Downright tropical

It has been a gorgeous summer here – lots of beautiful sunny hot days, some good whomping thunderstorms, followed by a day of lower humidity, and slowly building back up to some steamy humid days which break with the next wave of thunderstorms. The daylilies glory in this weather, and though the early dryness has diminished their bloom a bit, you would never know it these days. It is not unusual to see perfect strangers slow down to get a better look at the flowers and the other day when I was walking Riley, a woman stopped her car at the top of the driveway to tell me how much she enjoys my garden all summer. I thanked her graciously, while inside I am doing fist pumps and going “yesssssssssss!”

This is a daylily called “South Seas”. I got it from a plantsman in West Virginia a few years ago, when he was selling some of his excess nursery stock on ebay. The name reminds me of summer evenings spent at the Little League field up the street from our house, watching my little brothers play. We sat on the on the rickety wooden bleachers, drinking Kies soda, bottled just a few blocks from the field. “South Seas” was a favorite flavor, what with it tasting so exotic and all. It actually tasted like fizzy Hawiian Punch, but I guess our palates were not exactly discerning at that point. We paired it with Nestle Crunch bars and Sweet Tarts – perfect for watching sweaty little boys fumble their way around in the last of the early evening sun.So tell me – how is summer going where you are?