Leslie: I believe the reference might have been to Dave's Garden, from which many of us followed Dave. I never
visit DG anymore unless I get a plant trade request. I've been loyal to Dave through Cubits and now ATP and will
remain so.

I never visit DG anymore either. I spend to much time right here! I planted 5 dls earlier today and by 10 oclock I had to come in. I am so ready for some cooler weather.

Of course! Now I really do feel dumb. LOL

Lalambchop1 said:

Yep and i got some today after 4 hours of digging and pulling giant weeds.
Pandora's Treasure
Wild Irish
Wisteria
Ginny Mitchell
And i thought Clarification was on my list of wants and when i got home i realized i meant to get Clarity Of Vision.
Oh well i guess i'll give it a try. Might see what they are doing on labor day since wife has to work.

I, too, am a daylily addict ... er ... daylily "collector"! There! I said it.

Thank goodness I can't grow Irises here!

It is a crazy obsession. I don't get it? But I have to have more! Is this what a true addiction is?

Yes! We need to start a Hemerocallis Anonymous here on ATP .....

Nah. Then what would I collect????

Well, I look at it this way .... most of what I have been getting is free or relatively cheap. So I am saving money (I don't have) vs. if I had a more expensive addiction. It is keeping me healthy .... I am outside doing physical labor to plant all these plants. They make me smile and forget all my troubles when I look at all those beautiful blooming daylily faces, so no mood-altering drugs are necessary. They help keep my mind sharp ... thinking of which daylilies I can cross with each other and where can I create a new raised bed. They are a nice distraction when I've had a totally horrible day at work ... I just think of my "happy" place (my yard full of blooming daylilies) and the world is bright and sunny again.

BUT .... I am still suspicious .... is there something "in" daylilies that is addicting? Something oozing out of their green pores that I can't live without? There must be. When you have a small yard with more daylilies than you can count .... something is certainly peculiar about having the need to add more and finding it difficult to part with any. When any empty space in the yard gets eyed with possibilities ....well ... y'all know what I am talking about.

So? I guess that makes me hopelessly out-of-control. Well, almost. I still have a tiny speck of self-control left. Oh wait! That isn't self-control .... that is an empty wallet. Thank goodness I am not rich! Or better yet, if I was ... there would be no more left to buy! Then what would I do?

Yeah. I'm a goner. But I DO have a smile on my face!

I am right there with all of you! I had ZERO daylilies before 2015 and I will probably end 2015 with somewhere close to 100. I've given a few to other people, but most of them are in my yard.

I made 3-4 purchases recently where I had a bit of buyer's remorse ...not because I didn't want the daylilies, but because I had NO IDEA where I was going to put them! That inspired me to buy more garden beds--I went from 3 to 6 garden beds--and to create a new garden plan so that I could plant the daylilies that don't fit around my 3 (baby) apple trees. I even expanded the area around one of the trees so it went from having space for 2 daylilies (plus 2 lavender shrubs) to having space for up to 10 daylilies. In our clay-like soil, it's no small feat to cut into and rip up the sod with a simple shovel.

I spent all day yesterday and today rearranging my daylilies so that they are organized by loose themes regardless of where they are. I have a bed for daylilies called "Life's Little Treasures" (Pocket Change, Golden Prize, Decature Treasure Chest, etc...), a bed split into two sections: "Up Above the Sky" (Asterisk, So Many Stars, Aerial Applique...) and Science and the Elements (Helix, Firestorm, Titan of Ice...). I figure that atleast this way, if I somehow lose my garden maps, I atleast have SOME idea of what is where. I find myself looking through daylilies now, though, and getting excited about one that fits in well with one of my themed beds.

It is COMPLETELY hopeless for me, though. I dutifully pollinated EVERY bloom I had in the last month (I've made just over 650 pollination attempts) and now I have probably about a hundred seed pods....and yet I STILL bought several batches of seeds on the Lily Auction. I have no idea where I'm going to plant all of my seeds, but I'm already thinking I'll add another 2-4 garden beds in the spring.

I am loving this thread!

DogsNDaylilies: I very rarely have a clue where I'm going to put a plant when I buy it, and I buy DLs because I want them, gotta have them, and can't
do without them! I guess when my yard is filled with DLs, irises and dahlias, I'll start filling in my 90YO neighbor's yard!

I think one more good fix i will be done. I am giving my brother in law 2 freebies Hamlet and one i was never sure of but good bloomer to make room for yesterdays hard earned starts.
I have a photo album i use to map out my beds but there will be lot of missing pics because i got so many that were done blooming. I will spend the winter imagining what my beds will look like and how much better they will be with fertilizer.

Kevin: We want to see pics next summer!

kssmith said: I think one more good fix i will be done.

Famous last words!

Don't worry, Kevin .... I am not holding my breath on your statement that you will be done after one more good fix. We ALL say that.

I can not control the impulse to buy more. The only element that cuts the numbers a little is the list of characteristics of what I am seeking. I no longer buy that pretty face.

Tomorrow I will write a check to Michele, and soon one last order will arrive from Maryoot's.

The potted daylilies are ready for the greenhouse, and a few will go in the ground.

I vow to stop buying for now, and make a budget for 2016.

Good luck with that plan, Gerry!

Maybe we can all go to a hypnotist to be cured? Be told that we have enough and there is NO NEED to buy more!

Hemophobic said:Kevin: We want to see pics next summer!

Oh yeah just try and stop me. And Becky when i said that i was thinking in matter of days. No seriously i have to stop i cannot just plunk these beautiful things into the dirt just anywhere i please.....could i?
I was just thinking today about how i could start scraping off that top layer of grass and clay in time for the garbage truck on Tuesday but not sure i have the energy after working Sat. at the daylily farm and 90 degree heat tomorrow.
At least we can say our addiction is good for us because most stories about addictions simply cannot and should not be laughed at. Years ago a friend of mine was ordered to attend 15 AA meetings after getting caught drunk driving. I took him to and attended almost all those meetings and not once did i hear anyone say "that is so funny".
Just remember to have those underground lines marked off before you go digging another daylily bed because we do not want anyone thinking that our addiction kills people or promotes recklessness. We simply do not want to be that serious here.

I hear ya, Kevin.

All my lines are overhead, so I can dig up anywhere in my yard except right where the pvc goes from my well to my house. When I get my new bed done, it will be close to 9' x 9' but it will be a key-hole design similar to what Jon has been building. Only mine will have concrete sides, not wood. And it will be mostly sunken at one end into the ground because of the slope in my backyard. It's a challenge.

I think removing sod to make more beds is an easy way to create a garden area. I have to create raised beds on a slope using concrete. Not so easy. What I wouldn't give for a level yard.....

You do not have to remove sod to make a garden bed simply lay down cardboard and the sod will die and nourish the ground. Wish I had know this when I dug up lots of sod when I enlarged my garden each time. Oh well, all the sod removal certainly cured me from enlarging for more garden space besides I have plenty of garden space to keep weeded.

Becky i live in a newer residential addition where everything is buried. When i put up our white vinyl fence in 05 i had to get building permit and call the 1-800 number to have someone come out to mark those lines. They are very good about doing that service and they were out 2 days later.
Yes level yards are nice but my front yard slopes away from a big pear tree and when enlarged that bed last year i used field stone to border it. I got the stone for 6 cents per pound and i could pick and choose what size, color and shapes i wanted. Because of the weight and irregular size it is nowhere near succeptable to ground movement due to constant freeze and thaw during our winters and thats what i like best about it.
I put some of the largest ones at the bottom of the slope so the mulch would not just roll right out.
In the backyard my big bed is mostly treated landscape timbers with inter locking holes and half inch rebar to hold them in place. With a good skill saw, hammer and extra long wood bits its pretty easy. You just have to be good at measuring.

My hem addiction started several years ago when a local nursery had their half off sale. I purchased Ruby Spider, Hush Little Baby, Siloam Peony Display, Erin Lea, Cherry Candy. Strawberry Candy, Rocket City, and Jolyene Nichole. Most of these were only 5 bucks and I couldn't wait to get home to plant them...I didn't even have a bed made yet ( sounds familiar, right?).

Then the next spring, I had the addiction for sure. There was a man who lived about ten minutes from here, and I always saw him working in his yard. He had those 'cute little markers' on all of his plants, so I got the courage to stop one day to speak to him. He was incredibly nice, and told me he didn't sale daylilies, but if I would come back the next morning, he would give me few. I thought he felt sorry for this poor soul out seeking strangers to talk to about flowers

So I arrived the next morning with a few flower pots (didn't want to be greedy). He said, "that's all you brought? I thought you came to get flowers!" He proceeded to load the ENTIRE back of my truck with daylilies!! I definitely didn't have a bed ready for this!

His name is Emory Hale, and he is a local hybridizer and an all- around great guy. I have many of his crosses and treasure them. I also blame him for really kick starting my addiction.

I can always justify my addiction, like everyone else here! I don't go out shopping much, don't drink or do drugs; all it takes is a beautiful bloom to make my day. That makes all the weeding worth it. So what started out as a few DLs by the sidewalk has turned into a new side bed, a new front bed, then the front bed addition, next came a bed on the left to match the right, and this summer, all the area in between those beds to hook them together. I also had to have a small strip by the garage, and when the new shop went in, you guessed it...a new bed. I am currently working on the other side. Just installed a French drain and water/irrigation/power lines for the flower bed on that side and the new greenhouse. my addiction is full blown!
I have promised myself not to put in any daylilies around my pond ( mostly because it's full of other plants already )

I'm constantly looking for sales, and can't stay away from the daylily farm. I have plenty of land, so that's not a deterrent. I need help!

Does anyone have anything for sale??