Category: daylily art

Southwest Roadtrip Garden: Daylily Bloom and Plant Adventures

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Mellow day in the daylily garden after the rain last night. I should be camping but I postponed a day due to more rain predicted tonight. I didn’t have any first blooms for 2024 today.

Catherine Irene in bloom in my garden today.

My scape count is hanging in the 80s, although it is slowly increasing. When I say scape count, I really mean that I am counting plants with scapes, not total scapes in the yard. Some plants have several scapes, but they only count as one plant. My Southwestern Named Daylily Garden is just not moving much. The first year I had a bloom rate of maybe 20% and I am a little nervous that this could be a repeat. Not even Dream Keeper showed up this spring – and she always shows up.

All American Chief in bloom today in my Southwest Roadtrip Garden.

When I have a bad year, I always wonder why. Dry winter (only shoveled once), dry spring, didn’t winter water, left the leaf mulch on the Southwestern Named Garden too long, pot soil needs more fertilizer, etc. I’ll likely be working on those pots this fall – because spring is often too late. In my climate, I find that if I can get them thriving before freeze, they come back pretty strong as long as they get moisture during the winter months.

Inwood in bloom on my patio today.

PS – Southwest Named Daylily Garden is a weird long name. How do you like Southwest Road Trip Garden? Afterall, that is the inspiration for this garden!

Next Up: Colorado Windflowers

I’m headed camping tomorrow, so no blog for a few days. Hopefully, I’ll have some nice photos of our Colorado native wildflowers when I post, again. And, I will have billions and billions of new scapes!

Wild Columbines from this time last year.

Today’s Chores: My Plant Business

I worked on harvesting and potting succulents for my Art from the Hartt booth at Country Flair in downtown Montrose, CO. I am 80-90% focused on art with my business, but people love plants. It’s that dopamine I was just talking about! I have some nice agaves and aloes that I get while on my Southwest road trip every spring plus a variety of other succulents. I also cleaned out my yucca pots. So far, no rain. (Oops – I lied. That weather report changed since I started writing the blog an hour ago. Check out this monsoon just a little while ago!)

Daylily Pots for Succulents

Speaking of succulents, my little mini-terra-cotta pots are part of my “Until My Last Daylily Blooms” sale on Etsy. I handpainted every one of these to resemble a daylily from my yard. This one is Primal Scream. Click on this link or the listing to go to the sale listing. These are perfect for daylily lovers who also have small succulents!

Primal Scream Daylily Pot
Mini-Pot with Daylily Art

My Experience Online Daylily Shopping at Shady Rest Gardens

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Happy Trails, Shady Rest Daylily Nursery

Last week, I got news that my favorite online daylily grower was closing. I absolutely adore Doris at Shady Rest Gardens and I am still adapting to the idea that this summer is her last ever sale. She and her husband are on to the next chapter, as I was a couple years ago. I knew I had to be one of her last customers and order something, despite my pots being pretty full currently. So, last night she posted the sale daylilies for this fall. It was like midnight-thirty and I was shopping for daylilies from my couch.

Comanche Princess in bloom today came from Shady Rest

How did I get started shopping for daylilies online? It was 2015 when I returned to school for my doctorate and somehow daylilies became my healthy escape from studies (I loved my program but needed stress management breaks). I had a few daylilies around the yard for years and found them pretty hardy here, but they weren’t really a hobby until I went back to school at age 60.

Online Doctorates and Daylilies

Before becoming a serious hobbyist, I picked up a daylily or two at the local nursery here and there. I don’t remember what spurred me to try online, but I did. I mean, if you can get a doctorate online then why not a daylily? It was a lesson that bare roots are not the same as blooming plants and I had to be patient. But the varieties were endless and they were less expensive. Because of my love of the Southwest US, I was especially attracted to the ones with names that were also Southwestern. That helped me hone in on my favorite hybridizer – Ned Roberts. He lived in the Southwest and his daylily names showed it.

Ruby Spider is originally from a local nursery and in bloom today.

It was a web search for his daylilies that led me to Doris and Shady Rest. It was like striking gold – she had so many of his daylilies for sale. Way more than I could afford. So, every year, I added a few. Now I have 74 Ned Roberts registered daylilies and a grand total of 198 different daylilies. They aren’t all from Shady Rest, but I loved getting my packages from her and they were a substantial contribution. More than a grower, Doris became my garden mentor. Fortunately, we are still friends on social media, but I will miss those packages.

What is your favorite place to shop for daylilies???

Prairie Wildfire originally came from a local nursery and is in bloom today.

So, What Daylilies Did I Choose?

Last night, I decided on one Ned Roberts daylily called Green Warrior and two for my Oz collection – If Only I Had A Brain and Oz’s Cowardly Lion. I had Green Warrior before but lost it to spring freeze-thaw before it ever bloomed. (Fall is my favorite time to plant bare roots here because then they will usually bloom the following season, but freeze-thaw is problematic before they get established.) If Only I Had A Brain reminds me of Dr Doom a little. And Oz’s Cowardly Lion has a similarity to Chaco Canyon. They arrive in August. (Photos from garden.org)

Green Warrior
If Only I Had A Brain
Oz’s Cowardly Lion

Aloha Mauna Loa

Mauna Loa daylily – a little beat up from recent thunderstorms.

Today’s only first bloom for the season was Mauna Loa. This is a different Roberts hybridizer than Ned but a luscious neon orange color in the yard.

Until the Last Daylily Blooms Sale on Etsy

Speaking of my beautiful Ned Robert’s spider daylily collection with Southwestern names – this original wood panel painting of Skinwalker is on sale until my last daylily blooms in 2024. The original wood panel is only $26.25 during the sale. And, I have signed prints of the painting that are only $9 with free shipping. If you miss daylilies in the winter, then now is the time to hang one on the wall! Click here or on the photo below to go to listing.

Skinwalker daylily – original painting or signed print

The Science of Flower Power: Dopamine and Daylilies

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Dopamine and Daylilies: Do Your Blooms Make You Happier?

Have you ever wondered why we are so drawn to daylilies and gardens in general? This is the time of year when I wake up, remember it’s daylily season, and can’t wait to go out to the garden. Now that the empty pots are filled, it’s even better. A lot of positive emotion – feelings of awe, gratitude, and curiosity abound. Daylilies are like velcro, drawing me out to see what is new.

There have been lots of studies looking at flowers and wellbeing. This linked article gives a great synopsis of the research. I need to remember to use my sense of smell more when I am out there, though.

All American Chief

I think daylilies are extra special because the garden has new blooms daily. So, going beyond color, fragrance, and our internal connection to nature, our brains adapt to our surroundings very quickly. My begonias with beautiful leaves or the stunning blooms on my orchids increase my sense of wellbeing. But, day 2 is a little less than day 1 . . . each day, my brain adapts and stops reacting as strongly to the beauty. Less dopamine.

Primal Scream

Adaptation is the same mechanism that makes vacations “lifelong memories” and raises in salary not such a “lifelong” joy. The good part about adaptation is that it can boost resilience. If I get bad news, the news usually seems less bad the next day. Give me 120 days after even devastating news, and like most people, I’m probably back to my baseline happiness. After 120 days of the orchid or begonia, I am probably pretty unaffected by their presence.

Orchid Moonrise

With daylilies, every day is a new day with different colors and blooms. I think that is why I love daylily season. And, even though blogging about it is work, it does help me savor the joy of the flowers each day. It forces me to take notice of my surroundings.

Pandora’s Box

PS – My doctoral work in nursing revolved around the science of positive psychology and optimism. Positive psychology is one of my favorite garden tools!

Daily Daylily Update from My Garden

I didn’t work in the yard today other than to take photos of my bloomers. Did you know I take a photo of each blooming cultivator every day? Then, I file the photos by name and make an Instagram reel for both my pages. Then, I write the blog. So, every day is a daylily day this time of year – unless it is a camping day.

Inwood

I did have two first blooms for 2024: Inwood and Thin Man. Both beautiful blooms, keeping a dozen other blooming cultivators company. Inwood is an older cultivator and reliable bloomer. Thin Man reminds me of a droopy Ruby Spider.

Thin Man

As for scapes, I’m at 90 +/-. I decided today that I have no yardstick (so to speak) to keep track of scapes (or cultivators with scapes) like I do blooms. So, is 90 scapes above, below, or at the mean? Hmmmm. I need a better reference. I do know that several early bloomers don’t have scapes, which makes me nervous because it’s almost July. Does anyone else out there count scapes? Any good systems for tracking these each year?

Until the Last Daylily Blooms Sale on Etsy

One of the items I have for sale this summer is this Ruby Spider plant pot. I painted it in several layers so that the paint has a textured feel. The background is a very flat chalk paint on terra cotta, while the flower is bright acrylic. The 6-inch size is perfect for many houseplants. It comes with a saucer, also done in chalk paint. The red and teal are a stunning color combo. And, it is 25% off until my last daylily blooms for 2024. Click this link or the photo below to visit the listing. That’s only about $20 and includes postage!

Ruby Spider 6 inch plant pot

Pacific Moisture Impact on Daylilies: Winter Watering Tips

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Pacific Moisture, Winter Watering, Rearranging Daylilies

More Pacific moisture today on the Colorado Plateau in Montrose, CO. It’s an unusual amount of moisture for us so far this summer. I have a feeling it will be too little too late to increase my daylily scape production. That winter watering matters when we don’t get much precipitation. Next year, I am going to put a reminder in my phone every 2 weeks starting in February to find a warm day to winter water. Lightbulb: When there is no ice build-up on my front porch in the winter, there isn’t enough moisture for the daylilies during these months.

Catherine Irene

The day started off warm and sunny, so I decided to slip away and buy the daylily that I passed up the other day (Collier) because one of my pots needed more daylily. Once I got home, I wrestled the crabgrass out of my beloved Canyon Colors daylily pot and was left with 4 scrawny fans. That is why I got Collier. The colors are fairly close, so I hope they each stand out – but I won’t get any blooms from Canyon Colors this year in the pot – fortunately, I have it in another area and it has scapes.

Canyon Colors 2023 bloom
Collier (web photo)

Then, I moved stuff around. I rescued Just Plumb Happy from the border garden and put her in a pot. She is also very scrawny and won’t bloom this year. I divided my Kwanso (ditch lily) and put some of it in my little front corner garden. Now, that plant is supposed to be slightly invasive (unlike its hybridized daylily offspring) but the high desert is no tropical ditch. She won’t bloom in the pot. I also put a couple fans in my native plant garden. Another day, another experiment. If she becomes invasive, I’ll regret what I did today.

Prairie Wildfire

Today’s First Blooms of the Season

I had a lot of first blooms of the season today. I’ll post my reel with all the names below. Pandora’s Box was added just a couple days ago. I have almost bought this daylily online so many times! I also want to mention All American Chief as being a favorite spider daylily today.

Pandora’s Box
All American Chief

Etsy Shop Daylily Art Sale

This is a friendly reminder about my “Until the Last Daylily Blooms” daylily art sale. How about these beautiful fun-shaped flat cards? These make great thank-you notes! Click here or on the photo to go to the listing.

And, I also have several houseplants on sale. The Tiger Kitten begonias are so pretty and hardy. Very easy care. Click here or on the photo to go to the listing.

If you need a small planter, I have a bunch! How about this cute red, white, and blue VW-type hippy bus for fun 4th of July decor? Click here or on the picture to go to the listing (email me if you like this specific bus because I am still in process with listing it.)

Daylily Care: Tackling Weed Infestation and Pot Maintenance

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What happened today was a couple first blooms for the season – Comanche Princess and a NOID that I call Dark Mystery. But that’s not all . . .

Today, I wrestled daylily pots! Nothing is as frustrating as grass and creeping bellflower in my pots! Desert daylilies need water – so I have drip systems for 90% of my daylily pots. It is like velcro for grass seeds, grassroots (despite having weed fabric under each pot), and the bellflower. Additionally, the bellflower has tuberous roots that look very much like daylily roots – but lighter in color. Left unattended, they can eventually crowd the daylily out. (Tips for keeping weeds out of pots.)

Unfortunately, chemical choices are limited because the roots of these plants intertwine with the daylily. I have had some luck with the coir rounds – but they wear out in a couple of years and are somewhat expensive in bulk.

I extract the inhabitants of the pot and slowly pull soil and roots away until I expose the daylily roots. Then, I hydro-wash the daylily to get any remaining alien roots off (hopefully) and I repot in new soil. It is a time-consuming process and the pot’s old dirt must be discarded. If you know of an easier way – please post a reply and share your expertise. It is my least favorite part about my daylilies.

Video showing daylily root system.

But, I digress. The day started with me wanting to get the high-bloom fertilizer that I talked about in the blog yesterday. I decided to daylily shop while at the nursery because I had some strugglers that needed to be replaced. I stopped at three nurseries and only one had any daylilies that I don’t already have. So, I got the fertilizer, 2 new daylilies, and some filler plants.

Video on how to fertilize daylilies.

When I got home, I freed the strugglers from their grass and moved them to a different spot to (hopefully) recuperate. I filled the pots with the new daylilies. Now, we wait. I’ll fertilize tomorrow before the storm on Thursday – and I will talk about that in my next post.

Daylily Art Sale on Etsy: Until the Last Daylily Blooms

Don’t forget my daylily art sale. This original painting of Mama Cuna on a wood panel is perfect for the daylily lover’s decor! Click here or on the photo below for the Etsy shop listing.

Mama Cuna acrylic on wood panel.

Daylily Software: Streamlining Cultivator Management and Tracking Bloom Cycles

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The daylily bloom season continues to dribble along. I have nearly 80 scapes (or cultivators with scapes). Still, many early bloomers have not put out scapes. I am unsure what to do – I might try some high-bloom fertilizer before the monsoons hit full force. But just a little bit of fertilizer because the timing isn’t optimal. I rarely intervene like this, but after two years of high bloom rate, I feel the soil may need a little nutrition. I also don’t like to use much fertilizer when the temps are getting so high, but the rains would help.

Orchid Moonrise

I had one new cultivator today: Orchid Moonrise. I was surprised, as this one is usually not a super early bird. I love the purple color of this Ned Roberts spider. My fourth Ned spider this season, the others were Burgundy Crab, Kokopelli, and Fried Green Tomatoes.

Fried Green Tomatoes in bloom today.

I got a new computer last spring (2023) and I discovered tonight that I never moved my daylily software from my old computer. Yes – I have a software program just for my daylilies. Last year, I didn’t use it! The shift from a regular career to a “retirement” small business takes a lot of energy. I got it moved over tonight and trying to update all my cultivators. I have lost some the last two summers – and I need to take those out. I added a couple new ones last year that need to be added.

I have a system where I add a photo from each year labeled with the year. That helps me keep track of what is blooming and what is struggling. The software also lets you put a location – plus I have a daylily map of my main gardens. It also needs to be updated. This is super handy if you lose the plant pot label.

My daylily map.

If you grow daylilies and are interested in affordable software – check out this website. They also have a Facebook page and Kent, the software developer, is very responsive to customer service requests. It is seriously awesome. There are also videos on the website if you are interested in more info.

The other good thing about the software is that I can tell when a cultivator normally blooms in my yard each year. Last year, the peak was mid-July to early August. There is hope that things may pick up this year.

Don’t forget that I have my “Until the Last Daylily Blooms” sale on daylily art in my Etsy shop all summer. Check out these prints of my handpainted pictures of my daylily collection! Great wall decor for the daylily lover! Visit this link or click the photo to visit the listing.

Alberto Reigns and Rains

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Today was one of the stormiest days I remember here. The remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto have been hitting the Four Corners and San Juan Mountains hard. My ditch lilies are likely pretty happy about all the moisture.

I had 3 “first of 2024” cultivators in bloom today. Fried Green Tomatoes had her first-ever bloom (in my yard) today. I really like the color combo. Of course, with the drenching rain and wind, everything is a little waterlogged.

The other firsts for this season are Kokopelli and Indian Love Call.

I am a little uneasy with the slow state year and the number of scapes. Perhaps Alberto will do some magic! I didn’t go out and count today – but I will tomorrow when the sun returns to duty. Daylilies require an inch of rain/week. Montrose gets less than an inch a month. So, Alberto reigns.

Welcome to Summer 2024: A Flair For Florescence!

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Hello, fellow daylily lovers,

It is summer, again. I have had 3 daylilies bloom this season: Saratoga Springtime on 6.6, Burgundy Crab on 6.10, and Mesa Verde today. I have about 60-70 scapes. My bloom rate may be down this year because we didn’t get much local snow/groundwater last year. The mountains got a lot, but that doesn’t help my pots if I don’t turn on the hose.

Saratoga Springtime
Burgundy Crab
Mesa Verde

I feel that selling my beautiful begonias at Country Flair in Montrose, CO is creating some gardening burnout for me. A few of my daylilies are really struggling – I mean I may lose them. Others have grass or weeds in the pots and I didn’t repot this spring. I’m an artist first and foremost (after being a retired nurse/nurse-midwife and a wellbeing practitioner.) Oh, and rescue dog mom. Time flies and plants take time. Looking forward to the daylily blooms has always been a joy – but now that the begonias are a year-around job, I just don’t get the same dopamine fix.

Camping with my rescue dogs last weekend – Kachina, Cimarron, and Kokopelli

That creates a quandary about what to do with the blog this summer. I only posted for a month last year. Really? Why? Because I needed my time back for my business – plus camping, hiking, my travel blog, etc. I will try the Instagram reels, again, because that seemed to work OK. I always say I can keep going until the last bloom – I’ll try, again!

The good news is that I’m also going to be plugging some of my stunning daylily artwork that I sell in my Etsy shop. I am running a 25% off sale “until the last daylily blooms” – so come check that out! I have cards, wall art, clocks, and pots with daylily designs – all handmade!

Anyway, things are heating up – although today was cool and rainy. Not sure who is next. Maybe Kokopelli?