Hi guys, sorry I’ve been so quiet the last few weeks. Semi-retirement is crazy so far. Started a business and running 2 programs for my part-time day job.
My Etsy Store is hopping. And, I’ve gotten lots of artwork done. I’m going to share some of my work below just to brighten your day. If you see something you like, please visit my Etsy store!
More coming soon!
I have exciting news! My Etsy Store is up and running. And, I am having a Fall Daylily Sale. I actually divided several of my Ned Roberts spiders. I have the following listed on Etsy for sale (link to my shop click here):
Comanche Princess
Desert Icicle
Dream Catcher
Moon Over Chimayo
Star over Milagro
Winds of Love
So, what have I been up to the last month? Starting my business on Etsy and working in nursing academic leadership 3 days a week. Some year, I am going to blog every day in August! I have Purple Grasshopper still in bloom – she was one of the first and will be the last. It is like she is on steroids this year.
Anyway, please visit my Etsy Shop for photos and more info on the daylily sale. It only goes until 9.11 due to the fact the freeze will get here in October. If the daylily you are interested doesn’t have a listing, please email me at cathy.hartt55@gmail.com to see if I have it available. Growing in fairly small pots means I usually only get 2-4 extra fans when I divide.
I will be back with my end of month list of bloomers for August in a couple days. See you then!
I’m back, but only to catch up on finales since Sunday. Once school starts next week, it seems like the daylilies fade in my mind a little. But, this year I am semi-retired so hoping to stay a bit engaged. Last year, I did that huge 70+ buried pot repotting. That was 4 weekends of work and nearly ran into freeze. So, I suppose you could call that engaged.
This year’s project is to re-organize some of my less favorite/poor bloomers with some new cultivators. I just purchased Singing in the Sunshine, Irish Handshake, Ghost Ranch (more fans because I only have one), Off to See the Wizard, Memories of Oz, Sea Panther, Ruby Slippers, Blue Flirt, Wildwood Flower (mine died a couple years ago), and (maybe) another fan of Coyote Laughs (I am not sure the one I have is actually Coyote Laughs). That is 9 or 10 more, but I will be selling some of mine that I am eliminating. I also may do a big pot of leftovers – I have one that does great! I am amazed because it is soooo crowded.
I have several with only a few (if that) buds left. I think the closing daylilies this year will be Purple Corn Dancer, Navajo Curls, Purple Thunderbird and Adios Albuquerque. Will they last until September? Will there be an August surprise scape on a non-bloomer?
Today is Colorado Day! My home state is 145 years old today! I remember when it was 100 and I was 21, but we won’t go there.
Today, before my one premier, I want to talk about my CO namesake daylilies. I am going to start with Cripple Creek, because she was in bloom today.
That’s a nice batch of daylilies to celebrate Colorado’s 145th BD.
Now, on to our (likely) next to last premier. I only have Adios Albuquerque left unless we get an August Surprise. I love Navajo Curls. She looks like melting butter to me. An awesome late bloomer with a ton of buds.
I’m blogged out for the moment but I will be back after a short break – later this week. Despite having over 2 dozen in bloom today, we have a lot of finales brewing.
Here is part 1 of this blog post These posts include all daylilies that were in bloom in July in my yard. Please see first post for more details.
No U, No V – I need to fix that with some new flowers 🙂
No X, either!
That is all for July, folks. Look for our Colorado Day (8/1) blooms up next!
The next two posts are a listing of the daylilies that have bloomed ANYTIME during July – even if they started in June. It is a large list but also a colorful one. I believe only 3 of my cultivators were totally done in June – Saratoga Springtime, Scorpio and yellow Stella de Oro.
If you like Ned Roberts cultivators, you have come to the right place because I have about 70 of them, and most (except Navajo Curls and Adios Albuquerque) that are going to bloom the year have bloomed sometime during July.
I went to the rodeo here last night, so I am all practiced-up and ready to go.
Golden Eclipse 7.16-present
July Round-up N-Z – click here for more beautiful July blooms!
Please contact my business – Art and Nature from the Hartt for sales questions/availability.
I don’t remember when I first fell in love with daylilies. I know I have purchased them throughout the years because I liked their colorful blooms. Then, several years ago, I picked them for a xeroscaping project. It seems like that was the tipping point to owning 180 varieties.
I got smarter about gardening. I think the daylily blooms were huge motivators. As I got better with daylilies, I got better with houseplants. I went through a orchid phase. Now, it is largely succulents, bromeliads and begonias.
Back to the daylilies. Fall always made me feel sad because the daylilies went away and it made winter seem more dismal than ever. One day, I decided to learn to paint daylilies so I would never have a day pass at my home without a daylily bloom.
I am a creative and so painting was very engaging for me. I made tiles to hang on my walls so that I see daylilies as soon as I open my eyes. I gave everyone daylily coasters for Christmas several years. I broadened to some more scenic paintings. I did a few oils of the Southwest that turned out well enough to hang or give away. I painted stepping stones for my garden. The list goes on. Painting kept me connected with nature during the winter months.
I am a nurse and nurse-midwife by background. My career has been meaningful – I have helped pioneer and/or transition many health-related programs and I still work part time as faculty and leadership at a small college. However, due to multiple unforeseen issues, I decided to semi-retire this summer.
Am I ready to quit working full-time? Heck no. Am I ready to work for myself doing things that I love and find engaging? Absolutely!
I have had a Facebook page for almost 10 years called “Art from the Hartt” because I had a dream of selling my art. It never moved beyond the Facebook page because work took too much of my time. It is time to live the dream!
I have a background in human wellbeing and resilience. I want to focus my business on creating art (and selling plants) that create positive emotion. I have read that having a flower in the room you are in raises your happiness score! So, that is the vision of my business – making the world more resilient through art and nature.
I have a separate page/blog about my business at Art and Nature From the Hartt (click link). You can also find the business on Facebook (click link for page). I wanted to take a moment to talk about it here so people were aware that I do sell daylily paintings and other nature and Southwest related paintings. I also will be selling daylilies, so if you are ever interested in purchasing one of the daylilies you see on my blog, you can contact me at cathy.hartt55@gmail.com. I will know more about what daylilies are available soon. I also offer some types of begonia, bromeliad, and succulent. I will be launching an Etsy store as soon as I have a bit more inventory.
Before I go, I want to introduce you to my garden helpers. I have three rescue dogs, Kachina, Sazi and Moki. Soksabai, my cat, also follows me to the daylily garden every morning when I do my photos.
Please contact me at the email above if you have any questions. I can do many special or personalized requests. If you love daylilies/plants and/or the Southwest – you are in the right place. I am located in Montrose, CO.
What type of art or plant raises your sense of wellbeing???
I’m a nurse and I have worked the last shift – in the old days that was 11 PM to 7 AM, although most places have gone to 12s, so it is 7 P to 7 A. When you show up for the last shift, there is still a lot that can happen. It is far from over. However, it tends to be quieter with administration and many of the departments (and physicians) asleep at home unless called. As a midwife, I generally preferred last shift births because it was less hectic.
I would say the same for daylilies – their cycle is more like the 8 hour day, but the first shift is slower than in nursing. These are the early bloomers, often yellow trumpets plus a few brave early bloomers. The second shift is crazy, especially this year. Many of the first shift stayed late and a few of the last shift showed up early. Hectic, yes. Now, it is clearly the late shift – time to gear down and savor the last few weeks of the season.
I am going to focus on premiers since 7.18, since I was on a camping road trip last week. I have had numerous finales during that time . . . too many. I plan to do a month wrap-up post at the end of the month with all the July bloomers and their bloom date range. It will take hours to put together.
Premiers (with date of premier bloom if known)
I now count 151 +/- cultivators that have bloomed this year. I have 3 more premiers (with scapes) coming. Occasionally, someone will through a brand new (not re-bloom) scape in August. One time, Santa’s Pants threw one in October. But, we can count on 154 +/- for the season. That puts us at about 86% bloom rate – one of our highest years. I need to look back.
From here on, the focus will be finales. There are lots so maybe I’ll just wait until the end of the month and tie it up there. IDK.
The peak is easing, somewhat rapidly. I only had 40+ today, yesterday was 50+, and the day before 60+. And, so the tide recedes for another season. Not that it is over . . . anything but. However, I can keep up with this pace and it will continue to decline while I am away for a few days. I will only miss 4 days of photos.
I can slow my pace just a bit and savor the duos, trios and quartets of blooms. Daylilies don’t clump with a zillion blooms at once much in the desert. So, it is fun to focus on seeing the small gatherings.
One premier today!
Finales:
What are we waiting for – Zuni Thunderbird, Purple Thunderbird, Desert Icicle, Adios Albuquerque, Glen Eyrie, Cripple Creek, Navajo Curls, Skinwalker, Purple Corn Dancer, Royal Palace Prince, Heirloom Heaven, Dr Doom and Pizza Crust all have scapes now but have not bloomed. I could get some other later scapes, too. That is still a lot to look forward to when I return from New Mexico (or tomorrow).
So far, I have had 140 +/- cultivators bloom and it looks like at least 13 more – so mid-150s/180 puts us at mid 80s bloom rate. Much better than last year. I am looking at moving some new, more reliable bloomers in to replace those that bloom only occasionally and aren’t favorites. I love the smell of new daylily roots! Eventually, they will sing duos, trios, and quartets in my yard.
Perhaps it is a bit premature to start my “between the seasons” chores. However, the best time to update my garden map was with several of the cultivators in bloom. It is funny what I forget when they aren’t blooming and look like a cross between grass and a spider plant. So, I printed off the old map and thought it would be a few adjustments. However, the garden grew and changed over the years and the numbering system was confusing – so I started from scratch.
Garden maps are great, though. You know what you have and what you don’t have. You know approximately where your cultivators are – so when that bloom you don’t remember pops up, you can figure out what it is (esp if you lost the label.
Anyway, back to the blooms – I had 3 very different premiers today.
Finales included a lot of big yellow-white flowers today. Sad to see them go.
Only about 36 hours until I head for New Mexico for a few days – to see a Truchas sunrise and visit Ghost Ranch – Oh, and drive the Enchanted Circle in the land of enchantment.
Colorado Kid Daylilies 