Celestial Daylilies

July 13, 2018Leave a comment

Today was a celestial day in the garden. Heavenly Curls bloomed for the first time since 2016. I added her as a bonus plant in 2015. She did not bloom in 2017. She is clearly happier in the buried pot – very nice bloom this year. She has the most awesome shape of any of my curly daylilies! And, more than a couple buds (so far). Still no rain, so I am seeing a few buds dry up around the garden despite my endless watering.

Joining Heavenly Curls in the heavens is Marque Moon with a first bloom for 2018. Mr. Moon has been around the yard for several years – I have 2 pots, actually. I purchased a second one on sale, forgetting that it was one I already had. I don’t mind some doubles . . . if I ever want to add more varieties, I can give one of the pots away.

Lastly, one of my favorite red daylilies bloomed for the first time this year – Baja. This is the deepest, velvet red color – such a proud daylily.

I had a total of 49 blooms today. The Southwest Garden is past peak. The Mural and Rainbarrel Gardens are also past peak. Pooh Corner is peaking now. And, the Walkway Garden is close to peak or peaking. That means things will be slowing down shortly. Sort of bitter/sweet to me. It is too busy for a few weeks, but there is an excitement in a bunch of new blooms every day.

Speaking of the Southwest Garden and peak – that garden is largely my Ned Roberts Southwest name spider daylilies. I have 65 total of Ned’s Southwest cultivators – all but a couple in that garden. 34 have bloomed so far. That is a 52% bloom rate so far. I think we may see 3-6 more – so maybe around 60% this year. Not perfect, but we have had 25 bloom this year that never bloomed in my yard before. That means last year’s bloom rate was only around 15%. Not perfect, but quadrupled. Always more work to do to improve the outcomes.

Other blooms today were Aztec Firebird, Happy Hopi, Purple Grasshopper, Kachina Firecracker, Soco Gap, Papa Longlegs, Navajo Rodeo, Dream Catcher, Wineberry Candy, Cheddar Cheese, Dark Mystery, Lady Fingers, Canyon Colors, Heron’s Cove, El Desperado, Purple de Oro, Mildred Mitchell, Stephanie Returns, Isaac, Mini Pearl, South Seas, Red Hot Returns, Chaco Canyon, Inwood, Fox Ears, Wild Horses, Prairie Blue Eyes, Hesperus, Route 66, Yellow Punch, Pink and Cream, Jungle Queen, Indian Sky, Prelude to Love, Mellon Balls, Chorus Line, Lullaby Baby, Early Bird Cardinal, Return a Smile, Ruby Spider, Primal Scream, Lacy Doiley, Passionate Returns, Red Hot Returns, Black-Eyed Susan, Lady Fingers, Bela Lugosi, Comanche Princess.

What will tomorrow bring? I am not sure there will be anything new. Maybe? I think I said I would like to get to 130 blooms for the year to hit 75% bloom rate. We have now had 105 blooms and are at 60%. That means we need 25 more . . . and that is through fall. And that means that it will slow down soon. Thank heavens!

The Ugly Daylily!

November 6, 2017Leave a comment

Here comes winter. And, time to focus on my indoor bloomers. I am taken back by still having buds on my Santa’s Pants daylily. Especially when my poinsettia is in bloom. For fun, I plucked off the bloom late in the day and placed it in the poinsettia.

I have increased the sun to the poinsettia since that time, and the pink is really darkening up. This was dapple pink last year. This is my second time to rebloom a poinsettia – and I did better this year. Boy, you gotta want that bloom. I have been covering with black trash bags and putting under my desk (that now has a curtain to block the light underneath). This one bloomed quickly and easily. My smaller one lingers in deciding to bloom.

Oh, and I got 3 new amaryllis bulbs to start. Mine are still in hibernation and set to come out in about a week and a half. I am guessing I will have blooms through January. Of all my winter bloomers, the amaryllis remind me most of daylilies. The bid stalk and the huge bright blooms.

And, a new poinsettia – orange is what I wanted most to replace. I think a purple if I see one, too. Maybe a variegated one. That is it though.

A new Thanksgiving cactus, too. I’m about done planting up my house now. It is on to creating grow light areas in a couple new places to boost the light.

Santa came early . . . or late!

November 1, 2017November 1, 2017Leave a comment

I haven’t blogged since fall hit the air. (And, I adopted a new special needs dog.) But, today warrants a post because I had a new (first time in my “yard”) daylily bloom today. And, the funny thing is that it was Santa’s Pants . . . seems appropriate for the season. The other odd thing is that one of my poinsettias is already blooming some. So, what a great combo. Summer and winter, together on Halloween.

By way of history, I noticed a scape on Santa’s Pants circa 3 weeks ago – after we fell to 26 degrees. But, I am optimistic and it was potted, so I moved it into my back porch, with some nights in my bathroom (I have to hang it to cat-proof it) and some warm days in the full sun outside. The temperature is warmer on the porch, but the light is more direct outside. It has been a balance. The photos look a little weird inside my porch, but it works. 3 more buds. Love having blooms into November.

There Goes The Sun

September 1, 2017Leave a comment

Tonight will be my last nightly blog. Maybe weekly from here out. It struck me how dark it was by the time I got off work. Like, WTH? The change always seems so quick to me in fall and so slow in the spring. And, then we set the clocks to make it worse.

Anasazi

Today, though, brought another double Anasazi bloom. These are such cool flowers!!! I have wondered if there was a mix-up when they shipped it . . . early/mid bloomer and not a double. But, it is a rebloomer, so maybe that is why is showed up so late. I did find a post in the Lily Auction today that said that it can double. Perhaps it knows it is stealing the show right now with so little competition.

Azalea

It reminds me a bit of my new Azalea, actually. Pink frilly blossoms. Make blooms while the sun shines. Tomorrow starts the 4th month of blooms. I can’t wait for May!

Speaking of Anasazi, this weekend, I am off to the 4-Corners!

Yellow Punch

Many Blessings

August 31, 2017Leave a comment

It nears September. Today, I did musical Amaryllis pots. Some of my bulbs are 4 feet tall now. Never doubt that you get more plant if you buy from a nursery vs big box or grocery store. They are a cool addition to the landscape. In pots, of course. I can’t believe it is nearly time to bring them in to hibernate for a bit. And, my two poinsettias will be a pain to get into bloom, again. But, I am up for it.

Stella de Oro

And, so I am beginning to plan past daylily season. I hope to have blooms through September. Maybe, if another scape appears, they will go into October. It happened last year . . . into November. I await my last addition . . . Nurse’s Stethoscope. I have her pot ready. As soon as the weird weather passes Kentucky, she will be on her way.

Passionate Returns

It is time to blog less. I am ready to watch some videos in the evening. I am taking steps to decide what my new steps will be. I hope I can get my orchids to bloom this winter! And, keep my new azalea blooming. I hope this winter brings many blessings. We shall see. No matter what, the blooms will help.

Yellow Punch

A little help from my friends

August 30, 2017Leave a comment

Daylilies bring positive emotion to most folks. The bright colors are engaging and awe inspiring. This year, I gave daylilies away to friends and coworkers. I gave them away at some cost to myself. Next year, I think I may try to sell some of my daylily offspring to offset the costs of my hobby.

Passionate Returns

This year, though, I chose to give them. At first, I was just wanting to thin mine so they would do better in the pots. So, I found takers. The very cool side effect was seeing friends I had not seen for a while. One coworker even came to Montrose to pick hers up (well, amongst other errands here). Wow, makes me wish I lived closer to Colorado Springs where the Daylily Society meetings are. Life can be isolated in rural America.

Broadening and building resources means keeping our ratios of positivity high. That helps us reach out to others, thus forming networks of resilience. I need to be working on that ratio right now. My job requires an attitude of positivity, always. It is business, 100%. That means I need to surround myself in a garden of supportive friends. The daylilies are a start.

PS – I loved the red yucca pods (above). They add a fall touch to the yard as the daylilies dwindle,

Savor the Moment

August 29, 2017Leave a comment

The days are getting shorter. Although it is hot now . . . as hot as July. But, still, fall is coming. It is getting dark by the time I get off work at 8 PM. I am beginning to want to watch Call the Midwife in the evenings and put the blog more on the back burner. Not yet, but it is coming.

Today, I had one of my big box rebloomers (Pink and Cream) and a red Mexican Daylily (Shellflower). They are mostly yellow – so I like the red ones. It is cool they are peaking later than the real daylilies.

It is time for me to begin to consider matters from the heart . . . sadness, anger, grief. Such loss of so much that I wanted for life. I know where it leads . . . and I need to find new soil. Unreal. Life feels unreal. The daylilies have been the perfect pause button. I am not ready to let them go. Hoping for several more weeks of the (more) occasional bloom. Savor the moment. Smile 🙂

A Shoebox of Adobe

August 27, 2017August 27, 2017Leave a comment

The way the story was told to me, the Ute Indians put a curse on white men way back when because of how they were treated by “us”. The curse was that you had to take a shoebox of our adobe clay earth with you when you left or you were destined to always return. I thought maybe the yucca I planted in the stuff might suffice, but I guess not because I have been back for 12 years.

Each daylily now sits in a buried pot.

I think of the curse as I dig in my Southwestern garden, installing buried pots for most of the daylilies. That stuff is nasty. My poor yucca – it never looked good when it was planted in that stuff. It is either clay or cement . . . no in between. And, I don’t water houseplants that much. Cement.

My only bloom today: Passionate Returns

Today, I finished what I plan to finish this year as far as buried pots in the Southwest garden. I count close to 70 pots out there. And, 50+ in the front garden – but that is easier. Way easier. Now, it is musical daylily pots . . . the big decorative ones. I literally had to figure out which one I needed to start with so the right pots would be empty for the next step. But, this is comparatively easy work. It should move fast. Then, extend the side yard drip system for pots I am putting out there this year. Finally, mulch the Southwestern garden. Then, other than a few side duties, I can put this year to bed. In a shoebox. I can’t wait to hike in the desert canyons this fall. It seems like years since spring.

H2O

August 26, 2017Leave a comment

Water, the giver of life. Usually. I watch Hurricane Harvey and think of my days living in Galveston, Texas. Eighteen years ago? Where did the time go? Well, anyway, those days taught about having so much water that it becomes life threatening. Tonight, my thoughts are with those affected by the storm.

Coral Taco

I live in the desert, so our rain is never close to what they get on the Gulf Coast. Generally, my daylilies beg for more water, not less. Still, I hold my breath as I try both pots and a drip system in the Southwestern garden. I worry that they are too dry. I worry that they are too wet and going to get root rot. I have 3 makes of pots out there, too . . . so one may be OK and the other not. In the spring, I will put them all in plastic pots with drainage inserts = that should also keep the tree roots out. If they all survive the storm.

Passionate Returns

Water. Life giving. Most of the time.

Yellow Punch

The Stages of Daylily Obsession

August 25, 2017Leave a comment

Today, I got a package with daylily roots from one of my favorite places –Shady Rest Gardens. Well, Doris always sends huge fans . . . and she included some extra fans of two that I ordered. Two of the ones I ordered were to thicken up some of mine that shrunk in the Southwestern garden. So, it becomes too much daylily for the pots. I divided both the new ones into two and put the existing small ones with the smaller division of the new ones.

Pink and Cream

So, now I need to make room in the front or side yard for the extras. I am giving away a couple that I have doubles of to make room. And, so it begins . . . which to keep and which to give away? Is variety better than focusing on favorites? I have a feeling this problem could get worse before it gets better. In a way, though, it is nice because you can see how the same cultivator behaves in different conditions in your yard.

Yellow Punch

So, I decided to come up with some stages of daylily obsession:

You consider daylilies the perfect perennial enough that you favor them when you pick out nursery plants for your garden.
You start noticing more little things about the daylilies you pick . . . like size, shape, and name.
You decide to have daylilies as the dominant plant in at least one garden.
You discover that roots are a cheaper way to fill the space, with more selection.
You discover the auctions and find several reputable daylily root nurseries.
You start to favor some type of bloom or hybridizer. In my case, it was the Southwestern names of the Ned Robert’s cultivators that caught my eye.
You realize there are billions and billions of the type you want . . . you start collecting. You have to make fairly major garden revisions to host so many.
A year or two later, you have all the ones you want. They need to be divided and find new homes. It seems weird to have too many.
(I am not here yet) You become a hybridizer and/or farm them to sell.

Coral Taco

Oh, it is my mom’s 100th birthday today. I wish she could be here to see the Easter Lily Cactus blooms today. Like daylilies, they only last one day. I love all their biological features.

Easter Lily Cactus

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Category: Late blooming daylilies

Celestial Daylilies

The Ugly Daylily!

Santa came early . . . or late!

There Goes The Sun

Many Blessings

A little help from my friends

Savor the Moment

A Shoebox of Adobe

H2O

The Stages of Daylily Obsession