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

Making a Moss Garden

Last week I decided to try to make a little moss garden.  I have seen them in various gardens and I really like the looks of them.  Fortunately I have mosses growing in various locations throughout my yard, so finding the moss was easy.  If you don't have moss there are online nurseries that sell mosses, and I have seen some at local nurseries too.

First I start with a container. I filled it with compost, and then went to gather my mosses.

Then I placed the mosses throughout the container and added a miniature hosta and a rock.

I also decided to add a miniature pail with a sedum in it to my pot.  Then I made sure to water it very well, and put it in a very shady location until the moss took hold.

And the creature eating my hosta scapes is........

I came home from a weekend up in Crivitz, Wi only to discover that my hosta scapes were eaten all over the yard.  Front yard, back yard, side yard....it didn't seem to matter.  Of course this is the summer I decided I was going to be very diligent about collecting hosta seeds and planting them in the winter.  I was even hand pollenating certain hostas I thought would make good combos.  So much for that plan.  I knew by the height and how the scapes were eaten that it was a deer.  Not everyone believed me.  I do sort of live in the city.  I had a seen a doe in our yard earlier in the spring, and it's not uncommon to see a deer in our area.  One year a big buck walked right down the middle of our road without a care in the world.   There also used to be a nice sized woods not to far away, but last year a landscaping company decided to cut down the entire woods and grind it up into mulch.

So my dad came over and set up a trail camera for me, so I could catch the culprit in action.

Here are pictures of the deer damage to the hostas.

Here is one of the culprits caught on the trail camera.

Guess it's time to get out the Liquid Fence or the Bobex if I don't want them eating more than just the scapes.

Orienpet Lily 'Garden Pleasure'

If there is one lily in my garden that is garnering a lot of attention it is the orienpet lily 'Garden Pleasure'.  Before it even bloomed people were asking me about it.  So why is it getting so much attention?  It's because it has grown over 7 feet tall.  Orienpet lilies are a combination of a Oriental and a Trumpet lily.  So not only are they beautiful, but they also have a great scent.  Mine is growing in a location against the house that always seems to have spotty sunlight, so I can never get a really good picture of it.  So you'll have to use your imagination a little when viewing the pictures.

Bloom Day Post - Juy 10th, 2012

Martagon Lilies

Spiderman Daylily

Early blooming helenium

Turks Cap Lilies

Kisses Like Wine Daylily

Web of Intrigue daylily

More Pictures from Hosta Convention - Bill Radler Garden

One of the gardens we visited during the hosta convention this year was Bill Radler's.  Bill Radler is the creator of the Knock-Out Rose.  He has a 2 acre garden with lots of unusual plants and his test roses.

Garden of Eden - Maui Botanical Garden

The second botanical garden I visited when I was in Maui was called the Garden of Eden.  It is found along the famous road to Hana.  There are beautiful views of the coast and lots of great trails to hike.  The road to Hana is very interesting.  It is only 50 some miles long, but will take about 3 hours to get to the end (and then you turn around and come back unless you have a 4x4).  In those 50 miles there are over 600 curves, and there are also numerous one lane bridges.  Just before the town of Hana there is the Wai'anapanapa State Park, with it's gorgeous black sand beaches created from lava.

View of the coast from the Garden of Eden.

Fan Palm

Shell Ginger

Another view from of the coast

View of one of the many waterfalls along the Hana Highway

100 year old mango tree

Rainbow Eucalyptus

Torch Ginger

Black sand beach

Wai'anapanapa State Park

Wai'anapanapa State Park