Sometimes things strike me as funny/annoying and I just thought I'd share:

• While Shopping:
  "Would you like a bag?" (When you have seven or eight items sitting on the checkout counter)
  "What's your zip code?" (I just want to pay for my stuff; marketing is not my job)
  "Can we round up the dollar on your purchase?"
  "Did you find everything you needed?" (Just understand that if your answer is anything other than "Yes," you'll end up waiting in line for an eternity longer.)
  And how about the people who never seem to get their grocery carts put away in the cart corral? What's up with that?
• People who take up two parking spaces.
• Why would anyone name a daylily "Golightly?" Ditto for the daylilies named "Root Canal," "Splinter in the Eye," "Buddy's Booger," and "Toad Strangler."
• "Delicious" apples - Are these really considered apples?
• Campbell's soup labels - How long do you have to stand in front of the soup shelf to find the actual soup you want?
• Pharmaceutical commercials on TV - You gotta love the side effects of the drugs that include diarrhea, difficulty breathing, stroke, heart attack, and  death. I want that... yes please! (sarcasm)
• People on Facebook who make vague statements like "I am having the worst day of my life," seeking attention.

Happy 2023  to you - keep it simple!

My son Shawn was in The Netherlands last week. Here are the Christmas decorations at one of the oldest cafés in Amsterdam.

If you want to make a bold statement in the garden, here is the Oriental lily for you. With 8 inch flowers and an amazing fragrance, Dizzy grows up to 40 inches tall. Oriental lilies can be a little temperamental in zone 4 so I keep mine  planted by my house for extra protection in the winter and make sure it's mulched well. Other than that, Dizzy requires very little  care. I get many comments about how beautiful it is.

Pictured are two of my favorite trimming shears. They really come in handy for fall daylily cleanup. If you have back issues like me, these shears are just what you need. The handles adjust to different lengths to limit the amount of bending over while trimming. These shears have been a lifesaver. My garden has never looked better!

FYI the shears retail for about $50 each. A perfect Christmas gift!

Rock Solid is very aptly named. It is weatherproof, reliable, and consistent. I received my plant as a division from my friend Mary.  It's a prolific garden plant. 

Hybridized in 2002 by Patrick Stamile, this dormant tetraploid grows 27 inches tall in my garden.  Rock Solid is an early midseason bloomer that flowered from July 2 through August 4 (bud count 31–35). Blooms are almost 5 inches in size. The genetics of this daylily are so desirable that there are 181 child plants listed in the daylily database. Rock Solid is truly a sure thing!

American Daylily Society Awards
Award of Merit: 2011
Honorable Mention: 2008

Unbridled Spirit is one of my garden favorites. The beautiful pastel pink blends with my other flower colors and the ornate edges with teeth and hooks add visual interest.

Hybridized in Kentucky by John Rice (2007), this dormant tetraploid is very hardy in Wisconsin. Unbridled Spirit is registered as growing 33 inches tall, but in my garden it grows 40 inches plus. The blooms are 5.5 inches and are consistent and weatherproof. This daylily is a late season bloomer starting in late July and going into August. It is worthy to note that one of its parents is the famous Forestlake Ragamuffin.

American Daylily Society Award: Honorable Mention 2011

First photo: A view of the city from the top of Edinburgh Castle

Here is a blog I found in my files that I never posted-this is a departure from my flower topics for a change!

When I visited Edinburgh, the city was beyond crazy busy! The Edinburgh Fringe Festival was in full swing. Every August, for three weeks, the city of Edinburgh welcomes artists from around the world. From big names to unknowns looking to build their careers, the festival includes theater, comedy, dance, circus, cabaret, children's shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions, and events. The performers are scattered throughout the entire city. This made for some interesting people-watching.

The historic Edinburgh Castle was also a very memorable experience. A castle has been on this location since the 12th Century, built on volcanic rock. (A photo of the castle on the rock shown below.) It is the UK's second most-visited paid tourist attraction. I was fortunate to attend the Edinburgh Military Tattoo performance on the castle esplanade in beautiful weather (people at the previous night's performance sat in pouring rain). There were 8,000+ spectators in attendance from dozens of countries on the evening I was there. The performance was amazing! I had never seen anything quite like this before. The sound of over a hundred bagpipes playing together will always stay with me.

A typical Edinburgh street. Note the soot-covered buildings. Most of Edinburgh's classic Gothic and Georgian buildings remain coated in a black residue from the industrial revolution. An attempt was made to clean the buildings, but cleaning them did additional damage to the brickwork, so the effort was abandoned.
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A 1920 anchor from the Russian cruiser Varyag at Lendalfoot, Ayrshire, Scotland 

Shocking is one of my late season Orienpet hybrid lilies. It is truly a show stopper with its large 6 to 12 inch blooms and heavenly fragrance. Shocking is a cross between an oriental lily and a trumpet lily. It is hardy in zones four through seven, grows 4 and 1/2 feet tall and typically blooms from mid to late July into August. Orienpets like full sun to part shade and they adapt to most soils very well. If you want some big impact in your garden, this stunner is for you!

My garden has been been cleaned up for fall. The flowerbeds have been weeded, the plants have been trimmed and tomato cages I have been placed over the daylilies to protect them from deer that roam through our yard. It's not the greatest curb appeal, but it works!


Thank you to Tara, Jade, Blake, Lois, Lori, Ryan, and Trina for all of their hard work. I am so grateful and appreciative.

My friend Mary was watching TV in her living room one evening. After a long day of gardening work she fell asleep in her recliner. She woke up suddenly, hearing a "PLOP… PLOP… PLOP… PLOP" on her laminate floor. She jumped out of her chair wondering what the heck that noise was. Oddly enough, a toad was sitting by her front door as if it was asking to go outside--certainly not your usual house guest! Mary quickly opened her front door and the toad jumped outside into the bushes.

About 48 hours prior, Mary brought in a couple of beautiful annual pots from outside to overwinter in her sun room. Earlier, she noticed that a toad had been sitting in her pot outside. It appeared to be gone on the day she brought her annual plant pots inside. Next year, Mary plans to bring her plant pots into the garage for a day or so before they come into the house, just to make sure there are no toads residing in the dirt!

About 25 years ago I received Spanish Glow as a freebie plant with one of my daylily orders. Believe it or not, I ended up liking Spanish Glow way more than the daylilies I actually ordered. Dozens of daylilies have come and gone in my garden, but Spanish Glow has remained.

Hybridized by Jeff Salter in 1988, this semi-evergreen tetraploid grows 26 to 28 inches tall with a 5 inch bloom. The soft pastel peach is lovely. It is a mid-late season bloomer, that blooms from July through August. Spanish Glow is a perfect garden plant...beauty plus performance!

American Dayliliy Society Award: 1992 Honorable Mention

Toronto is one of my best finds ever! Not far from my office there is a large plant nursery. Needless to say, I spent many lunch hours looking at their plants. At the end of the season they would put out bargain tables. In one particular plant pot there were two solitary sticks poking out of the dirt. There was a plant tag in the pot of a gorgeous Asiatic Lily. I thought I would take a risk and try it out hoping that it wasn't a misplaced plant tag. I was tickled when the plant bloomed the following year and looked even more beautiful than the tag.

I grew Toronto in a flower bed mixed in with daylilies in the backyard. I loved the unusual vibrant color so much that last year we moved it close to our back door. I get so many compliments about how beautiful this lily is.

Stranger in a Strange Land is one of my newer daylilies. I had an empty spot in our brick retaining wall. I wanted a smaller, purple, late bloomer; and this daylily checked all of the boxes. Hybridized in 2011 by Karol Emmerich,  this Minnesota daylily grows very well in Wisconsin. It grows with five inch blooms, between 22 and 24 inches tall, and begins blooming towards late July and well into August. It is sunfast and consistent in addition to being beautiful. It was a perfect addition to our tiered retaining wall. 

Now that October is right around the corner, it's time to prepare my flowerbeds for winter. One task I don't have to do is store my whimsy in the garage or basement. My garden decor is mostly cast iron antiques that remain outside year round. Easy peasy!
 
Here are a few photos of my decorative antiques.

Here is another of my favorite orange daylilies, Screamcicle. Hybridized by Pat Cochenour in 2003, this dormant tetraploid grows 35 inches tall and has a large 8 inch  bloom.  It is an early midseason bloomer, usually starting in early July. Categorized as an unusual form crispate, this daylily is a great performer in my Wisconsin garden with a bud count of 26-30. 

American Daylily Society Awards:
​Award of Merit: 2014
Honorable Mention: 2009

Look what we discovered...a turkey family taking a dust bath in our dirt pile. Turkeys dust their feathers every day if possible. This helps to remove mites and lice. Birds also dust bathe to prevent their feathers from being saturated with excess preening oil, and to remove dry flakes of skin. This was a  rare sight we had never witnessed before.

Have you ever thought about becoming a master gardener? Recently my friend Vonnie earned her certification as a Wisconsin Master Gardener. This is quite an achievement! As a master gardener, she is  knowledgeable about all things related to plants and gardening.

If  being a master gardener is something you may be interested in, here is some information and a website you can go to. It is a very rewarding certification to hold.

How to Join the Master Gardener Program
​#1. Learn about plants and how to take care of them. Participate in an approved learning opportunity from the Wisconsin Extension Horticulture Program such as a county-based in-person course.
#2. An Onboarding course will explain the scope of your role as a Wisconsin Extension Master Gardener.
#3. As a Wisconsin Extension Master Gardener you apply your knowledge and skills educating others and gardening at local organizations. Volunteer service and continuing education are required to be completed and reported each year.
#4. Your involvement will lead to an increase in knowledge and skill in yourself and those your reach. You will use your knowledge of plants to improve lives of others and the community you live in. This, ultimately, will lead to a bigger change in the world around us.

mastergardener.extension.wisc.edu/get-started/

All photos are from Vonnie's home and garden. She grows a wide array of annuals and perennials. And  Vonnie's beautiful cat is named Tipper.

I don't usually grow unregistered daylilies, but I couldn't resist this little sweetheart. I got this daylily from Bobbi Johnson (Johnson Daylilies). Hybridized by Bob Keitzman in Wisconsin, 'Nu-Era Sure is Cool' is the name he had picked out, but never got around to registering it. Bobbi may be registering this plant in the future if she gets permission from Bob's family. In any case, I am in love with this daylily. Blooms are small –I would say about 4 to 4 1/2 inches, but the scapes grow between 30 and 36 inches tall. I planted mine right up by the house so I could appreciate the beautiful colors and intricate details. Nu-Era Sure is Cool is an early-midseason bloomer, typically starting in late June or early July. The plant is hardy and the blooms are consistent.

Here are the frogs for the class of 2022.

​Daylilies pictured include Pretty in Pink, Heavenly Starbrite, Hey Sue's Crispey, Panic in Detroit, Only Just Begun, Pigment of Imagination, and Boundless Beauty. 

​Pictures taken by Ange, Mary and Tara