Month: September 2016

A Time to Every Purpose

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Today, Ruby Stella bloomed.  She only has two buds left and freeze is headed our way soon.  I was thinking of firsts and lasts today.  My first daylily bloomed in March . . . in zone 6A.  Indian Sky was accidentally forced on my porch and produced two blooms.  She did not rebloom this year.

 

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Indian Sky – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

My first in-yard bloom was another container that was forced a bit early from winter on the porch – Electric Lizard.

 

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Electric Lizard – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

My first planted in the dirt daylily to bloom was Dream Keeper (6/13) – this is my daughter’s choice for a painting for her birthday.

 

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Dream Keeper – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

And, the last . . .  Miss Ruby Stella from today.  Last, but not least.

 

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Ruby Stella – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

They spanned seven months . . . maybe we make it to October?  Then, eight.

The other thing I hope spans a lot of months are the new labels.  What a project to make these for every daylily, not just the 50 or so southwestern garden ones that I blogged about earlier this month.  They have held up, so I am giving it a shot.  I just want labels that last more than a month or two.  So, we will see.  Fingers crossed.

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PS – I did become a Doctor of Nursing Practice.  And, then I went on a camping road trip through SE Utah.  New job starts next week.  Time to get cracking with some winter strong labels!

 

The Art of Labels

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It used to be that I adopted miscellaneous daylilies and planted th em in amidst my other flowers without much thought.  What’s in a name, after all, as long as the flower is hardy. Then, I started collecting them.  Some I got for the names.  Others, I just needed to organize.  So, I got cool software called Plantstep to manage my habit.  One part I like about the software is that you can print labels for each flower.  However, with inkjet, they never lasted long.  And, I have enough now that relabeling is a major chore.  What to do?

My first thought was to paint names on my plastic labels . .prime, outdoor paint, polyurethane.  I especially wanted my Roberts southwestern garden to have sustainable labels until I learn the blooms.  Somewhere in the process, I began to wonder if you could seal the inkjet labels with the polyurethane.  It worked!  (I googled it later, and they use the process to seal inkjet photographs).

So, I decided that my Southwest garden will have two-sided labels.  One side is painted, the other is a plasticized label.  I’m only half done – it is a multi-step process.  But, I have a good start with the first batch in.  I think I will just use the plasticized labels on the other gardens for now.  It is an experiment . . . we will see what spring brings.  (I like that I painted the label with the color of each bloom.)

My blooms for today are Heirloom Heaven (almost done for this cycle):

 

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Heirloom Heaven – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

And, Red Hot Returns (darn thrips are back):

 

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Red Hot Returns – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

Best of all, it looks like Ruby Stella is sending up yet another scape!  This may be my graduation day flower!!! Rock on Ruby.  2016 came in with the yellows and is going out with the reds.

 

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My new Ruby scape!!!

 

Just a Painter Passing Through in History

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“If you want to know my secret don’t come runnin’ after me
For I am just a painter passing through in history” – Gordon Lightfoot

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be” – Abraham Maslow

 

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Painting of Kokopelli by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

And, so it is.  Yesterday, I painted Kokopelli.  One of my early bloomers is now always in bloom in my house.  It settles my nerves.  Lots going on in my life – but I slept like a baby.

I woke up to a pretty bloom from Red Hot Returns.  Nice way to start the day.

 

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Red Hot Returns – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

 

Fall Blooms and Roots

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Time flies . . . it has been a couple of weeks since I posted.  A lot has happened. I am less than two weeks away from my doctorate.  And, I believe I have a full-time job in my future. A couple cultivators are still in bloom, and I have new roots in the ground.  Perhaps returning to school is like planting new roots.  You give them water, soil, sunshine, and fertilizer.  Then, in time they bloom.  Blooms are like jobs – the reward for the TLC given to the roots.

Today’s blooms were Heirloom Heaven:

 

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Heirloom Heaven – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

And, Red Hot Returns (with less thrip damage than before):

 

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Red Hot Returns – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

As promised, here are the Painted Petroglyph roots from a couple weeks ago next to the photo from a few days ago:

Progress toward that 2017 bloom.  Like submitting an assignment . . .  it takes time.

Fall is here and my attention is turning to my winter indoor blooms.  My amaryllis bulbs and poinsettia need to go dark soon.  I got a new mum, Thanksgiving cactus, and designer begonia.  My Gerber Daisy is in bloom, as is my azalea. Oh, and those geraniums.  They tend to be my winter bloomers.   I will probably blog about those some over the winter.

I’m also working on my fall daylily fertilizing program.  My re-bloomers ran out of steam this year, so that is a sign that they need more nutrients.   I have added some great Ned Roberts roots to my Southwest daylily patch – Glen Eyrie, Adios Albuquerque, Twirling Pinata, and Truchas Sunrise.  I got extra fans (as bonuses) of Echo Canyon and Desert Icicle that will thicken up my existing plants.  My Navajo Rodeo roots are booming this time.  And, I think I am already getting my spring daylily order planned.  That paycheck will be great to feed my daylily habit.