Decrescendo!

July 24, 2018Leave a comment

It was a busy day for a Monday after the peak. 35 cultivators blooming today . . . that is a lot. Last year, I had 18 in bloom this day. In 2015, the number was 8. Maybe I was camping in 2016. Anyway, today we hit a total of 123 cultivators for the year – about 70% bloom rate. I only have a couple with scapes that have not bloomed . . . I don’t know if we will get to 75%. But was are sure ahead of 48% last year.

So – for today – two new babies. A first-ever bloom is Navajo Curls. I got her a couple years ago and she didn’t come back last spring. She was replaced in the fall. Worth it! She is another Ned Roberts spider – can you tell?

Navajo Curls 7.23

And, my old favorite brilliant orange daylily – Orange Vols – opened today. I put her in 6 years ago when I xeriscaped parts of my yard. I love to paint her!

Orange Vols 7.23

Encores – Our first rebloom of the season! Indian Love Call came back for seconds.

Indian Love Call 7.23

Finales – Our last blooms today are below (unless they do encores). When it is the last Ruby Spider, you know the peak is waning. I’m kinda ready for those 10 or fewer blooms a day, honestly!

Ruby Spider 7.23

Stephanie Returns 7.23

Longlesson Show-off 7.23

Navajo Rodeo 7.23

Desperado

July 23, 2018July 23, 20181 Comment

It is roll-call day! But, first, a dedication. It is camping weekend and I was listening to a song “Desperado” on my ipod. I have always identified with the song. So, I will put El Desperado as our lead photo today.

Desperado – The Eagles

Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
You been out ridin’ fences for so long now
Oh, you’re a hard one
I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin’ you
Can hurt you somehow

Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds, boy
She’ll beat you if she’s able
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet

Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can’t get

Desperado, oh, you ain’t gettin’ no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they’re drivin’ you home
And freedom, oh freedom well, that’s just some people talkin’
Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Don’t your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine
It’s hard to tell the night time from the day
You’re losin’ all your highs and lows
Ain’t it funny how the feeling goes away?

Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate
It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you (let somebody love you)
You better let somebody love you before it’s too late

OK – so new to the garden for the first time in 2018 today is Pizza Crust. I get a little hungry looking at her because I am stuck with low cholesterol pizza that doesn’t have much crust.

Pizza Crust 7.22

Finales:

Thin Man 7.22

Route 66 7.18

Fairytale Pink 7.22

Nurse’s Stethoscope 7.18

Here goes Roll-Call for the week of 7/16-7/22:

Adios Albuquerque 7.19

Anasazi 7.17

Aztec Firebird 7.17

Baja 7.18

Bela Lugosi 7.19

Black-Eyed Susan 7.16

Blue Beat 7.20

Bluegrass Music 7.16

Bold Tiger 7.17

Canyon Colors 7.15

Catherine Irene 7.16

Cheddar Cheese 7.22

Cherokee Star 7.17

Chorus Line 7.18

Classy Lady 7.18

Comanche Princess 7.17

Dream Catcher 7.18

El Desperado 7.19

Fox Ears 7.19

Happy Hopi 7.17

Heavenly Curls 7.17

Heron’s Cove 7.17

Hesperus 7.17

Indian Sky 7.16

Isaac 7.16

Jungle Queen 7.16

Just Plum Happy 7.17

Lacy Doily 7.20

Lady Fingers 7.18

Lime Frost 7.15

Longlesson Showoff 7.18

Lullabye Baby 7.22

Mama Cuna 7.17

Marque Moon 7.20

Mellon Balls 7.17

Mildred Mitchell 7.18

Mini Pearl 7.19

Mount Echo Sunrise 7.16

Navajo Rodeo 7.16

Nearly Wild 7.18

Nosferatu 7.18

Papa Longlegs 7.17

Passionate Returns 7.20

Pick of the Litter 7.17

Pink and Cream 7.18

Prairie Blue Eyes 7.17

Prairie Wildfire 7.16

Prelude to Love 7.18

Purple Corn Dancer 7.20

Purple de Oro 7.17

Purple Grasshopper 7.17

Purple Moonrise 7.17

Purple Thunderbird 7.18

Raspberry Propeller 7.20

Red Hot Returns 7.17

Red Riddle 7.18

Return a Smile 7.16

Rosie’s Red 7.20

Route 66 7.18

Royal Palace Prince 7.20

Ruby Spider 7.17

Ruby Stella 7.22

Skinwalker 7.19

Soco Gap 7.16

South Seas 7.22

Stephanie Returns 7.17

Strutter’s Ball 7.18

Taco Twister 7.19

Colorado Kid 7.22

Tiger Kitten 7.20

Treasure of the Southwest 7.20

Twirling Pinata 7.20

Wineberry Candy 7.16

Yellow Punch 7.22

Quiet Friday

July 20, 2018July 20, 2018Leave a comment

Today is camping day/weekend. The daylily patch is having her quietest day all month. Its actually cool weather with clouds. Maybe rain later. Probably whilst I pitch the tent. It feels good to have things slow down a bit.

So, new bloom today was Purple Corn Dancer. This name and Iktomi both intrigued me early in my daylily search. After Kokopelli, Dream Catcher, and Zuni Thunderbird . . . These were next. This is the Corn Dancer’s first ever bloom. It’s a glorious day. I am grateful.

Finales (sadly):

Stephanie Returns 7.20

Skinwalker 7.20

Lacy Doily – 7.20

Canyon Colors 7.20

The Bud Stands for All Things

July 20, 2018July 20, 2018Leave a comment

Something different tonight before our normal rounds – I am starting off with a poem about flowers that was sent out by the Father of Positive Psychology to a listserve I am on earlier this week. I love the flower reference and the need to reteach us of our inner loveliness so we bloom, again. Boy, I identify with that this year.

Saint Francis and the Sow

By Galway Kinnell

The bud stands for all things,

even for those things that don’t flower,

for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;

though sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness,

to put a hand on its brow of the flower

and retell it in words and in touch it is lovely

until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;

as Saint Francis put his hand on the creased forehead

of the sow, and told her in words and in touch

blessings of earth on the sow, and the sow

began remembering all down her thick length,

from the earthen snout all the way

through the fodder and slops to the spiritual curl of the tail,

from the hard spininess spiked out from the spine

down through the great broken heart

to the sheer blue milken dreaminess spurting and shuddering

from the fourteen teats into the fourteen mouths sucking and blowing beneath them:

the long, perfect loveliness of sow.

Ok – Here we go – new blooms. I am in love with Purple Thunderbird. Another Ned Roberts spider that is in bloom for the first time in my yard. I didn’t realize it until I took off photos tonight . . . but I went back for photos like 5 different times.

PurpleThunderbird7.19.11

Other newbies that opened for the first time this year – Tiger Kitten. She is a petite little tiger.

TigerKitten7.19.3.jpg

And, Royal Palace Prince – whose first bloom was messed up by bugs a little. Always feel sorry for the ones whose first buds make them look a little goofy.

RoyalPalacePrince7.19.2.jpg

We are fast running out of scapes from unbloomed daylilies for 2018. Still hoping for a few late scapes and rebloomers. I had 40 in bloom today. We are at 119 total cultivators for 2018 out of 175 or so. I know of 4 or 5 that have not yet bloomed. So, let’s call it 123. We will hit 70% if all those bloom. I am happy with that, given we only got 48% or something last year. Big improvement for a drought year.

Finales:

Return a Smile 7.19

Red Hot Returns 7.19

And, yesterday (forgotten):

Strutter’s Ball 7.18

A Wednesday in Your Garden

July 19, 2018Leave a comment

Wednesday in your garden – it is a song by the Guess Who. It is kind of a sad song about getting shot down by someone . . . and the person still wants to spend Wednesday in the garden of the shooter. Funny how we cling to things that hurt us sometimes.

So, two awesome new blooms in the garden this Wednesday. Twirling Pinata is a cool Ned Roberts spider. She bloomed last year, but struggled after I put her in the pot . . . well, she was already sick. She did not show up this spring, so I replaced her. It is cool when a bare rook blooms the first year.

She is a sib (same pod) of Raspberry Propeller . . . in bloom today. So, here they are side-by-side. (Pinata – L, Propeller – R)

Nearly Wild 7.18

Nearly Wild also gave a first bloom today. She looks like the original daylily – called Fulva. Fulva is an invasive ditch lily. The hybrids are not invasive. This one clearly bears some genetic resemblance to her ancestor.

Finales today:

Heavenly Curls 7.18

Purple Grasshopper 7.18

And, I forgot to include Mama Cuna yesterday:

Mama Cuna 7.17

That is it, folks. The word is my exhaustion is the real deal . . . I need to be doing a lot of stuff to fight back and get healthy, again. After more work-ups to narrow it down so it can get treated. It’s a permanent deal, most likely. I am glad for my daylilies because they give my life some focus at a time when everything seems so foggy. At the same time, they do take a bite of time every day during peak.

Other blooms today: Comanche Princess, Treasure of the Southwest, Dream Catcher, Bluegrass Music, Mildred Mitchell, Blue Beat, Red Riddle, Nosferatu, Prairie Blue Eyes, Canyon Colors, Heron’s Cove, El Desperado, Purple de Oro, Lime Frost, Marque Moon, South Seas, Longlesson Show-off, Lullabye Baby, Lady Fingers, Mini Pearl, Yellow Punch, Pink and Cream, Prelude to Love, Pick of the Litter, Bela Lugosi, Baja, Chorus Line, Lacy Doily, Return a Smile, Ruby Spider, Bold Tiger, Black-Eyed Susan, Indian Sky, Anasazi, Hesperus, Route 66, Ruby Stella and Strutter’s Ball. Time for bed. Past time for bed.

Tuesday Afternoon is Neverending!

July 18, 2018July 18, 2018Leave a comment

Today, Tuesday, brought a couple brand new blooms. Very different daylily characteristics in these two – but some color similarities. First, another Robert’s spider – Purple Moonrise. She is big and I don’t have a ton of buds on her. Looks like some minor insect damage – time to spray, again. She is big – reminds me of Talon. I can’t find the parentage.

Rosie’s Red was a bonus a year or two ago. I like her more than a lot of my bonus blooms. She reminds me of Indian Love Call a little.

Finales from today:

Prairie Wildfire

Just Plum Happy

Wineberry Candy

And, Happy Hopi, this time for sure.

Oh, and the photo at the very top is Heron’s Cove in a splendid massive bloom today.

Alright – other bloomers today (besides those mentioned above: Aztec Firebird, Purple Grasshopper, Dream Catcher, Comanche Princess, Mama Cuna, Comanche Princess, Nosferatu, Cheddar Cheese, El Desperado. Purple de Oro, Longlesson Showoff, Mildred Mitchell, Passionate Returns, Marque Moon, Ruby Spider, Lullabye Baby, Mellon Balls, Stephanie Returns, Mini Pearl, Prelude to Love, Raspberry Propeller, Pick of the Litter, Bella Lugosi, Black Eyed Susan, Anasazi, Red Hot Returns, Prairie Blue Eyes, Lady Fingers, Indian Sky, Hesperus, Route 66, Strutter’s Ball, Nurse’s Stethoscope, Pink and Cream, Heavenly Curls, Bold Tiger.

The Mamas and the Papas

July 17, 2018July 17, 2018Leave a comment

This morning, I got that song from the Mamas and Papas “Monday, Monday” stuck in my head. Maybe it is because I had Mama Cuna and Papa Longlegs blooming next to each other. I had 51 today! Monday mornin’ you gave me no warnin’ of what was to be . . .

So, for fun, here are the Mamas (Mama Cuna – L) and the Papas (Papa Long Legs – R):

Mama Cuna

Papa Long Legs

So, we had 2 new faces today. The first one is such a pretty flower. Up until this year, when I started running out of blooms, I would go look for later bloomers. Anyway, I almost decided to not bring one home from the nursery . . . until I saw the name. Seriously, I squeezed her into one of the last Southwest Garden spaces. She looks like velvet to me.

Cherokee Star 7.16

The second new face is Bold Tiger. Well, I think that is her name. I got her on discount because they lost the tags and didn’t know what she was. I did a search and she looks most like Bold Tiger. So, we will go with that. I believe that makes 112 so far this year. We are at 64% bloom rate. Can we get to 75%?

Bold Tiger 7.16

Finales (last blooms unless they send reblooms) today:

Isaac 7.16

Catherine Irene 7.16

Taco Twister 7.16

Soco Gap

The Colorado Kid 7.16

Oh, and Papa Long Legs – but he has a photo at the top of the page. And, Desert Icicle retired yesterday, not Happy Hopi – I have one more Happy Hopi left. I will miss these blooms, especially The Colorado Kid. She had a great season this year – bloomed for a month! So, our numbers will drop off pretty rapidly by August. Still hoping for a few late scapes!

Other blooms today: Aztec Firebird, Mount Echo Sunrise, Dream Catcher, Skinwalker, Comanche Princess, Navajo Rodeo, Mama Cuna, Cheddar Cheese, Nosferatu, Heron’s Cove, Canyon Colors, El Desperado, Purple de Oro, Bluegrass Music, Mildred Mitchell, Blue Beat, Ruby Spider, Return a Smile, Longlesson Show-off, Passionate Returns, Lullaby Baby, Chorus line, Mellow Balls, Lacy Doily, South Seas, Marque Moon, Stephanie Returns, Mini Pearl, Prairie Wildfire, Prelude to Love, Bela Lugosi, Pick of the Litter, Raspberry Propeller, Black Eyed Susan, Baja, Prairie Blue Eyes, Hesperus, Indian Sky, Just Plum Happy, Pink and Cream, Ruby Stella, Strutters Ball and Nurse’s Stethoscope.

New Faces, Finales, and Roll Call

July 16, 2018July 16, 20181 Comment

It is time for Sunday roll call. But first, a couple cool new Roberts Spiders. Meet Mount Echo Sunrise – She is a big spider that reminds me of Dream Catcher. This is her first-ever bloom in my yard – I put her in a couple years ago.

Then there is Sante Fe Christmas – And she looks like a Christmas bow. Red, green with curly petals. I really love her – too bad she lost her other buds. Despite the improved bloom rate, the drought has taken a toll.

Next up – Finales. Of course, Santa Fe Christmas is a finale today 😦

Primal Scream is another finale.

Primal Scream 7.10

Jungle Queen had finale blooms on both pots I have of her.

Jungle Queen 7.12

Iktomi is another finale. I have enjoyed seeing the patterns in her offspring.

Iktomi 7.9

Happy Hopi gave a finale bloom today. I really enjoyed her big, bold, blonde blooms.

Happy Hopi 7.12

Now, on to our roll call. These are the blooms from 7/9 through today. But, first, we have about 12 with unbloomed scapes remaining and mid-50s with no bloom/no scape. We are at 107 cultivators (+/-). Add 12, and we get close to 120. I am still hoping for 130 total this year.

Adios Albuquerque 7.10

Alabama Jubilee 7.11

Anasazi 7.13

Aztec Firebird 7.14

Baja 7.14

Bela Lugosi 7.9

Black Arrowhead 7.10

Black Eyed Susan 7.14

Black Ice 7.10

Blue Beat 7.11

Bluegrass Music 7.11

Canyon Colors 7.15

Catherine Irene 7.15

Chaco Canyon 7.12

Cheddar Cheese 7.12

Cheyenne Eyes 7.8

Chorus Line 7.13

Classy Lady 7.14

Comanche Princess 7.11

Dark Mystery 7.12

Desert Icicle 7.15

Dream Catcher 7.15

Early Bird Cardinal 7.10

El Desperado 7.13

Fairytale Pink 7.14

Funny Valentine 7.10

Heavenly Curls 7.12

Heron’s Cove 7.13

Hesperus 7.15

Holy Sombrero 7.10

Indian Sky 7.15

Inwood 7.12

Isaac 7.12

Just Plum Happy 7.10

Kachina Firecracker 7.12

Lacy Doily 7.10

Lady Fingers 7.12

Laughing Feather 7.9

Lime Frost 7.15

Longlesson Showoff 7.13

Lullabye Baby 7.14

Mama Cuna 7.13

Marque Moon 7.15

Mellon Balls 7.11

Mesa Verde 7.13

Mildred Mitchell 7.15

Mini Pearl 7.15

Navajo Rodeo 7.13

Nosferatu 7.15

Nurse’s Stethoscope 7.11

Papa Longlegs 7.15

Passionate Returns 7.10

Petite Petticoats 7.10

Pick of the Litter 7.14

Pink and Cream 7.11

Pink Rain Dance 7.11

Prairie Blue Eyes 7.10

Prairie Wildfire 7.11

Prelude to Love 7.15

Purple de Oro 7.14

Purple Grasshopper 7.11

Purple Mystic 7.11

Raspberry Propeller 7.14

Red Hot Returns 7.15

Red Riddle 7.10

Return a Smile 7.10

Route 66 7.13

Ruby Spider 7.14

Ruby Stella 7.15

Shape Shifter 7.13

Skinwalker 7.10

Soco Gap 7.14

South Seas 7.14

Stella de Oro 7.13

Stephanie Returns 7.14

Strutter’s Ball 7.11

Taco Twister 7.11

Talon 7.11

The Colorado Kid 7.10

Thin Man 7.15

Treasure of the Southwest 7.13

Wild Horses 7.11

Wineberry Candy 7.12

Yellow Punch 7.13

Zuni Thunderbird 7.13

Finales

July 15, 2018Leave a comment

The summer wears on, the peak starts to decline a little (only 40 some daylilies today). It was scape cutting day. It is always a little sad to me to cut off a scape – like cleaning up wrapping paper after Christmas. Less flowers mean more are having finales than births. I think of fireworks . . . that last big blast. Now that we are down to way less new blooms every day (we have had 108 so far – 62% bloom rate), I thought I might feature some finale blooms from around the yard, too. One last chance to savor the colors until winter washes into summer, again.

So, let’s start with the new one. Lime Frost bloomed. She is a fairly large flower with the pretty green/yellow tint. She was one of my early online nursery purchases. I remember wanting a green one.

Lime Frost 7.14

OK – and finales go to Mesa Verde (she may have one bud left). She has been an excellent performer, starting on 6/16. She is one of my favorite ruffly ones . . . and one that lives in my back porch in the winter. A couple years ago, my cat dug up her roots in the winter and I feared she was a gonner. I guess not. Now, I have chicken wire covers for the porch daylilies.

Mesa Verde 7.14

The other finale is Kachina Firecracker. This was the one I thought was Echo Canyon when I first posted about her. The year I put her (and Kachina Dancer) in the garden, I adopted a dog. It was just a day or two after putting in the lilies. The rescue pup’s name was Tina, so I renamed her Kachina because the name seemed to fit.

Kachina Firecracker 7.14

Today, I moved Blackthorne and Autumn Jewels to the Border Garden. I hooked them up to the drip system that I have out there. I put a tad of fertilizer on them and the SW garden. I hope the monsoons come soon – it almost sprinkled twice today, so maybe soon. Oh, and sweet news – it looks like Indian Love Call is sending up a re-bloom spike!!!

OK – Other bloomers today were Comanche Princess, Papa Longlegs, Taco Twister, Dream Catcher, Soco Gap, Purple Grasshopper, Aztec Firebird, Adios Albuquerque, Nosferatu, Red Riddle, Cheddar Cheese, Heron’s Cove, Purple de Oro, Bluegrass Music, Mildred Mitchell, South Seas, Classy Lady, Mellon Balls, Lullabye Baby, Ruby Spider, Return a Smile, Bela Lugosi, Pick of the Litter, Raspberry Propeller, Lady Fingers, Black-Eyed Susan, Indian Sky, Stephanie Returns, Mini Pearl, Pink and Cream, Prelude to Love, Hesperus, Ruby Stella, Nurse’s Stethoscope, and Fox Ears.

PS – I will keep better track of finales starting tomorrow. 🙂

Friday the 13th!

July 14, 2018Leave a comment

The last time we had a Friday the 13th was in April – the day I left for my annual Southwest Road Trip down the Devil’s Highway all the way to the border of Mexico. I had 2 sick dogs with me . . . well, not sick, sick – post-op and injured. It was a good trip even though I named it Southwest Superstitions. I love my annual road trip just like I love my daylilies.

So, today was a good day in the Garden. Fifty-four bloomers, so one of our top days so far. Mother Earth even managed a couple of new blooms.

Classy Lady is one I got on the auction a few years ago. She is doing better in a pot this year. I usually only get one or two blooms out of her all year. Today, it was a trifecta. She looked so pretty!

Classy Lady 7.13

The other one is another Ned Roberts spider . . . but without a Southwestern name. I ordered a bunch of Southwest named daylilies from a small grower and there was an issue with one I ordered, so I picked another one. However, there were no more spiders to pick from. This is Raspberry Propeller.

Raspberry Propeller 7.13

It is sort of interesting that Raspberry Propeller is a sib (from the same pod) as one of my Southwest spiders – Twirling Pinata. It is interesting that these guys had the same parents but are two different blooms. Like paternal twins, I guess. Clearly related, though!

Twirling Pinata 2017

Tomorrow, I need to move a couple daylilies out of the Walkway Garden into the Border Garden or the Rainbarrel Garden. The problem with pots is the plants get so much bigger here, so I have an over-crowding (blocks the sun) and so I don’t have many scapes in that area. I think I will move Blackthorne and Autumn Jewels. Maybe I can still coax a bloom out of them . . . not great odds, but not 0, either.

Walkway Garden 7.13

OK – here goes the list of today’s Friday the 13th bloomers: Comanche Princess, Skinwalker, Navajo Rodeo, Black Ice, Dream Catcher, Aztec Firebird, Zuni Thunderbird, Iktomi, Treasure of the Southwest, Happy Hopi, Shape Shifter, Nosferatu, Cheddar Cheese, Dark Mystery, Red Riddle, Prairie Blue Eyes, Wineberry Candy, Mesa Verde, Heron’s Cove Purple de Oro, The Colorado Kid, Mildred Mitchell, Blue Beat, Thin Man, Passionate Returns, South Seas, Longlesson Show-off, Return a Smile Chorus Line, Early Bird Cardinal, Lacy Doily, Ruby Spider, Stephanie Returns, Catherine Irene, Mini Pearl, Prairie Wildfire, Pick of the Litter, Bela Lugosi, Baja, Pink and Cream, Yellow Punch, Stella de Oro, Black-eyed Susan, Red Hot Returns, Hesperus, Route 66, Ruby Stella, Strutter’s Ball – I think that is it. I am pretty sure we will have 1 or 2 more new blooms tomorrow.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Category: daylily container garden