Faster!

August 22, 2019August 23, 2019Leave a comment

My new little 2 in 1 laptop showed-up. Same brand and size as my last one – different model. Five years since I updated. It is faster – and my last computer got glitchy and finally lost its wifi driver. Plus it moved miscellaneous files to my memory card with the last update. This model was less expensive – by a lot. But, sick dogs, car wrecks and travel meant a budget model.

I need to get on and save stuff other places. You know, like my daylily software. I hope this Windows S mode will allow me to do that. Honestly, I hate new technology like I hate new hiking shoes. You have to break them in before they are comfortable.

Autumn Jewels 8.21

So, back to daylily land . . . nearly 11 today. Photo editing is faster, but I am several days behind, again, due to no computer access

I teach all day tomorrow . . . until evening. So, for now, enjoy the photos.

Cripple Creek 8.21

Oh, PS – Blogging was a tad rough. I don’t like the way Microsoft Edge and WordPress are interacting. Maybe it is just my learning curve. I did name my new computer Zuni Thunderbird after my favorite daylily. I always name my computers . . . but never after a daylily.

Golden Eclipse 8.21

Navajo Curls 8.21

Purple Corn Dancer 8.21

Purple Grasshopper 8.21

Purple Thunderbird 8.21

Royal Palace Prince 8.21

Treasure of the Southwest 8.21

Tired

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019Leave a comment

It’s crazy – I had 13 cultivators in bloom today. Hello . . . It’s August 20th. The weather is now acting like desert weather. Hot and dry. It was in the 90s today.

Purple Corn Dancer 8.20

It’s been a year tomorrow since my surgery. After that, I could not be in the sun for a few months, so the blog just stopped . . . Until the poinsettias bloomed. I only had Purple Corn Dancer in bloom, anyway. Healing was a journey.

Purple Thunderbird 8.20

I never know what to think this time of year. Tired of the heat but dreading the cold, dark seasons ahead. Tired of my camera but don’t want to miss the late bloomers. Hate to see camping season end but ready for some mellow hikes around home. I think my daylilies are in a similar place with life right now – still blooming but longing for a rest.

Cripple Creek 8.20

PS – I ordered my new 2 in one laptop. My old one was tired, too.

Shape Shifter 8.20

Purple Grasshopper 8.20

Indian Sky 8.20

Orange Flurry 8.20

El Desperado 8.20

Chaco Canyon 8.20

Coberg Fright Wig 8.20

Ruby Stella 8.20

Frans Hals 8.20

Chaos and Routine

August 20, 2019Leave a comment

The school year feels like it has started. The new faculty are awesome. Eventually, the routine will settle in, but the chaos takes time to run its course.

Indian Sky 8.19

And, as that happens, the daylilies thin. I have maybe 18 cultivators with buds. Probably about 100 buds. It’s hot, some of them are too thirsty. I lost a few this week.

Shape Shifter 8.19

I start to think about fall chores. Should I put a drip system in the front garden? I need to fix some things in the Southwest garden.

Purple Grasshopper 8.19

By the time the final grades come in, we will be talking about Santa Claus. And, my poor poinsettias. Why aren’t they growing faster. I usually start forcing the first ones about now. I have 2 of 6 that are blooming size. Maybe I need to up their water? Why did 2 grow big?

Frans Hals 8.19

And, my amaryllis have bloomed more this summer than last winter. I had 4 blooms this summer, though my seeds haven’t sprouted.

Navajo Curls 8.19

Fall and winter start to occupy my mind. Air plant decorating . . . They look cool in with cactus, which gives me all sorts of ideas.

Cripple Creek 8.19

For now, I need to focus on this week. Looks like I need a new computer. Sigh. I’m hoping Santa can still afford to bring me a new camera for Christmas.

Heirloom Heaven 8.19

Last Firsts

August 19, 2019August 19, 2019Leave a comment

This weekend took us to the Colorado National Monument. It’s a beautiful place that has been close to my heart since college. I returned home to find my last, of final, first bloom of 2019.

Royal Palace Prince was another bonus. It’s a late bloom for him.

I swear I won’t let myself get so sleep deprived this week. And, then the wifi driver disappears from my laptop. Sigh – good thing for phones because I left my camera home this weekend, too.

Boil it Down!

August 16, 2019August 16, 2019Leave a comment

Today, I feel the need to simplify life. I worked from 8 to 7. My orchids cry for water. They aren’t doing well splitting time with the daylilies in summer. I am ambivalent about losing some of them. I need to pack for my camping trip. Laundry needs to be done. I haven’t gotten 8 hours of sleep in nearly a week.

Raven Woodsong 8.15

I got hobbies when I was trying to balance life and find purpose when working from home. I took a more challenging away-from-home-job a year ago. Now, the mania of the first of a term with nearly all new faculty, new programs, new campuses has hit. I am attempting to shift the work culture, and it feels like my life balance is taking a hit.

Cripple Creek 8.15

What could I eliminate? Not my dogs or my daylilies. Not my camping or road trips. Orchids can be thinned. I want to get into air plants – why don’t I just leave it? IDK. I like plants. And, I don’t want to give up my hobbies. It took me years to finally get some because career was my life. I think they are essential – but I need to boil them down to the essentials.

Orange Vols 8.15

Best of Intentions

August 15, 2019August 15, 2019Leave a comment

I had the best intentions of writing a blog about my New Mexico named daylilies tonight – it’s too late. I had the best of intentions getting to bed on time last night – until the police scene unfolded outside my bedroom window at 10PM (right next to my Southwest daylily garden . . . was that really a SWAT truck?) I had so many good intentions about a smooth start to the semester and some of those have been overruled by life.

Tonight, I must get to bed. Another very full day tomorrow. I had intentions of slowing down . . . yea, right. I work in rural America. Someday, I’ll get ‘er done. I’ll retire and play with daylilies between road trips.

Adios Albuquerque 8/14

So, tonight I leave you with my favorite picture of Adios Albuquerque – the sun was perfect for the 7 PM shot. The 7 AM shot missed the mark. The lead photo is Treasure of the Southwest with a nice sun angle, too. Now, I intend to sleep. Wish me luck.

The Amazingly Huge Spiders of August

August 14, 2019August 14, 2019Leave a comment

Oh, my – school starts tomorrow. I worked early and late. My daylilies had 12 hours between my first round of photos and my second.

I am not sure what to say tonight – my brain is mush and I crave ice cream. But, I do want to highlight three big, colorfast Ned Roberts spiders that are late bloomers. Colorfast becomes obvious when we photograph at 7 AM and 7 PM. And, my photos of these three look good both times – wide awake all day.

Purple Corn Dancer steals my heart with every bloom. I have her in two locations so I may get 3-4 weeks of blooms.

Purple Corn Dancer 8/13/1

Mama Cuna is a HUGE spider. She, also, wears make-up that lasts all day – she adds an amazing highlight to the Southwest garden late season.

Mama Cuna 8/13

Purple Thunderbird is CRAZY HUGE – and also looks great all day. Very colorfast.

Purple Tunderbird 8/12

I am guessing they are related because they all make me smile.

PS – My orchid cactus did not bloom last night – this waiting is the stuff of my midwifery days! I even got up briefly at 3 AM to check.

Orchid Cactus bud 8/12

Cowboys and Indians

August 13, 2019August 13, 2019Leave a comment

I’m not sure if I have ever mentioned that my grandfather knew Butch Cassidy. My grandfather was a cowboy – well, a sheepman. He hired Butch’s men when they weren’t out being desperados in the wild west of Wyoming and Colorado.

Fast forward to my yard today – there was my Premier El Desperado bloom. My big old plant died from the hard spring so I bought a new one. It isn’t getting quite enough light in its new location so the blooms are a little small. I will move her this fall.

Oh, and one of my favorite late-season Ned Roberts spiders was a premier – Navajo Curls. I have so much heart for the Native Americans that my garden is full of blooms to honor their culture. The Navajo are my neighbors here and I learn so much from my visits to their lands. It was nice to have them in my yard.

I only got a few hours of sleep last night . . . and what happens? Well, I go out in my outside back porch after a long day of work to find a bottle to use with my auto-watering spike and what do I see???? My orchid cactus blooming. Like, people host all-night watch parties for this. I have been out a few times for pictures. I don’t know how long I will stay up. Why can’t this be Friday or Saturday night? These plants are spring bloomers, after all.

Still 28 in bloom today. That’s crazy. Almost out of premiers for 2019, though. Not out of buds.

Drizzle and Dragons

August 12, 2019August 12, 20192 Comments

Sunday. I decided not to work on work until later or tomorrow because my energy is feeling all the change. I slept in and woke up to delightful drizzle in my garden. I had 18 bloomers and one Premier – Heirloom Heaven. She was a bonus and she is supermini. Also, one of my most reliable fall bloomers. I know the season is starting to close-up for another year when I see her.

Heirloom Heaven – 8.11

That said, I still have well over 100 buds – maybe close to 200. Last year, I had 18. So, the blog will continue.

I also had another one of my amaryllis bloom today – Double Dragon. Pretty color and shape. It makes me wonder about the real triggers for blooming because my bloom rate is better in the summer. I am considering leaving these guys out and just cutting water this year. Or, maybe leave them in the cellar until spring. I would have more room for other plants with plan B, but my bloom rate might be better with plan A.

Double Dragon Amaryllis 8.11

I have also come to terms with the fact that I am burned out with my orchids. Oh, I still love them but work is requiring more energy than anticipated and I have come to dread orchid chores. So, if a few die off, that is OK. I decided to try air plants because they are more resilient to drought but still look good in glass, like my water culture orchids. I purchased a few to fill dead orchid areas. That should help my winter pass. It feels like fall today!

Air plants in glass

Air plant in macrame hanger

Worth the Wait!

August 11, 2019August 11, 2019Leave a comment

Today. Two dozen still bloom. One Premier – Carlotta. She has a story. She was a bonus plant early in my daylily root days. She was planted in our adobe dirt overwhelmed with the bluebells. When I transplanted to pots, she was seedling size. Today comes her first bloom. Much better than the pictures. She is lacy and flowing. I like her.

Chaco Canyon – who did not bloom in 2019 until yesterday – threw an extra petal today. I’ve not seen her do that before. Also, worth the wait.

And, here it is, bedtime, again.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure