Toad Lily

This is going to be a short blog written to document information about a certain plant we have in our garden.  I haven't started my bullet journal yet so this is a way for me to remember the weather on this day.  Bullet journals are awesome, and my daughter is having great success in using one.  If you don't know what they are, there are several youtube videos showing how to set them up and how they work.

The bees love this plant and they are still feeding this late in the season.

This is the Toad Lily.  My sister gave me a start of this plant a long time ago.  I can't remember when, but probably almost ten years ago.  It is a perennial plant that dies down every year and comes up in the Spring.  It gets two or three feet tall on single stems. I have no idea the name of this variety, but I know it grows well in a somewhat shady environment. 

Toad lily's grow on a single stem with alternating leaves.

It has always been very sensitive to cold weather, and it is the first plant to get touched by frost.  Some years we barely get any blossoms and those we do are zapped by the cold.  This year is very different.  It is the last week in October in Princeton Wisconsin, and we haven't had a frost yet. My Wax Begonias look the same as they did in the summer and the mums and hydrangeas are still beautiful.  They are getting covered with pine straw and falling leaves, but still look nice.  I took my geraniums in a couple weeks ago because I thought the summer was over.  I could have waited for a while longer.

The leaves of this Toad Lily are beginning to turn brown but each stem is still loaded with blossoms.

I am sure this nice fall weather will end soon.  It is Wisconsin after all, but each nice day will make our winter shorter. Because of these blogs, I can keep track of the seasons.  It appears that late October 2013 was similar to this year.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/10/the-last-few-days-of-fall-in-wisconsin.html