' until I can actually get outside.)

I saw my first robin last Friday! In fact I saw an entire flock of about 25 robins sitting in a tree by our front yard. Despite the three-plus feet of snow remaining after a week of rain and freezing rain, this gives me hope that warmer weather is just around the corner.

Still, I can't help but worry about these little robins and wondered how they manage in the 30 degree temperatures. Apparently, if food is abundant, robins can thrive in surprisingly cold temperatures if there is not too much snow.  In the north, ornamental fruit tees can sustain robins during the cold weather (crabapples, hollies, and mountain ash) in both urban and suburban areas.

We put out some dried cranberries and raisins for them, but unfortunately, the mice got to them before the birds. Robins also like dried blueberries, apple slices, fresh grapes, meal worms, and suet pellets. And for the robin spa experience, they especially enjoy a heated bird bath. Hang in there robins!

I don't keep many hostas in my yard simply because there is not enough shade for them. So I'm very picky as to which ones get to stay. 'Inniswood' is one of my keepers. I love the chartreuse/gold colored leaves with the deep green edges and the thick, crepe texture. My Inniswood gets about 3 hours of sun each morning, consequently it colors-up quite nicely. In deeper shade this hosta would have more green tones. I also like that this hosta is slug resistant and it's a moderate grower that doesn't have to be divided constantly. Huge plus!

Inniswood thrives in Zones 2-9 in just about any type of soil. It's a nice border plant that grows approximately 24" tall. In summertime, I typically cut the flowers stalks off my hostas before they bloom. I like the look of the leaves without the flowers. If you don't cut the stalks, the fallen flowers can stick to the leaves like glue after a rainstorm and make the plant look untidy. In late fall I trim the foliage about 3-4" from the ground. Inniswood is planted close to our house and I don't want any critters calling it home during the winter.

I added a couple of photos so you can see how I pair Inniswood with companion plants in the border. The chartreuse color looks especially nice with the 'Palace Purple' Heuchera (Coral Bells) and the 'Raspberry Splash' Pulmonaria. The ground cover shown is 'Beacon Silver' Dead Nettle.

Butter Pecan is a wonderful, reliable daylily that I have had for quite some time. This fuss-free plant grows like a champ. The first photo was taken in late afternoon when the color had mellowed in the sun; the second photo was taken first thing in the morning when the bloom was more vibrant in color. I think both the AM and PM versions of this daylily are equally pretty.

Hybridized by Gould in 1992, Butter Pecan is a hardy dormant tetraploid. The scapes grow about 32" tall and the large, consistent blooms measure from 6.5 to 7 inches in size.  In 2018 Butter Pecan bloomed in my garden from July 16 through August 21.

Butter Pecan was awarded an Honorable Mention in 1999. Established in 1950, the Honorable Mention is the first official 'stamp of approval' by the American Daylily Society, where good performance goes beyond the regional level.

These two photos illustrate why I place protective tomato cages in my flower garden over the winter. On this occasion there happened to be only one deer foraging for food, but it's not unusual to have a herd of them roaming around. This whitetail scrounged up some dried up marigolds, but thankfully the tomato cages kept my precious daylilies safe.

Every year, without fail, I grow Double Red Peony Poppies in my yard. I got a few peony poppy seed pods from a friend's garden about twenty years ago and have been growing them ever since. I love the grey-green foliage and the bright pop of color they provide early in the season, even though they have a somewhat brief bloom time. The flowers measure 4+ inches in diameter and the plants grow about 2-3 ft. tall.  Snipping off the flowers will extend the bloom. They are super easy-to-grow annuals. When they are done blooming I simply shake the seeds out of the dried up pods where I want them to grow next year, rough up the dirt a bit, and that's it! Then I remove the dried-up plants from the ground and compost them. It can't get easier than that!

Important: You may want to deadhead most of your poppies after their bloom to keep re-seeding in check. With hundreds of seeds in each pod, they can overpopulate fast. Often the wind can blow the seeds to places in your garden you may not want them.

We've experienced some crazy Wisconsin temperature variances in the past three days (from minus 39 degrees last Thursday to plus 39 degrees on Saturday). The cold weather inspired me to explore the topic of winterscaping. Winterscaping is creating visual interest in your yard or landscaping for enjoyment during the dark and dreary months of the year. 

As I watched TV in the evening, I visited numerous websites on my laptop and got lots of ideas for winterscaping. Many gardeners use perennial grasses for visual interest. Shrubs with brightly colored berries or colorful stems are used as well. Some individuals craft seasonal planters to create a bright spot of color. A great variety of lighting can be used in the landscape -- from home-made ice candle holders to large spotlights that accentuate unusual shapes (a Corkscrew Willow , for instance) at night. Different lighting colors can create a variety of moods in the landscape. My sister-in-law, Sandra, placed twinkle lights on a large trellis by her deck. While sitting in her dining room, the trellis lights are very warm and comforting in the evening.

Decorative ice spheres can be created (of any size) and back lit with colorful lights. The spheres can be made by filling a balloon with water, placing it outside, and letting it freeze. The next day the balloon covering can be removed and you have a frozen decorative sphere. This could be a fun project for your kiddos or grands.

At any rate, I'm armed with lots of ideas and I've got a list! Next winter I will be thinking about winterscaping my yard come November instead of February.

'Dipped in Ink' is one of my dependable old-school daylilies. I have grown this plant for quite a few years and it has never disappointed me. Hybridized by the late Howard Reeve in Indiana, this semi-evergreen diploid was introduced in 1998.

Last summer in my Wisconsin garden, this bicolor grew 40" tall and bloomed from July 5th to August 5th. It is categorized as an Unusual Form (UFo) Spatulate. At peak season the large clump was quite showy with nine and one-half inch blooms. It is also worthy to note that Dipped in Ink has two very famous parents:  'Miss Jessie' and 'Kindly Light.'

I'm crazy, right? Why didn't I keep these flowers? Every year I purchase approximately ten to fifteen new daylilies from my wish list. For that to happen I need garden spaces to open up and there's only one way to do that. The decisions are always hard, but there's no way I'm making my gardens any larger.

Here are some of the daylilies I parted company with in 2018 and the reasons why:

• Bertie Ferris - A prolific mini I've had since the dawn of time - I wanted to try something new.
• Betty Ford - Betty was not happy in my 100% sun garden. I made sure she went to a home with part shade.
• Burning Inheritance - I had a love/hate relationship with this one. Some years it was absolute perfection and some years it was not. Burning Inheritance needed an owner who was not so picky.
  
• Greystone Sirens (unregistered Lehman seedling) I had a similar plant and I chose to keep the registered one.
• Lake Effect - (blog cover girl) I didn't have enough shade to keep this plant happy in my garden. I found it a new home that has afternoon shade.
  
• Little Grapette - Super difficult decision; I had grown Little Grapette since I started gardening and it always bloomed like a superstar. I gave this little pixie to a gardener who is just starting out. I know she'll fall in love with daylilies after growing this one.
  
• Mardi Gras Parade - A gorgeous, profuse bloomer, but my cranky back does not like to deadhead this shorty.
  
• Siloam Doug's Double  - Ditto Mardi Gras Parade
  
• Siloam Jim Cooper - Another small one...
• Spacecoast Starburst - I grew this beauty for about 12 years and simply wanted to try something new and different.
• Tom Leonard - Another one of my love/hates. I wanted so badly to keep it, but I think a change of scenery was what it really needed. It just wasn't happy at my house.
• Tupac Amaru - I also grow Lounge Lizard, which is quite similar to Tupac. I parted company with Tupac and kept Lounge Lizard because it's taller; I've been gravitating towards taller lately.
  
• What Nerve - This pretty went to my very dear friend -- I knew she'd take good care of it :)

Garden slip-ups are, without a doubt, one of the easiest topics for me to write about since I have single-handedly made just about every blunder that a gardener possibly could. As I've mentioned in earlier blogs, I did not grow up in a gardening family; my love of perennials came unexpectedly out of left field. Without a mentor I learned to garden by the trial-and-error method. Some of my gardening ideas worked (luck), but many others were an epic fail. It was then that I borrowed books from the library. The gardening books helped me achieve a much better outcome. And why is it that we never read instructions until we screw up or can't figure something out? Human nature, I guess.

Here are a few of the things I've learned (the hard way):

1. Pay attention to the actual width and height of a mature plant listed on the plant tag. Failure to do this causes extra work. The plant is no longer cute when it's massive and crowding out all the other adjacent plants.
2. Pay attention to the hardiness zone on the perennial plant tag. I live in Zone 4B and often see Zone 5 perennials for sale in our area. When buying plants, don't be swayed by a pretty face. Yes, they may survive during a mild winter or perhaps they will do okay if planted in a protected place, but don't expect them to stick around for the long haul. If you do buy out-of-zone, consider the plant an annual from the get-go so you're not heartbroken when it dies.
3. Pay attention to the sun exposure on the perennial plant tag. Here's specifically what these terms mean in terms of actual numbers -- very important!
   *  Full sun - More than 6 hours of direct sunlight.
   *  Part sun - 4-6 hours of direct sunlight. Afternoon sun is usually better (hotter).
   *  Part shade - 4-6 hours of direct sunlight. Morning sun is usually better (less hot)
   *  Shade - Less than 4 hours of direct sunlight.
4. Resist impulse buying. Before I buy anything, my rule is that I must have a place to put it. Cramming a plant anywhere doesn't do it justice, or the plants that already live in the flower bed you are cramming it into.
5. Planning ahead is best practice and really does save extra work down the road. If you don't want to do it twice, plan ahead.
6. Steer clear of walnut trees - There are several walnut trees surrounding our property. Their roots produce a substance called juglone that can be toxic to many plants. Luckily, my daylilies aren't bothered, but many of my other plants have a major problem with juglone. Also, be careful not to let walnut leaves sneak into your compost.
   
7. Never get lazy about spraying deer deterrent. You can't ever be too tired...it only takes one evening for a few deer to take out an entire flower bed full of blooms you've waited all year to see.
   

Daylily pictured: Grey Witch

Grateful living is happy living. Every year at this time I like to take time to reflect on things that made me smile or feel grateful over the past year. Here's my list:

• Buying an item at a garage sale and a week later finding a gift card tucked inside. After checking the balance online, it was never used! Regretfully, after going to 20+ garage sales seven days prior, I was clueless  as to which house it came from. So all I can say is "Much obliged indeed!"
• Being able to have some great laughs! And a laugh is so much better when I can get it at my husband Ange's expense. I must preface this story by saying that our four-year-old grandson is obsessed with bodily functions, especially burps and farts. Since Ange is just a grown-up version of a four-year-old, he downloaded a 'fart app' on his iPhone which our grandson L-O-V-E-S. Here's the funny part; after Ange and I spent an afternoon with our grandson, on the way home we stopped at an evening garage sale. You're familiar with pocket-dialing? Well, while Ange was looking at garage sale items (in a small garage filled with people), the iPhone fart app activated in his pants pocket, and the volume was not low. You should have seen the people scatter!
• Receiving an unexpected gift of an entire pound of high-end chocolates from a specialty shop in Oshkosh. Definitely my guilty pleasure! I ate nothing but chocolates that evening for dinner. Best.meal.ever.
• My eight-year-old granddaughter asked me if I was aware of the fact that by the time she's a teenager, I would probably be dead. You gotta love this girl :)
• Getting the gift of a perfect September day that coincided with a day off from work. The local weather had forecast thunderstorms and rain all day, when in fact it turned into a beautiful day with temperatures in the low 70s. Gardening heaven!
• Finding a division of a daylily I had admired in my friend's garden potted up and sitting by my car at the end of a work day.
• Our brother-in-law is a rock star. After two brain surgeries, lung cancer, chemo, radiation, and heart bypass surgery (all in the course of a few years) his sense of humor and resilience is nothing short of amazing. He also makes me think twice before complaining about anything.
• I know this will be hard to believe, but before 2018 I had never seen the sitcom 'Friends.' So over a six-month period I watched the entire ten seasons on Netflix. The best part was that every single episode made me laugh! And who doesn't need a happy place to go to at the end of the day?
• Ange and I have had the same card-playing group for over 20 years. Cards have become quite comical as of late. We are spending more and more of our time figuring out who dealt last, who laid down the last card, and who the heck snuck Canadian money into the pot. Thankfully, none of this interferes with having a guaranteed good time with lots of laughter.
• Finally, I'm so grateful that Ange always takes time to help me out in the garden. He says he hates flowers, but just between us, I kind of think he's playing me.

Pictured above: Minneapolis sophisti-cat 'Sophie,' a shelter rescue who now lives the life of a princess

Lately I've been obsessed with metal art. I've always liked it in my garden, but this year I found a way to incorporate it into my Christmas decorations. I bought an antiqued galvanized metal snowflake wreath, but it needed a little something more to make it pop. So I wired in some greenery and added a red and green Christmas bow. Now I really like the look. After Christmas the bow can be changed out to another color so the wreath can be used throughout the winter season.

I also bought a large metal snowflake which I have hanging by my kitchen sink. I cleared out some of my older decorations and replaced them with more current ones. And as always, more clearing out and less replacing (except for the daylilies, that is). Okay Christmas...I'm ready!

As you can see, this kitten found a new vantage point to look for Santa. What is it about cats and Christmas trees? I'm sure  to 'Thunder' this tree looks like a tall cat toy challenge, put there purely for his enjoyment alone. Anyone who has lived with cats knows how much they like climbing as high as they possibly can to observe their surroundings.

Thunder is a shelter rescue who found his forever home last August with two of the most amazing children ever. And he just so happens to be my grand-kitty. This little guy has a big personality. He is outgoing, cuddly, and very gentle. Whatever is happening around his house, he likes to be right in the middle of the action. Thunder has proven to be a perfect fit for his new family...other than the Christmas tree thing.

Thanks to Tara Elizabeth for the photo of this irrepressible adventurer.

I'm in love with black petunias! I grew these annuals for the first time last summer. The petal texture resembled soft black velvet fabric. Most plants that are 'black' are truly dark purple, but I was unable to see any purple undertones. The combination of the lime green leaves with the black flowers was exquisite. They looked perfect every day and required little to no care on my part. I planted them in a southwest exposure, so they endured the hottest sun possible.

So I want to buy these petunias again next year, but I have no idea what variety they are. I bought them on clearance and unfortunately they had no tag in the pot.  After searching online, I suspect they may be 'Black Velvet' or 'Black Cat.' Next spring I'll plan to go back to the same plant hut and hope they use the same supplier as they did last year.

Black petunias were developed by Jianping Ren at Ball Horticulture in the UK and  introduced to the public in the spring of 2011. They created quite a buzz because of their unique and unusual color. It is said that they don't perform as well as other petunias, but mine seemed to do just fine, as you can see. They may not get the same spread as a Wave petunia, but who cares -- I love the unique color. I used my black petunias as a specimen  planting.

In the top photo you can see a clear mason jar with solar LED lights that I placed next to the petunias. The mason jar lights remain lit up all night until morning. I was able to look out the window and see my black petunias at night!  Can you see me in the photo? I'm the one inside the mason jar taking the picture.