Switched at Birth?

June 26, 2017June 26, 2017Leave a comment

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?

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:

Isaac:

Lady Fingers:

Prairie Wildfire:

Red Hot Returns:

Chama Valley

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!

June 21, 2017Leave a comment

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.

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

June 20, 2017June 20, 2017Leave a comment

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.

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

June 19, 2017June 19, 2017Leave a comment

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.

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.

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!

Papa Long Legs visits for Father’s Day!

June 15, 2017Leave a comment

Wow, tonight I am blogging from my laptop and using my Canon photos! Getting into the daylily season routine. At least as much as possible when I work until 10 PM. Fortunately, I work from home so can run out quickly and snap photos here and there.

Today, Papa Long Legs bloomed for the first time in my yard! And, he is officially the first bloom in my Southwest named daylily garden. I am unsure how much daddy longlegs spiders are Southwestern, really. Although, they certainly inhabit the region. I love the Ned Roberts (hybridizer) spider daylilies, and I am fortunate to have a whole garden where they dominate. So, when I go through the lists of his blooms, I pick everything that reminds me of my home area. And, honestly, I have a lot of these creatures in my yard. Watching these ones bloom is amazing, it takes a couple hours.

Anytime one takes a space that has been a rock garden on top of W. Colorado adobe earth, one risks. It is hard, clay that is so basic (pH) that the nutrients lock-up in it. Amendments help, but not for very long. Most of my daylilies in that garden are growing, several have scapes. A few struggle. Why? I seem to always find a lot of clay soil in the roots when I dig these ones up. I also find roots of other species of plants that infiltrate everything in my mature yard. I’m trying something new and cutting the whole bottom out of cheap pots and burying them with the strugglers inside. And, good soil. Hoping for some moisture retention and root guard protection. Taking care of those who don’t flourish is the work of a true gardener. Here on the Colorado Plateau, I have my work cut out as the nurse of the daylilies.

Happy Cinco de Mayo: A Southwest Road Trip in My Garden!

May 6, 2017Leave a comment

My southwest named daylily garden is in. I added around 20 new blooms this year. My garden is a dream come true. I never dreamed I’d actually find all of these. Next, blow out the elm seeds and mulch.

These kids are an investment. So, labeling and mapping are key to maintaining that. I experimented with various labels. Nothing has held up well through winter. I found these metal ones on Amazon. The reviews said the paint may have to be redone every spring. I sprayed mine with engine spray. We’ll see.

I love the names. It’s like having a road trip on a garden 🙂

Spring has sprung, the daylilies has riz. I wonder where the sunlight is?

April 27, 2017Leave a comment

It’s late April, although it feels more like February outside this week. None the less, I planted about 10 new daylilies in my Southwest garden last weekend. The daylilies here all have Southwest or Colorado names . . . Mostly from hybridizer, Ned Roberts. Close to 100 varities! I have about a dozen more to add this weekend. Then, it will be essentially complete. Here are the roots that came last week . . . I love the smell of them.

With this many specialty plants, I’ve found it a challenge to know what’s where. I’ve put many hours into garden labels, and just created this map. I love all the Southwestern names. Sadly, though, my labels are not going to hold up much longer. The map is a great adjunct to the project. Such adventures! Reminds my of working in the (newborn) nursery.

I just want some warmth! Sadly, so did my poinsettias. I thought I’d have 16, then 14, then 12. Now, may be 8? They were starting to form leaves in March. But, April has been colder and not enough solar energy for them to continue to try to put out new growth. They were so close to sprouting, too. Right now, I feel the same way. Go daylilies!

A Time to Every Purpose

September 28, 2016September 28, 2016Leave a comment

Today, Ruby Stella bloomed. She only has two buds left and freeze is headed our way soon. I was thinking of firsts and lasts today. My first daylily bloomed in March . . . in zone 6A. Indian Sky was accidentally forced on my porch and produced two blooms. She did not rebloom this year.

Indian Sky – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

My first in-yard bloom was another container that was forced a bit early from winter on the porch – Electric Lizard.

Electric Lizard – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

My first planted in the dirt daylily to bloom was Dream Keeper (6/13) – this is my daughter’s choice for a painting for her birthday.

Dream Keeper – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

And, the last . . . Miss Ruby Stella from today. Last, but not least.

Ruby Stella – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

They spanned seven months . . . maybe we make it to October? Then, eight.

The other thing I hope spans a lot of months are the new labels. What a project to make these for every daylily, not just the 50 or so southwestern garden ones that I blogged about earlier this month. They have held up, so I am giving it a shot. I just want labels that last more than a month or two. So, we will see. Fingers crossed.

PS – I did become a Doctor of Nursing Practice. And, then I went on a camping road trip through SE Utah. New job starts next week. Time to get cracking with some winter strong labels!

The Art of Labels

September 4, 2016September 4, 2016Leave a comment

It used to be that I adopted miscellaneous daylilies and planted th em in amidst my other flowers without much thought. What’s in a name, after all, as long as the flower is hardy. Then, I started collecting them. Some I got for the names. Others, I just needed to organize. So, I got cool software called Plantstep to manage my habit. One part I like about the software is that you can print labels for each flower. However, with inkjet, they never lasted long. And, I have enough now that relabeling is a major chore. What to do?

My first thought was to paint names on my plastic labels . .prime, outdoor paint, polyurethane. I especially wanted my Roberts southwestern garden to have sustainable labels until I learn the blooms. Somewhere in the process, I began to wonder if you could seal the inkjet labels with the polyurethane. It worked! (I googled it later, and they use the process to seal inkjet photographs).

So, I decided that my Southwest garden will have two-sided labels. One side is painted, the other is a plasticized label. I’m only half done – it is a multi-step process. But, I have a good start with the first batch in. I think I will just use the plasticized labels on the other gardens for now. It is an experiment . . . we will see what spring brings. (I like that I painted the label with the color of each bloom.)

My blooms for today are Heirloom Heaven (almost done for this cycle):

Heirloom Heaven – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

And, Red Hot Returns (darn thrips are back):

Red Hot Returns – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

Best of all, it looks like Ruby Stella is sending up yet another scape! This may be my graduation day flower!!! Rock on Ruby. 2016 came in with the yellows and is going out with the reds.

My new Ruby scape!!!

Just a Painter Passing Through in History

September 2, 2016September 2, 20161 Comment

“If you want to know my secret don’t come runnin’ after me
For I am just a painter passing through in history” – Gordon Lightfoot

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be” – Abraham Maslow

Painting of Kokopelli by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

And, so it is. Yesterday, I painted Kokopelli. One of my early bloomers is now always in bloom in my house. It settles my nerves. Lots going on in my life – but I slept like a baby.

I woke up to a pretty bloom from Red Hot Returns. Nice way to start the day.

Red Hot Returns – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Category: Ned Roberts Daylily

Switched at Birth?

Kokopelli brings the summer!

Valentine’s Day: The Day Before Solstice

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

Papa Long Legs visits for Father’s Day!

Happy Cinco de Mayo: A Southwest Road Trip in My Garden!

Spring has sprung, the daylilies has riz. I wonder where the sunlight is?

A Time to Every Purpose

The Art of Labels

Just a Painter Passing Through in History

“If you want to know my secret don’t come runnin’ after me
For I am just a painter passing through in history” – Gordon Lightfoot

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be” – Abraham Maslow

“If you want to know my secret don’t come runnin’ after me For I am just a painter passing through in history” – Gordon Lightfoot

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be” – Abraham Maslow

“If you want to know my secret don’t come runnin’ after me
For I am just a painter passing through in history” – Gordon Lightfoot