Beausejour Daylily Gardens

AHS Daylily display garden in Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada, the coldest AHS display garden on the planet, contains daylilies, other lilies, irises, peonies, and fruit trees

Beausejour, Manitoba, located about 46 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Winnipeg, is home to the only official American Hemerocallis Society (AHS) display garden on the Canadian prairies, the two-acre Beausejour Daylily Gardens. As a zone 3b garden, it is the coldest AHS display garden on the planet.

Garden featuring yellow blooming daylilies and other gardens and green space behind it

The garden was started in 2002 with a dedicated group of volunteers. They were determined to receive the AHS designation within three years. The AHS (aka American Daylily Society) is a non-profit organization committed to advancing the beauty and cultivation of daylilies (Hemerocallis). To receive the designation, a display garden had to showcase about 200 daylily cultivars from several hybridizers and include all types of daylilies. Labels had to show the name, height, and colour of each cultivar and identify the hybridizer. The garden had to be well-maintained, pass an annual inspection, and be open to the public. The Beausejour Daylily Gardens received its status in 2005.

Tree-lined grassed park with brick-lined garden beds of blooming flowers — *The garden areas run along the border and in spots in the centre of a green park*

The Beausejour Daylily Gardens contain 600 daylily cultivars, but there is more to be seen than the daylilies. There are other types of lilies, irises, peonies, ornamental shrubs, and fruit trees. Paths run through the park alongside the garden beds

Garden bed with labels in front of the plants and wooden angel figures

Volunteers, known as Garden Angels, adopt sections of the garden and maintain them to AHS standards. A hand-painted wooden angel marks the section and identifies the first name of the “angel” looking after it.

Wooden angel figure in a flower bed reads Angel Needed — *An area of the garden looking for its “angel”*

There are benches in several different spots and a picnic area. The Gardens host a number of events, including concerts. There is a scarecrow festival in early October.

Two tables set up with plants for sale — *Surplus plants for sale*

Peak bloom time for the daylilies and other lilies is mid-July. Some of the lilies start blooming in early July and a few later-blooming varieties continue to bloom throughout August. Early irises start blooming in late May with other varieties blooming through June and into early July. Peonies typically bloom through June and are at their peak mid-June. The photos in my post were all taken at the start of the last week in July.