'Willow Dean Smith' had been on my wish list for a long time before she arrived in my garden a few years ago. This Kentucky girl has a feminine vibe with lovely pink-edged ruffles. The ruffles fade to a lighter pink in the afternoon. Both versions are equally beautiful.

Hybridized by John Rice in 2007, Willow Dean Smith is a dormant tetraploid that grows from 36-38" tall. As delicate as this daylily appears, it is winter-hardy in Wisconsin. The pristine blooms measure between 6-6.5" in size and are very consistent, waxy, and sturdy in all types of weather. A late-season flower, Willow Dean Smith bloomed in my garden last summer from July 17 through August 23.   

Willow Dean Smith does not  have the most rapid increase, but that doesn't bother me in the least...I'm willing to wait. I love this daylily! It's a tall, dazzling stand-out in any garden.

American Daylily Society Award: Honorable Mention 2011

One evening I noticed a faintly unpleasant odor in our living room. I ignored it and went on about my business. By the next day, however, the odor had grown from faintly unpleasant to funky-yuck-horrible. And now the odor had an unmistakable identity...SKUNK!

Problem #1: Where was this skunk? After investigating, Ange and I deduced that the smell was coming from underneath the concrete steps outside of our front door. It seemed that a wayward skunk must have squeezed through the small crevice between the house and the hollow concrete steps and taken up residence.

Problem #2: What should we do? Knowing that skunks are primarily nocturnal, Ange and I had time to Google a solution before the skunk emerged. We learned that skunks hate water and don't like nesting anywhere around water. Ange cleverly rigged up a hose with a sprinkler-type nozzle on it. He positioned it on the top of the stairs so that it pointed away from the house and sprayed inside the steps. He turned the water on just enough to have a fine spray coming out.

Ange watched from the outside, while I watched from the inside window closest to the front steps. The important part was that we needed to actually see a skunk come out. Finally, about ten minutes later, out came a wet, dazed, big, fat skunk. It waddled away and disappeared into the woods. To make sure there were no other skunks under the steps, we kept the water spray going for five more minutes. Ange then turned the water off and immediately blocked the crevice by the steps with a big iron pipe so the skunk (or any other varmint) couldn't get back in.

It took a day or two, along with some Febreze, but the smell finally vanished. I'm happy to say that our front steps have been skunk-free ever since. When you live in the country, you always have to expect the unexpected!

Photo courtesy of NDomer73 from www.flickr.com
(There's no way I'd get anywhere near a skunk to take a photo!)

'Bloom Where You're Planted' is a perfect metaphor for all of us as we begin the new year.

This hardy daylily does exactly that! 'Bloom Where You're Planted' was hybridized in Minnesota by Karol Emmerich in 2013. I think this dormant tetraploid is just about perfect in every way possible. The showy 5.5" blooms are consistent and have good substance (bud count: 21-25). On cooler days the colors remain just a bit darker. The fragrant flowers are early morning openers, even when the temperatures are in the 50's and 60's, and the plant is a reliable re-bloomer, even in Wisconsin.

Last summer, Bloom Where You're Planted grew 32" tall in my garden and bloomed from July 13 through August 21.  This peach and red beauty was planted in our front roadside garden for the last couple of years. It was so stunning that last fall we decided to move it up by the back door of our house so we could appreciate it up-close.

2020 was uncharted territory for me in more ways than I could have ever imagined.

I've learned:

• I am blessed with some over-the-top, amazing people in my life who mean the world to me.
• guarantees are for appliances.
• not to stray too far from the 'here and now.'
• that potato chips, brownies and soda in one sitting is not a good idea (even though my 'here and now' self would disagree).
• you can deal with difficulty whether or not you have courage.
• gratitude is necessary.
• it's all about perspective.
  
• the fortune-teller was wrong.
• material items live low on the totem pole.
• finally, and of utmost importance, it ain't so bad that it can't get worse.

Pictured: A quaint storefront I passed by in Bath, England.

With winter coming up on December 21st, gardening tasks are officially over, right? You can kick-back, relax, and forget about the flowers. Well...as gardener, I have to say that couldn't be further from the truth. I choose to look at winter as a gift; a time to do a variety of tasks and activities I was too busy for during the growing season.

Here's a list of some gardening 'stuff' I usually do in winter:

• I update my garden maps to reflect any additions, subtractions, and transplant re-locations. Should a plant tag go missing I'll know exactly where everything is planted.
• Last summer I took literally hundreds of photos. I go through each and every photo, delete what I don't want, and name and organize the keepers on my laptop.
• I have an actual photo album of my current daylilies, so I get prints made up of any new plants and update the album.
• All my outside garden daylily/plant name tags are checked for wear and updated as needed.
• My computer lists and spreadsheets are updated, in addition to my website content.
• The garden supply cabinet in the garage gets a good cleaning on a day when the temps are around 50 degrees.
• I go over my future daylily wish list with any changes. I love this task!
  
• I take some time to visit various daylily websites and do lots of online reading. This, too, is fun!

'Blueberry Breakfast' is a very unique, distinctive daylily. Its coloration tends to vary with the weather. Some days it looks chalky lavender/purple and other days, vibrant pink. Occasionally it even exhibits spots, as you can see in the second photo. This beautiful dormant diploid cultivar is perfect for  the front of the border as it only grows 22" tall. Hybridized in 1988 (Rose), Blueberry Breakfast has five-inch flowers and is a midseason bloomer. In my garden, last summer's bloom was from July 7 through September 16. (The latter date included late-season rebloom.) This daylily is very hardy and grows very well in Wisconsin. It's a perfect northern daylily!

American Daylily Society Awards: Honorable Mention: 2002

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

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.

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.

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

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 )

• Frances Joiner
• Hold On My Friend
• Magnificent Rainbow
• Paha Sapa Thundercloud
• Roswitha
• Something Angelic
• Spacecoast Cherries and Cream
• Strawberry Candy
• Sweet Summer Heat
• The Band Played On
• Timeless Majesty
• Wilson Spider

'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

Ahhhh...September....the month we Northern gardeners try to remedy our planting fails from the previous spring by juggling daylilies around the yard. My friend Sally and I like to refer to this as the 'Domino Effect' because in order to move *one* daylily to a new spot, it seems like an entire chain reaction of plant-moving needs to take place before that *one* daylily can be put in its place.

The Domino Effect reminds me of these three Murphy's Laws:

• #5. Nothing is as easy as it looks
• #6. Everything takes longer than you think, and
• #11. If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something

Why move daylilies around? A daylily's registration information can vary greatly as to how that plant grows in your garden, due to differences in sun, soil, temperature, and location. Planting is definitely a trial-and-error endeavor until you get to know how a particular plant behaves in your unique situation.

Here are just a few examples of why you'd want to move a plant:

• A daylily may need  more sun because it has a low bloom count
• A plant could be crying out for more shade because the color fades in the sun
• It grew taller than expected and obscured the plants behind it
• It grew shorter than expected and disappeared within the flower bed
• Bloom times were off -- one section of the garden somehow ended up with all early bloomers and by the beginning of August there were no blooms at all
• You may want to change-up color combinations to make your garden more aesthetically pleasing
• Finally, every season plants arrive and plants depart from the garden; when replacing daylilies, the size or bloom time of the new plant rarely matches that of the previous one

I have yet to encounter a year without experiencing the Domino Effect. And as a gardener, I suspect you haven't either!

Daylily pictured: 'Techny Spider' with a companion ant

'Greywoods Disco Dana' is so cheerful and unrestrained when it blooms. Each one of these large, unique flowers looks like it is disco dancing! The petals and sepals fling themselves around in a wild, uncontrolled manor. Each bloom is headed in a different direction. This makes Greywoods Disco Dana quite an impressive sight in a large clump!

Disco Dana is categorized as an Unusual Form (UFO) Crispate daylily. Hybridized in 2003 in Massachusetts by Darlyn Wilkinson, this dormant tetraploid daylily grows 28" tall with 8" blooms (Bud Count: 21-25).  In the morning this wild and crazy gold-yellow blend has a vivid green throat, and as the day progresses the bloom mellows and the edges fade to a cream color.

Disco Dana is a hardy grower that quickly clumped-up for me without any special attention. In 2020 this lovely plant bloomed in my garden from July 15 through August 16, at which point the opportunistic deer finished off the remaining blooms. Our bad; we slipped up by not re-spraying deer deterrent after a short burst of rain.

I bought 'The Bodacious Ms Billadeau' on a whim (it was a 'pretty picture' purchase) at the Wisconsin Daylily Society sale in Madison three years ago, and what a WOW this plant turned out to be! It has large, beautifully textured, 6.75 to 7 " blooms that are vibrantly colored, and I love the added bonus of the white-ish buds for visual interest. The blooms are consistent and look great in any weather situation. In 2020, this prolific daylily bloomed in my garden from July 9 through August 26! You can't really ask for more than that. Call me happy ;)

Bodacious was hybridized in North Carolina by Paul Owen in 2012. This 27" dormant, tetraploid daylily thrives in our crazy Wisconsin climate, as do all my other Owen daylilies.

Note: 'My Friend Charlie,' also an Owen daylily, grows behind Bodacious. They look great together!