Here Come the Monsoons!

Today, I had 63 in bloom. It’s a record. Despite the wet, cold spring that did in a couple of my cultivars, my blooms so far are numerous. For a late start season, we are catching up! And, now, our monsoon rains are assisting with hydration.

I have several that are first blooms ever this year.

For time’s sake, I’m just doing Premiers tonight:

Lullaby Baby 7/15

Bluegrass Music 7/15

Blue Beet 7/15

Mildred Mitchell 7/15

Heavenly Curls 7/15

Medicine Feather 7/15

Black Ice 7/15

Maya Cha Cha 7/15

Indian Giver 7/15

Platinum Pink 7/15

Hesperus 7/15

Jungle Queen 7/15

Mauna Loa 7/15

Chaco Canyon 7/15

My lesson – water early and often. And, with any luck, the monsoons show up like they have this year.

I’m Back and Overwhelmed by Daylilies

Life changes. This summer is so different from last year. Jobs, schedules, weather. So, I returned from Utah yesterday afternoon to an overwhelming thunderstorm that wiped out a lot of yesterday’s blooms. I decided to start fresh today, kind of. I leave for a work conference in Atlanta on Wednesday. Next Sunday, I can start my regular routine for daylily season. Lol.

So, a lot of Premier blooms (to me) today. Let’s start with my Ned Roberts spider collection:

Apache Bandana 7/14

Black Arrowhead 7/14

Chokecherry Mountain 7/14

Mount Echo Sunrise 7/14

Feather Woman 7/14

Navajo Rodeo 7/14

Rocky Mountain Pals 7/14

Talon 7/14

Zuni Thunderbird 7/14

Echo Canyon 7/14

Chief Four Fingers 7/14

Happy Hopi 7/14

Aztec Firebird 7/14

Laughing Feather 7/14

Iktomi 7/14

Pink Enchilada 7/14

Pink Rain Dance 7/14

Raspberry Propeller 7/14

And, the other Premier blooms:

Holy Sombrero 7/13

Isaac 7/14

Stephanie Returns 7/14

Catherine Irene 7/14

Pink and Cream 7/14

Early Bird Cardinal 7/14

Blue Beat 7/14

Primal Scream 7/14

Ruby Spider 7/14

Passionate Returns 7/14

Purple de Oro 7/14

Santa’s Pants 7/14

Lady Fingers 7/14

Red Riddle 7/14

Pardon Me 7/14

Prairie Blue Eyes 7/14

Route 66 7/14

Orange Flurry 7/14

Strutter’s Ball 7/14

Mini Pearl 7/14

Purple Mystery (hmmmmmm- Strutter’s Ball, perhaps?) 7/14

Wineberry Candy 7/14

Prairie Wildfire 7/14

That’s like almost 40 new cultivars since I left 9 days ago! Overwhelmed doesn’t say it with another trip coming up. I have no clue on bloom rate, but the cold, wet spring mostly seems to have helped.

Reruns:

Yellow Punch 7/14

Comanche Princess 7/14

Return a Smile 7/14

The Colorado Kid 7/14

Papa Long Legs 7/14

Land of Enchantment 7/14

Canyon Colors 7/14

Hopi Jewel 7/14

Ojo de Dios 7/14

Echo Canyon 7/14

Indian Love Call 7/14

Treasure of the Southwest 7/14

Yellow Stella 7/14

Funny Valentine 7/14

Petite Petticoats 7/14

Purple Many Faces 7/14

All American Chief 7/14

Ok, that’s enough. Battery is dead. Several Finales while gone: Saratoga Springtime, Dream Keeper, Chama Valley.

If you are going to miss the start of peak bloom, Utah is a great place to do it. Also amazing colors.

Vaca Day Lilies

Today, we started our weeklong camping road trip through southern Utah. So, I’ll miss 5 days of blooms. But, I think there will be plenty left when I return next week.

Premieres:

Prairie Blue Eyes 7/5

Cheyenne Eyes 7/5

Papa Long Legs 7/5

Treasure of the Southwest 7/5

Reruns:

Indian Love Call 7/5

Petite Petticoats 7/5

Yellow Punch 7/5

Saratoga Springtime 7/5

Yellow Stella 7/5

Echo Canyon 7/5

Purple Many Faces 7/5

Mesa Verde 7/5

The Colorado Kid 7/5

Finales: While Dream Keeper has a few buds left (my first bloom this season), she will likely be done before I get home.

Dream Keeper 7/5

The Independence Thirteen

Wow . . . It was slow on Solstice and I have only thirteen on the 4th of July. Last year, I had 40 something. And, for the last several years, I’ve had white daisies, blue bells, and Ruby Spider all in close enough proximity for a July 4th shot. Not this year.

Today isn’t only the 4th, but also the day before my trip. It was my dad’s birthday and my due date with my youngest daughter. My family have been a bit like daylilies in my life . . . Enjoy them when they last and consider each day a new beginning. Still, the 4th is both a community day and a time PTSD can rear its ugly head.

Cricket Call 7/4

So, here we go with the one Premiere for today:

And, 11 sweet reruns.

Canyon Colors 7/4

Hopi Jewel 7/4

Land of Enchantment 7/4

Mesa Verde 7/4

Comanche Princess 7/4

Purple Many Faces 7/4

Ojo de Dios 7/4

Petite Petticoats 7/4

Golden Stella 7/4

Yellow Stella 7/4

Saratoga Springtime 7/4

Yellow Punch 7/4

Maybe not red, white and blue – But the Southwest and Native American names certainly honor our heritage.

Oops, missed one!

Chama Valley 7/4

Sweet Seventeen

Wow, time flies when you’re having July. Almost road trip time. I won’t miss peak, I don’t think. But, it could be starting by the time I get back. I’ll be cutting down used scapes soon enough.

So, a couple quick stories. All American Chief gave me a first bloom ever after three years. He was a gift plant. I love that the sellers pick up my Southwest theme and send approximately named daylilies. Hopi Jewel has bloomed every year, but has a similar story.

Here are today’s Premieres:

All American Chief 7/3

Hopi Jewel 7/3

Return a Smile 7/3

Petite Petticoats 7/3

And, that makes for 13 Reruns:

The Colorado Kid 7/3

Echo Canyon 7/3

Saratoga Springtime 7/3

Canyon Colors 7/3

Mesa Verde 7/3

Navajo Blanket 7/3

Comanche Princess 7/3

Funny Valentine 7/3

Dream Keeper 7/3

Indian Love Call 7/3

Yellow Stella 7/3

Yellow Punch 7/3

Golden Stella 7/3

For the first time in years, Ruby Spider isn’t going to bloom on the 4th. I don’t I can do a shot with red, white and blue flowers together. Oh well, happy 4th!

Baker’s Dozen

Ah, the days of lots of Premieres and no Finales in sight. Today saw 13 blooms. A couple works about Navajo Blanket. I got her early in my daylily crazy. Probably 4-5 years ago. Initially, in the dobie soil until I dug a bunch of half dead daylilies up and put them in pots two years ago. This year, I tried a bigger pot. That, plus the rain, and it bloomed this year.

Another little miracle was Ojo de Dios. She died and I replaced her once I had buried pots in. She is big and healthy now.

So, here we go with Premiers;

Navajo Blanket 7/2

Ojo de Dios 7/2

Mesa Verde 7/2

Echo Canyon 7/2

And, Reruns:

Indian Love Call 7/2

Funny Valentine 7/2

Golden Stella de Oro 7/2

Land of Enchantment 7/2

Comanche Princess 7/2

Dream Keeper 7/2

Canyon Colors 7/2

Yellow Punch 7/2

Saratoga Springtime 7/2

It’s beginning to look a lot like summer!

And, so it has begun. Slowly but surely. Despite the very weird weather of 2019 that brought hail, rain, and thunder today. Ten bloomers.

Let’s start with Premiers;

Land of Enchantment 7/1 – I’ve had this cultivator 5 years and this is her first bloom.

Purple Many Faces 7/1

Chief Four Fingers 7/1 – This one bloomed in ’14 and almost died but finally back in good health.

Now, onto Reruns:

Indian Love Call 7/1

Saratoga Springtime 7/1

Funny Valentine 7/1

Golden Stella 7/1

Dream Keeper 7/1

Comanche Princess 7/1

Canyon Colors 7/1

Last year, I think I just listed the Reruns of I had more than 12. We will see. I’m using my phone/Wordpress app more this year. My camera photos need to be retrieved for the last few days. July has arrived.

Here Comes the Sun

Well, time to stop thinking summer will never come. While I anticipate my daylilies are 2-4 weeks behind average, today there was a shift in numbers and colors.

Here are the today’s premieres:

The Colorado Kid 6/30

Comanche Princess 6/30

Canyon Colors 6/30 (first bloom 6/29)

Indian Love Call 6/30

Yellow Punch 6/30

Funny Valentine 6/30

And, here are the show stoppers who have been around for a week or three:

Saratoga Springtime 6/30

Dream Keeper 6/30

Golden Stella 6/30

Yellow Stella 6/30

I’m working on moving my history website moved to WordPress this weekend, so that’s all for the daylilies today. Oh, the cover photo is Ghost Ranch, whose one and only bud opened yesterday.

Multiples

So strange. It’s July in a week and I’ve only had 3 cultivars bloom. Maybe the 35 degree low and hail this weekend helped. Lol. All I can say is that my 3 in bloom today all have me 4 blooms. I don’t see any others that ready to bloom . . . Within a week, but not tomorrow.

Saratoga Springtime 6/24

Stella 6/24

Boring Solstice

What can I say, Stella was my only Solstice bloom. In 2015, I had only a handful of daylilies and only 1 flowers. This is usually the start of peak. Now, today, we are camping and the wintry mix has rained down upon us.

Stella – my only solstice bloom.