I am completely in love with the daylily 'Music Monkey.' Hybridized in Wisconsin by Phil and Luella Korth of Pinewood Gardens, this showy, dormant tetraploid was introduced in 2007. It is categorized as a UFo (Unusual Form) crispate (floral segments that have a pinched or folded effect). The 7" blooms are waxy and thick. Sun, humidity, rain, or wind don't bother this monkey; he always looks great. Occasionally the sepals twirl and the bloom actually looks like it's dancing! Last year Music Monkey grew 31" tall and bloomed in my garden from July 9 into the second week of August.

Music Monkey was one of my husband's picks, using his 'pretty picture' method of choice. Who knew it would be so awesome? And it surely can't hurt having two award-winning parents like Primal Scream and Unending Melody. If you are a northern gardener, and love oranges like I do, you can't go wrong with Music Monkey. I like the catchy moniker too.

Where do I start? Maybe with died-and-gone-to-daylily-heaven? I spent Saturday with my friend Roger walking one of his seedling fields. This particular field had between 8,000 and 10,000 daylily seedlings. (And yes, you read those numbers correctly.) It was nothing short of amazing! In addition to his magnificent home garden, Roger also keeps two large seedling fields, each in a different location, on extra acreage that friends let him plant on. They, of course, get the added benefit of a beautiful landscape full of flowers.

Roger is an American Hemerocallis Society (AHS) certified daylily garden judge. When he hybridizes, he aims for specific outcomes when making a cross. He keeps in mind parent genetics, bloom color, pattern, size, and substance, branching, bud count, foliage, scape strength, and many other specifics that determine what a good cross may be. Green eyes are one of his favorite bloom traits that he often hybridizes for.

Our main task was to methodically go through the garden and choose the seedlings that we thought showed the most promise. We also tagged some 'put in the compost pile' seedlings. He appreciates other people's opinions, because with 10,000 seedlings it's very easy to overlook a plant or two. And as daylily aficionados, we all like and value something different.

It was a daunting task at first, but for each seedling that caught my eye, I asked myself, 'Does this plant have the wow factor for the characteristics I value?' Everything I loved got tied with pink vinyl tape that had my initials on it. And believe me, there was no shortage of pink tape being used. Here are photos of *just a few* of the seedlings I loved. I stand by all of my choices and I would totally bring any one of these babies home to grow in a heartbeat.

We also did a little bit of pollen-dabbing with some bloom pollen from my garden. It was fun determining which plants to make the crosses with. If only the units on genetics and plant biology were this much fun in school I would have paid more attention.

'Greedy Governor' was part of last year's mission to add more red daylilies to my garden, a color that I didn't have much of. The Gov's first blooms, on June 27, were greeted by extremely high humidity and unrelenting 98-degree temperatures. Being a red (some of which are notorious for melting in the hot sun), the flower substance still looked good in the evening, if only just a bit lighter in color. I thought the lighter look was pleasing, as well. Greedy Governor is categorized as a dormant tetraploid unusual form (UFO) cascade, crispate, spatulate. The blooms are large (8.5") and I love the way the sepals twirl and curl.  In the bright sun the blooms have somewhat of a yellow-orange cast to them and the diamond dusting appears to make them glow. Oh the details! I tried to capture this with my camera but didn't have much luck.

I can see that Gov is already growing taller (29") than expected (26") and this is just year one. No worries;  that can be easily remedied with a future move. From what I have observed so far, I think this will be a hardy, happy plant no matter where I put it.

Greedy Governor was hybridized by Nate Bremer of Solaris Farms in Reedsville, WI and introduced in 2013. I grow a few other Bremer daylilies and they all perform very well in my Zone 4B Wisconsin garden.

As I patiently wait for my daylilies to bloom, I am definitely enjoying my Asiatic lilies in the interim. Here is a hardy and reliable mini I grow named 'Tiny Padhye' (pronounced Pad-high). This cutie was a gift I received from a friend about six years ago. I got the bulbs in early March and placed them in my refrigerator until mid-May when I planted them in the ground. As you can see, they really took off!

This bi-color Asiatic was developed the Netherlands. You can grow it successfully in full sun or part shade (mine are in full sun). It is an easy-care plant that lives in normal, sandy or clay soil that is neutral, alkaline or acid. This variety is also showy in containers, rock gardens, and in front of the border because of its petite size. Tiny Padhye grows approximately 16" to 18" tall. They are said to be deer resistant, but I can't be sure about that since I regularly spray deer deterrent on all of my flowers. The deer in our area seem to eat just about anything and everything. I take no chances.

After a long winter, which continued through the month of April, gardening in Wisconsin proves to be an exercise in delayed gratification. And there's nothing whatsoever I can do -- Mother Nature has the reins. My job is to move the plants around, get rid of the weeds, add mulch, and wait. Looking around the garden, I see lots and lots of scapes, but hardly any flowers yet. Is it really the end of June? The *wait* part is getting harder and harder by the day. So it looks like delayed gratification isn't my only issue; add whining to the list!

Pictured is my old faithful 'Moonlit Masquerade,' one of only four daylilies blooming in my yard on June 24.

I came to the conclusion that I run a round-the-clock resort and spa for rabbits. And it must be five-star, because my yard is infested -- moms, dads, babies, the entire extended family -- they are all here. Accommodations are luxurious: a thicket to hide in, expansive play areas with dirt to roll and dig in, warm rocks to lounge on, water to primp and wash, and a decadent buffet of fresh perennials and weeds that are always available. No room service needed here.

A monumental negative; my resort is not gated. I have seen foxes abduct guests on numerous occasions. Coyotes lurk as well, not to mention the hawks and eagles that soar overhead, looking for a quick meal. And then there's the road... 

Should I post a warning?

Check out this cute miniature hosta. 'Stiletto' can grow up to ten inches in height, although mine typically stays around eight inches tall.  It is perfect for the front of a shade border. Dainty purple striped flowers appear in summer, which I remove after the bloom. Stiletto can be used as a singular plant as seen in my garden photos, or it can also be allowed to spread and used as a showy ground cover. The narrow, ripply leaves with a small creamy-white margin are a nice contrast when used as a companion plant. My plant gets about three hours of early morning sun and it tolerates that amount with no problem.

I've had Stiletto for many years, but I periodically divide it to maintain the pictured size. I recently divided mine in half. Unlike most large established hostas, it divides quite easily, and without the use of a saw :)

Even though the winter of 2017-2018 was devastating to many of my plants, my chick and hens didn't seem to notice. They came through the winter nicely. I bet I've had these chick and hens for over twenty years.  The scientific name for this succulent is "Sempervivum," (from Latin) which means “live forever.” I have occasionally sold them at my plant sale when they are overabundant. I can always depend on them to happily increase back to a huge clump. Some of these chick and hens change color from green to burgundy - bonus! Unfortunately, I don't know the exact variety of Sempervivum mine are because I bought them at a garage sale.

No special care is needed for chick and hens, except to enjoy them -- no fancy soil or fertilizer, although I have read that they prefer a sandy soil. Mine are in part-shade and get the west sun from about 12:30 pm to 6:00 pm. The rock that some of my chicks live in does have drainage on the bottom for when it rains heavily. Chick and hens don't like being waterlogged. Being a succulent, they prefer being on the dry side and are extremely drought tolerant. This is great because if you forget to water them, no worries! I'm confident that just about anyone can grow chick and hens, no matter what their garden skills are.

Whenever I go to garage sales I am always on the lookout for this multi-use tool. Its official name is Vintage Metal/Wood English 3-Tine Hand Garden Fork, but I just refer to it as "the claw." It's one of my favorite garden tools. You can't have too many of them! They go for about $15-$30 on eBay, but mine are the garage sale version for $1 or $2. This claw is awesome! When transplanting daylilies the dirt from the root ball can be removed so easily. It makes what could be a hard job, easy. It's also great for uprooting shallow-rooted weeds.

We painted our two  claws bright red and accessorized them with fluorescent tape so they don't get lost in the garden. Last week one accidentally got thrown into the field along with a bucket of weeds. Uh-oh, instant panic mode!  Luckily, I quickly spotted and retrieved the claw in the pile of weeds thanks to the bright red paint and fluorescent tape. Happy me, because I'd be lost without it!

Over the last few years I have added more red daylilies to my collection because I had very little of that color in my garden. One of my favorites is 'All American Chief.'  What a perfect northern daylily! You simply plant it (anywhere) and it takes off and grows like a champ. And those blooms! They are all 9" in diameter. The foliage is attractive and contrasts nicely with the red flowers. All American Chief makes quite a statement when it is in full bloom. My husband doesn't remember many of the daylily names in our yard, but he definitely knows this one!

Hybridized by Van Sellers and registered in 1994, All American Chief is a dormant tetraploid that grows 32" tall. This cultivar appears regularly on popularity polls and won the Stout Medal in 2008, which is the highest award a daylily can win (plus three other awards). The takeaway? This daylily is a sure thing! If you don't grow it, you really should.

Now that May has arrived, spring is finally back on track after the brutal April that we had. It was one for the record books in western Wisconsin. We had a total of 19" of snow, which was 17.3" more than normal! We also had a 69 degree temperature spread, winding up with an 84 degree day on April 30th. Go figure.

Quite a few of my daylilies did not fare well over the winter. Many of them died or had rotted crowns. I think much of the damage happened during the three-day rain/ice/snow storm we had in mid-April. The poor plants were covered with thick sheets of ice.

I get so disappointed when I have a huge, beautiful daylily clump that dies back to only one wimpy scape after a bad winter. Then I end up coddling the plant along for three more years, only to have it happen again. For the daylilies pictured, this wasn't the first time they had a near-death experience. So I made a difficult decision....as beautiful as these flowers are, it was time to say goodbye. These daylilies had never thrived like my other plants did. For this reason I discarded them in the field. Wisconsin was clearly not their happy place.

The good news? This ultimately makes my downsizing effort easier and I have space for a new daylily or two.

Pictured: Four of my recently discarded daylilies: 'Mountains Bow Down' (lavender-mauve), 'Fashion Police' (yellow with mahogany-red eye) and 'Off Beat' (cream with purple eye), and 'Before Night Falls' (Cream-lavender with a black-red eyezone)

The great thing about growing daylilies is that no matter what your income level is, you can find one to fit your budget. There are so many exceptional daylilies available that you can purchase for $10 and under. And on the other end of the spectrum, there are trend-setting daylilies you can buy for up to $300. After a daylily has been out on the open market for a while, the purchase price gradually decreases over time as new cultivars are introduced each year.

When I was first bitten by the daylily bug my kiddos were in elementary school. At that time I remember feeling guilty that I spent more money than I should have on a daylily. Should I have bought school clothes instead? I ultimately decided that the new daylily made me a happier Mom. How's that for rationalization?

Although I'm still not in a place to afford triple-digit daylily prices, that doesn't dampen my enthusiasm by any means. I just have to wait a little longer to get what's on my wish list. As it stands right now, I am perfectly happy getting the seven and eight-year-old daylilies. As each year passes, hybridizers come up with more and more innovative, cutting-edge daylilies. Consequently, there is always yet another daylily that I must have -- it's a never-ending cycle.

Pictured: Daylily 'Signs and Wonders.'  At the time I bought this pretty, it was my biggest splurge to date. Sorry? Not really.

I have fond memories of paging through Jung garden catalogs when they were mailed to our home. I always kept the catalogs because they had good plant information and attractive photos to refer to until the next catalog arrived. Even though all the information is online now, I still sometimes miss having the actual catalog in my hands.

Recently Ange and I had some business to take care of in Stevens Point, WI. On the way to our destination we almost drove right past the Jung Gardening Center -- bigger than life! WHOA, stop the car! We (or more correctly I) had to take a closer look. This was my first garden center experience of 2018 and it certainly amped up  my excitement for warmer weather.

It was fun walking around, taking my time to check out all the gardening items. Jung's have an amazing display of hundreds of different seed varieties, in addition to just about anything and everything 'garden' you can possibly think of. The staff at Jung's are well on the way to having the shelves fully stocked for the spring rush of customers. I can only imagine how the Center will look once all the annuals and perennials arrive.  It will be total sensory overload in a most incredible way! Is this the best time of year, or what?

Here is what my backyard in western Wisconsin looked like on April 3rd. Our official total was seven inches of snow. This is precisely why I restrain myself from cleaning up dead garden foliage too early in the spring. Final frost dates in Zone 4a can be anywhere between April 30th to May 15th, depending on the trending weather. I typically delay my garden cleanup until late April. I like to wait until the shriveled up foliage can be easily lifted off the plants without any resistance at all; then the spring rainfall doesn't leave the dead leaves in a big soggy blob on top of the new growth.

This morning, at 13 degrees, it feels as though the nice weather will never come. Snow is in the forecast for this afternoon, tonight and tomorrow. As pretty as snow can be, enough already!

Over the past year or two, most of my daylily purchases have been big, tall plants with large blooms. Not only do the blooms catch your eye from a distance, but deadheading is also considerably easier when I don't have to crouch over a teeny plant to remove 20-30 spent blooms each day. For these reasons I've gradually been phasing out many of my smaller plants, although I do keep a few of my favorites up close to the house. Some of my tiny daylilies have been hard to say goodbye to, but I rest assured knowing that their new owners will love them just as much as I once did. The silver lining? I keep an extensive wish list with numerous  daylilies on it that are just calling out my name. Does this sound familiar fellow daylily addicts?

So 'Black Falcon Ritual' is one of those big, tall, showy plants that I really like. With a height of 38", deadheading this guy is a breeze. The large, consistent blooms are 8" in size and have a waxy, thick texture. After a rainstorm the blooms still looks great. For dark flowers that are the color of grape jelly, they retain their color quite well in full sun. Also notice the delicate watermark. The photos don't do this plant justice -- it is so much more beautiful in real life!

Black Falcon Ritual is categorized as a UFO (Unidentified FOrm) Cascade. UFOs are a classification of daylilies based exclusively on the shapes of the petals or sepals. The American Hemerocallis Society (AHS) defines a 'Cascade' as having narrow floral segments with pronounced curling or cascading, which revolve upon themselves in the manner of a wood shaving.

Introduced in 2005 by Curt Hanson, this semi-evergreen tetraploid won an Honorable Mention Award in 2009 which indicates good performance that goes beyond the regional level. BFR is an early-midseason bloomer in my Wisconsin (4a) garden that started on July 7th last year.

Note: Black Falcon Ritual has the famous 'Jerry Hyatt' in its lineage.

Here is our year-round garden helper (when it was new). We couldn't be without our 4-wheel drive John Deere. While working around the yard, this lawn tractor allows us to work smarter rather than harder. It has both a plow and a bucket attachment. Not only can it mow grass and plow snow, but it can effortlessly move huge rocks and large amounts of black dirt. When we dig up mature daylilies for dividing, the gigantic root balls are simply rolled into the bucket and driven to the dividing area. We have even pulled out trees and shrubs with the John Deere. What a terrific back-saver!

 We love this cute little garden helper, too! She feels strongly that there's a fashion statement to be made no matter what the activity.

It's one thing to have a flower garden, and quite another to keep it weed-free. Simplifying my garden over the last two years has saved me so much time and effort. Since I don't like clutter, I'm not sentimental about what I keep and what I don't keep. I made the decision to focus on my daylilies, because they are what I truly love. I only have a finite amount of time available to keep things looking nice so I made some changes. Here's what I did:

Removed the 40 foot long split-rail fence. Fences are weed magnets. What a back-breaker crawling under and around a fence trying to remove weeds. This never bothered me 20 years ago, but that was then and this is now. Ange helped me pull the fence posts out, fill up the holes with dirt, and haul the fence posts and rails away with our John Deere lawn tractor. Best decision ever! In addition, there is much more air flow for my daylilies which they have really responded to.

Goodbye Garden Phlox. Garden phlox are fragrant and pretty from a distance, but up close they were -- I'll just say 'not pretty.' Every year they got powdery mold and mildew. I was not willing to put in the time to get rid of the mold and mildew year-after-year. As they grew and spread they would get entangled with Creeping Charlie and crabgrass; then the ticks moved in.

Ditto to Bee Balm. I know hummingbirds and butterflies love them, but unfortunately I don't. They have tender shallow little roots that constantly got tangled up with weeds. I got tired of re-planting them each time I weeded and accidentally pulled them out. They got powdery mold and mildew too , even in full sun.

The flowers in the above two photos are long gone. Last summer was the first time that weeding was easily doable. And I thought my garden was still beautiful, even without the fence, the phlox and the bee balm.

Here is one of my favorite doubles, 'Black Lace Conspiracy.' The first photo was taken in the morning when BLC looks grape-purple, and the second photo was taken in the afternoon when it mellows into a rich burgundy. I love both versions! Plus, if you look closely it has a really neat white edging which is more pronounced as the day goes on.

'Black Lace Conspiracy' came from my friend Becky who bought it at a daylily nursery on one of her adventures in northern Wisconsin. What a find! This dormant tetraploid was introduced in 2008 by Wisconsin hybridizer Nate Bremer. It grows about 28" tall and has 5" blooms, with a bud count of 21-25. It also doubles very consistently. This gem looks great in all types of weather and is a hardy, reliable performer in my backyard. Keeper!