I love that old movie Groundhogs Day. “Babe, I got you, babe.” Every day, he wakes up to the same day.
It feels that way in my daylily garden this year. The same 8 cultivators. Some daily, some intermittently. The buds grow larger and leak their color. But, for now it’s “I got you babe.” Until all hell breaks loose.
No new daylilies in bloom today. What IS new is that I’m now officially retired. But, that’s not why all hell is going to break loose. Well, maybe.
I have ~185 daylilies. I have 8 that are currently in bloom. About 5%. I have ~140 with scapes or in bloom – about 75%. That’s the hell that’s about to break loose. One day, I’ll wake up to 50 in bloom or something.
I’ll show off the 3 Ned Roberts spiders that were in bloom, again, today.
I’ll also show off my gorgeous prickly pear bloom and my cool bromeliad bloom. My broms live on the front porch all summer, so they are part of my outdoor garden.
I wonder if all hell will break loose tomorrow?
Indian Giver was a bonus plant I got probably 6 years ago. It had water issues the first couple of years, both loves being in a buried pot. It was a delight when it finally bloomed. I love the purple with white edges. I wouldn’t call it a mini, but it’s a smaller bloom. She had her premiere bloom today.
My other premier bloom was Happy Returns. She is a yellow, fragile Stella de Oro type daylily.
Indian Giver is an old expression for one party thinking they are being given a gift, while the other party thinks it’s a trade. When the second party realizes it isn’t a trade, they take back the “gift.” We would call it scamming these days.
Happy Returns means to wish someone a good day or happy birthday. It’s an expression of hope that the joy will return many times.
The paradox is in the meanings of the names. One is an expression of anger and discontent. The other of goodwill and optimism. It hit me as funny as I posted these to Instagram this morning. Purple and yellow are also opposite colors. I smile at nature’s hidden message.
The monsoons should return tomorrow. We will see.
Kokopelli is one of the most intriguing and widespread images surviving from ancient Anasazi Indian culture. He is depicted as a humpbacked flute player, and is widely believed to bring well-being to the people. He was the one who would change the seasons and bring about a good harvest. Allie Prater
Kokopelli came today, bringing with him the change of seasons. Kokopelli, my Ned Roberts spider daylily that is. This cultivator is my gateway to my collection of Neds. Spied at the lily auction back when I was first considering a Southwestern Visions garden.
My other premier today is Apache Bandana. Another Ned Roberts spider.
I have 120+ in bloom or scapes. Two days left until retirement starts and 20% cell battery. See you tomorrow. My others are still blooming, BTW.
Jaundiced trumpets always start the daylily show. Screaming yellow jaundiced trumpets. It’s like a bad day in the newborn nursery, a little bit. And, since my last post, It has been pretty much the same two showing up to blow their hepatic little horns every day. Um, I don’t think bili lights are going to help them turn pink, orange, red, or purple. The warmth of the sunshine, however, is beginning to bring a bigger rainbow of color to my daylily garden. (Did I mention that I’m a nurse-midwife)
So, today my first Ned Roberts spider opened her eyes. Dream Keeper. Definitely not a jaundiced (yellow) trumpet. I love my Neds. My Southwest Road Trip Garden is moving slowly – only 20 scapes for 70+ cultivators so far. It’s that window where it could be the cold, dry, windy spring is just delaying the scapes or it eliminated them altogether. My other gardens have a higher percentage of scapes (unusual timing) but also get more water, so IDK yet.
Anyway, I mentioned I wanted to highlight a few of my non-daylily flowers this summer. So, here we go. Definitely, not all jaundiced trumpets.
There are a zillion daylily gardens that are larger than my little half lot. What makes my garden a little unique (other than my collection of Roberts spiders) is the Southwestern native plants.
I absolutely adore my daylily-yucca combination photos. Mama Cuna is one of my favorite because of her huge blooms size and purple-red color. It’s a stunning mix with the green-aqua banana yucca leaves.
So, this photo of Mama Cuna caught my eye for a painting. This is an 8×8 inch wood panel with lively acrylic paint. The rock bed background is always a fun challenge. And, those cool curly cue yucca spines.
I’ll be listing both the painting and photo prints to my Etsy store tomorrow 11/3/21. Perfect Christmas present for a daylily lover! Www.etsy.com/shop/ArtfromtheHartt
Now, for the rocks and yucca spines.
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.
Colorado Kid Daylilies 