Juneteenth!

June 20, 2018Leave a comment

Tis the 19th day of June. I lived in Galveston, Texas for a few years and read the book by that name (Juneteenth). Freedom from slavery . . . it was a big deal. It is a good day to celebrate with flowers. And, we are only two days from the beginning of spring. It is a good time to reflect on freedoms.

Today, three more new faces join the chorus that is starting in my yard. The first is another Ned Roberts spider – Laughing Feather. I really love the dark color of this one. And, it totally looks like a feather! Another one that is going on 3 summers here with a first-ever bloom. Worth the wait.

Laughing Feather 6/19

Return a Smile always adds some real color to my early blooms in the Walkway and Mural Gardens. I love her because she reminds me of positive psychology!

Return A Smile 6/19

And, a Lowe’s special from last year – Yellow Punch – is back. This is a Stella offspring that is much prettier than Stella to me. And, last year, proved to be a better rebloomer.

Yellow Punch 6/19

Oh, I almost forgot, another bloom from the mystery no-ID pot from the old back garden. Those daylilies back there went back to seedling size over a couple years – poor soil, insects, infrequent water, not much sun. Two years ago, I pulled the seedlings up and replanted them in slightly better soil and cut back some of the surrounding shrubs. When I did that, I separated some of the small fans from one-another. They did slightly better. Last year, I also experimented with putting one in a pot in the Walkway Garden. Well, it got big and bloomed in one season – Prairie Blue Eyes was the obvious ID. I have another in the Rainbarrel Garden – so it was easy to recognize. So, last fall, I put all the separated fans that were left in a big pot (a couple are in a smaller pot). This makes it a mystery or potpourri of daylilies. Who knows what fans ended up with what other fans?

So far, I have had no idea the ID of those cultivators so I named them Dark Mystery and Purple Mystique. Today, I decided this one could be Lavender Enigma. As the day wore on, it started looking more and more like a fan of Prairie Blue Eyes. So, I call her Prairie Blue Eyes Enigma.

Prairie Blue Eyes 6/19

Other bloomers today where Purple Many Faces, Indian Love Call, Mesa Verde, Kokopelli, Hopi Jewel, Comanche Princess, Saratoga Springtime, Stella de Oro, Funny Valentine. Sadly, today was Kokopelli’s last bloom for the year – she kicked off quite a show since 6/2! That makes 25 cultivators so far this year. I think Jungle Queen and Nurse’s Stethoscope are up next. Maybe a couple others. Should be another 12+ bloom day tomorrow. I have an early meeting, so it is bedtime!

The Colorado Kid: Our blooming mascot

June 19, 20182 Comments

“Monday, Monday. So good to me.” When it comes to new blooms – the song rings true. I feel the peak drawing close now.

First of all, our blog mascot The Colorado Kid had her first 2018 bloom. She seems to do well in my yard in a pot. Many hybridizers say they don’t get the color that I get. She is one of my near blues. I love her deep colors so much. Of course, her name is why I chose her. Then, the blog got named after here. This is her 3rd year blooming here!

The Colorado Kid 6/18

Then, Zuni Eye, one of my Ned Roberts southwest named daylilies bloomed for the first time ever here. So many of his are spiders. But she is a big, big round bloom. I think I am in love! She has been here 2-3 years, and she apparently likes the improvements to the Southwest Garden. Today, I finally met her.

Zuni Eye 6/18

Zuni Eye next to my hand

The other new bloom is out of the no-ID pot from the back corner garden. I named the first one Dark Mystery. This is the second cultivator from that big pot. I am calling her Purple Mystique.

“Purple Mystique” (No-ID)

So, today I shift to only sharing new blooms. I will have the full list for the week with photos each weekend. FYI, the other blooms today were Dark Mystery, Saratoga Springtime, Purple Many Faces, Comanche Princess, Stella de Oro, and Treasure of the Southwest.

I have had 20 cultivators bloom thus far this year – of 170. So, just over 10%. By this date last year, I had 7 that had bloomed. I have added a handful more, but I think I had 160 or so last year. So, less than 5%. It is all the Southwest Garden, the Border Garden and the Rainbarrel Garden that is boosting the total. All of those were added or greatly upgraded last year when I decided to stop buying new daylilies and help the ones that I have to thrive.

I think tomorrow is going to be busy at 6:30 AM. Good night!

Mountain Daylily Time

June 17, 2018Leave a comment

My current faculty position has me talking with students all over the United States – every time zone in the continental US. I have to type my time zone and theirs into every note – twice. This meeting and next meeting times. I think a lot about time zones!

Daylily season brings a profound shift in my off-time schedule during the week. I wake up earlier to take photos. I also have to spray the orchids most mornings. I prefer it when I can go for a run before work, too. That means I am dead by the time I get off at 8 PM. I walk the dogs, blog, go to bed. And, the more blooms, the earlier I need to set my clock. That is Mountain Daylily Time.

So, I surpassed 10 blooms in the yard today with some cool, new Ned Roberts southwest named spiders. I love these flowers! Talon has been with me going on 3 summers and has never bloomed. The first year, she tried, but they dried up. It is surprising that the blooms are this huge. I organized my garden by the hight listed by the hybridizer. This is in the front row – but it is Huge. Can you see the talons?

Talon 6/17

Comanche Princess was a new add last fall after my first one died. I like her curls! It is beyond cool to finally get to see these blooms 3 years later.

Comanche Princess

The other first bloom (for this year – she usually blooms well) is Funny Valentine. She has a million buds this year! This is the first bloom in my side porch! It is interesting, because I always thought of this area as my first bloom cycle area – hot, light. The flowers just grew to maturity more quickly than the walkway garden out front. With the tree gone and the new systems in the Southwest Garden – this is my new first bloom area. Also, the driveway Rain Barrel Garden pots are now in the equation (added last year).

Funny Valentine

Other blooms today are as follows (some are tattered from the rain we got during the night):

Dark Mystery 6/17

Kokopelli 6/17

Indian Love Call 6/17

Canyon Colors 6/17

Purple Many Faces 6/17

Wineberry Candy 6/17

Stella de Oro 6/17

Saratoga Springtime 6/17

PS – Starting tomorrow, I will only blog about the new daylilies in bloom (including first bloom for 2018) for the day, but will list all the bloomers. On Saturday or Sunday each week, I will add photos of all the bloomers for the week in my blog (with the date of bloom). I will try to pick the best photo of each. New year, new system! Pilot. Because it is Mountain Daylily Time!

Many Faces!

June 16, 2018June 16, 2018Leave a comment

TGIF! And, what a Friday it was in the garden. Things are starting to pop all over. However, I only got two out of three correct on the trifecta guess – bifecta. So, let’s start there. Today was a first-ever bloom for Purple Many Faces – another Ned Roberts Southwestern name spider daylily. It is a big bloom!

Purple Many Faces 6/15

Indian Love Call is one I got 3 years ago for a pot someone gave me for the front yard. It languished in the pot, so I put it in the Southwest Garden that fall. She seems happy there – one of my few bloomers last year.

Indian Love Call 6/15

Also in the Southwest Garden was Canyon Colors. She bloomed her first full summer here but did not bloom last year. I divided her and put one fan in the Southwest Garden. And, so she bloomed this year!

Canyon Colors 6/15

Another new bloom is a no-ID that I am naming Dark Mystery. Several years ago, I tried putting daylilies in this little corner garden. They were not happy, slowly dying back. I tried amendments, but they stayed pretty small and never bloomed. So, last fall, I took them all and put them in a big pot. I bet I have 4 or 5 different cultivators in there – and Dark Mystery was the first to bloom. It is striking, I think.

Dark Mystery 6/15

And, my first near-blue daylily bloom opened for the year – Bluegrass Music. She has a story! I was new with ordering bare-root daylilies and was taken with the near blues. You see, daylilies can’t make true blue. The long story short is that I way overpaid for a very small fan – but she is thriving a few years later.

Bluegrass Music 6/15

And, a few repeats today:

Dream Keeper 6/15

Saratoga Springtime 6/15

Stella de Oro 6/15

Wineberry Candy 6/15

Tomorrow, it looks like rain and a busy day of blooms. We need the rain. I like the daylilies with the drops on the pedals. I want to get to bed soon so I have some energy tomorrow for all the action! I am going to have more photos than I can handle soon – I think I will go with new blooms and a list of all the blooms for the week on Saturday and Sunday once there are more than 10 a day. Many faces are coming!

Very Pregnant and Ready to Deliver

June 15, 2018Leave a comment

Yesterday, I predicted a trifecta of daylilies would bloom today – Indian Love Call, Talon, and Purple Many Faces. Well, I lost that bet on all three counts . . . maybe tomorrow, though. Actually – maybe a lot more than that tomorrow. Several look very pregnant and ready to deliver.

Today, I had one 2018 first bloomer – Wineberry Candy. She was a purchase last summer to spruce up a corner daylily pot. Last summer was when I decided I needed to stop buying daylilies whilst my ones from previous years stopped blooming. Instead, I would add systems – pots, drippers, etc. But, once a daylily passes it’s natural call to bloom, you wait a year for your next chance. So, for the corner pot, I added Wineberry Candy.

Wineberry Candy

Other bloomers for today were as follows:

Dream Keeper 6/14

Kokopelli 6/14

Saratoga Springtime 6/14

Stella de Oro 6/14

Tomorrow is my early day at work . . . no breaks, end of week 6-hour marathon. I could have a dozen blooms. Who knows? And, the photos need to be early because the UV taters them fairly quickly. Besides the trifecta – I have a big mystery red one, Bluegrass Music, Canyon Colors, Hopi Jewel . . . and several of the current bloomers. Who knows what’s behind door #1? Two weeks to peak!

Say that three times fast!

June 13, 20181 Comment

What is in a name? I don’t know – for some of my daylilies, I choose them partially for their Southwestern names. Platinum Palette Pink Whispers was not picked for her name, though. In fact, I paid no attention to her name. What I know is that the garden shop had a 2 for $10 special on daylilies this spring. I said no more, but I had an empty container due to loss of one of my bonus plants from last fall. So, I got two different ones that were not Stella De Oro. I really didn’t notice the tongue-twister name until I went to put this one in my software program. Say that 3 times fast!

Platinum Palette Pink Whispers 6/12

My yard is getting so full of spikes. It is seriously worrying me how I will handle the photography. And, the blog. Posting every one, every day . . . that may get crazy cause I don’t get off until 8 PM. Wondering about a weekly list of all the blooms? I have done a collage, but then you can’t really pull up the individual photos later. I don’t know, but I better figure in our because these blooms won’t be slowing down any time soon. I have 3 dozen with scapes in the Southwest garden, alone. Probably 60+ total in the whole yard. I wonder how many I’ll have in bloom on the peak of the peak day?

Here are the other blooms for the day:

Kokopelli 6/12

Dream Keeper 6/12

Saratoga Springtime 6/12

Stella de Oro 6/12

A watched pot . . .

June 11, 2018Leave a comment

A watched pot never boils, they say. And watched daylilies don’t bloom . . . until you go camping. Friday, I had 4 in bloom. Saturday, it was 5. Today, back down to 1. I guess the advantage orchids have over daylilies is that the blooms last months. Still, I think my first love is the daylilies.

Here are the Friday Four (Dream Keeper bloomed Friday and today):

Dream Keeper

Passionate Returns

Stella de Oro

Saratoga Springtime

I think I will have a few more tomorrow – Treasure of the Southwest is half opened, already! And, I have 30 scapes (bud spikes) in the Southwest Garden now. I will finally get to see some of these blooms! It has been a wait!

Yoga in the Garden

June 7, 2018June 7, 2018Leave a comment

It is that time of year where one of the first things I think of when I start to wake is the daylilies. Is anything in bloom? I try to assess scapes the night before so I have some idea . . . but it is always a surprise to see which ones actually opened.

Next, I get up and do maybe 30 minutes of watering and spraying of my orchids . . . my winter daylilies that get kind of needy at 6% humidity. I have 2 big vanda orchids that I water twice a day. Actually, soak the bare roots that hang in a glass vase is more like it. I grow mainly in water culture for my phals, so I check every AM for new roots while I spray the existing roots. I have an orchid growing area outside – and those orchids all look dry enough that tomorrow I hook up a misting system. I only have about 4 dozen orchids, but in the AM it feels like a million. I keep hoping that once they fully adapt to water culture that they will be a bit easier. I’ll never have 170 orchids . . . just take too much time to nurture in the desert.

Next, it is off to photograph my daylilies. That is what I call yoga in the garden because I have a little garden fence around the Southwest Garden and I have to step over it onto one of the stepping stones to take some of the photos. I am sure some of my poses are pretty ridiculous. Of course, about that time someone walks by and starts talking to me about the garden. I am trying to hold the pose and look graceful.

Today, Dream Keeper was the only bloomer. A few new scapes every day around the yard. It is pretty exciting. As for tomorrow, I am not sure if I will have any blooms. Maybe a Stella or Kokopelli or Dream Keeper. Maybe not.

Dream Keeper 6/6/18

Like an Advent Calendar (sort of)

June 6, 2018June 6, 2018Leave a comment

Last blog, I compared daylilies to popcorn – starting to pop slowly, then reaching peak season. That is a good analogy, but it is incomplete because each kernel of corn is the same basic size and color. So, my other analogy is an advent calendar minus the religious meaning.

Kokopelli 6/5/18

When I was a kid, I loved my advent calendars every year. I have curiosity as a strength, so opening that little paper window every day was thrilling to me. What was behind door #1, door #2 and door #3? So, something in daylily blooms that is like opening a surprise door to see each cultivator. Today’s doors were Kokopelli and Saratoga Springtime.

Saratoga Springtime 6/5/18

This time of year, I hunt scapes every day. Today, I bet I found half dozen new ones . . . Route 66, Happy Returns, a couple of mystery ones, and one from the Southwest garden (but I forgot which one). And, last but not least, Nurse’s Stethoscope!

Nurse’s Stethoscope scape 6/5/18

I am super jazzed about Nurse’s Stethoscope because I helped to name it! You see, during that whole deal about “Show me your stethoscope” a few years ago, I posted the suggestion to the national daylily society Facebook page. The hybridizer is also in healthcare – she liked the name and the next year Nurse’s Stethoscope became a registered daylily. I held off buying her because she is new and still expensive. But, last year, I decided she would be the last major daylily purchase (other than replacements) for my yard. She cost $100. I thought myself crazy, except I helped to name her. She is my daylily legacy! I worried all winter that the drought would kill her – and winter waterings hold some risk with freeze-thaw plant loss. But, she turned green and got big. Today, there they were, two beautiful scapes. Advent calendar joy fills my heart!

A photo of Nurse’s Stethoscope from her hybridizer’s page

Popcorn

June 5, 2018June 5, 2018Leave a comment

Daylilies remind me of popcorn. When I was a kid, we had a metal tray with a screen over it and a handle that was our popcorn popper. No nuking a sack for a few minutes. No, you had a jar of corn and you poured it in with oil. It was usually over the gas flame on the stove or fireplace. You had to shake the popper the whole time or the popcorn would stick. Good exercise.

Pretty soon, though, if you were persistent enough, you would hear a pop. A few seconds later, another. Pretty soon, the kernels are popping so fast that you can’t count them anymore. Keep shaking that popper! Eventually, they slow to almost a stop. If you wait too long for the last few to pop, the whole thing burns. It is an art, really.

In early June, the daylilies start to pop. One cultivator at a time, the buds get bigger and bigger. The early days are like a treasure hunt in the morning, looking to see if any popped during the night. In a month, we will be at peak. This honestly scares me a little, because if my bloom rate improves like I think it might, I have no clue how I will keep up with photographing them all. It is possible I’ll have days with 100! Crazy. I burn more space on my memory card during daylily season than any other time all year. Then, come mid-August, the explosion begins to settle down. It is back to treasure hunt mod, again. Except it is usually a couple months at the slower rate.

Dream Keeper 2018

So, today Dream Keeper came to visit. She is another Ned Roberts spider daylily. Her sibling (or parent?) is Dream Catcher – one of my most flourishing daylilies. Dream Keeper bloomed early in 2016, right after I put her in, but not again since that time. I love her orange coloring.

Saratoga Springtime 2018

The surprise today was Saratoga Springtime. This is her first ever bloom in my yard. I have had her for 2 years – but she was small and I put her in not the best place. Last summer, I moved the daylilies out of garden areas where they never bloomed. She is now by my driveway on a solar drip system. It seems to agree with her. The surprise was that her pot was mislabeled and I thought she was orange flurry. Geez, I need to get my labeling caught up soon.

I am guessing that the three that have bloomed thus far will be the early popcorn for the next week or so. They are really the only ones ready to pop. But . . . keep shaking because it won’t be long now.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Category: Ned Roberts Daylily