Category: Ned Roberts Daylily

Fruits and Veggies: Health Blooms Day!

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I went on a short overnight camping trip last night.  It was mid-afternoon before I pulled in the driveway.  I enjoyed the night in nature, but was curious to see what was in bloom in the yard.

Rasberry Propeller is one of my Ned Roberts daylilies.  No, not a Southwestern name.  A hybridizer was out of what I wanted, so it was a replacement.  It is in a pot in the front yard.  I think it will go in the ground next year.  Or, a bigger pot.  I think I’ll only get two blooms.  Despite the heat and high UV, it is still a cool bloom.

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The second bloom that is new for the year is Blue Beat.  This is a favorite near blue – up there with The Colorado Kid and Blue Grass Music.  Ths sun scorch turns it to purple – so hoping for an early morning picture tomorrow.  Mildred Mitchell did not bloom this year – I think she needs to be divided.  I can’t wait to get an early morning shot.

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Tomorrow will be my last day in the garden for a few days.  This is like leaving a good movie in the middle to go to the restroom and wondering what you missed.  I am hoping to see a couple new ones tomorrow . . . Maybe Best Seller.  There is also a tiger named one that is close.  Some are late this year, too dry, I think.  Rain has just not happened this summer.  I need to get soak hoses for those gardens, too.

I bought pots this weekend, as my next project is to dig up the daylilies in the front garden that haven’t bloomed and do partial buried pots for them.  Too much competition, so the pots give them their own space.  Always something .  .  . Daylily therapy!  Thank goodness for daylilies and camping trips right now.

 

Roadtrip!

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Today’s new blooms remind me of my annual road trip to the southwest.  First, an old friend that is ailing a little this year, Route 66.  I am hoping my driveway drip system kicks this one back in because I think I will only get 2 blooms this year, and this one is very undersized.

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The second one is absolutely gorgeous: Dream Catcher.  It bloomed last year, but this year the blooms seem bigger and more iridescent.  It totally looks like the dream catchers that the Navajo sell at the roadside stands along the highway.   And, if this is in the middle of my Southwest Garden, then there is hope for more blooms next year.  In fact, Adios Albuquerque is sending up a scape!!!

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My garden has been my road trip this week.  I am so grateful for a hobby with so much positive emotion.  Gardens are a great place to heal and escape the obsessions that create imbalance all around me now.  I am obsessed with my blooms.

I had 23 in bloom today.  So, the peak is close.   I am a little bummed to have to leave for a business trip in the middle of it.  I hope I don’t miss too much.  I wish I could have a webcam on each of my daylilies.

Tomorrow – pretty sure there will be new faces.  Who knows?  That is the joy of daylily season.

Tiny Dancer

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“Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today” Elton John

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The new face today is a bloom that was labeled Pueblo Dancer, another Ned Roberts spider.  My 6th “Ned” this year in that garden.  Except, I don’t think it is Pueblo Dancer.  It’s pretty small for 40-inch scapes (try 12), and it is not the right colors.  Oh boy, the only one it looks like is Chokecherry Mountian . . . but that is in a different part of the garden. I guess I will post it to the Daylily Society and see what they think.

For tomorrow, there will be new ones.  I think Route 66.   I saw some others that were close but I don’t remember which now.  It has been a day of pushing hard at work when I could use some healing.  So, like the daylilies, it is time to let go and bloom again, tomorrow.

Double-Take

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The Fourth of July came and went with no blog post, so I have three new blooms to share tonight.  But, before I do, I want to share this fused Ruby Spider bloom from the 4th of July.  Talk about fireworks.  Mother nature gave this bloom double DNA!  Some experts say that weather is a factor.  It got over 100 likes on the Daylily Society page!

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As for new blooms, I will start with my favorite first – its name is Indian Giver.  This was a bonus plant that I put in the Southwest garden last spring.  I don’t have many buds this year, but I am hoping for more fans and more productive scapes next year.  I love the white border!

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Another new addition is Wineberry Candy – added to one of my pots that just got a drip system.  The two daylilies in the pot from previous are struggling, but hopefully will come back with water.  I didn’t have any of the many “candy” named ones, so I guess I do now.

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Prelude to Love showed up today for the first time this year.  It is a favorite.  It was this afternoon that I noticed my early AM shot was blurred, so this one is what it looks like with 6 hours of high UV in nearly 100-degree heat and probably 10% humidity.  Not too bad.

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It’s funny how being a daylily farmer brings you closer to the earth.  Some pots that were quiet last year are thriving this year, and visa versa.  I am disappointed in the Southwest garden bloom rate.  I did discover another cultivator with a scape today.  Last year, 10 bloomed.  This year, it is 13 so far have blooms or scapes  But, it is somewhat different ones that bloomed this year.  Of the 5 that did not repeat a bloom this year, I still have some hope for Skinwalker because it is a late bloomer.  But, what causes the shift?  I would guess it is that they were newly planted from the South last spring and still are adapting.  It takes time for them to get established and I can’t claim that the high desert of the Colorado Plateau is natural for them.  And, the trees probably need to be trimmed, but the fact that the blooms are scattered throughout the garden says that the sun issue is not profound.

For tomorrow . . . I don’t know about new blooms.  I have lots of scapes in the front garden so we will see what Mother Nature brings.  Work brings a 10 hour computer day!

Today, Our Mascot Bloomed!!!

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The Colorado Kid.  I found her on some site and ordered her from far away.  Near-blue, Colorado in the name . . . This is her second year in my yard.  And, her blooms make me smile.  They are so pretty in the morning before the sun hits and turns the near blue to a deeper, more lavender color.  Still pretty, but the UV by mid day makes all the blooms frump a little.

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Other first blooms today – the much awaited Pink Enchilada.  This flower gives me hope that it just takes time for the bare roots to bloom in the new garden.  It is year 2 in the garden, but a first bloom today.

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The Southwest Garden also welcomed Indian Love Call.  This flower seems happier here than in the pot I had it in last year . . . so that is a positive sign, too.

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Soco Gap is a huge daylily in that garden.  It was a bonus plant that I stuck between 2 yuccas before I enlarged the garden.  It thrives, also a positive sign.

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Those positives said, I only have 12 plants with scapes out of 76 plants in the Southwest Garden.  Yard-wide (including the porch pots, front garden and Southwestern Garden, I have had 28 cultivators bloom so far (most in the front now have scapes).  I have around 160 cultivators total.  So, it’s under 20% still.  Should be interesting to see what happens in July.  (6 of 9 of my back porch pots have bloomed already – interesting on sun and drip systems).

In hindsight, I don’t think I did enough spring watering in the Southwest Garden.  The new sprinkler hose also seems to give better coverage.  I have also leaned on over fertilizing this year to get the plants some size before they invest in blooms.  The soil will need more work – but it is decent for year 2.  I wonder about the trees giving too much shade.  I think I will go out and snap a cell photo every hour some day soon to see if each area gets 5 -6 hours.  I think it is close, but I may invest in some tree trimming this fall.  LOL – Who says skiing is the most expensive hobby in Colorado???

Up for tomorrow . . . maybe Bluegrass Music.  Maybe Primal Scream or even Aztec Firebird.  And, Indian Sky has some baby scapes, finally.  The daylily garden is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.

Honey, I Planted My Family

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Today, Stephanie Returned to my yard.  Stephanie Returns, that is.  She is a sweet light pink girl who bears the same name as my daughter.  And, she was added the year my daughter returned to Colorado.  Hard to get good lighting today.  She was unbloomed, and then the sun hit full force.  She looks a little dry and I upped her water.  (I have daylilies that bear the names of my grandmother, mom, and both grandkids.  I want to get a Santa Clause for in memory of my dad).

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The other first-timer for the year was Inwood.  I love the contrast on the blooms.

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I believe my back porch has now reached peak bloom with this addition.  Sadly, Electric Lizard is still not looking like it will produce much despite the addition of some more fans last fall.  Maybe it needs a larger pot.  Nosferatu, Cheddar Cheese, and Canyon Colors all have big fans but no scapes.  Guessing not enough sun, too much fertilizer or some other imbalance.  I am still hoping . . . but would have expected scapes by now.  Generally, my pots grow bigger, healthier blooms than this basic clay soil.  But, sometimes the mix is off.  (Below is Jungle Queen, quite happy in the same pot for 2 years).

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As for the Southwest garden – it looks like I’ll have some new blooms tomorrow.  Soco Gap is about to give birth.  I think I’ll see my first Pink Enchilada tomorrow.  Papa Long Legs and Kokopelli, perhaps.  Maybe Indian Love Call.  I was hoping for 50% bloom out there, but I am guessing it may be 30% now.  I am erring on the side of fertilizer this year to get the plants big.  I think I need to do more soil amendments in the fall, too.  Most the plants are blooming size.  A few have died back.   I have to remember that some of mine had spring in the South last year, so may not bloom this year.  Bare root daylilies are not instant gratification.

The flowers are so pretty, they are worth the amazing time and energy to make them thrive.  Tomorrow also holds the promise of our first The Colorado Kid (our mascot) of the year.  Can’t wait to see what happens next.

 

Switched at Birth?

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I went camping this weekend, so there was one day that I missed my blooms.  I got home today at 4, and rounded the corner to my outside porch.  I start counting blooms, and I spy a new one for the year.  But it is totally the wrong color.  It is mauve and white, I was expecting light yellow.  What’s the deal?

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Last year, I planted my two New Mexico named daylilies in the same pot.  I labeled them (I thought).  Last year, Ghost Ranch bloomed.  So, one of the two plants is decidedly larger.  So much so that the smaller one got its own pot to see if I can beef it up a tad.  I thought Ghost Ranch was the one in the big pot.  Apparently not, because the bloom looks like Chaco Canyon.  It is odd, I still can’t figure it out.  Chaco blooms early and Ghost Ranch is later.  So, we will see.  Maybe the fans are mixed now.

Anyway, remember when I said I would only post photos of new blooms?  I have a few today.  Please know that it was 4 PM when I got home so some of the blooms are past their prime.  But, the garden explodes in color.

Here is Hopi Jewel:

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Isaac:

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Lady Fingers:

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Prairie Wildfire:

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Red Hot Returns:

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Chama Valley

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Tomorrow there are several possibilities for new faces.  I think Wild Horses, Inwood (I missed the first bloom on Saturday), Mesa Verde, Stephanie Returns, Pink Enchilada, and Soco Gap are close.  Any guesses????

Kokopelli brings the summer!

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Kokopelli is a Hopi word meaning wooden backed.  The Kokopelli is truly a legend of the Southwest.  Lots of folklore. . . the character who changes winter to spring.  And today, Solstice, brings the blooms. The equinox and solstice were both amazingly powerful in the Anasazi culture.  Back on the equinox, Kokopelli was one of my first daylilies to show its fans.

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With my love of the Southwest and spider daylilies, a bloom with this name surely caught my eye.  My first purchase on the lily auction.  The start of my Southwest garden. Still a gamble of a biology project.

I am in awe at how perfect this first bloom looks.  Last year’s first blooms were a little scraggly.  I put it in in Fall 2015, the same year I started my doctorate.  I guess we are both more established now.

Not sure on new faces in the garden tomorrow.  I think next up is Jungle Queen. Sometime this week.

Valentine’s Day: The Day Before Solstice

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What an interesting year.  Lots of blooms and lots of work hours.  Finding whatever balance there is in the mix.  So different from last year.  Time and money . . . sort of.  So, limiting to new blooms despite a dozen cool photos of seven different daylilies is like narrowing a doctoral project topic.  So much cool stuff, but only so much time.

So, today was the first bloom of Funny Valentine.  Last year, she did not like her location and she gave me only a couple scrawny blooms.  Funny what improving drainage, sun, and water can do for a daylily.  Always a few out there that are not happy.  You tweak, you hope.  And, sometimes they send you Funny Valentines.  Tomorrow, Kokopelli for Solstice, perhaps.  Turning winter to summer, that’s what Kokopellis and Solsti do.

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Few things are more stunning than daylilies, but . . .

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I have had a busy weekend revamping my back porch.  This is the place that my evergreens spend 3 months of the winter.  Spring and fall are temperate in the south-facing fiberglass lean-to style porch.  So, why not have a place to sit and pretend it’s spring?

At any rate, when I did get a chance to go get some pictures of flowers, I was focused on a gorgeous bouquet of Ruby Spider and Return a Smile, when something caught my eye.  It was a bloom on my Easter Lily Cactus.  I brought it home from the Senora a couple months ago.  It’s bloom buds fell off in the colder weather – but I guess we are Senora hot now.

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New to the yard for this year (and doing much better than last year) is Strutter’s Ball.  A common daylily, but still a favorite big purple-red bloom.

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With my work schedule this year, I am sticking primarily with new blooms for photos.  I had 7 varieties in bloom in the yard today.  I take photos, but don’t have time for posting more than I do.  So, please enjoy these two beauties.

PS – I named my back porch the Senora Room!