A Dedication to My Daylily Friend and More Colorful Spiders!

July 23, 2024Leave a comment

A Dedication: For My Daylily Friend

Life can change in a moment. A couple of years ago, an online friend who I met through a Facebook daylily group called Daylily Lovers and I did a daylily exchange. He lived in the same USDA zone but in the eastern US. I’m out west. I sent him Saratoga Springtime and he sent me Autumn Minaret. I guess we were looking for daylilies from opposite seasons to add to our yards.

The daylily he sent didn’t do much last year, so today is the first ever bloom for Autumn Minaret. I want to dedicate this post to my friend. So much happened to him so quickly. I doubt he will ever see this post but I wonder how he are doing. The flower will always remind me of his love of daylilies.

Readers – Have you ever exchanged daylilies with a friend? How did it go? Please share the experience! Did you stay local or ship the daylily roots? Do you recommend daylily exchanges to others?

More Ned Spider Daylilies

I had two new Ned Roberts daylilies in the Southwest Road Trip Garden today: Black Arrowhead and Skinwalker. I like the dark daylilies, and I didn’t even realize Black Arrowhead had a scape. Nice surprise.

Skinwalker is an old favorite – love the pale yellow and the wispy petals.

Yesterday, was also a day of new spider daylilies from my Ned Roberts collection. Maybe my Southwest Road Trip Garden will catch-up a little. Cheyenne Eyes, Desert Icicle, Shape Shifter, and Taco Twister. That makes 31 total Roberts Spiders for the year out of 72, I believe. That’s 43% for the year. A dozen more and it’ll be 60%. Stretch goal!

Until the Last Daylily Blooms: Skinwalker Painting and Signed Prints

Immerse yourself in the serene beauty of nature with this exquisite, original hand-painted daylily wall art. Capturing the delicate forms of Skinwalker, a yellow daylily with subtle pink edging, this piece serves as a charming accent for any room.

Speaking of Skinwalker, I have an original hand painted wood panel or limited edition signed prints available of my Skinwalker painting. These are available through my Until the Last Daylily Blooms Sale and they are now 30% off through August 19. These are limited edition and available while supplies last. The original panel is now $24.50 (plus free shipping) and the prints are only $8.50. Click on photo to go to listing for the painting (or click here). Click here for listing of the limited edition signed prints.

Visit my Etsy shop Art from the Hartt at the link above – or my business website here. This is a time-limited sale – until my last daylily blooms!

Driving Me Buggy: How to Prevent Earwig Photobombs

July 21, 2024Leave a comment

Ugly, Smiling Pincers

How many of those of us who take photographs have ever been disgusted to take a closer look at our beautiful flower photo and see those ugly pincers (click link to find out more about earwig ID) were smiling at the camera when we clicked the otherwise gorgeous shot? Ugh!

Parts of earwig visible in the throat of the flower.

Manual Extraction of the Earwig

I am not here to talk about photoshop or insecticide. I am here to talk about twigs. That’s right, twigs. I don’t like to use insecticide because my earwig issues are usually only for a few weeks during hot weather and I worry about other pollinators.

I inspect the flower for earwigs before I take the photo. If I see the nasty little pincers, I grab a nearby twig. I want a fine enough twig not to damage the flower – but it also needs to be strong enough to grab the insect and allow me to drag it out of the flower. Below is a short video with my process. Sorry about the shakiness, I had to try to hold the camera while manually extracting the insect. Normally, I hold the flower steady with the other hand to minimize or prevent flower damage.

Manual extraction of earwig from throat of daylily.

PS – As a nurse-midwife, I occasionally had to manually extract a placenta. There are some similarities to the process. 🙂 Kind of like high, hot, and a hell of a lot!

Dog photo bombs are much cuter than earwig photobombs.

More Colorful Spiders: Reaching for My Stretch Goal . . . of 60% Bloom Rate

I had two first of the season blooms today – both Ned Roberts’ spiders. That makes 25 total for the year so far . . . out of 70+. 😦 That’s about 35%. As with the rest of the yard, I hope for 60%. That’s about 18 more cultivators. It’s my stretch goal!

Winds of Love is such a beautiful flower – she always looks like she is blowing in a gentle breeze. Golden Eclipse has unique coloring. I was cautioned by the grower that it looked a little brown to some buyers – but I adore the color.

When Will My Last Daylily Bloom?

Maybe I should run a contest! Last year, it was the day before Halloween. I have actually have had blooms into November some years, but I moved the plant into the lean-to so the buds didn’t freeze. Typically, late September/early October – about freeze time in Colorado zone 6.

My last bloom last year was Open My Eyes on10.29 – It was hit with freezing rain after blooming.

30% Off Art Sale: Until My Last Daylily Blooms!

I am running a sale. It includes my daylily wall art, tile art, planters, and greeting cards. I will be adding more items once I cut down on blogging in August. For the current 30% off sale (July 21-August 19), I threw in more items – yard art (more gnomes styles coming soon) and my pet memorials. I make pet ash memorials from hosta or begonia leaves and summer is the time to order for more leaf selection!

My dog Maizzy’s memorial leaf during it’s creation.

Yesterday, I decided to include my Colorado wildflower cards. These are made with my own photography of Pearl Lake State Park – the Park is named after my grandma.

Until the Last Daylily Blooms – 30% off art sale!

Visit my Etsy Shop! You can click the photo above, the icon below or this link to see all of my art!

Tie It Up

Today’s blog looked at non-techno, eco-friendly approaches to removing earwigs from your daylily photos. I shared photos of my latest beloved Ned Roberts spider daylilies. And, I shared updated information on my Until the Last Daylily Blooms art sale. I am seriously considering a contest for the person who guesses the last bloom date! What do you think?

New 2024 Daylily Blooms: Stunning Photos and Varieties Revealed

July 21, 2024Leave a comment

Return from the Colorado Mountains: Fourteen New Bloomers for the Season

I always feel overwhelmed the day after I take a camping break – especially during daylily season! Fortunately or unfortunately, my underwhelming bloom rate for 2024 has made it more manageable. But, it is still a lot of photos to organize and turn into an Instagram reel/blog post.

Below are my Ned Roberts’ spiders that are new since my last post.

So, how is the bloom rate doing now? I have had 84 of 196. So, 43%. That’s way down from the past few years for this point in time. I am hoping to hit 60%. That would take 34 more new blooms for 2024. I think that’s optimistic. Too many pots decided to rest this year.

Here are my other first blooms for 2024 (since my last post.)

Remediating a Poor Bloom Rate

Gardening is a science experiment. I am going to try some liquid spray fertilizer once we have a some cooler weather in the forecast. I will probably do more time release before the end of the season – and I am considering working some manure into the pots in September, about a month before freeze.

My Wildflower Dogs on our camping trip this week.

Peaks and Wildflowers

I have a wonderful trip to Hahns Peak, Colorado – and to Pearl Lake State Park which is named after my grandmother. The land was once a summer sheep pasture for my granddad’s companies. Grandma sold it to the Forrest Service – and the State Parks owns that portion with the Lake. This is my blog post from last year – I am still working on my post for this year so please check back in a few days.

If I didn’t get much of a daylily peak this year, at least I got a break in the heat at a picturesque Colorado peak.

Hahns Peak (background) from Steamboat Lake State Park, July 2024.

Until the Last Daylily Blooms Sale: 30% Off Starting Tomorrow

Just a quick reminder about the Until the Last Daylily Blooms sale. Prices drop again tomorrow – 30% off for the next month on daylily wall art, tile art, planters, and cards. I also added my hypertufa and cement yard art and pet memorials. Please visit my last post to see details on the yard art and memorials. So, please come check it out at my Etsy shop!

I wanted to share my Pearl Lake Wildflower Cards as today’s listing. I just added these to the Until the Last Daylily Blooms sale that goes live tomorrow. They will be 30% off for the next month! Perfect for flower lovers. The cards will be approximately (depending on Etsy’s calculator) $2.80 for a single card or 10.50 for a set of all 5 cards. This is in addition to FREE SHIPPING. Click on the photo below or this link to go to the listing.

Questions on the sale? Special order requests? Please reach out and email me!

Balancing Daylily Blooms, Camping, Hiking, and Rescue Dogs While Running An Online Business

July 12, 2024Leave a comment

A Saturated Batch of Red Daylilies on a Hot Summer Day

I had a nice bouquet of reds for my first blooms of 2024 today. Red is high-intensity, like the sun is today. I’m actually doing my blog from the basement family room/winter nursery today. Why? Because I don’t have AC and my portable swamp coolers get overwhelmed when it is above 90. It’s 92 (feels like 99) today and 85 upstairs. It’s probably 10 degrees cooler downstairs, but the dogs are disoriented. I’m working to socialize them to the basement.

But, I digress. Daylilies are heat lovers. That’s why so many bloom in mid-season. And, the colors grow more intense and saturated as the season heats up.

Today, was a day for medium sized red blooms. Prelude to Love is a very saturated red with some maroon tones. Ruby Slippers of Oz is a colorful ruby red. Cherokee Star is a deep velvet red – like a theater seat. Twirling Pinata is red with a twist and a yellow-green throat to add some character. And the red-black theme of Route 66 makes me want to be in a 1955 Chevy getting my kicks. I also had one purple – Indian Giver – a nice contrast of intense purple.

It is now mid-July. I may be at peak bloom with 65 that have bloomed for the year and 35 in bloom today. That’s a 33% bloom rate. Maybe we will make it to 66% for the year? Or, maybe we should just get our kicks camping on Route 66 this year.

Making Daylilies Work With Other Summer Hobbies

I wish I had a good recipe for making multiple summer-only hobbies work together. The Daylilies are seriously blooming from July 1st through mid to late August. But, daylilies are in bloom in my yard from early June through September or later. Pretty typical for zone 6 in Colorado, I think.

But, then there is camping. I find connection with nature is very spiritual. Camping season is mid May through Mid September, early October. Schedule conflict.

Let’s take a closer look at how daylilies fit into my warm-season schedule. I may be retired from nursing, but I run a retail art business Art from the Hartt – partially so I can afford to give my rescue dogs their best life. That means running it more like a business than a hobby. So, I don’t consider myself to be retired (although the schedule for “weekends” is more flexible.) Online business are a lot of work.

Juggling Warm-Season Activities

March – Hiking and early yard prep. I often do one day a week of each. I move the daylilies that wintered in the porch or patio back to their summer locations. I start hooking up irrigation systems and giving them some regular water.
April – My road trip to AZ, hiking, yard prep.
May – Camping starts. I rotate a weekend of camping, a weekend of yard work.
June – A repeat of May but add in beginning daylily season and the blog.
July – I plan one camping trip and focus more on the daylilies.
August – My camping road trip becomes the focus – planning and executing. I’m still focused on the daylilies but losing momentum quickly. I want to get back to my other activities.
September – Daylilies are waning in blooms. The daylily pots may need work (new soil, etc) and I am also planting any new daylily roots that I ordered. Fall hiking starts, similar schedule to spring. I take a camping road trip to the 4-corners for several days as my camping finale.
October – If I am lucky, I still have a daylily in bloom here or there. Freeze is happening. Snow usually starts by the end of the month. I love my October canyon hikes.
November – Daylilies are leaf mulched for the winter. My semi-evergreens and evergreens may be moved to the lean-to for the winter.

Managing Warm-Season Activities

How do you manage your multiple activities in the summer? It gets so crazy, that I lose my daylily momentum. I want to get back to putting energy into my business, etc – and I usually give up the blog and photos sooner than I plan to. I would like to hang in this year – until my last daylily blooms. Maybe not daily. I know daylily people who blog all year and never seem to tire of it. How on earth do you keep your momentum?

Pick Your Favorite Daylily this Summer (on Etsy)!

My daylily paintings bloom all year and require no fertilizer! Don’t miss my Until The Last Daylily Blooms sale on Etsy. Right now, my daylily paintings, prints, clocks, and pots are 25% off. I will be making new daylily art to add – but as you can see, it may be a month or so away. What is your favorite? I would love to know so I can make more! Follow the link or click the picture to see the listing.

Capturing Exquisite Daylily Photography: Tools and Techniques

July 12, 2024Leave a comment

Hot Fun!

It’s the time of the season for heat. The monsoons have evaporated for the last week or two. It’s 94 today, suppose to be 100 on Sunday. I wonder what the temp spike will do for my cultivators but also look forward to a mountain get-away from the heat wave next week.

Buttered Popcorn, Anyone?

It’s odd to only have one first-of-the-season bloom on a day like today. But, perhaps a good day to think about Buttered Popcorn. Or maybe it is just that it is 5:30 already and I am getting hungry. Too hot to walk the dogs for an hour or so. Dinner is a ways off. Buttered popcorn – YES! Can I DoorDash that? LOL.

Daylily Photography Processes and Improvements

I am curious what other daylily photographers are using for their photos. I use to use my Canon Powershot and had no complaints. Except, I had to download the photos and edit them to upload them to my online drive. As my daylily collection grew, my time for photo editing shrunk.

I then shifted to my Kindle for a year or two because of the large screen for focus. It worked OK, but was an awkward size and getting the photos to the online drive was still a pain.

Now, I use my Samsung Galaxy A52. The camera is decent. I honestly don’t see much difference between it and the Canon for my purposes, and I think it is better than the Kindle. It’s easy to upload to my online drive, share to social media, and even blog from my phone (although I prefer my PC for blogging.) Since I use my photos as a tracking method and daylily art reference, I find it adequate and time-efficient. I’m not after super high-quality photographic images to sell.

I would love to hear from other daylily bloggers and photographers about their camera and daily photo process.

Add a Splash of Color to Your Space!

Speaking of daylily art – my original paintings and art prints are on sale ALL SUMMER at my Until the Last Daylily Blooms sale on Etsy. This one of Chief Four Fingers is one of my favorites. The original was acrylic on tile, giving this painting a unique texture. The signed prints look adorable in an 8X8 frame and add a splash of color to any space! Click this link or the photo to go to the Etsy listing! Only $9 currently!!!

Chief Four Fingers daylily signed print.

A Busy Day and A Gorgeous Daylily Bouquet

July 10, 2024Leave a comment

Some days, I like to talk about daylily gardening and blogging. Other days, I run out of time and energy. Today was full of shipping and restocking for my business, Art from the Hartt. And, I am on the Valley Food Partnership Board that oversees out local Farmer’s Market – so I also had an evening meeting. I figure with almost 200 daylily varieties that I have some farmer in me. My main reason for supporting the local farmers, though, is my background in nursing and wellbeing science. And, my love of leadership and my community.

Today, I had 5 new bloomers. I am just going to cut to the chase and post their photos: Bold Tiger, Pardon Me, Little Grapette, Moon Over Chimayo, and Glen Eyrie. The bottom row are my latest two Ned Roberts spiders. (I’m up to 15/70 in Neds that have bloomed.) Tomorrow, I may have more time to share my gardening life with you. For now, enjoy the pictures!

Until the Last Daylily Blooms Sale on Etsy

A reminder about my daylily art that is on-sale at my Etsy shop all summer. Prices will continue to drop! I also have sales running on my handmade hypertufa pots/art, houseplants, and orders over $50. Check it out at this link or click on the photo below.

AI Impact on Blogging and Etsy: Insights from a Daylily Hobbyist and Artist

July 9, 2024Leave a comment

Midseason Monday Meanderings

Midseason Monday brings only 2 first blooms for 2024 to the yard. The first is an older daylily, Prairie Blue Eyes. Even though she is a classic, Prairie Blue Eyes has a nice blue hue around the eye zone.

The second is one I got as a bonus called Nona’s Garnet Spider. She is a 90s girl. Nona is a petite spider that adds a nice red accent in my front path garden.

It was a nice break in the flurry of midseason today. I had other things to get done today. Finding balance during peak season is always a challenge, and I don’t think I am at peak. This year may be more like a prolonged plateau until Fall.

Ned Roberts Spider Daylily Collection To Date

I wanted to show off my Ned Roberts spiders so far this season. I have over 70 total Ned cultivators – I hope this isn’t an accurate mid-season picture as far as bloom rate. I am nowhere close to 35 (or midway). Here they are in the order shown below: Chaco Canyon, Chief Four Fingers, Chokecherry Mountain, Comanche Princess, Coral Taco, Echo Canyon, Fried Green Tomatoes, Kachina Dancer, Kokopelli, Maya Cha Cha, Papa Longlegs, Pueblo Dancer, Talon. 13 of 70 is about 18%, so the Southwest Road Trip Garden is lower than my yard as a whole.

To AI or Not to AI? That is the Question!

To my fellow bloggers out there, what are your thoughts on AI? I have been using the Word Press AI feature for headlines and my stats seem to be up, but it also feels a little distant or impersonal. That said, it does save a little time. The excerpt is another time-saver, but again feels impersonal. I feel like the 3rd person.

I usually use Grammarly, but it hasn’t been running for a few days for some reason. I like the feedback it gives, generally speaking. I used it for my doctorate, also, and found it helpful – although it argues with the AI I use for my Etsy listings. I SMH with the bots arguing about grammar but using AI does seem to be increasing my Etsy traffic.

Bloggers – if you are using AI, do you think it is helping with traffic? If yes – why and how much???

Speaking of Etsy . . .

Please don’t forget my Until the Last Daylily Blooms art sale on Etsy. This sale is on all of my daylily artwork – wall art, pots, clocks, and cards. Please follow my Art from the Hartt page on Facebook and Instagram for updates and process videos. Click here to visit my Etsy shop.

I will be adding some new pieces before the summer is over. I plan to do some daylily paintings over a marbled acrylic pour background. I will be talking more about my process in the next few weeks!

Daylily Photography: Capturing Every Bloom and Seeking Tracking System

July 7, 2024Leave a comment

Today’s Fresh Faces for 2024

July is cooking! I had 6 first of the season blooms today. It is well past yellow trumpet season and the color variety is amazing. Here are today’s new blooms: Better Off Blue, Coral Taco, Echo Canyon, Nurse’s Stethoscope, Talon, and Titan Skye.

Which of these do you think would make the best coaster or mini clock? Please add to comments.

A Day in the Life of a Daylily Hobbyist in July

My days during prime daylily season aren’t particularly entertaining, but they are very different than the other 10-11 months of the year. As always, the day starts with the dogs and a jog. But, somewhere in there, I go out with my cellphone and photograph a bloom from every cultivator that has one. I use to use my Canon Powershot, but as my collection grew my time shrunk. Each photo is edited and uploaded to my online photo drive. By noon-thirty, my phone battery is dying.

After that, I post to Facebook (my personal page) and then make a reel of all the first blooms of the season for Instagram. Then, I share that reel to my business IG, FB, Threads, and my story. My phone is now charging and the clock saying early afternoon..

And, then it’s time for the blog. Except for today, because I stopped to make an extra Instagram video about my Until the Last Daylily Blooms Art Sale on Etsy. So, I opened Canva to start designing a short reel and there went another hour. It does take longer because I am trying to integrate my art business, Art from the Hartt. I don’t sell daylilies because of the need for a nursery license, but I do sell daylily art. So, I do whatever I can do to support myself with my garden.

OK, so now it’s 4 o’something and it’s time for the blog. What can I choose for a topic? Something simple, because it’s late and I still have chores to do. I haven’t touched my art.

Daily Daylily Photography

So, let’s talk about daylily photography. Why do I take a photo of every cultivator that’s blooming every day? Maybe I am just an anal retentive retired nurse who is use to taking vital signs every shift. Only through monitoring the norm can we spot trouble coming. Maybe because I am an artist and I use my photography to make art – the more photos I have, the better chance of capturing cool things like this Nurse’s Stethoscope daylily painting. Maybe it is because the sun is so intense in the high desert that my blooms are melted by early afternoon and I’m not ready to let go.

Looking for a Daily Bloom Tracking System

What I am looking for is an app or software where I can track which cultivators are in bloom every day. I don’t need more hybridization software because I love PlantStep. I want a chart of what is in bloom each day. Ah, this is the anal retentive nurse coming out. But really – I would like to ask my readers if they know of a charting system where I can input the daylily names and put a checkmark each day (like a calendar) that it blooms – then run a report at the end. It would be cool to have a photo of each – but you would only need 1 photo for the year.

I monitor a lot by photographing each day, but I can’t use the data as well as I could with a better system of daily daylily tracking. I appreciate any ideas from readers!

Until The Last Daylily Blooms Art Sale on Etsy

What happens to all those photos? Mostly, they are stored. The inspirational ones, however, can become art! Daylily art was my first dive into painting many years ago and I still adore making art from my daylilies.

I have lots of wall art, clocks, cards, and painted pots available for sale this summer – literally until my last daylily blooms. Last year, that was the day before Halloween. So, while the sale lists an end date in November, it will actually end at midnight 24 hours after my last daylily blooms. If we are lucky enough to be blooming in late October, my art is 50% off! The Instagram (above) has the sale dates and percentages off. Please visit my Etsy store and check it out.

Open My Eyes on October 27th, 2023. She bloomed again the 29th and the bloom was hit with freezing rain. She lost her other buds.

PS – The time is now 5:55 PM and I am about to hit publish.

Colorful Daylily Showcase: Latest Blooms and Seasonal Garden Tasks

July 6, 2024Leave a comment

When I logged off on Sunday, I didn’t think it would be almost a week before I got a chance to write another blog. The heat is on!!! Camping, the 4th of July, and lots of daylilies have happened since I last posted.

What’s New in the Daylily Garden?

Let’s start with 7/1: Hopi Jewel and Lady Fingers.

On 7.2, we were on our camping trip to Vega State Park. Here is a post I did for my travel blog about the trip. There were so many gorgeous wildflowers up there – The wild Colorado Columbines are my favorite.

On 7.3, we returned home. The daylilies where pretty sunburnt by the time I got pictures. Canyon Colors and Maya Cha Cha made their debut in my Southwest Road Trip Garden.

Yankee Doodle Daylily blooms where Strutter’s Ball, Mini Pearl, Chaco Canyon, and (our namesake/mascot) The Colorado Kid.

Those that bloomed the first time on the fifth of July were: Melon Balls, Lime Frost, Pueblo Dreamer, Chief Four Fingers, and Pink and Cream.

Today was a gorgeous slue of new blooms: South Seas, Heron’s Cove, Papa Longlegs, Chokecherry Mountain, Kachina Dancer, Stephanie Returns, and Cheddar Cheese.

Summertime Work in the Daylily Garden

The work of summer is waiting, watching, watering, weeding, dead-heading, counting, photographing, photo editing, making Instagram posts, and writing this blog. It is more than it seem. It takes all day. I started this morning and here I am at 5 PM, still working.

And, this summer is slow. Some of the early bloomers no-showed. I am currently in the low 100s with plants that have scapes, are in bloom, or have finished blooming. Forty one out of 198 have bloomed so far this season. That’s 21%. So, it’s either going to be a wild late summer peak or a boring season. Likely somewhere in-between.

I’m up to 12 Ned Roberts spiders now. Most of my Neds are in the Southwest Road Trip Garden that is likely going to have the lowest bloom rate of any of my gardens.

I do know that I have fall work ahead to improve next year’s bloom rate. And, I will likely fertilize in a few weeks – I will time it around the monsoons, again, if possible. I will also be planting my new daylily roots from Shady Rest once they arrive in late August.

Until the Last Daylily Blooms + Hypertufa Planter Sale on Etsy

Just a quick reminder that all of my Etsy shop daylily artwork – wall art, clocks, pots, paintings – is on sale “Until the Last Daylily Blooms” in my yard. If you follow this blog, you know the photos and paintings are original Colorado artwork. On July 21st, this discount goes from 25% to 30% off. On August 20th to goes from 30% to 35% off. In September it will jump to 40% off. Will I still have blooms in mid to late October? IDK but if I do, my art will be 45% off. How low can you go??? Don’t miss the bus!!! Click here or on the photo below for the specific listing – and be sure to check out all my sale items.

Original wood panel painting of Skinwalker daylily from my Etsy Shop.

I also make hypertufa (a mix of Portland cement, sphagnum moss, and vermiculate) planters that are 25% off on Etsy during July. My planters are too small for daylilies, but I know many of us adore a wide variety of flora. Hypertufa is porous, similar to terra cotta. So, it lets the roots breath. It has thick walls for stability and can be left outdoors in winter. I do put mine in a protected area (shed) for winter due to freeze, thaw. All of my handmade hypertufa pots are put in a vinegar bath for several days to assure that the pH is favorable to plants of all types. Planters can be used indoors or outdoors. I also make some fun art with hypertufa that is also on sale during July. Click here or on the photo to go to the listing – be sure to check out my other hypertufa pots and art that is on sale during July. Love this one of the cat petroglyph at Petrified Forest

Petrified Forest Cat Petroglyph Replica Pot

My Experience Online Daylily Shopping at Shady Rest Gardens

June 29, 20241 Comment

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)

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.