It has been a very nice long fall, but the time has now come to do the big fall cutback in the gardens. Today it was all the sedums that remained except the Chocolate Drop I transplanted, a lot of the hostas, and a lot of the daylilies. A full, very compacted bin went off to compost at the historic cemetery. I am sure the turkeys and deer will find some things they want, and the rest will go back to nature.
And my aching muscles are telling me I have been very successful in a) simplifying the gardens so I can relax and enjoy fall, and b) mastering the art of garden putzing. It’s all good.
There will be one more cutback session like today for the townhome gardens and then a session or two at the historic cemetery and the gardens will all be ready for our long winter.
I’m sure I will have some things to share over the next months, but I am accepting that my world truly did tilt with my Mom’s passing, and the direction of my efforts along with that. Life changes us. God’s plans change us if we accept them.
I’ll be back to share the garden in the spring, and, of course as the beautiful daylilies begin to bloom, including the new creations from crosses I made as well as work the pollinators accomplished.
Howdy, Pressers! I thought I’d better get back online after over a month off 🙂
It has been a very different fall experience this year. Some of that was planned, and a large portion was not. It has been good to take the time to reflect, adjust, and plan forward.
As I have shared, in 2025 I fulfilled a bucket list item. I pretty much exhausted the opportunities that presented for propagation work with my daylilies. I researched and planned and did a boatload of daylily crosses. I also harvested every daylily pod from the work the pollinators accomplished. The result was a lot of seed. Hundreds and hundreds of seeds. I was not ready for that, and I did not enjoy what followed – a lot of time storing the seeds and then starter planting and finally transplanting them into the garden. That full experience taught me that I had exceeded my threshold for where I wanted to go with annual propagation work. I knew that volume was not going to be for me. I made a decision to cut way back this year, and I did. WAY back. The result was very good. Save one pod, all of my seeds from this year’s harvest were collected and in storage by the Autumnal Equinox. The last pod was a self-seed (pollinator created) on an Autumn Red (our oldest historic daylily in the garden). It was definitely worth harvesting, and I did that on the day after the Autumnal Equinox. All seeds are now in storage.
So, on the daylily side, the revised scope of my daylily propagation work this year was very manageable, and definitely the way forward for me. I set my goal of not spending time harvesting and storing daylily seeds when I really wanted to be out and enjoying our Minnesota fall, and I accomplished that goal.
This year I also made some pretty transformative changes to the townhome garden areas. Quite a few of my recent posts chronicled the townhome garden reno. And, by mid-September, with that done and all but the Autumn Joy sedum rootings planted, it was such a blessing to just “be” during this beautiful, and this year, unique, time.
Additionally, with the garden at the historic cemetery wrapping up its 4th year since the reno, nice and full now, with a known, established cycle of needs, my work there is also changing. The community has embraced that garden, and often when I go to weed, there is very little to do. Replacing the heaving rock with mulch was pivotal for that garden, and a large part of why weeding it so much easier, but not all. We are definitely getting unenlisted help 🙂 So my more intense work there is winding down. I expect next year I will still do the spring mulch topper, periodic weeding, and the fall cutbacks that are needed, but that garden is established now and has multiple caring, attentive, hands tending it 🙂
The Autumn Joy Sedum are very pretty right now in the historic cemetery garden
But, as I mentioned, this year, fall is unique.
In August I shared that my Mom passed. My Mom was not the person we were intensely praying for on New Year’s Eve of 2025. That was another close family member. Praise God that He is blessing that family member with healing. We are extremely grateful! So grateful!
My Mother’s passing was unexpected. My Mom was 85. Of course, I knew she was aging. But when Mom passed, my world kind of tilted, and I had to work hard to find new footing. I did find that, and it is definitely very new footing. God allowed a very different plan than what I could have ever imagined, and some of my efforts have shifted to new things. I’m not sure how much I will share about that. Still praying.
For all who have gone through loss, you know it is not linear. There are a lot of ups and downs, and they can be very unpredictable. But I am confident God’s plan is good, and I am listening and working what He shares. Another hint – Often we only get direction for our part, not the whole plan 😉 Faith.
So, back to the gardens – The townhome garden reno was very influenced by my Mom’s passing. I was already feeling a need to refresh those garden areas, spiff them up a bit, but with my Mom’s passing, and having spent so much intense time in prayer sitting looking at the garden in its old configuration, I knew it had to substantially change. Emotional triggers are real, and I did not want to encourage them come next spring. I knew I needed a new “go forward” look for where I spend so much time. And I went about it.
I had a number of ideas for dividing and transplanting. I ended up pulling out the entire path and doing a renovation of the look. I went slowly. The plan changed daily. And I love the new townhome garden look! It takes previous looks and melds them with what I like best, plus where I want to head next (focusing my future work on historic daylilies and self-seed daylilies and returning a bit more to the hostaville I had in the past).
And now we are half-way through October.
The hostas are starting to put on a show.
The shamrocks that the squirrels were having fun with are now moved closer to the house. They will stay there until we consistently have nights under 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Then they will come in for the winter.
Sandy’s corner is moving closer to cutback time.
The Autumn Red daylilies are also moving toward cutback time.
And the Sedum are wrapping up their magnificent fall color morph.
We have quite a bit of fall left, but the color show is definitely winding down.
Next year will be very different. The gardens are different. My efforts are different. And my focus is slightly different now too. But I feel good about the plan, and we will see how it goes.
I will leave you with this: My Mom knew I had earmarked some daylilies to “name” for specific people. I did not tell her I had done a daylily cross in 2025 with her in mind, and that it made a lot of seed. A lot. I also did not tell her only one seed of that cross went to seedling. That “1” message seemed to be a theme with the 2025 harvested seeds, but I knew it was probably just for me. Maybe like “slow down” lol. Maybe “It only takes one”. Anyway, that cross I made with my Mom in mind, with only one seedling from all of those seeds, is in my garden doing very well. And the pod parent was way overdue for a move. It does not escape me that I moved it to a much better place the day before my Mom passed.
Now, do not think I am saying my Mom is in those daylilies. I definitely do not believe people become plants.
Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrews 9: 27-28
I don’t even talk to my Mom. I pray to God and thank Him for my Mom.
I am excited, however, to see the first blooms from that daylily cross I made with Mom in mind.
And so, as I consider the past few months, what always comes to mind is that God has His plan, and it may be very different from our plan. We can accept that He is in control and watch and cooperate with His work. And we have the opportunity to choose wisely. If God tells us to do things, we can do that confidently, absolutely with love, but also boldly. He will provide.
For now, for this fall season, I am giving myself a lot of grace. Enjoying friendships, old and new. And enjoying the beauty of our Minnesota nature.
This is a picture I took, up by our land in Northern Minnesota. I finally got back up there. It was hard because the last time I was up there was when our sweet dog Darby was still with us. No, we are not getting another dog. I have a plethora of grand-dogs and friends with dogs. And God is saying No to us having another dog. He’s got things for us to do. He’ll let us know bit by bit 🙂
It turned out way better than I even imagined, and yet … it is a very different look than before. Intentionally.
Since I last blogged, the Bend got one major addition – the very large daylily stand in the center back of the picture above. It was the daylily stand that bloomed and bloomed for the days my Mom was in the hospital, and it continued to bloom through last week. I actually thought last weekend that it was going to form a pod. It held onto that last spent bloom for 3 days. If it had formed a pod, it would have been on the last daylily bloom of the season for the whole garden. But it did not, and that probably was a good thing. I’m not sure we have enough season left to mature a daylily pod.
With that last bloom shed I went ahead and moved the entire clump. It is now the centerpiece of that area.
Once I got to Sandy’s Corner my plan changed daily, but for the better. I now have something I can imagine working with quite easily for the next 10 years.
The hostas have a greater presence again, and yet, the daylilies still have plenty of space.
And the specific corner Sandy used to sit in has been cleared for 2027s daylily seedlings. Potentially there will be four varieties. Yah, one from my work survived. The pollinators have three 😉
I am working on that birdbath, but it may go. I am on a garden doodad removal kick. A few months ago, I got rid of the clematis and trellises out back. With Sandy’s Corner and the bend, I got rid of the hanging bird bath on the short shepherd’s hook, and, after more than a decade I also removed the double shepherd’s hook with the hummingbird feeder. I was tired of cleaning the hanging bird bath, and we have another hummingbird feeder out front that is the one the hummingbirds prefer. Out back they most often choose the blooming flowers.
Out front I moved a hosta out of the entryway corner (to the back) and in its place, I moved in a Chocolate Drop Sedum that was long overdue for division.
It should begin to fill out that corner nicely.
And then at the historic cemetery I planted all of the seedlings I had grown this summer from seed I harvested there last fall.
Example
And, on the one-month anniversary of my Mom’s passing, I donated and planted three fans of historic daylily Autumn Red from my garden to the historic cemetery garden. The Autumn Red daylily variety was registered 85 years ago, the same year my Mother was born. It was a special, dedicated trip over for me, and a special moment of planting. That planting is now the oldest registered daylily variety in the garden there, and it matches a huge stand of Autumn Red daylilies we found between some oak trees on the perimeter of the property this summer. Very special all around.
It is a pivotal year. In many ways it has been a very tough year. And yet … we move forward. God still has work for us to do, and that we shall, according to His will.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend and that you are truly Blessed!
Today I decided the whole path needed to go. I dug up all the squares. They are slated for a second life – a nice path in front of the outhouse up north lol.
I also decided against more Blue Mouse Ears hostas out front. I am going to continue to work with the Purple Shamrocks as annuals each year instead.
I am digging one large plant per workday and putting the divisions on the old path. Today I moved a languishing hosta out of Sandy’s corner and into the area that was the bend in the path.
In the spot where the languishing hosta was, I will be planting a large clump of Blue Mouse Ears hostas. That area is by the sprinkler head, and the Blue Mouse Ears do very well there.
And, since I am closing off the path from the front I decided I want to rotate the orientation of Sandy’s corner, putting tall hostas at the bend, farther away from the sprinkler head and gradually moving into shorter daylilies closer to the patio.
That will be a project in itself lol. But that is for another day.
Bonus post. I saw these pictures of 9 and 10 years ago today and had a little laugh. Goodness, that’s an awful lot of hostas! Most of those are long gone. That exposure was way too much sun for them. I moved them more into the shade and used the space for more daylilies. But the South Seas and Naomi Ruth were there all those years ago 🙂
Today was a slow day – a day for a tiny bit of hosta maintenance and a whole lot of enjoying the daylilies.
Today I removed the scapes from the last two Blue Mouse Ears hostas. I think it took 5 minutes. Blue Mouse Ears hostas are super easy to maintain. The scapes don’t need cutting. They snap off.
The spent blooms tend to stick to the leaves, so pulling those by hand is a lot, but a few sprinkler cycles and they should clear.
I am seeing some heat fatigue on the plants, and the hosta by the Blue Mouse Ears pictured above is one of those. That one has been a trooper. I will probably divide and transplant it more into the shade this fall.
The daylilies continue to amaze me.
Pink Moon (one of my own seedlings) is showing some features I really like, especially the outline on the edges.
It also has an interesting look when it is opening up. A cool pattern.
I will be researching a bit more to see what the markings on the open blooms are. I’m guessing they are getting hit by the sprinklers. I may need to move Pink Moon to a better location this fall.
Hush Little Baby bloomed again today. What a welcome addition to the garden!
And what I think is Romantic Rose has an interesting feature around the eyezone today. I don’t remember seeing that in the past, but maybe I just haven’t noticed it. That is a daylily I bought many years ago and transplanted more into the sun just a few years back when we got a larger Traeger and it ended up in mostly shade and was failing. Look at it now! And it has seedlings, yes it does, with Naomi Ruth, both as a pod and pollen parent, so hopefully in 2027 we will see even more beauty!
Just Plum Happy is coming into full bloom now.
And Pink China Doll had 7 blooms today! Very nice!
And as is normal for this time of the season, we are starting to see last blooms per variety. Yesterday Red Volunteer bloomed its last in our townhome garden for the year. I had high hopes for Red Volunteer, but I put it in a bit of a tuck-in spot when I planted it two years ago, and it seemed to get kind of lost as well as be a bit sparse this year – one scape, few buds. I did cross it last year so maybe it is recovering from that, but even so, as beautiful as it is, it is not doing well where I have it. I know Red Volunteer should be more vigorous because I also planted them at the historic cemetery and they look way better there. I am definitely going to move the one at the townhome to another location, but where, I am not yet sure. (Apologies for the not awesome pic – it was a bit awkward to get the front view, as it was obstructed.)
Beyond that, the pods from this year’s successful crosses are maturing. I am going to have such an easy harvest and planting this year. There are only 3 clear successes, and then the one pending from the Pink Tirzah x Hush Little Baby cross. It will be weird compared to other years, but I am looking forward to it. I have so many seedlings in the garden to watch over the next few years I think I will thank myself for putting on the breaks.
I hope you had a great weekend and wish you a great week ahead!
This new bloom at the historic cemetery was a wonderful treat as I walked the gardens before beginning to putz (deadhead, weed, trim). I believe it is one of the Lullaby Baby daylilies I planted in fall of 2024, but I am not absolutely certain. Either way, it was definitely a Fantastic Find.We have a lot of Stella De Oro daylilies in the historic cemetery gardens. They bloom profusely and look very cheerful. Stella De Oro daylilies at the historic ccemeteryThe Asian lilies in this bouquet bloomed, and the Purple D’Oro will soon bloom there for the first time. The Asian lilies have bloomed, and now we await the first Purple D’Oro blooms at the historic cemetery.YarrowMy primary work of the day was to remove the seed pods from the Stella De Oro daylilies so we hopefully get rebloom. This year I will not harvest Stella De Oro self-seed. We have plenty to divide 🙂This daylily, and the milkweed, and the hosta are a beautiful picture of what a public garden can be with community care and contribution.A “donut” in the historic cemetery garden. There are lots 🙂More Stella De Oro dayliliesBack at our home gardens – So much here – mature daylilies, seedlings with first year scapes, year old seedlings, new seedlings, mature hostas, and our Malva Zebrina Hollyhock seedlings from 20 year old seed.Some of the Purple ShamrocksOne of the Blue Mouse Ears hostasEqual Opportunity is soooo ready to bloomThe bird drop currant in the front. The hollyhock seedlings in the back.One lone Asian lily remainsThe cloches are gradually coming off the seedlings 🙂
Blessings to you and, in America, wishing you a fantastic 4th of July celebration – 250th Birthday!
Today was Weeding Wednesday. It also ended up being shrub trimming day.
After two days of very warm weather, and very little garden activity, I was tired of just looking out the windows. I wanted to get more than just occasional fresh air. I wanted to get things done. This morning the weather was a tiny bit cooler. I rationalized 1) I had nothing on my schedule that was to be done away from home, so 2) Even though it was going to be warm and humid, I could just poke around – work outside a bit and then cool down inside, and do that as many times as I wanted today. Outside I went. It was time to pull forget-me-nots and trim the bushes.
I love the end of those types of days, where I can just putz, still see a nice difference. It was a warm day, uncomfortable to work for very long, but the gardens look they are spruced up and ready for the daylilies to start blooming.
Last night I also noticed Hello Yellow was starting to bloom again.
Early this morning it was already open.
And it stayed open all day.
It is so fun to have that extended bloom daylily.
I checked it a little before 10pm and it was still open 🙂 The fireflies had been out for quite some time, and Hello Yellow was still blooming. Such a treat!
And one of the two remaining daylilies I was watching for scapes (Tender Love) is starting to get at least one scape. (I am guessing there will be more starting soon.) Tender Love is a key daylily in my planned crosses this year, so I was very happy to see that. (Regrettably, Marque Moon is still holding out on scapes, so the crosses I had planned with it are probably not going to happen this year.)
There is also a daylily (Hush Little Baby) that I planted in fall of 2024 that had greens last year but no scapes. This year it looked like it was going to be a repeat, but later this evening I looked over and did a double take. A scape! I am looking forward to that addition!
On the hosta front, the Blue Mouse Ears are looking great.
I definitely have plans to divide and transplant the remaining couple clumps this fall that are in their old location. With the addition of daylily seedlings along the path, they are overdue for a better spot.
Which leads me to something I have been noticing quite a bit.
When I started building out our gardens here, I had an idea that it would be fun to have them look nice from both outside and from inside. I have really enjoyed that for over two decades. But lately I realized one particular garden is looking especially nice from the inside – Sandy’s Corner. Over the past five years or so I have been reversing the locations of the daylilies and hostas in that garden, way before I named it Sandy’s Corners. It is getting quite full now with daylilies at various stages, and now when I look outside from inside, the daylilies are the backdrop, and the hostas are increasingly back to my earliest configuration, closest to the house. I like it! Not only does it make more sense for sun exposure, but it showcases the hostas that were gradually getting hidden. It has taken time to carefully do the divisions and transplants, but I think that this fall we will be there.
And with that, I will wrap up with one final reality – gardening is very iterative. The littlest things make a difference, it doesn’t have to be fast, and even favorites might not last forever. This week, as we were sitting out on the patio, my husband tested the waters on a subject that could have gone south. Could have. But I had been thinking about the same thing. My approach to replacing some of my oldest, favorite daylilies that are fading. Am I OK with replacing them with new ones I have hybridized from those older daylilies. A couple years ago I tried to add another Marque Moon, and it failed. South Seas is starting to fail. I will be dividing it this fall and transplanting, but if it doesn’t do well I am questioning if I will be OK with not having a South Seas daylily is the garden. Do I work with what is already doing well and let those old favorites go? I am reminded that I didn’t replace all those hostas we lost a couple years ago …
Just something to think about. Gardens are definitely iterative.
The Asian lilies are waning. The daylilies are ramping up.
This morning was a cool, dampish sort of morning. I was feeling like taking the day to rest. But, as the day started rolling, I changed my mind. We have some pretty warm weather forecasted starting next week, and I would much rather relax on those days. I made the decision to get at planting the remaining daylily seedlings today. Even the remaining seeds that did not germinate got planted as a last chance, direct sow style. There are now just two daylily seedling varieties left to plant in the townhome gardens, and for that, I am very thankful! Even on a warm day I can get those last two done.
This year September will be a bit different. Because I planted the seedlings by the end of June, my fall daylily work will be primarily divisions and transplanting. That will be a pleasant change. Planting seedlings in September heat is not my favorite.
Today I saw one of the South Seas seedlings I divided last year has a scape coming up. I was a little worried I might have divided it too early after only one year of bloom, so when I saw that scape starting today I was very thankful.
Of course, as the Asian lilies fade, I am a little sad. I am thankful we had such beautiful blooms from them this year. They can start to rest now and build up for next year.
And I took time over the past few days to reimagine that area by the Linden. There is a lot of shade, and I plan to add more Blue Mouse Ears hostas, but alongside the Asian lilies there may be enough sun to also entice some Autumn Red seeds that did not germinate to break out. Worth a try.
The Pink Asian lilies are winding down. I am waiting for the older daylilies under the Linden to get scapes. And I planted some daylily seeds alongside the Asian lilies.
Speaking of the Blue Mouse Ears hostas, they are ramping up color all over the gardens. I will definitely send more pictures of them as they go into full bloom.
This is one of the Blue Mouse Ears hostas under the Linden. They will start to show much more color over the next few weeks.
The Blue Mouse Ears are gradually getting more color.
So tonight, as I wrap up the day, I have a good sense of accomplishment, and a lot of thankfulness, even for the challenge to just get going and get stuff done before I really don’t want to do it 😉 It was a great day to play in the garden.
We are now coming into the latter part of the daylily seed germination watch and moving into the bloom season for the Asian lilies.
Two seedling planters remain.
As I sat on the patio this weekend, relaxing in my rocker after reducing seed plantings, I looked over at the two seedling planters and realized that is what I want next year. Enough capacity to be creative, but also a nice limit. 32 of the silicone base medium seedling pots I love to work with fit perfectly in the grey box, and 4-5 medium plant pots fit in the cedar box.
I am thankful for the expanded daylily propagation experience last year. Doing all the crosses in 2025 was a boatload of fun, something I had to try. And I am grateful for the result of that harvest as well. I still have a few stragglers so there may be additions, but I currently have 15 new daylily seedling varieties from last year’s work. Lots of potential to work with in my future daylily crosses – when/if they bloom in the years ahead. That’s good.
My garden thoughts and my garden words and my garden pictures are now shifting into well-worn territory – with a few surprises, but nothing too crazy.
This week the Asian lily bloom season started. The peach ones are consistently first, but this year, the pink ones under the Linden have returned right along with the peach ones. I thought they were in decline in our gardens, but I got a happy surprise this year. They were just rebuilding.
A couple years back, on a very hot September day, I sat with a plethora of Blue Mouse Ears hostas I had divided and needed to transplant. I had an idea. The pink Asian lilies under the Linden had been fading to almost nothing over the previous years. The Linden provided some nice afternoon shade. The Blue Mouse Ears hostas might look nice along the path at that corner! But I was whooped. Like getting dizzy whooped. My husband agreed to help. As we dug the holes for the Blue Mouse Ears divisions, we removed the few pink Asian lily bulbs we found and that was that. It was time to stop. I later transplanted the pink Asian lily bulbs to the historic cemetery, along with some fans from Purple D’Oro daylilies I had also divided at the townhouse. I made a quick little note, went to water them every other day or so, and then pretty much stopped thinking about those plantings.
Last year, 2025, I did notice some Asian lily greens were returning at the historic cemetery and at the townhome some pink Asian lilies did bloom. That was nice. But when I saw the pink Asian lilies at the historic cemetery this week, I was delighted. Even more, I was surprised to see greens from daylily “seedlings” planted with the Asian lilies. Maybe there was hope for seedlings, I thought. But today as I was planting some donated hostas, I found the marker for the Purple D’Oro self-seed seedlings. Those seedlings did not make it. The Purple D’Oro divisions did. It’s all good. I am hoping to see Purple D’Oro daylily blooms at the historic cemetery this summer. Or next 😉
Additional fun in the townhome gardens:
The Malva Zebrina Hollyhocks are growing very nicely, as is the sole seedling of my experiment planting one daylily seed at a time in tiny little pots in 6 pk trays. I am equally happy to report that the wave 2 plantings of seeds from that same cross yielded much better results – see pot next to the cloche on the ground. I am not a professional propagator by any means, but, for me, multiple, same cross seeds, planted in one pot – Golden.
And we continue to get Currant seedlings. This one may not stay. I think I need that space for daylily seedlings.
But this one probably has found a home.
And at the historic cemetery:
The historic cemetery has quite a few Stella De Oros. Last year they hit their stride and then had a lot of self-seed pods. I harvested the seeds on a whim but doubted those seeds would do anything. This spring I dumped those 80 seeds in soil in one big pot, put dirt over them, put a cloche over the top, and made sure they got water. Well … they must be meant to be! They are coming up! More every day! We’ll see what the count looks like in a few weeks. Where I will put them is very much TBD. The fence garden, both sides, are getting nice and full.
And that brings me to another fun thing – we had a nice donation of a variety of hostas for the historic cemetery. Some are already allocated for a new project, but there were a few spaces on the left side of the fence garden where I have repeatedly tried to plant seeds and seedlings, and for whatever reason, they just don’t make it. So today I officially threw in the towel on that idea and used those spaces for some of the donated hostas. Amazingly, even though that garden is in full sun for almost the full day, hostas do well there. I hope the new ones follow that pattern. They look very nice in their new location!
