You will have to forgive me for 2 grandchild-centric posts in a row. Though today, we are also talking about daylilies, which is a Saturday thing and goats, which I believe are legal to talk about on any day of the week.
I took this with my camera phone after Ellyn and I got back from a deliriously ecstatic morning at a great daylily garden near her house. Row after row of gorgeous plants for fabulous prices. I had a hard time restraining myself to just 7 selections. Restraint and daylilies are not terms that easily co-exist for me.
But that is not really what this post is about. It’s about the fact that the woman who owns this particular daylily garden is an absolute genius. Because when you have that many daylilies, you have a nasty little chore called deadheading. Each daylily flower last only one day. Then you are left with the spent flowers and it takes days for them to drop off on their own. Now of course in my own garden, I get out there at the crack of dawn every morning and snap every one of those nasty things off. Yep. Well, sometimes I might miss a few.
But, I don’t have huge growing beds or lots of people traipsing around who I want to bedazzle with gorgeous flowers so that they will buy them. When you have that kind of business, it is essential that you keep up with your deadheading.
That is where these guys come in:
Apparently goats love daylilies. But that is not the real genius, because the problem is not what to do with the blossoms after you get them off, but getting them off to begin with. And adorable though these little guys may be, I doubt they are very selective and unopened blossoms are probably just as tasty as the dead ones. No, just having the goats is not the genius part. Here is the genius part:
See? The little goats look all cute and engaging and the kids want to go see them and then the lady who owns the place, goes over and pulls a few deadheads off a couple plants and casually hands them to the parent, telling them “The goats LOVE to eat these.” So the parent takes their kid over to see the little goats and the kid is immediately captivated by shoving the deadheads through the fence and watching the cute little goats gobble them up. “Let’s give them some more Mommy!” But the daylily lady is now nowhere to be found, so the parent does this amazing thing! She goes over and starts deadheading daylily plants so her child can be further enchanted by feeding the little goats some more.
And when those are gone, the parent goes and gets some more!
[can you believe Ellyn gave birth only 2 days after this photo? I was bigger than this by the time I got out of bed the morning after conception with my second baby! she gets this from the women on her father’s side of the family. not from me. definitely not from me.]
Who would not want to see their kid having this much fun? The day lily lady actually rents these goats every summer. And every day she sits, sipping on drinks with umbrellas in them, while parents/grandparents/customers stand out in the hot sun doing her deadheading for her so their kids can feed the goats. Genius I tell you!
I think any amount of deadheading is worth seeing your grandson enjoy himself this much. On the other hand, I have a heck of a lot of deadheading to do around here and these peeps are going to be living a lot closer this summer which means I can expect to see them around a lot more. Hmmmmmmmm – I wonder how much is costs to rent a goat anyway?
GENIUS!!! The woman’s a regular Tom Sawyer! And Anna looks like a big baby.
Tom Sawyer!!! LOL!!! I was going to say she was a genius too, but “flea” beat me to it. Gotta admire the wily inteligence of this person! Mwah ha ha!
I’m going to have to rent some goats, too. It really is a genius idea.
Oh, and two days later? I might have to be jealous that she hardly even looked pregnant, at least compared to some of us at that point.
I’m going to have to rent some goats, too. It really is a genius idea.
Oh, and two days later? I might have to be jealous that she hardly even looked pregnant, at least compared to some of us at that point.
the daylilies are beaautiful, ty for dropping by. if you want to xlinks can u add my other blogsite, http://edoctips.blogspot.com.ty
I would like to rent goats that like to eat blackberries. I hear they eat everything else before moving on the blackberries though!
Yes, that is a brilliant thing to do in a Tom Sawyerish kind of way! LOL!
That’s why I always surround my day lily garden with tin cans
Your photos are beautiful! That’s goats look ready to nibble those little tiny fingers!
That is brilliant!
Hilarious. I can see her now, sipping drinks with an umbrella in it, while children’s parents dead-head her daylillies. How clever is that!!!
I love watching Mark feed those baby goats. That woman is way smart! Here in MA we would say “wicked smart!”
How cute! And, look at your cute pregnant tummy!! You look great and I love the pictures.
Have a good weekend – Kellan
Kellan – that is my daughter – my belly has not been pregnant in about 25 years or so ;)
He is one to the cuter kids I know.
Oh! So, that’s what I need to keep the deadheading on track. That is the one annoying thing about keeping daylilies. The beauty of them cancels out any annoying habits they may have though!
That is so cute! I hope I’m as smart as you when I’m a grandma :-)
[can you believe Ellyn gave birth only 2 days after this photo? I was bigger than this by the time I got out of bed the morning after conception with my second baby!
Unfortunately, I related completely to this statement!
That woman is clever–deadheading is a dreaded chore for me.
Thank you for stopping by my blog and leading me back to yours. This is lovely! I have a huge lily fascination –and here in Texas, the Spring lilies are starting to peek out. Because this is when we get to Spring here–in February.
And I’m glad to meet a fellow New Yorker. (Well, soon I will be a New Yorker.)
You have a terrific blog and I’m bookmarking it!
–Barb
dlyn,
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
I don’t have goats, but the kids from the elementary school across the street occasionally help out with the flowers. As you might guess they are not usually dead yet! Oh well. . I like to imagine my flowers being given to moms all over the neighbourhood. I just plant a little extra! :)
I’ve always liked day lilies, but I’ve never paid much attention to the varieties. I think you’ve inspired me to get more.
I love this story on lots of levels. Just a great story.
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Hi,
I am wondering if you would mind me linking to your story from my mini goat website in Australia? I also have a friend with a daylily garden and small nursery that would also like to link your site to her website.
Would that be ok?
Warm regards
Lee