In The Gardens Squeak checks the moisture level of the potting medium Sue is used to having feline supervision when she helps me plant Sweet autumn clematis in September Oriental Lily Casa Blalnca 3 pods of this cross yielded 72 seeds Seed pod ready to be picked Luna weeding her patch I wish I could still squat like this The only tree frog that I actually saw this summer My granddaughters sorting their 2023 seedlings Friends visit in July Stink bug doing pilates A visitor taking advantage of the many photo ops My outdoor office behind what I call my 'bullpen' of registered daylilies. An invitation to walk in and sit down, but who has time for that? 2017 bed now home to 2023 seedlings. 3 sibling seedlings from the same pot. "Squeak, that is NOT a litterbox!" Aurora and Luna planting their 2023 seeds Seed pods get collected in an egg carton. Pergola office in the fall Sumac at the Prairie's Edge Summer perennials starting to bloom, July 2021 A bird would have to be crazy to use this for its babies. We dig daylilies! Seedling patches beyond the pergola bed Praying mantis at work Luna and Aurora planting their 2022 seedlings Shade garden surrounds the back deck Junior hybridizer, Aurora, pollinates using one of her own seedlings! Ivy recording her crosses Seedling in Ivy's 2018 patch Luna crossing 2 of her seedlings July 2021 - Hybridizers' Clinic Another species of mantis...1 of over 2400 different ones Squeak picks a seed pod to play with. Stone steps in spring, 2021 Donkey Tail Spurge and Johnny Jump Ups Spring blooms along path on east side of the house Iris, lupines and centauria in the pergola bed Fall colors on the east side of the house Sweet autumn clematis...a sign that the daylily bloom season is coming to an end Mums and zinnias in the burgundy & orange themed bed Sunflowers are the last blooms standing in the pergola bed A female mantis laying her egg case...a sure sign that the 2021 bloom season is over March 2020 - honey bee feeding on Winter Aconite July 2020 Hummingbird Hawk Moth heading for a snack Staying safe in the seedling patch a molting mantis new day, new skin Sales bed in July Thanks to this year's volume of rain, frogs have moved into the neighborhood. Fall 2020 - 4th seedling bed at west gardens under construction. April 28, 2019 - a test for hardiness Spring 2019, my new outdoor office taking shape The finished pergola, except for the trellis around each corner July 2019...first bloom of seedlings planted in 2018 My granddaughters regularly check on the toad population. Aurora multitasking with a stamen in one hand and freshly picked raspberries in the other. Culling....the hardest part of hybridizing. A hybridizer's best friends Luna and Aurora help prepare divisions for the 2019 WDS club sale Aurora tagging divisions Bumble bee breakfast June 2018 - 1,200 seedlings, 1 month in the ground June 2018 - first bloom starting for 2017 crop Finch feeding station Evaluation Bed, West Gardens Butterflies Welcome July 2018 - 2015 seedlings at the East Garden May 2017 - First bloom starting for 2016 crop Junior Hybridizers, planting their seedlings in the 2017 patch Break time Napping tree frog Natural Pesticide August 2017 - dividing clumps shortly after a hip replacement Nov 2017 - gathering statistics 2016 Patch in Progress Preparing new seedlings for planting A busy pollinator Bull pen Help from a friend evaluating in the East Garden Love in the lily patch Fall, 2016 in the West Gardens Summer 2015 - Our old yard bursting at the seams Not much grass left to dig up Only room left here to mow between the beds Standard hybridizer solution - find a property with room for more daylilies. July 2015...moving day October 2015 - Bull pen in its new home East garden also bursting at the seams with 3 crops of seedlings. No room left for my 2015 crop. Too many trees in the way. A Choice Between Trees and Daylilies Tree corpses on right ready to be removed for 2015 seedling patch We love our garden spiders A Dancing Web 2014 Crop Freshly Planted at the East Garden One year later A friend with a 100 acre nursery gave me space for my 2012 seedlings June 2011 - first seedling crop took up the whole vegetable garden They Always Look So Happy