What to do on a rainy day? Road Trip!

It's been pretty cold and rainy here in Wisconsin.  So since I couldn't work in the yard, I decided to go on a road trip on Friday.  It was quite the road trip.

I started out at Solaris Farms in Reedsville.  It's peak daylily season right now, and if you are a daylily lover it's a can't miss!  Over 3000 different daylilies available.  Plus it's great just to be standing in the middle of thousands of blooming daylily.

Next we made our way down to Heritage Flower Farm in Mukwanago.  I had never been there before, but had mail ordered plants from them in the past.  They have tons of heirloom and native plants available (perennial, annual, and trees/shrubs).  It rained the whole time we were there but it was worth it!

While at Heritage it was recommended that we check out Mileager's.  Mileager's was a huge garden center with annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, miniature garden accessories, and so much more.  There is even a cafe in case you get hungry.

Heritage Flower Farm

Heritage Flower Farm

Mileager's

Mileager's

Mileager's

Small peek at Solaris Farms

Solaris Farms

Hosta 'Borsch #1'

I can't wait for this one to bloom.  It has the most beautiful flowers.

Who needs flowers to make a bouquet?

Hosta 'Choo Choo Train'

I am just loving hosta 'Choo Choo Train' this year.  The leaves are gigantic!  

Wintering over hostas in containers

Reposted from last year.  Since we received our first snowfall today (just a dusting) it's time for me to put my hostas in containers to bed for the winter.  Here's how:

Storing Hosta in Containers for Winter

Did you know that you can grow hostas in containers in Wisconsin?  Well you can.  I have successfully grown hostas in containers for many years.  The key to keeping hostas in containers is how you store them over the winter.  The most important thing is keeping moisture out of the pots.  You want to prevent freezing, thawing, and frozen, wet roots which will result in the roots turning to mush ultimately killing the hosta.  Here are my steps I follow:

1. I wait until a hard frost has killed off all of the hosta foliage.
2. Then I move the containers to the north side/ or a protected area outside where they will not receive a lot of light or precipitation.
3. I then push the containers together as an extra way to prevent moisture from finding it's way inside the container.
4. If you feel they still need further protection, you can cover the containers with leaves or straw.
5. Then it's time to wait until spring to move them.  I usually wait to move them until I start to see some sign of life.  

These are on the north side of the house, where the least amount of moisture and sunlight will get to them.  I push them together to help prevent moisture from getting in and freezing.  You can also cover these pots with leaves or straw for additional protection.

This one is not quite ready for storage.  I like to have all of the leaves die off before storing them for the winter.

What's still blooming Nov. 17th

Collecting and Storing Hosta Seeds

This video is from last year, but here's how to collect and store hosta seeds.

Colchicum Giant

These Colchicum are gorgeous and always a welcome fall surprise.  The orchid like leaves come up in spring and die off in summer.  The large pink and white blooms come up in fall.  This year with our wacky weather the blooms have appeared at least three week early.

Fragrant Hosta Blooms

Bloom from hosta 'Fragrant Bouquet'

At the end of the summer, beginning of fall there are some hostas that are just beginning to bloom.  Many of the late summer blooms are dark purple in color or are fragrant.  Fragrant hosta blooms are usually larger in size.  Some are so strong that you just have to walk into the garden to enjoy their scent.  The scent is much like a lily of the valley.  Like lily, hosta flowers are more fragrant in the late afternoon/evening.  Some, like plantiginea, only bloom in the late afternoon/evening.  Hosta plantiginea has blooms that are up to 4 inches long, and is the mother of all fragrant hosta available on the market.  Here is a list of hosta with fragrant blooms: Fragrant Blooming Hosta List.

Plants that rocked this summer's weather

As labor day is coming to a close I am looking back on summer.  The weather was so incredibly hot and the lack of rain was scary.  Then I saw that the topic on Gardenchat this week was "survival of the fittest" what plants survived this summer.  So I had to take a look out in the garden to see what plants rocked through this summer's weather.  Here are the plants that seemed to thrive:

Heliopsis

Phlox

Brown-eyed Susans

Hydrangea (my woody stemmed varieties)

Pulmonaria

Anemone

Asters and Mums

Goldenrod

Cheesehead Gardens 8/7/2012

It's been a rough summer with the lack of rain, cutworm damage, and high temperatures, but here is a peak at my garden right now.

Hosta 'Ginsu Knife'

Hosta 'Ventricosa' sport

Hosta 'Velvet Moon' & 'Borsch #1'

Hosta 'Gumdrop' & 'Liberty'

Hosta 'Night Before Christmas'

Hosta 'Pilgrim'

Hosta 'Golden Gate'

Hosta 'Striptease'

Hosta 'Satisfaction'

Hosta 'nigrescens'

Hosta 'Sum it Up' my largest leaf hosta

hosta 'nigrescens'

Hosta 'Dream Queen'

Hosta 'Lakeside Surf Rider'

Hosta 'Parhelion'