WATERFORD – At a 224-year-old farmhouse on three acres on Route 118, Beverly and Brian Hendricks are living out their dream of becoming full-time gardeners.

With the help of more than 6,000 hand-transplanted daylilies, that is.

“Oh, they’re really just popping all over,” said Beverly, surveying the fans of the plants poking out from the many long beds surrounded by hay mulch.

Friday is opening day for the Hendricks’ new business, Deer Wood Farm and Gardens, 10 miles outside of Norway, just past the Papoose Pond Campground.

Last fall the couple rushed to beat the snow and transplanted 6,295 daylilies, once lovingly tended on Weston Farm Road in Harrison by Edith and Dana Bartlett, who sold them their Deer Wood Gardens business last fall.

The Hendricks transplanted 180 varieties of reds and whites and yellows and golds and bicolors, pinks and lavenders, to name a few. They got a good mix of early, middle and late bloomers, too. Daylilies bloom from the end of June through August, and peak in mid-July.

“Most are sold through custom-digging, and people love to stroll the fields,” said Dana Bartlett, adding it was time to retire. Both he and Edith are delighted the Hendricks are continuing the colorful legacy that attracted gardeners from all over New England and beyond.

“We’re just thrilled that they are the ones that have it,” Dana said. “With Beverly’s knowledge of plants, and Brian’s knowledge of business, they make a perfect couple together. And they’re determined to make a success of it.”

Beverly said the Bartletts have been a great help, and continue to offer support and advice. “They’re incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. And we inherited their babies.”

Beverly, who has more than 15 years in the landscape and garden center business, quit her job of 10 years at Perennial Point of View in Bridgton to begin this new venture, and she couldn’t be happier.

“I love to be outside. I hear the birds, I smell the flowers. I get to see the miracle of seeing plants growing. It just amazes me,” she said.

The Hendricks changed the name of the business to Deer Wood Farm and Gardens, to reflect all the different operations on the farm. In addition to the daylilies, which they’ll sell from $6 to $12 per two fans, the Hendricks are managing more than 50 varieties of perennials, organic mixed vegetables, a farm and garden store, two greenhouses for producing seedlings, and fresh eggs.

Beverly also sells her produce at local health food stores and restaurants under the label Bev’s Edible Vegetables.

“This is really fun being able to stay at home and play in the dirt, and with the addition of our minimally-heated greenhouse (built by Brian), I can stay dirty all year long,” Beverly said.

The couple, who have three children, have been married 22 years, and only recently has Brian caught the gardening bug. He works full time as the advertising coordinator for C.N. Brown Co. in South Paris.

“It’s really a good thing we only have three acres,” he joked.

Their two daughters, 17 and 18, will help out with the business this summer, while oldest child, Scott, attends college.

The 1779 farmhouse they bought from the Cleveland family two years ago is a great location, Brian said. The Clevelands were always avid gardeners, and the property also has blueberry bushes, apple trees and birdhouses within a large stand of white pines.

The property lay vacant for nearly a year after Jim Cleveland died, Brian said.

“People drive by and stop to say they’re happy to see the place up and going again,” he said.