Earthspirit Farm
Jean Bawden
4385 Oak Hill Road
Oregon, WI 53575
Jean Bawden's Earthspirit Farm sprawls over 5 acres of mostly sunny,
rolling terrain. She moved many of her plants from her garden in
Madison, Wisconsin, which was featured on the 1996 Region 2 Summer Tour
about nine years ago. Since then Jean has been madly planting woody
plants (around 300 varieties), daylilies, hosta, iris, tree peonies, and
many other perennials.
Her garden features a huge collection of named daylilies, many newer
iris for the 2010 National Iris Tour, 300+ varieties of hosta, seedlings
from her hybridizing endeavors, and seedlings of John Sheehan and Lloyd
Ravet. Some of the newer daylilies include: 'Kitty Wells', 'Topspin',
'Screen Pattern', 'Beauty of the King', 'Blackberries And Cream', 'Cary
Grant', and 'Fashion Police'. Earthspirit Farm has also been a retail
nursery for the past nine years, selling hosta, daylilies, and Siberian
iris. In the past two years, Jean has trimmed her daylily collection to
around 400 of her favorites, to provide more room to grow seedlings.
Earthspirit Farm consists of more than 40 different garden beds, with
some coming into prominence at different times of the year.
104 West Lakeview
Madison, WI 53716
The Kleinheinz Garden showcases the collective efforts of two hard-working, enthusiastic gardeners with a flair for the unusual. In addition to a wide variety of eye-catching daylilies, you will find an eclectic collection of conifers, trees, shrubs, and other perennials such as heathers, grasses, ferns and bulbs.
In July and August their collection of almost 300 daylilies demands your attention with all of their colors, shapes and sizes. Their favorites change from day to day, but are always big, bright and beautiful. Although they garden on a half-acre city lot, the biggest dilemma Tom and Rosemary face is still space – if they want to add a new cultivar, another has to go.
The shady part of their garden contains a collection of almost 200 hostas with a path that invites one to follow in search of other plants that thrive in shade.
As you debark the bus look for the Kleinheinz version of Stonehenge, anchoring a newly-planted sunny rock garden. Throughout the gardens you will find garden art collected from different parts of the world as well as deck railing, benches and a whimsical piece designed by a local friend and blacksmith. Before leaving the garden, pause to find the shy goldfish swimming below the lovely waterfall.
Hiram and Jane Pearcy
407 Lincoln Street
Verona, WI 53593
This lovely AHS Display Garden, which adjoins a conservancy area and the Wisconsin’s Ice Age hiking trail, features more than 700 varieties of daylilies. Whatever flower type you are searching for, you can find it here. The Pearcy Garden provides examples all types of Hemerocallis: doubles, eyes, watermarks, ruffled edges, picotee, miniatures, spiders and variants. Hybridizers from many parts of the country are represented in this collection, which includes both diploids and tetraploids. Effort has been made to showcase both beautiful, older daylilies as well as examples of new 'cutting edge' cultivars. Companion plants, including many varieties of hosta, are also in the garden, but one has to look for them. Daylilies are definitely the stars! And while you are enjoying this extensive colleciton, keep an eye out for the neighborhood red fox!
Phyllis and Don Sanner
N8257 Highway 104
Brooklyn, WI 53521
Welcome to Happy Meadows Farm. Don and Phyllis are the third generation to own this 119-acre working farm which is often used by the Wisconsin Daylily Society to winter over and pre-test its new adoption plants. Although the Sanners don't milk cows anymore, they do raise heifers for two other farmers and grow hay to sell. Daylilies and flowerbeds are scattered throughout the farm buildings close to the barn and house. Phyllis especially likes big daylilies that she can see from the house. A spectacular clematus paniculata (Sweet Autumn) grows 15 feet tall on one of the silos. This garden offers over two hundred daylilies, over a hundred lilliums and many other perennials to fill in. In addition to large daylilies, the Sanners also have a fondness for doubles.
The double ditch lily showcased here grew at the back door of Phyllis’ grandmother's farm house. Don and Phyllis also raise many annuals, do their own cuttings of perennials and keep numerous annual geraniums under lights in the basement in the winter time. While you stroll the grounds, don’t miss the family quilt display which will be hanging on the clothesline.
John and Donna Sheehan
5656 Barbara Drive
Madison, WI 53711
Donna and John Sheehan live on a one third acre corner lot in Fitchburg, WI, where they grow about 650 newer varieties of daylilies. Daylily collecting started slowly at Fitchward Garden when Donna and John bought a few $2.00 daylilies at the Farmers Market on the Madison Capitol Square. Since then, Donna’s daylily immune system has remained strong while John’s has completely succumbed to the recurring attacks of the daylily-collecting bug.
Seven daylily beds now ring the property as a result of a happy division of garden labor between Donna and John. Donna does the lawn mowing and edging, the weeding, helps John plant the plants, rakes the beds to keep the mulch neatly in control, pitches in to dead-head when visitors are coming, and works at a full-time job to help pay for the new daylily plants. John selects and orders the new plants to go into the beds, does some of the planting, hand waters the daylilies, does the daylily crosses and the rest of the hybridizing chores. Of course, time has to be set aside by John to attend national and regional daylily meetings (all with AUCTIONS). Yes, John has the much better deal!
Karen Watson-Newlin and Rob Newlin
7699 Almor Drive
Verona, WI 53593
Windswept Garden first became a concept the summer of 2003, when Karen and Rob divided and moved 450 plants from their home of 18 years in Verona, WI, to a holding bed at their new building site. Since Karen is a middle school art teacher, design is very important to her. Karen proceeded to design all the gardens while Rob provided the heavy lifting. Together they planted everything in this evolving garden.
Initially in fall 2003, after their custom-designed home was completed, a few plants were placed around the front of the house before the first frost.
Rob next created a pond with a waterfall in the backyard. The side yards and the back yard gardens were created in the summer of 2004, with stepping-stones and paths through the distinct garden areas. A small orchard of apple, cherry and peach trees was planted near the back of the property, and raspberry bushes were added to the original holding bed. The holding area also became the new vegetable garden. A major construction project the summer of 2007 added a swimming pool with an outdoor kitchen area. The current garden is home to about 550 registered daylilies and 250 different perennials. Several theme garden areas are also represented.
A special showcase daylily garden, the Englerth Bed, was developed to showcase unregistered, new seedlings from the Region 2 hybridizers. The conference attendees will vote on the best seedling during the conference when they tour Windswept Garden.