Fifteen Months in the Life of a New Lily Bed in
Susie & Jonathan's Backyard, Iowa City , IA


Click on any photo to see larger image:


Fall 2008

November 2008 - The "jungle" of bushes at the far end of our yard
were removed, and....



...the new bed slowly began to take shape.

But Winter was on its way, and.......


....by the next morning (November 28), it looked like this!

Snow covered the site for the next
two and a half months! (You've
got to like living in Iowa!)



What a mess!


Fast forward to March 2009 - over a ton of
Anamosa limestone is
delivered, but how to get it to the backyard?


A fortuitous late snowstorm on
March 29 (and a sled) solved the problem! (photo taken at 8 AM)

11 AM on the same day!


3 PM on the same day!

Brother-in-law Tim builds the wall
in 6 hours!


Note the raised beds in our
neighbor's yard.





The bed was filled with soil, and....

....the surrounding area was
prepared for seeding





Covers promoted grass seed germination.



A few weeks later, ...


... the bed was prepared for
seedling planting.




Removing the covers revealed
the new grass.




475 seedlings grown since
December under lights






Planting begins!







Susie begins work on the upper bed, watched by Scooter, our Yorkie.


200 seedlings were planted in
the lower bed.





By May 28, the task is complete!

Time to finish planting the top bed!


100 seedlings fill the top bed.


June 12

June 22

July 7


July 9


July 19


July 19


July 19


July 19

July 19


July 19

July 19

July 27


August 11

August 15


September 1


September 23


October 7


October 10 - A small taste of things to come!


October 24

October 24



October 24



October 24 - The new seedlings die back more slowly than the mature plants.

October 31


November 7


Susie puts in a request.......

.......and, on December 12, it was granted!




Maybe she should have asked for a little less!


December 27 - Snow keeps coming!




January 7- No end in sight!

Enough's enough, .....

....forget the daylilies for a while,
let's play ham radio!
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