Solaris Farms

I have been buying peonies regularly from Solaris Farms over the past 5 years. Without question, the quality and variety of peony roots that Nate Brenner provides is extremely good and I highly recommend buying from this supplier.

Received a wonderful order of Peony root divisions for Fall planting. Solaris has many of the newer varieties of hybrid Peonies available. I recommend ordering as soon as the website is updated as the newest varieties sell out quickly. I would not hesitate to recommend this company to family and friends.

Great company to deal with. Their daylily intros are absolutely fantastic and are very hardy. They have all done extremely well in my zone 4 garden. Solaris is an absolute must for northern gardeners.

Posted on January 11, 2010, updated July 18, 2012 We have never bought mail order from Solaris, so I can't comment on that, but we have been visiting their farm for many years, and always had a wonderful experience. The flowers are very beautiful --breath-taking actually--throughout the day lily season with early, mid-season and late day-lilies constantly in bloom most of the summer. Visitors are free to roam through the nursery beds and choose the varieties they prefer. Rare and very new varieties are sold by the fan, while older prolific varieties are usually served up in a nice clump. We have visited throughout the summer to get day lilies from the earliest to the latest varieties until we have no places left to plant day lilies. Every one we ever bought has grown, but not all have survived the worst of our winters. Solaris Farm has much lighter, sandier better-draining soil than we do even though they are only a few miles away in the next county. Our heavy clay soil which freezes to the depth of several feet in open winters retains the snow melt water on top of the still-frozen clay when spring arrives and this is really hard on perennials. That said, the day lilies fare much better that most of our other perennials. The only day lilies we ever lost to winter-kill were in winters when we had no snow to protect them from the drying winds. It was only the semi-evergreen varieties that perished. After losing a few, I got smarter and mulched them heavily with straw in November, and never lost any more. I offer this, not as any criticism of Solaris day-lily varieties, but as advice to people who live in zones 5 or less. We have always been delighted with the day lilies we bought at Solaris. They are the perfect perennial for a cold climate, have no diseases, no insect pests and their tolerance of northern Midwestern weather extremes is incredible. Though I usually water them in summer when it is very dry, they would survive without it, and we have never fertilized them, though perhaps they would increase faster if we did. They bloom faithfully every summer and really put on a show in a range of colors from white to nearly black and everything in between; from miniature-sized, to one that grows six feet tall -- my personal favorite! The only pest problems we have had are that deer like to eat the flower spikes, and in winter rabbits will dig through the snow to eat the semi-evergreen ones; so it is best to fence them if you have deer, and mulch well if you have rabbits in winter. Solaris is a family business, and the proprietors are very friendly and helpful. They cheerfully offer information, growing instructions, and gladly answer questions to help you select the perfect plants for your growing situation. In addition to the listed plants you can buy, they have a large propagation area of experimental unnamed seedlings from their own breeding program, that unless marked for propagation, you can select some for bargain prices. They always threw in a free day lily or two along with the ones we bought. All are beautiful! We always came home with more than we intended to buy and then had a marathon planting experience. The color variety is impossible to resist. You'll always want one more. Another highlight at Solaris is the show garden where they plant some of the loveliest, rarest and newest varieties for viewing only, inter-planted with a variety of beautiful and unusual perennials and shrubs. If you can visit this nursery, I think you will enjoy the experience very much.

I spent the long winter researching daylily cultivars and daylily vendors. I have ordered from many places and have mostly been very pleased. I was looking for a vendor which sells hardy daylilies since I live in a cold zone and Nate Bremer's introductions caught my eye. After a lot of months debating which ones to order, I finalized my small order. What a wonderful surprise yesterday when my order arrived and my plants were very healthy-looking and larger than what I expected. I also received a bonus of one that I had listed as a possible substitution, another one of Nate's intros which had caught my eye. I can't wait to see these bloom this summer! I will order a much larger order next year, since I have found a delightful place to do business with. The prices are very fair and the quality of the plants is suberb. Their website is also great fun to look at when you're snowed in over the long winter. Take a look at Nate's intros.....he has some real winners!

Second year I've ordered from Soleris farms. Fabulous plants and nice people. An excellent place to order daylilies. Wish I could visit their garden. Pat Wallace

plants thrive here and all bloomed and increased well.size is not large but average for their growing location up north. A+ happy camper

I ordered 4 tree peonies from them. They were shipped promptly and were very healthy, good-sized plants. Would order from again.

This was my first experience with this company but they had a yellow peony that I really wanted. It arrived today and is large with many eyes that are begging to be planted today. I will definately go back when they are selling again to see what else I might need...or WANT!

I am very pleased with my first daylily order from Solaris Farms. I received large healthy mutiple fans with great roots, and a lovely bonus plant. Great communication and prompt shipping, too.

I placed an order with Solaris Farms for daylilies late last summer. I was looking for specific features in terms of bloom time and bud count. I contacted Nate via e-mail with my list of possible choices and my questions in regard to them. I received a prompt reply as well as some suggestions. When I placed my order I asked that he choose the bonus plant based on what I was looking for in my other daylilies. When my order arrived, I was thrilled to see the size of my divisions....practically clumps. When I looked up my bonus plant I was amazed to see that it was one of the newer introductions, priced at more than the total of my entire order. The next time I'm looking for daylilies I will certainly be ordering from Solaris Farms. What a great experience.

Wonderful experience with my visit to Solaris farms this week! I would highly recommend to anyone.. actually everyone. I purchases approx 15 daylilies and when he dug them up and bagged them ... it was 'WOW'... beautiful daylilies - clumps and roots. (and bonuses) He went out of this way to make it an extra special experience - We will be back there!! Can't wait to see more of his gorgeous seedlings! I can't say enough about the kindness and the beauty of his daylilies!

I have visited this farm last summer and twice this summer, so far. All of the daylilies I have bought have done exceptionally well. The prices are good and the plants are exceptional. Everyone there is very friendly and more than willing to help. They are very generous with the size of the plants (clumps, really) and also with nice bonuses. Can't wait to go there again!

Wonderful, healthy, large fans: plus a great bonus; even though I had a small order. Really enjoyed listening to an expert in daylilies that knows the northern experience.

I bought a ITOH Peony named Bartzella last spring, they shipped it out in October, as promised for fall peony planting. I received a huge healthy looking root stock, packed very well . Nate was very good about getting back to me after I called inquiring about the availability of such a garden gem. I would not hesitate to order from them again & truly hope they continue to expand their peony program.

I found Solaris online and decided to visit the place personally to pick up some new daylilies. It was a very enjoyable experience to browse the place. Everyone was very helpful and the plants that I bought were nice and large! Plus they included a generous bonus. I'm definitely going again next year!!!

I found Solaris Farms through a Google search for a specific daylily I wanted for my garden this season. I ordered several and received them today. They are just terrific - healthy, strong and freshly dug. I am so happy with this nursery and would recommend them for quality and for their good prices.

I received my mail order quickly. Sold out variety was substituted with a higher value "kid" of the plant, and it was a nice chunk. Even though one plant wasn't huge, these plants suffered almost NO setback at all upon planting. I have never had plants with less setback, even ones bought locally and planted within a day of digging. Also received a nice bonus intro, and Tennyson as a gift. I would highly recommend Solaris!

I have been going to Solaris Farms for a couple years now. They are very helpful. All the plants I bought from them are very strong and healthy. I now have nearly 75 Daylillys, most from Solaris.The web-site is well done and informative.

Excellent experience. Received healthy plants when I expected them, and a bonus of one of his introductions. They are already taking off in my garden.

The plants I receive from Solaris Farms are the best DL's I have ever purchased-- which is dozens of orders. Well rooted generous divisions.. Nate is very knowledgeable and anwers all my inquiries in a very forthright manner. Solaris is simply the best value for my money I have found. And I second the recommendation to visit Solaris, especially when the farm is in full bloom. Makes a very enjoyable experience.

Solaris Farms has the best daylilies I have ever purchased. I bought more than 40 different varieties from Nate and have never lost a single plant. They are wonderful looking plants and perform very well. The owner is very knowledgeable and very helpful. I enjoy going out to his place and seeing his new creations along with all the others plants he has.

We visited their gardens on July 12,03, the owner was extremely helpfull and informative. He fully explained all of the varietys of daylillies we were interested in and made other suggestions. I can"t spesk for his mail order business bur the lillies we picked were very healthy ane suprisingly large. On a scale of 1-10 would rate a 10. If you live within driving range definitly worth going and picking out your own plants.

A most pleasant experience...advise anyone who likes daylilies to make the effort to go there....The plants were great and the service helpful and superb!