Unbridled Spirit is one of my garden favorites. The beautiful pastel pink blends with my other flower colors and the ornate edges with teeth and hooks add visual interest.

Hybridized in Kentucky by John Rice (2007), this dormant tetraploid is very hardy in Wisconsin. Unbridled Spirit is registered as growing 33 inches tall, but in my garden it grows 40 inches plus. The blooms are 5.5 inches and are consistent and weatherproof. This daylily is a late season bloomer starting in late July and going into August. It is worthy to note that one of its parents is the famous Forestlake Ragamuffin.

American Daylily Society Award: Honorable Mention 2011

First photo: A view of the city from the top of Edinburgh Castle

Here is a blog I found in my files that I never posted-this is a departure from my flower topics for a change!

When I visited Edinburgh, the city was beyond crazy busy! The Edinburgh Fringe Festival was in full swing. Every August, for three weeks, the city of Edinburgh welcomes artists from around the world. From big names to unknowns looking to build their careers, the festival includes theater, comedy, dance, circus, cabaret, children's shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions, and events. The performers are scattered throughout the entire city. This made for some interesting people-watching.

The historic Edinburgh Castle was also a very memorable experience. A castle has been on this location since the 12th Century, built on volcanic rock. (A photo of the castle on the rock shown below.) It is the UK's second most-visited paid tourist attraction. I was fortunate to attend the Edinburgh Military Tattoo performance on the castle esplanade in beautiful weather (people at the previous night's performance sat in pouring rain). There were 8,000+ spectators in attendance from dozens of countries on the evening I was there. The performance was amazing! I had never seen anything quite like this before. The sound of over a hundred bagpipes playing together will always stay with me.

A typical Edinburgh street. Note the soot-covered buildings. Most of Edinburgh's classic Gothic and Georgian buildings remain coated in a black residue from the industrial revolution. An attempt was made to clean the buildings, but cleaning them did additional damage to the brickwork, so the effort was abandoned.
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A 1920 anchor from the Russian cruiser Varyag at Lendalfoot, Ayrshire, Scotland 

Shocking is one of my late season Orienpet hybrid lilies. It is truly a show stopper with its large 6 to 12 inch blooms and heavenly fragrance. Shocking is a cross between an oriental lily and a trumpet lily. It is hardy in zones four through seven, grows 4 and 1/2 feet tall and typically blooms from mid to late July into August. Orienpets like full sun to part shade and they adapt to most soils very well. If you want some big impact in your garden, this stunner is for you!

My garden has been been cleaned up for fall. The flowerbeds have been weeded, the plants have been trimmed and tomato cages I have been placed over the daylilies to protect them from deer that roam through our yard. It's not the greatest curb appeal, but it works!


Thank you to Tara, Jade, Blake, Lois, Lori, Ryan, and Trina for all of their hard work. I am so grateful and appreciative.