Have you begun thinking about what kinds of flowers you'll plant this year in your flower gardens? Now that the snow piles are melting and the perennials are poking their heads through the ground, we get the itch to get out and get our hands in the soil (especially our green thumbs!). What types of new flowers should we put in this year? What can we plant that won't take too much work? Where should we go to get them?

Wayne and Rita Zidonis have just the answer for all your questions: beautiful daylilies from Daylilies & More, just north of Lodi. It is very easy to find: it's right on State Route 83, only a few miles from US 224 and Interstate 71.

Daylilies are nearly the perfect flower. They're hardy in our area of northern Ohio, they are extremely low-maintenance, they're drought-tolerent (you'll appreciate this in the hot summer when you don't have to water them), and they come in a large variety of colors, types and sizes.

Wayne and Rita were drawn to daylilies because they found themselves in love with the fact there are so many varieties.

"We used to raise sheep on our land," Rita said, "and when we quit doing that, we wanted to keep the place agricultural in some way. Since we'd visited every daylily farm we could find, and loved it, we decided to grow our own flowers to sell."

For the past 16 years, Wayne and Rita have been operating their daylily business in their own backyard, without any other employees. In July, their busiest time of the year, they get some help from other members of their family, though.

"We have about two acres planted in daylilies," Rita said. "Everything is over-wintered right here, so folks know the flowers will be hardy for our area. We probably have 500 registered varieties here. Most are available for an average of $6 to $8, but we have some for $4 and others that go as high as $35."

Daylilies & More has recently registered four of their own hybridized varieties:
Fates Fortune " a rosey-pink daylily with a yellow center and ruffled edge that grows to be 38-inches high and blooms from mid-to-late summer.

Queen of Salsa " a really nice hot orange-red daylily that grows to be 18-inches high and blooms from mid-to-late summer.

Splat " a yellow-gold daylily with an unusual form (spidery-like) that grows to be 48-inches high; it has a huge 11-inch flower and is fragrant; it also blooms from mid-to-late summer.

Stolen Glances " a creamy pink-yellow daylily that grows to be 36-inches tall and blooms from mid-to-late summer.

Rita went on to say daylilies bloom in one of three seasons: early (June), mid-summer (July), and late (August). By mixing different varieties of daylilies that bloom in all three seasons, you can maintain a blooming array in your garden all summer long.

Daylilies multiply rapidly and don't need divided for quite some time, usually five to ten years.

"I tell people to watch how the lilies are blooming," Rita said. "If you see they're not blooming as profusely as the year before, it's probably time to divide them and replant some in another spot."

To help you round out your garden, Daylilies & More also carries many varieties of Irises, both the German bearded varieties and the Siberian). They also sell other perennials such as Black Eyed Susans, Coral Bells, Coreopsis, Hostas (they carry approximately 30 varieties of these, including many unusual ones not available everywhere) and grasses.

When you decided to get serious about your flower beds this year, make the trip to Daylilies & More and make daylilies the showpiece of your gardens.

Daylilies & More -- 8290 Avon Lake Rd. (SR 83), Lodi, OH 44254, (330) 948-2470, daylily@ohio.net., http://www.daylilies...ore.com ; hours: May 1 thru Aug. 31, Tue. thru Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and in April, by appointment only.