More Spiders in My Bed

July 19, 2022Leave a comment

Spider daylilies in my flower bed, that is.

I had 3 new Roberts spiders today. That makes 45 Cultivators from Ned Roberts so far.

Dream Keeper was one of my first 3 Roberts spiders when I started the Southwest Visions garden 6 years ago. Love the whispy shape and colors.

Mama Cuna reminds me of the painting I did last fall. She is planted right next to my huge banana yucca and looks like a weird bloom from the succulent. Mama Cuna is a signal that the season is moving on. She is mid-late.

Santa Fe Christmas was my favorite today for some reason. The colors are shape are unique and caught my eye. Not many buds this year, so savor every one of them.

Also, little Tiger Kitten (funny, I sell begonias with that name) opened one of its few buds for the first time today.

134 have bloomed so far. So, bloom rate in the 70s with lots left to go. Purple Corn Dancer is starting to put out scapes. She is always the last one.

The Firebird Returns

July 18, 20221 Comment

Aztec Firebird, that is. This was one of the first Ned Roberts spiders in my collection. Somehow, I found Kokopelli on the lily auction. I wanted a Southwestern named daylily garden so I had to have it. It was a little competitive but I wanted it!

I was new as a daylily collector back then and didn’t know much about how online growers worked. But, I quickly figured out enough to add Aztec Firebird and Dream Catcher to my pilot garden. It worked great having them out with the yucca as long as I watered enough.

I started upscaling. I enlarged the garden and planted a lot of daylilies the next couple years. Only 12 bloomed the first year. Ugh. A few died. I put tons of topsoil but when I dug one up to see what was happening, it was embedded in our adobe dirt that apparently swallowed the top soil like quick sand.

The other thing I found was tree roots crowding out the daylilies. This is the desert and they were hungry for the water I was applying daily. Eventually, I potted and buried all 70+ or them. I broke my rib pulling back on tree roots. The nursery pots didn’t do enough to keep tree roots out. So, I went to nicer pots and placed weed guard under each. And, this year, the bloom rate I believe will be the best ever. Welcome back, Firebird.

Here are today’s other premiers:

Adapting the desert to a daylily patch is a labor that love.

The Summit is Just the Halfway Point

July 17, 2022Leave a comment

The thought that half or more of my scapes are still unbloomed is staggering. Especially days when there are a dozen premiers in one day. And, I’ve ordered 3 new daylilies plus replacements for 2 of mine that died last winter. It’s like raising the altitude of Everest a thousand feet when you are struggling to reach the summit. I’ll need to add on to my drip system.

I had some cool Ned Roberts spiders blooming for the first time today. 73 total in bloom and 67% of all my cultivators have bloomed so far.

Here we go!

We will see what tomorrow brings.

All Hell Broke Loose While I Was Camping

July 16, 2022July 16, 2022Leave a comment

I have no idea where to even start with premiers. I’m buried in catching up with daylily photos. I’ll give it a shot. Thank heaven I post to Facebook every day. Sometimes I do miss things, though.

7.11: Lobo Lucy, Laughing Feather, Happy Hopi, Chokecherry Mountain, Apache Uprising, and Soco Gap

7.14: Ruby Stella, Hesperus, Orange Flurry, Purple Many Faces, Kachina Dancer, Kiva Dancer, Cherokee Star, Papa Long Legs, Western Sandstone, Classy Lady, One of my new OZ daylilies that need labels (I believe).

7.15: Glen Eyrie, Scorpio, Route 66, Fooled Me, Echo Canyon, Twirling Pinata, Medicine Feather, Star Over Milgro, Black Ice, Winds of Love, Nearly Wild, Rosie’s Red, Mildred Mitchell, Fairytale Pink, and Navajo Rodeo

And, whatever I missed. And, my one bud on Lacy Doily bloomed when I was gone. So, if lighting strikes but no one is in earshot, is there thunder? Yes. To the bees and butterflies.

I need a stiff drink before I finish. Lol. That’s 31 new faces since I posted on Sunday. Sometimes, I wish we could flatten the curve of peak a little. Gonna be crazy for a bit.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

July 10, 2022Leave a comment

The last week has been grunge work of stripping Porch Restore off my old cement steps and porch for repainting. You have to pour boiling water on Porch Restore to remove it. It’s grueling work. And, I don’t start until I’m done with the daylilies.

I finally put everything away for the night and was getting ready to walk the dogs when a little rain cell blew in. It brought a full rainbow over my Southwest Visions garden. Nice end to the day.

I had some nice premiers today. Let’s take a peek:

Chief Four Fingers with three fingers-7.9 (Ned Roberts spider #20)

There are lots of Neds left. I think all but 2 or 3 plants in the Southwest Visions garden will bloom. Some have tons of scapes, others only 1 scrawny scape. It’s just slow this year.

We will see what pots of hold at the end of the rainbow bloom tomorrow.

Happiness is Like a Butterfly

July 9, 2022July 9, 2022Leave a comment

The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. Sleep is similar. The header photo is All American Chief and friend 7.8.

Busy day today with 50 new blooms. Here we go:

“Fringe Benefit” mislabeled bonus NOID 7.8

Pink Enchilada 7.8 (Ned Roberts spider #18)

Wild Rose Fandango 7.8 (Ned Roberts spider #19)

I need to go chase butterflies 🦋. We will see what tomorrow hatches.

Colorado Foothills

July 8, 2022Leave a comment

Gradual increases in elevation as we climb to the peak. Today, it felt like the peak was not too much more of a climb. Grab your oxygen, here are the new blooms for today:

Cricket Call 7.7 (Ned Roberts spider #15)

Maya Cha Cha 7.7 (Ned Roberts spider #16)

Rocky Mountain Pals 7.7 (Ned Roberts spider #17)

That’s 9 new, 44 in bloom today, and 70 total that have bloomed this year. That’s a 40% bloom rate and we are headed for around 90%. 70 down, almost 100 to go to reach that goal. Makes me tired but tomorrow, we climb, again. Good thing for our Rocky Mountain Pals.

On With the Show, This is It!

July 4, 2022Leave a comment

As the garden rapidly accelerates to peek, I look around to see my lawn that needs mowing, my hedge that needs clipped. Oh, but the daylilies have been rehearsing for the show for months. How can I ignore them? I need a be 3 people in July.

Bunches of premiere blooms today. Where to start. Two new Ned Roberts spiders, Cheyenne Eyes and Navajo Rodeo.

I divided Cheyenne Eyes last fall and she struggled this spring. She produced 1 shore scape with 2 buds. At least I’ll see a couple of blooms.

Navajo Rodeo has not bloomed in at least a couple of years. Before that, she was reliable. Good to have her back.

The Colorado Kid, our blog namesake bloomed. She is one of my favorite near blues!

Holy Sombrero is a fun, huge yellow bloom. Nice bonus daylily several years ago.

Catherine Irene, same name as my momma, bloomed today.

Lullaby Baby, a sweet pastel color, was another new face.

Strutter’s Ball also showed up to the dance.

If I keep getting 5-7 new ones/day, it will quickly crescendo. A week, maybe. Lol, I’ll be camping. But, only miss 2 full days. On with the show, this is it!

July, She Will Fly and Give No Warning to Her Flight

July 3, 2022Leave a comment

Simon and Garfunkel were spot on. July and daylily season will fly by. Time is different in July. The flowers . . . what will bloom and when will it bloom? Blogs are a way to document the days when daylilies dominate our lives. They fly by too fast to remember without written record.

I had 3 new Ned Roberts spiders today, and 6 total premiere blooms for 2022. I’m still in the 20s for bloom totals each day. Peak is 40-60, so we need premiere to outnumber finales for a bit longer.

The first Roberts spider was sold to me as either Pueblo Dreamer or Pueblo Dancer. It’s never fit either description. It hated life until I put it in a pot with a soak hose. I thought that might be making the bloom weird. But, she is happy now and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s Roberts’ Bark at Me. In my Southwest Visions garden? Well, I always take the dogs on road trips. Woof.

Pink Rain Dance is timely this year in the middle of monsoon season. And, Land of Enchantment takes me to all our trips to New Mexico. Last summer was fun visiting Truchas, Chimayo, and Ghost Ranch.

South Seas is a nice coral color that put in an appearance, but not in the Southwest garden.

Sweet Petite Petticoats opened. I think she is my favorite small all yellow bloom

Canyon Colors is a favorite but struggling a bit. The bloom obviously has bug damage. July has definitely brought the bugs. Always a tough problem in the daylily garden.

Tomorrow, we will see what July holds in store.

Legacy Lily

July 2, 2022Leave a comment

It was the year I was working on my doctorate degree (2015) that The View had the controversy because they complained that a nurse was wearing a “doctor’s stethoscope.” There was an uprising of nurses in what was known as the “show me your stethoscope” response.

So, I was on the AHS Facebook page at that time and suggested someone name a daylily “Nurse’s Stethoscope.) And so they did. (McCutcheon, 2016.) I smile every year when she blooms. And, so today, she did.

My other premiers today were Buttered Popcorn, another giant sized flower, and Hopi Jewel. Such different shapes and colors today.

Here we are month 2 of daylily season and I’ve had 35 cultivators bloom. That’s 20% of my collection. By the end of July, 80% ish will likely bloom. That’s about 112 more than current. We could get there with 3-4 new ones a day. It’s not a bad pace but it will likely accelerate as all hell breaks loose in the garden. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Category: Southwest Name Daylilies