Leemer was gifted his first daylilies in 1980 when a co-worker suggested he visit a Daylily DIsplay garden near Centralia, MO to get ideas.about landscaping his newly built home and yard in Millersburg Area. And what a garden it was! Earl and Hazel Gritton were the ultimate ambassadors for daylilies and Leemer went home with 30 or more cultivars.  Carol was already on the scene (they married in 1982) and the Daylily journey began. They joined the local Central MO Daylily Society where local gardeners and hybridizers recommended varieties, foliage height, blossom size, care and cultivation of this remarkable species - hemerocallis. Attending the club sales and the annual farmer's market daylily sales added to the collection over the years. When they started attending regional and national daylily events, door prizes, silent auction plants, live auction plants, and hybridizer introductions were added. At peak, the garden had over 600 different cultivars. Reorganizing the garden, losing some because of weather related issues, and lately paring down to a manageable size, result in 270 currently in the garden.

Carol and Leemer were first attracted mainly to the large bright reds and yellows. They learned to carefully label each flower so it could be identified for entry in the annual Daylily Show. They then discovered the subtle colors of the pastels. Several local hybridizers were partial to the spiders and unusual forms and these became favorites. Next they began to pay attention to when the flowers appeared and added very early, early, mid-season and late bloomers to the mix. Currently a fascination for the miniatures daylilies has added several of those to the garden.