Garden 3 – The Wnek GardenThe Jean and Henry Wnek Garden is located in Tifton, GA, three hours south of Atlanta and about an hour north of Valdosta, GA. South Georgia is an agricultural area known for growing peanuts, cotton, and pecans. In our garden, we grow primarily daylilies.
Driving down a country road, you’ll see a large white house with a gate. Once you go through the gate, the garden opens up like a blooming daylily.
The garden is 1.75 acres with over 800 daylilies growing in 20 plus planters. The daylilies are joined by numerous companion plants placed throughout the garden and our Butterfly Garden. We have three outbuildings including a family built, old-fashioned general store, and an outdoor fireplace and grilling area. The general store is full of antiques from another era. If you remember ice boxes, dial phones, and a hand-cranked cash register–you’re likely as old as the owners.
Jean fell in love with growing plants at an early age. When she was seven, she worked weekends and whole summers in her grandmother’s yard. She started this garden in 1984, in a field full of red rocks and weeds. There were only five trees on the site each no more than a foot tall.
Always a fan of how nature takes its course, there was no specific plan. She just added plants over the years and put them where they looked best. The garden grew and was the location of family weddings, reunions, baseball games, and the grandkid’s playground. Its nickname became Nana’s Backyard. It is also where we married in 2012 and I joined the garden crew.
Jean’s main focus is on texture, so there is always something interesting in the garden year-round. Yet the highlight is when the daylilies bloom. Her favorite daylilies are the thick ruffled pastels while I prefer the orange and purple flowers.
Together, we’ve been learning about daylilies by joining the Valdosta and Albany GA daylily clubs. We attend Regional and National meetings to hear from hybridizers and other gardeners. We must be good students as our garden won the Keep Tifton Beautiful award for April, 2024.
Our garden also features a historical daylily bed (for plants introduced 30 or more years ago), and a bed hosting guest plants.
We are weekend gardeners. While we certainly admire and enjoy the work of the many hybridizers, we do not hybridize or sell plants. We simply enjoy them.
Jean and I are honored to be a tour garden for the 2026 AHS National Convention.
Driving down a country road, you’ll see a large white house with a gate. Once you go through the gate, the garden opens up like a blooming daylily.
The garden is 1.75 acres with over 800 daylilies growing in 20 plus planters. The daylilies are joined by numerous companion plants placed throughout the garden and our Butterfly Garden. We have three outbuildings including a family built, old-fashioned general store, and an outdoor fireplace and grilling area. The general store is full of antiques from another era. If you remember ice boxes, dial phones, and a hand-cranked cash register–you’re likely as old as the owners.
Jean fell in love with growing plants at an early age. When she was seven, she worked weekends and whole summers in her grandmother’s yard. She started this garden in 1984, in a field full of red rocks and weeds. There were only five trees on the site each no more than a foot tall.
Always a fan of how nature takes its course, there was no specific plan. She just added plants over the years and put them where they looked best. The garden grew and was the location of family weddings, reunions, baseball games, and the grandkid’s playground. Its nickname became Nana’s Backyard. It is also where we married in 2012 and I joined the garden crew.
Jean’s main focus is on texture, so there is always something interesting in the garden year-round. Yet the highlight is when the daylilies bloom. Her favorite daylilies are the thick ruffled pastels while I prefer the orange and purple flowers.
Together, we’ve been learning about daylilies by joining the Valdosta and Albany GA daylily clubs. We attend Regional and National meetings to hear from hybridizers and other gardeners. We must be good students as our garden won the Keep Tifton Beautiful award for April, 2024.
Our garden also features a historical daylily bed (for plants introduced 30 or more years ago), and a bed hosting guest plants.
We are weekend gardeners. While we certainly admire and enjoy the work of the many hybridizers, we do not hybridize or sell plants. We simply enjoy them.
Jean and I are honored to be a tour garden for the 2026 AHS National Convention.