In regards to leaving comments:

Just a quick blurb on comments to the blog. I have changed the settings so you must be a member of my blog to leave a comment. Why? Well I have a few strange repetitive comments from a site, that when I visited, I can't even figure out what their trying to sell. So to avoid future weirdness and unrelated comments.......
It doesn't cost a dime to join, and I won't send you any emails or junk!
Thanks.

DAYLILIES......My 2nd Favorite Flower

If daylilies bloomed before the iris... I just might love them best. But they bloom second, after I have seen all the gorgeous iris. This beautiful white is called 'Ruffled Parchment.' I have had this one in the field since 06, and it does very well. Daylilies are more popular every year. Here are a few reasons: You can grow them in full sun, to mostly shade, on a hillside, where it's wet, where it's drier, you can mow them off, (by accident I hope) you can even grow them under walnut trees where little else thrives.
They are one tough plant. Once they are established they can withstand neglect, they won't need you. Some people love that aspect. If you want carefree, self sustaining plants, daylilies are for you. They come in a wide variety of sizes, and colors. Color range is white, cream, yellow, peachy, oranges, reds, pinks, purples, lavenders. The foliage is grasslike, and grows out from the crown.

























Usually when you buy daylilies, there will be 2 heights listed. The first is usually the foliage, and the 2nd height is the scape. The word 'scape' is term used to describe the flower stem. So a plant may be 22" & 30". Daylilies start blooming in July, some earlier, and can continue until fall. The foliage emerges early in the spring. Larger plants can be dug and divided nearly anytime the soil is workable. But best to avoid the hottest weeks of summer. When digging and dividing, cut back the foliage to about 2 inches long. A good hair cut. Class 4 or 5 we will be dividing plants in the field. This big flower above is the daylily, 'Orange Discus.'
The flower is 71/2" across. Humongous.
Did you know the dayliliy flower is edible? The are beautiful pulled apart and tossed with salad greens. They are crispy and peppery. Yum. You can also eat the in the bud form, stir fried, deep fried, or raw in salads or with dip.

This pink daylily below is 'Country Melody' and the raspberry colored one below it is 'Gordon Biggs.' We will be selling our daylilies at the Farmer's Market in Mankato, starting May 2. We will have about 25 plus varities for sale. We will be selling them in bareroot form. If you are not familiar: it is a hunk
of a daylily plant that has been freshly dug, divided and washed. They are not in pots. You plant them in your garden/yard as soon as possible. They can be stored in a cool garage for up to 2 weeks, as long as they are not wet or in plastic bags. Don't be afraid to try bareroot plants! I can sell them for less when I don't have to pot them up, and sell you soil and a pot you don't need!
Some plants of course have to be sold potted, but not these tough guys.








This beauty is Apricot Sparkles. Many of the daylilies I grow are Tetraploids. They have double the chromosomes, so their petals are thick, and the plant has good substance, numerous buds and thick scapes. They are very robust and mulitply quickly. In the near future I will have a link on this blog where you can see all of our daylilies. When the iris are ready for pick-up in July-Aug., the daylilies are at their peak. We may also be selling them at that time if we have any left after spring sales. Why are the called "daylilies?" Their botanical name is Hemerocallis, which in Greek means 'beauty for a day.' Each daylily flower is only open for one day. So a high bud count is desired so you have lots of flowers blooming. What's not to love about this plant. It's beautiful, it's green all year, it survives without your TLC, you can eat the flowers, and the list goes on...

GARDENING CLASSES

Only 10 (if you follow my blog you'll see this number keeps dropping) seats left in the Gardening Classes. There will be an ad in the local St. Peter Herald this week, I am hoping! So then we should fill fast. So don't delay if you are interested. Read the header in the right hand column for all the details. Check out all of my blogs, by clicking on the 'older posts' tag line on the bottom of the pages. Please forward my blog to all your gardening friends, thank you!

We are "Certified Naturally Grown!"

What does that mean? Let me explain. "Certified Naturally Grown" is a national grassroots response to the costly alternative of "Certified Organic." Their principles are the same, and you must follow the standards for Certified Organic. My opinion is the CNG has more faith in the farmer and doesn't bog you down with tons of paperwork, and a costly inspection like certified organic requires. CNG is a farmer to farmer inspection following a inspection form developed from CNG. In fact, next week I am inspecting Thompson's Painted Hill Farm in Wells, Minnesota. You cannot however, inspect each others farms. When certified organic first started it was more small farmer friendly. But as time went on, and larger companies that you see in the grocery stores got on the bandwagon, things got more complicated. How do I know? Back in the late 1980's thru the early 1990's I had a certified organic farm in Zumbrota Minnesota. Aptly named 'Zumbrota Organic Gardens.'

So what are the basic principles? Your land must be free of synthetic chemicals for 3 years. You can only use organic (natural based) chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides etc. You farm in a sustainable manner, less tillage, using cover crops, using mulch, less inputs and maintain soil health. You can find out more about CNG at http://www.naturallygrown.org/

Why does this matter? To some people it does, to others it doesn't! That's your choice. What I like about flowers that are CNG, is you can stick your nose right in a bouquet and not worry what you are breathing in. The majority of store flowers and florist flowers come from out of the country. They use chemicals that do not meet the USA standards. At least w/food items, you can wash them before using, not so with flowers.

Our land history: For the last 3 1/2 years our 10 acre farm plot, named 'Earthworks Gardens' has been free of synthetic farm chemicals. The land has been in my husbands family since the 1930's. It had been farmed by family for many years and then rented out. It's a small chunk of the original farm. Somehow, I couldn't resist the chance to have a small farm operation again. Our home is a little over 1 mile from the farm plot. The houses you may see in some of my photos are our neighbors, so please don't knock on their doors looking for flowers!