I'm gifting myself with a couple of weeks away from technology. My blog will be on hiatus until August 18th.  We'll catch up then!

Pictured: Twin fawns that visit my yard daily - Mom is hidden in the thicket, watching.

'House of Misrepresentatives' really came into its own this year. This daylily has grown in my garden for the past few years, but this year it really demanded my attention. What blows me away is the beautiful color of the large 8.5" blooms. Unfortunately my photos are unable to convey the vibrant violet plum color that I see. The blooms are perfection -- no wilting or fading on these waxy flowers (bud count 21-25). House of Misrepresentatives is a dormant tetraploid that grows  43" tall in my garden, a bit more than the registered 29". I guess that happens when plants are happy. House is a midseason bloomer that started on July 17 and as you can see by the photos has many more blooms ready-to-go.

House of Misrepresentatives is a Wisconsin-bred daylily hybridized by Nate Bremer (2011). I grow a few other Bremer daylilies and all of them are hearty growers that thrive in our crazy climate. And it's always a plus when the daylily's name makes me smile.

My early daylilies have finally started to bloom this week. This year has to be a record for the latest bloom-start ever. That being said, when I was dead-heading flowers yesterday morning I stopped by 'Spacecoast Cherries and Cream' and marveled at what a beautiful garden plant this is. It's reliable, consistent and never fails to put on a show every single day during bloom season. This daylily has acclimated to Wisconsin very well, and for a Florida-bred daylily, that's noteworthy!

Spacecoast Cherries and Cream is a 2000 Kinnebrew daylily. It is a semi-evergreen tetraploid that has 5.5" blooms (bud count: 21-25) and grows about 27" tall in my garden. Last year's bloom time was from July 2-August 3. This daylily also holds up wonderfully in the hot sun. The first photo was taken at about 7:00 am, while the second one was taken a few hours later.

Since nothing much is going on in my daylily gardens just yet, I thought I'd share one of my old-school scarlet reds from last year, 'Chicago Apache.' As you can see, this daylily is a blooming superstar! I had trouble capturing the beautiful velvety look the blooms have in real life.

Hybridized in 1981 by James Marsh/Roy Klehm, Chicago Apache is a dormant tetraploid that has five-inch blooms and grows 33" tall in my garden. It's a late-season bloomer which is very desirable. Last year's blooms were from July 24 to August 27. This year my plant is huge after all the rain we have had. The scapes have not started peeking out yet, but I'm confident that this season it will put on a show even better than these photos! Chicago Apache is an American Daylily Society award winner as well.