Four for the Price of One

June 16, 2020Leave a comment

Wow – no blog since Thursday. Why? First – it is pretty much the same 4 bloomers off and on every day. Second – it is camping season and still busy at work. I blog about my travel on my on another blog – so I just didn’t have time for both last night.

Where are my other blooms? Well, last year, I was behind this year with bloom rate. But it was rainy and my overall bloom rate was the highest ever. But, the year before that was an exceptional drought and I already had several more cultivators in bloom, but a lower overall bloom rate for the season.

My only premier since last post: Happy Returns 6.15.20

My theory is easy – the rain is the stimulant to form scapes and decide to bloom for another year. It happens in March and April, the rain. I can water, but in a desert, I can’t keep up with mom nature. When it finally warms up, there are lots of scapes ready to ascend into full blooms.

Drought years tend to warm-up quickly. So, those daylilies that did form scapes because they did OK on less rain emerge earlier due to the daily temps. But, overall, there are fewer scapes that formed because of less moisture in March and April.

This year, we are somewhere in between. I have 85 in scape now – about half. I always start to worry if I don’t see scapes by late June – perhaps this cultivator needs a year off.

I have several that look ready to pop. Laughing Feather, Ojo de Dios, Mesa Verde, Funny Valentine to name a few. I guess I need to wait until tomorrow to see what opens up. For tonight, you get four nights of blog for the price of one read. Soon, I won’t be able to do that and stay caught-up.

Two Trumpets

June 12, 20202 Comments

Sometimes, a picture is better than words. Sometimes, sleep is better than being awake.

The sun and warmth have returned and I have 75 scapes.

Crowning

June 11, 2020Leave a comment

Crowning is a nurse-midwifery term for when a baby’s head begins to come into the world. For many years, it was my job to deliver babies. We knew it wouldn’t be long once the head was crowning.

I start my day by touring my daylilies to see how many cultivators have scapes. I love the anticipation enough that I peak down between the leaves to see is a scape is forming that hasn’t emerged yet. I feel like a midwife checking under the sheets to see if the baby’s head is crowning.

So, today I had the same four bloomers as I had the last few days. Nothing else looks super ready to open, but I have 70 that are crowning 😉 I guess I’ll see what tomorrow brings.

PS since it was so cold last night and yesterday, my blooms lasted into a second day only slightly frazzled.

Rode Hard and Put Away Wet

June 10, 2020Leave a comment

It is an expression about horses – rode hard and put away wet means running a horse so hard that it sweats. Well, looking at my daylilies today, the expression came to mind. The Derecho followed by 2 more days of intense wind – then down to near freezing last night – that is a lot to ask of a daylily. And, the foliage is bent and after two days of dust bowl wind, the last rain was “dirty” so to speak. So, my leaves have a little debris on them.

I still had 4 blooms today. I think Dream Keeper looks so sad and faded today after the storm.

Dream Keeper before the storm 6.7.20 – see the color difference?

And, Saratoga Springtime broke a petal.

Saratoga Springtime – After the storm 6.9.20

Stella, and her cousin, Yellow Punch (a primier bloom today) look pretty normal. Except the buds (other than Saratoga Springtime) did not fully open until this afternoon about 2 PM. It is a clear sign that blooms are partially heat driven.

What’s close – IDK, maybe Funny Valentine. I do have close to 70 scapes now. The wind is gone, like a case of Corona Virus is gone. And, it gets up to 75 tomorrow.

Oh, and my poinsettias are OK. Poinsettias will die if you expose them to temps under 50 in the winter, but I have found that during growing season, they are much more resilient.

Feels Like 32 Degrees

June 9, 2020June 9, 2020Leave a comment

Well, this wind storm (called a derecho) is causing some very cold, wet, windy weather. Derechos usually occur in the Eastern US and Saturday brought Colorado’s first-recorded, significant derecho. It’s still stirring things up. It’s supposed to get down to 38 tonight. I hope my poinsettias are ok.

Wind leaves the plants looking they have been through a hurricane. My poor bleeding heart plant is shredded.

I still had two resilient blooms and 60 scapes. It’ll be cold for a couple days. I may not see much action until then.

Three’s Company: Week 1 Roll-Call

June 8, 2020Leave a comment

Daylily season has begun. I have been trying to remember all of the things I did with the blog last year. I know I did Premier (first bloom for each cultivator, Encore for reblooms and Finales for the final bloom of each cultivator.

Because of the number of flowers I have at peak, it is easier to show Premiers, Encores, and Finales in the daily blog and try to do all the bloomers that week on Sunday. If I have less than 10 cultivators in bloom, I still post each one – so we have a couple weeks. I get a little burned out with it – but it only is crazy for a couple of weeks.

Dream Keeper (My first Ned Roberts bloom for 2020 with a few extra pedals 6.6.20

The other difference on Sunday is that I try to use Powershot photos and not phone photos. During the week, I don’t always have time but I try.

So, as you can see (above), Stella de Oro joined the group today. 3 out of 171 bloomed so far with 55 spikes or so. And 171 cultivators. That is a 1.7% bloom rate. No where to go but up. I am just glad these kids are resilient because the wind has been blowing constantly since the rain stopped yesterday – gusts to 60 MPH. Poor early bloomers get Springtime in the Rockies. Let’s see what tomorrow blows in . . .

Rolling Thunder

June 6, 2020June 6, 2020Leave a comment

I woke up to rolling thunder and light rain. It’s Saturday so I slept late. I’m sure the dark, cool weather helped.

As soon as I regained enough consciousness, I started wondering if my big Dream Keeper bud was open.

So, I grabbed my camera and headed outside. I kept the camera tucked in my shirt as I photographed a couple of my early bloomer favorites.

Springtime

June 6, 2020Leave a comment

Yesterday, Friday, came my first bloom of the season. The daylily season of Corona has begun. 40 scapes and I need 40 winks. Let’s see what daylight brings.

There Ain’t No Cure for the Summertime Blooms

June 4, 2020Leave a comment

Sometimes, I feel a little sad that daylilies are the dominant plant in my yard. And, that camping season is superimposed on daylily season. To top that off, I have so many other plants that bloom in summer.

Mesa Peach Blanket Flower added to my Native garden yesterday.

I feel like those plants get ignored. I nurture the plants all winter, many as houseplants. And, boom, I barely notice their gorgeous blooms because 50 daylilies are competing for my time.

My oldest bloomer this day is my yucca. Her yucca patch was here when I first bought the house 20+ years ago.

Today, I walked my yard and took pictures of a dozen or so plants that are brightly blooming right now.

My coneflower is a couple years old, tall and proud member of my native garden.

It’s a weird bunch, from Thanksgiving cactus to white iris. From native to tropical.

This pink yarrow is also a new addition to my desert native garden.

I have more than are pictured here because I ended up with lots of pansies and petunias in color bowls.

My dancing lady orchid adds a splash of yellow to the back porch.

The oldest plant in bloom today is likely my Thanksgiving cactus or the bromeliad. All about 5 years with me. The youngest I planted yesterday.

And, my red bromeliad likes the sun but not the dry heat.

I wish there were more blues to contrast the daylilies – pansies and petunias help.

Thanksgiving cactus enjoying the temp drops at night.

Another white bloom is my iris, about done for another year.

Ice plants add color to the landscape this time of year.

This stunning yellow begonia adds color to the yard in summer.

One of the many bright annuals in my color pot.

I think daylily season starts tomorrow or Friday in my yard. Saratoga Springtime is about to burst. I have 30 scapes up, but none close to blooming. It seems a little late, but not much. I hope my bloom rate is good with the drought. It tends to be worse on drought years.

Anyway, if I don’t get too burned out blogging, maybe I’ll do an extra post every so often about the other bloomers.

Enchantment in the Garden

May 27, 2020May 27, 2020Leave a comment

A spellbinding magic show that brings you delight and pleasure . . . that is what it means to be enchanted. New Mexico is the Land of Enchantment. I am perhaps less enchanted with New Mexico than I am Arizona because Western Colorado has areas that resemble New Mexico.

Yucca in a drift at White Sands National Monument

That said, I am enchanted by my roadtrips through New Mexico. The badlands are beautiful, and the cultural flavor is richer than Colorado – if you are into the Southwest.

The stark horizon at White Sands National Monument, NM

Last year, we saw different side of New Mexico at White Sands National Monument. It is a landscape so boring that it is enchanting. Non-colored sand with a few resilient plants poking their heads through.

This view reminds me of the ski slopes in Colorado – White Sands National Monument

The hikes are like marching through a very hilly sand box. My cats would likely like it better than my dogs, who considered it way too hot at 85 degrees. I had never seen dunes quite like these ones . . . enchanting.

Kachina, Sazi, and Maizzy feeling the heat at White Sands National Monument

So, my vicarious roadtrip daylily of the day is Land of Enchantment – another Ned Roberts spider. Last year was her first year to bloom in my yard and by golly, she does look a bit like the New Mexico State flag.

She was one of my early bloomers last year. She doesn’t have scapes yet – but I do have 15 cultivators with their weird claw hands being raised to the heavens in prep for a bloom.

I am nervous because drought years tend to bring early blooming but poor bloom rates. I try to keep up with watering, but I am not the same as a good monsoon. And, the monsoons are too late – it is really the March-May water that matters.

I did put in a new drip system out in the walkway garden and the plants are bigger. So, I guess we will wait to see how enchanting this summer is in the garden. 2020 has brought my 65th birthday, a dead furnace, a broken sewer mainline and COVID-19. I could use a little enchantment.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure