Drip, Drip, Drip

June 22, 2020Leave a comment

I will say one thing positive about the pandemic is that I have spent a lot more time in my yard and patio doing projects that I have wanted to do for some time.

So, today I extended my side yard drip system to the upper part of my front flower bed. I am guessing there are 50 plants in that area – so it took a chunk of time. I was nervous to hook it up, but it works fine. My sprinkler system is great for the lawn, but not for the flower pots. It is just not enough. So . . . I will come back to drip systems in a minute.

First, I had several premiers. Mauna Loa is a pretty Ned Roberts daylily that I added last year. It is one of his older ones, but the color is still vibrant.

One of my minis, Petite Petticoats, gave me a premier bloom today, too. I seriously almost missed her in a big bucket of minis.

Purple Many Faces showed her face for the first time in 2020 today. Another colorful Roberts cultivator.

Oh, and sweet Return a Smile. She was one of my very first daylilies and always makes me smile.

So, that is it for premiers today. Likely, this week, I will shift to premiers only. I have a couple honorable mentions today. I had 4 premiers this week that didn’t open right the first time. Now, they are back with their normal beauty – Kokopelli, Land of Enchantment, Jungle Queen, and Mildred Mitchell.

OK, back to the drip system. Last year, I put one in on the front part of the bed I did today. Again, it had a lot of plants and I was new at doing drip systems other than it a short line. So, I did it the same, and needless to say, the drippers at the end did not have enough pressure.

I decided to research it and you need to put the line in a continuous circle – so both the start and end of the tube connect to the tap. Earlier this spring, I went back and fixed the front so it worked correctly. And, I am seeing a difference in the plant health – we will see on bloom rate. So far, Stella is much happier. And, my poinsettias are in heaven!

I don’t have either of the newer drippers on a timer – other than my brain. It is still a lot easier to crank the hose and do something else for 30-60 minutes that haul water to all those pots.

I am wondering if peak will happen before my trip in 2.5 weeks. I know it will be busy with blooms. I just need to get away and have an adventure.

Rode Hard and Put Away Wet

June 10, 2020Leave a comment

It is an expression about horses – rode hard and put away wet means running a horse so hard that it sweats. Well, looking at my daylilies today, the expression came to mind. The Derecho followed by 2 more days of intense wind – then down to near freezing last night – that is a lot to ask of a daylily. And, the foliage is bent and after two days of dust bowl wind, the last rain was “dirty” so to speak. So, my leaves have a little debris on them.

I still had 4 blooms today. I think Dream Keeper looks so sad and faded today after the storm.

Dream Keeper before the storm 6.7.20 – see the color difference?

And, Saratoga Springtime broke a petal.

Saratoga Springtime – After the storm 6.9.20

Stella, and her cousin, Yellow Punch (a primier bloom today) look pretty normal. Except the buds (other than Saratoga Springtime) did not fully open until this afternoon about 2 PM. It is a clear sign that blooms are partially heat driven.

What’s close – IDK, maybe Funny Valentine. I do have close to 70 scapes now. The wind is gone, like a case of Corona Virus is gone. And, it gets up to 75 tomorrow.

Oh, and my poinsettias are OK. Poinsettias will die if you expose them to temps under 50 in the winter, but I have found that during growing season, they are much more resilient.

A Word About Mother’s Day

May 11, 2020May 11, 2020Leave a comment

It’s not a super easy day for my. Mom is gone and my daughters and grandkids are pretty much completely out of contact. I love them dearly and miss them with my whole heart. I need to live my values. My mom taught me that.

My poinsettias, still in bloom, moved to the yard for the summer

For me, mother’s day is about engagement in my yard. It’s perfect for Corona virus. It’s perfect every year because it’s a family day. My veggies went in yesterday and my houseplants went out today – over 100 of them.

My cacti and succulents outside on my back porch.

Every year, rain or drought, I get a mom’s day bouquet from this tree. It’s always right on time.

Life is what we make of it. I’m bone tired. But, it’s mostly a good tired. Tomorrow, I must Zoom. Happy Mother’s Day to all – even those whose children are no longer involved. Or, those who want to be moms or who have lost children.

A Thanksgiving Cactus By Any Other Name Would Bloom as Bright

November 28, 2019Leave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s a day full of cooking and Thanksgiving cactus. I think I’ve seen a few dozen photos of humungous once on my succulent feeds lately.

Pink and cream Thanksgiving cactus.

I have 4 of them myself. They are different from Christmas cactus because the leaves have several points on the end. Christmas cactus are smoother- and harder to find in my experience.

Bright pink Thanksgiving cactus.

I don’t have to do much special to get them to bloom, although they bloom more prolifically if they spend a few weeks in the poinsettia bloom-forcing closet. They sometimes rebloom in spring under those lights. They like equinox length days.

Red Thanksgiving cactus bud.

Christmas cactus and Thanksgiving cactus are clearly close kin. Siblings. Cousins to these two holiday bloomers are Easter and Orchid cactus. They are similar in that they grow in trees (epiphytes) and are fed by rain and the debris it provides.

Furry leaf tips on my Easter cactus.

I have had my Easter cactus a few years and it didn’t rebloom until I hung it in a planter from my outside plant hanger. It bloomed in June in the high desert without much water.

Easter cactus reblooming last summer.

Anyway, it almost looks furry at the joints. And the flowers look more like daisies to me.

Orchid cactus bloom.

My orchid cactus bloomed for the first time this year. (I started it as a cutting 2 years ago.) It tried to bud in August, but it shriveled. It budded again in September and bloomed after freeze in my kitchen.

Orchid cactus foliage (much larger than its colorful cousins).

My only recipe for success is summer outside in the brilliant Colorado high desert. And, the bloom closet for the holiday cactus. Honestly, they are kind of plain most of the year, but the bright blooms seem to make them worth the wait.

Do you have a Thanksgiving cactus? What is your favorite color?

Poinsettias in the Bloom Closet!

November 16, 2019Leave a comment

Poinsettias are a sign that the holidays are just around the corner. I started collecting them a few years ago when I was a starving sixty-something doctoral student. I bought a pretty orange one and babied it because it was a luxury to buy a plant back then.

That plant bloomed all winter and flourished all summer. However, my first experiment in making a bloom closet that fall didn’t work out so well. The poinsettia bloomed, sort of, but was horribly leggy and didn’t survive winter #2.

I’ve gotten better with them. Trial and error. I have two that I’ve had going on four winters. I got a couple more the next year and, again, last year. Well, actually I got more than that, but lost a few along the way. I lost both of my orange ones from last winter to the cold spring.

I have 4 in bloom and one that’s still in the bloom closet. I have two still recovering from the cold spring that I’ll bloom in a couple of months.

How do I rebloom mine? Well, forget all the advice about putting it in a closet by night and a sunny window by day. I’m way too forgetful. But, I have a plant closet in my basement family room that has plant LED lights on a timer and a blackout curtain closed all the time, except when I water.

It’s year #3 for the closet and my poinsettias thrive down there. Once they bloom, they come upstairs for several weeks u til they start dropping leaves. Generally, they go back into the closet until May, when they sit in my front yard and get sprinkler system rain every day.

It’s hot and dry, but the poinsettias do fine. This is the first year that they have struggled a little. They are euphorbia, after all- just like my 6 ft pencil cactus.

I bring them in and put them in the bloom closet just before freeze. I have blooms by late October or early November. Have you ever rebloomed a poinsettia? Meanwhile the drought has returned and I need to winter water the daylilies during Thanksgiving break.

SAD: Succulent Addictive Disorder

October 27, 20191 Comment

The days are about to get colder and darker. We are back in severe drought in my corner of Colorado. The wet spring was nice, but gone once our monsoon season was mediocre. I did put leaf mulch on my daylilies and started winter watering last weekend.

My echeveria after the sprinkler hit it last month.

I have thyroid disease and so time changes/dark days are difficult for me. Full spectrum light can help. I believe my mix of full spectrum, flourscent and purple plant lights help. I also think living in an indoor forest boosts positive energy. Something is always coming into bloom. Right now, it’s my vanda orchid, azalea, poinsettias and begonia. The Thanksgiving cactus aren’t for off. January/February will bring the orchids.

One of my poinsettias coming into bloom.

Speaking of orchids – I have over 40. They fill two rooms. They were what got my through some tough times, working at home fulltime (isolation) and separation from family. Now, I work long weeks away from home. Orchids are hard to keep up with . . . There are too many. And, my environment is nothing like their natural habitat.

One of my new orchid pots.

I’ve spent a horrific amount of money the last two months. I converted the orchids back to wood chips (from water), because that doesn’t require as much work. But, I needed several new orchid pots.

Red bromeliad – a mail order neo from Florida.

Then came the shift to air plants, succulents, and bromeliads. I gave away plants that didn’t fit the new theme. I bought new plants to create my new reality. The house feels a little different, more fun. More creative. My bank account . . . Hmmm.

My new succulent pot with crassela, aloe, miniature sansevieria, and others.

Yesterday, I played with succulent containers. It was my Saturday escape. I got 3 kinds of crassela, a reddish sempervivum, an aloe, a miniature sansevieria, a turquoise one with teardrop leaves – need ID. I used an outdoor pot whose plant had died.

Fountain converted into home for succulents and an air plant. I want to paint the frog green.

I added a couple of new succulents to the two converted fountains that I started using for succulents.

My Toki Dokie bird fountain converted to a succulent garden.

I felt pretty awful yesterday. Mostly tired, I just wanted to sleep. But, despite wondering what I was doing shopping for succulents when I felt so poorly, it turned my energy around.

Air plants hang from baskets in my kitchen window.

Creativity is a strength. It’s my top one. I have an appreciation of nature/beauty strength and curiosity in my top 5 strengths. Bringing those out really helped.

My new red desert rose plant.

I’m way over budget and out of light for more plants. I need to find other outlets for these strengths. I’ve thought of painting succulents. I love painting daylilies. Still, my art cove feels a little isolated. I’ll figure something out between winter watering my daylilies. In the mean time, I’ll live with my SAD: succulent addictive disorder.

PS, I’m considering at Etsy sales page once I have enough cuttings.

The Last of August

September 1, 2019September 1, 2019Leave a comment

I’m sitting in my tent, dosed in natural melatonin. There is cool air . . . It feels nice. Desert camping was hot all but about 2 hours a night. It will get down to 50 or so tonight. Good sleeping weather.

Purple Grasshopper 8.31

This shift also means only 3 blooms today. Honestly, it is a little bit nice to not have a million photos to take. But, I already miss the excitement of checking the garden for Premieres.

Frans Hals 8.31

Today brought travel to the 4-corners region. If you know Colorado, you know that means a drive over the San Juan Mountains. 10 k feet above sea level.

Ruby Stella 8.31

The largest city in the area is Durango and I wanted to see if their nursery had any nice succulents or air plants. The best route is over Red Mountain pass, which is high, curvy and no guard rail. I got vertigo and was sick for 2 days last time I drove it, so I take the longer route now. Adds an hour but oh well. I use to drive Red Mountain in chains in a blizzard at night. Those days are gone.

Animas River 8.31

So, I ended up with 2 bromeliads – one in bloom and one with 2 pups. I also got a small red desert rose (succulent) and another cool succulent. I was thinking of what I read about not having too much variety. The bromeliads are the same family as air plants so they bring familiar features.

My new baby red Desert Rose 8.31

I want air plants and succulents/cactus to be my core plants. The other major groups I’ll keep are orchids, begonias, poinsettias, amaryllis, calathea, African violets. I have a few others, but I’m giving a lot of miscellaneous plants away. Since you can decorate most plants with air plants, that should help blend things in together.

My white Desert Rose in bloom – taken a few days ago.

I have my new plantlets in the hatch covered by a blanket. The bromeliads are far from their natural habitat. The succulents won’t care. No clue what I’m doing tomorrow. It’s a nice problem to have.

Stay of Execution

August 28, 2019August 28, 2019Leave a comment

So, my day job is busy, although the buzz of the term is settling down some. My evening job this week is tweaking the new drip system. Last night, it was staples and stakes. Tonight, I tried sprayer heads on a couple of the larger pots that were hogging water. I think the little sprayers will work better without a much water waste.

I can’t believe I still have 7 in bloom today. But, the buds become rare and every day I say goodbye to at least one cultivator for another year.

Purple Corn Dancer is in 2 locations and so she has most of her buds left in location #2.

Purple Corn Dancer 8.27

Frans Hals has maybe 10 buds left – +/-

Frans Hals 8.27

Purple Grasshopper and Ruby Stella have a handful of buds left.

Purple Grasshopper 8.27

I think both Navajo Curls and Cripple Creek have a bud or two left.

Navajo Curls 8.27

Purple Thunderbird maybe has one bud left (max).

And, then it ends. Except that I found one of my Lowe’s Stella hybrid rebloomers with a new scape. It only has a few buds, but it is still 90 degrees. So, my hope is that the new drip system might give me a few more reblooms. My stay of execution.

Ruby Stella 8.27

My poinsettias seem to be perking up – but it is not a good year for them. I need to start forcing the big ones so they can all cycle through the bloom closet.

El Desperado 8.27

I’m camping this weekend and maybe looking for succulents down in SW Colorado. Oh, and I mail ordered my first air plants. They should be here tomorrow. I was reading that too many varieties of plant detracts from all of them. I honestly am OK with having less and getting more air plants and succulents. All my super market specials make the place look cluttered . . . we will see. The long and boring winter is less than 4 months away. My stay of execution is only temporary.

Drip, Drip, Drip

August 26, 2019August 26, 2019Leave a comment

The weekend draws to a close and my to-do list for yard stuff didn’t get as short as I hoped. I haven’t done 8-5 x 5 days a week (away from home) in nearly 20 years. I feel it every day.

Cripple Creek 8.25

I spent the morning watching orchids and (other than a haircut and a grocery run) spent the afternoon finishing up the new drip system for the front garden.

Purple Grasshopper 8.25

It works, although I had to crank the pressure up. And the drip tube doesn’t fit very tightly on the timer, so it drips. It’s not auto, though, so I can set it for an hour or two, then shut the valve off. But, it could drip for a bit and be ok.

Purple Corn Dancer 8/25

I think that’s why the poinsettias stopped growing. I watered a lot more last year when I was home. The sprinklers just don’t get deep enough. Hoping for a growth spurt before freeze. We have maybe a month.

Frans Hals 8.25

My knees hurt from being on the pavement so much. And, I don’t want to get as exhausted as last week.

Ruby Stella 8.25

I teach Pharmacology at 8 AM. I guess it’s drip, drip, drip with students, too.

Momma’s Bouquet

August 25, 2019Leave a comment

My mom would be 102 years old this day. That makes me sound older than I am. Mom waited to have kids. It is also the anniversary of the job offer for my current job. This job is a great match for my strengths, but not for my senior energy. I am likely too liberal minded to be an early morning person – my coworkers do much better. Yes, circadian rhythm does relate to our liberal vs conservative brain. I am middle-of-the-road, slightly liberal. And, yea, political views are only one small part of how this part of our brain impacts our work. Liberals do better starting and ending their days later than conservatives.

Frans Hals 8.24

At any rate, I didn’t celebrate today – other than a few more air plants. My yard looks neglected. I worked all summer and camped every other weekend. I have been keeping up with daylily photos (sort of), but not much else.

Purple Corn Dancer 8.24

Today’s chore was installing a drip system in the front garden. Daylilies, squash, poinsettias – they get too dry. When I worked from home, I could run out and water. Don’t get me wrong – I am glad to be less isolated. But, my yard suffers especially when summer isn’t a pause.

Carlotta 8.24

I went to the nursery for a plant for a coworker – a surprise. I grabbed a couple of air plants – my new addiction. I like them because they are small and less needy than my orchids. I was into water culture orchids – but with not being home, it is hard to keep up with all the water changes. The air plants are small – and I plan to get more into succulents as my current plants thin.

Purple Thunderbird 8.24

So, the coleus were half price – I have some in with my daylilies that are on the side of the driveway but not in all the pots. So, I grabbed 3 of those. They are actually nice companion plants for daylilies. I got some fall colors. Then, of course, I have to decide if I bring them in when it gets cold. Probably – one big pot. I can take cuttings and replant outside next spring. Sure . . . if I have time.

Navajo Curls 8.24

Putting in the drip system meant giving the daylilies a haircut. I cut a lot of stuff back – like those blue bells. I have about 27 drippers in and 17 to go. For now, I need to this sleep, precious sleep. Goodnight, momma. I lost you too young and miss you every day.

Purple Grasshopper 8.24

Oh, BTW – I tried the block editor for WordPress on Internet Explorer – It was awful! A few more days of testing S mode before I likely go to regular Windows 10.

Ruby Stella 8.24

One last note – the featured photo is from earlier this year. Catherine Irene – the same name as my mom.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Category: poinsettia

Drip, Drip, Drip

Rode Hard and Put Away Wet

A Word About Mother’s Day

A Thanksgiving Cactus By Any Other Name Would Bloom as Bright

Poinsettias in the Bloom Closet!

SAD: Succulent Addictive Disorder

The Last of August

Stay of Execution

Drip, Drip, Drip

Momma’s Bouquet