It is a drought in the high desert this year. Every day it seems I get a fire weather warning from Montrose County. It’s been consistently in the high 80s to mid 90s with very low (single digit) humidity. And, the daylilies are blooming, anyway. They bloom in their little pots that keep the desert tree roots out and the moisture in. They bloom in the middle of my rock easement on the alkaline, hard, clay soil. They bloom in the high UV until they melt into translucent shadows of themselves.
This is not the land where daylilies flourish in huge patches that can be divided and sold or shared at any volume. It’s the land of the Colorado Plateau with Arches, Monument Valley, Zion, Canyonlands and Horseshoe Bend. It’s the land where they film western movies. How many daylilies have you ever seen in a John Wayne movie?
So, it’s late and I don’t have a lot of time to blog. But, I don’t want to get behind. In the last week – here are the new faces (premier blooms for this year’s cycle) in my hot, dry desert garden:
That’s 18 in a week! Peak may come early because of the drought. It feels like it went from 0 to 60 in a New York Minute. Can’t wait to see what happens next week. Hope I can stay caught up!
I never adapted to Daylight Savings Time this year. It’s been a variety of factors – my own circadian rhythm, an evening Etsy revamp, new routines, etc. But, I need to start springing ahead – or is that summering ahead? Why? Because the daylilies are blooming at increasing rates this week. And, daylily season is like an online class – don’t get behind or you never catch up.
My season started with Saratoga Springtime on 5.23: the same day I started selling my art from home-based events. The same day I started a new injection (Tymlos) for my osteoporosis. (Gardening builds bone) The week after oral surgery. Two days before my first camping trip. And it the midst of the chaos, daylily season quietly started with a windblown bloom from my early bird cultivator.
Saratoga Springtime
On 5.31, Dream Keeper started blooming. My first Ned Roberts cultivator to join the 2026 bloom cycle. On 6.5.26 she threw a polymerous bloom with extra petals. This may have happened in response to our drought and low humidity – a sort of stress reaction. It is super pretty, though.
Dream Keeper
The third one to join the season was my simple yellow Stella. Her first bloom was on 6.2.26.
Stella de Oro
It felt like a lul. Like I could ignor the daylilies while I reorganized my business. Ha ha – the daylilies aren’t waiting. This week, amidst 3 on-ground events for my business, the blooms started coming. First, on 6/12, Return A Smile returned along with The Potter’s Touch. A day later, Ruby spider joined the small crowd – on the day of my 5th on-ground sale.
Today, I thought I would have a breather after the business event – but no dice. I spied with my little eye more action in my Southwest Garden daylily bed more cultivators. Canyon Colors was visible as I walked towards the garden with her rounded bloom shape and soft sandstone colors. As I drew closer, I noticed Land of Enchantment dancing in front of my banana yucca. I stepped into the wire garden fence in the easement to capture their photos when I noticed the first Comanche Princess in bloom.
Canyon ColorsLand of EnchantmentComanche Princess
And, I said, “That’s it!. It’s daylily savings time, again!”
Balancing a summer on-ground business with daylilies, hiking, camping, and everything else “summer” is kind of crazy, but I am committed to keeping the blog going this summer. IDK if I’ll post weekly or twice a week – I am keeping it a little soft until I see how things unfold.
As far as my business, it started as a hobby, painting daylilies on tiles to make coasters. The first years, I painted daylilies on ornaments and pots. But, as time went on, the focus shifted to my acrylic pour and cement projects – including adorable garden gnomes. This summer, I am going back to the daylily tiles as soon as I find time to sit and paint in a quiet, uninterrupted setting for a few hours.
I will be combining my acrylic pour backgrounds with daylilies painted in the foregrounds. The backgrounds with feature high desert colors – like sandstone and sage. And, the cultivators I will be painting will feature my daylilies with Southwest names. Ones like Dream Keeper, Canyon Colors, Land of Enchantment, and Comanche Princess.
I still have some cool daylily pots for sale (not for daylilies, but for houseplants and succulents). I will attach a few photos with listing links for those interested. These are terra cotta pots painted in a base of chalk paint. Then I add my stunning daylily painting over the chalk so it pops! So much fun.
6″ Ruby Spider Pot 4.5″ Cripple Creek Pot Mini 2.5″ Daylily Pots
Happy Birthday, Colorado!!!! I was hoping to post a blog with all my remaining cultivator’s first blooms of the season for July today. Guess what? Out of time because we are going to the concert in the park tonight. So, I will post the two new ones from today.
Two Ned Roberts spiders – Spirit of the Morning and Desert Icicle. I adore Spirit of the Morning – and she fades by noon, too. One of my most colorful late bloomers! And, Desert Icicle was a gift plant when I first put in the Southwest Road Trip garden. A great late season bloomer.
Spirit of the MorningDesert Icicle
Enjoy! I will be back soon with the remaining July blooms.
Droughts and wildfires go together, daylilies not so much. The smoke has cleared (mostly) from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison South Rim Fire (<10 miles away), and they have the fire 15% contained. My last blog post talks more about the fire. Some rain has fallen on my garden since the last post, too. The drought continues, though. Keep reading to enjoy my daylilies from the past week!
I am surprised my daylilies have done as well as they have this year with the heat and drought. I have somewhere around 190 cultivators. I badly need to do inventory, maps, and labels this year. I love the Flower daylily software, but I struggle to keep it updated. I seem to lose a lot of the newer ones from other climates over the first winter/spring – but I am not even sure what I have lost until I do inventory because some lost tags.
Black Canyon South Rim Fire – Watch Duty from today. About 15% contained.
Honestly, though, I am limited by time and water. I may replace some cultivators if I lose them, but I won’t be adding many more to my total. I’m at capacity. I am growing ditch lilies in the desert drought. I love daylilies, and they are survivors! My time goes into keeping those I have alive and healthy. And, my money goes into city water. I can’t imagine trying to hybridize or sell in my situation.
New Blooms and Current Bloom Rate
I have had a total of 139 cultivators bloom this season (out of around 190). That is a 73% bloom rate. Last year, we only got to the mid-sixties, so I am thrilled. And, the season isn’t over. In the high desert, 80% is a huge win. I need to fertilize, but without the monsoon moisture and cooler temps, I am waiting until next month. With daylilies in pots, I find applying liquid fertilizer improves bloom rate for the following year because the plant is more resilient.
Here are my “first bloom for 2025” cultivators since my last post:
The bloom peak is now over the top and past the plateau. However, I still have 30-40 cultivators in bloom daily, with 2-3 new ones most days. My beloved Ned Roberts’ southwest names spiders are just now peaking! Life gets extremely busy during daylily season, especially with my business and volunteer work.
Which is your favorite daylily from this post? For me, Zuni Thunderbird has always been a favorite! This computer is even named Zuni Thunderbird after the daylily.
The South Rim Fire, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
I want to start by saying a few words about the drought that has been growing in Western Colorado all season. Yesterday, in the early hours of the morning, a “dry lightning” storm came through and set off multiple fires in our region. This is like striking a match to dry kindling.
7.10 Colorado Drought Monitor
Now, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is evacuated because of an active fire on the South Rim – about 15 miles away on the road – maybe 10 miles as the crow flies. The smoke and air quality are bad. The South Rim Fire is one of three very active fires in my county – the others are the Sow Belly Fire and the Deer Creek Fire. I can hear the aircraft humming almost constantly from my garden, about 2 miles from our airport.
Watch Duty screen shot 7.11.24 Montrose County, CO
So many daylily farmers live in places that get regular rain. Here, the daylilies often get their only water from my City water hose. But, beyond the daylilies, please keep our firefighters in your thoughts as they battle these blazes in 90+ degree weather and single-digit humidity.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park photo (credit Facebook) 7.11.25
Garden Update: First Blooms for 2025 Since July 4th
I’ve had a lot of bloomers since I last posted on July 4th. It’s hot now, too uncomfortable to garden. And, now there is smoke. But, I still manage to get out everyday for my photos and a jog around the neighborhood.
I hit peak bloom 2 days ago, with 60+ in bloom that day. As of today, I have had 113 total cultivators in bloom this season for a bloom rate of 60%. I am hoping to make it to 80% this season. If I keep all the current buds and add a few more, I’ll be OK. Bud blast happens in these conditions, thought. I need 39 more!
I continue with my community volunteer work. I feel that is my priority this summer, but I miss my more frequent and in-depth posts about daylily gardening. Fortunately, it has been a better bloom year than I expected with the drought. And, I am getting a couple of hours on my porch editing my photos every day. It is a joyful escape (even in the heat) from today’s politics. I am grateful for my daily daylily escape!
July is here, and with it comes peak season. I don’t think we are quite to peak yet, but it is approaching quickly. My day starts with photographing each daylily in bloom. Then I feed dogs, irrigate, jog for an hour. When I return, I sit on the front porch and edit the photos. Then, I put them in folders online and post to my personal Facebook page. By then, it’s 2 PM and time for breakfast!
I have had a bunch of new ones since my last post. I will put them in a gallery below. I’ve had 50 new ones since my last post last week!!!
I have had 73 cultivators bloom so far this season out of approximately 190. I lost some last winter. I really need to update my inventory in the software program. Based on those numbers, my bloom rate is about 38% currently. My hope is for 80% this season.
Today, the rain came. Finally! I am hoping for a good monsoon season. We need it. The drought lingers and is growing to the north. So many wildfires out west. I’m surprised that my daylilies are as happy as they are all things considered.
I adore daylily season. But it is always a lot of work that takes a chunk of the day with the photography. However, at this elevation, heat and humidity, the blooms don’t last long. Somedays, they are pretty faded by noon. They look like melted wax to me.
It’s a very different summer with my civic volunteer work. I adore my mornings on the porch editing daylily photos. Finding balance is hard in a “drought of time.”
Catcha next week. I hope your 4th of July garden brings you joy. Sometimes, we are best to focus on the small things right before our eyes and feel gratitude.
It’s gotten hot, and my yard is exploding with many daylilies. Peak season is still a couple of weeks away, and I have about 130 cultivators with scapes! I lost a couple over the winter, so I need to update my total number one of these days.
All American Chief first bloom 6.22Bluegrass Music first bloom 6.23Burgundy Crab first bloom 6.18Candy Cane Dreams first bloom 6.22Comanche Princess first bloom 6.21NOID Dark Mystery first bloom 6.20Happy Returns first bloom 6.21Hopi Jewell first bloom 6.20Jungle Queen first bloom 6.16Land of Enchantment first bloom 6.23Orchid Moonrise first bloom 6.21Prairie Wildfire first bloom 6.19Primal Scream first bloom 6.23NOID Red Riddle first bloom 6.22Return a Smile first bloom 6.18Ruby Spider first bloom 6.18Stephanie Returns first bloom 6.23The Potter’s Touch first bloom 6.23Wild Horses first bloom 6.16Yellow Punch first bloom 6.22
Wow! That’s 20 more cultivators in bloom since my first post of the year! My very large array is getting larger! Today, I celebrate 3 years retired from 40 years of nursing. Quite a retirement anniversary bouquet.
I will say that some of my buds opened funny today – Stephanie Returns and Bluegrass Music both look like they wanted to sleep in. We have had days of fire weather with highs in the 90s, wind speeds 35+ MPH, and humidity under 15% (often single digits). And, we are still in extreme drought here (although no water restrictions yet). I think the buds get dried out! I will also say that the super ruffled blooms just don’t open right in such low humidity. I stay away from super ruffles now.
My community work consumes me. I don’t feel as retired as I did last year. I have always made time for the daylily blog. This year, I feel what I am doing is time-sensitive, and I need to balance my time with that in mind. I am not doing daily Instagram posts this year. I think I will update my latest blooms and gardening tips here about once a week.
Tip for today: Deserts don’t have ruffles! They have ridges.
Which of my blooms from this blog is your favorite?
The weather has turned from spring to summer since my last post a couple weeks ago! It is in the mid to upper 90s this week. The scapes are sprouting fast and furious. I have around 100 cultivators with scapes now. I’m never sure how the daylilies will respond to drought, but I am optimistic that my bloom rate will be decent. My water bill, not so much! (I am city water dependent. It’s not cheap because we don’t get much help from Mother Nature.)
I have two cultivators that just came into bloom today. Jungle Queen and Wild Horses. Sounds like the title of a good sci-fi novel. I asked AI and got the photo below. I kind of like it. Maybe I need to use some fun AI photos of daylily names in the blog this year!
What AI says Jungle Queen and Wild Horses look like!
Here are the actual blooms. Both of these are cultivators that were early to my collection and neither bloomed last year. Good to see them back.
Jungle QueenWild Horses
My Maylily was Saratoga Springtime. I don’t usually have a Maylily, so worth a mention that the blooms started earlier than usual.
My other early bloomers are Dream Keeper and Stella de Oro. Both are still actively blooming. I always say when Saratoga Springtime gets done, that is when the popcorn starts to pop.
Daylily popcorn!
It’s getting too hot to be outside during the day. Maybe I will have more time to post between camping and community involvement! This year brings new civic priorities but I will do my best to keep you all updated on what is going on in my Western Colorado daylily garden!
My pups, Cimarron, Kachina, and Kokopelli, enjoying camping season at Ridgway, CO last week.
As the daylilies slacken-off, life begins to revert to default mode. I have been busy in the Art from the Hartt studio and at my shop. Plus, my other blogs needed a lot of attention. Not to worry, the daylilies are still blooming.
Adios Albuquerque
Since my last post, I have had first-of-the-season blooms from Adios Albuquerque, Navajo Curls, and Indian Sky. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like I have any other unbloomed scapes. I do see a rebloom scape on Happy Returns, though – so the first of my rebloomers.
Navajo Curls
I want to encourage some rebloomers this year, so I am going to do another fertilizer experiment next week with liquid Bloom fertilizer. I am using an organic liquid because it is still pretty warm and I think it is a little safer in regards to burning the roots. Liquid fertilizer is often recommended for midseason application. I also need to trim up any spent scapes so the plant can focus needed energy on reblooming.
Indian Sky
Rebloomers Matter: My Art Giveaway (ENTER TODAY)!
Ok, folks, I am sweating it because I need rebloomers in order for my Until the Last Daylily Blooms sale to be a success. And – I need readers like you to ENTER THE CONTEST! There is no cost and potentially a $35 coupon to spend in my Etsy shop! I am doing this to help more people know about my Art from the Hartt business.
Art from the Hartt Until The Last Daylily Blooms Giveaway! Enter Today!!!
Here are the details: All you have to do is guess the day that the last daylily will bloom in my yard and email your guess to Cathy@artfromthehartt.com by no later than September first – put “daylily” in the subject line. You need to pick a date that occurs later than September first in order to be entered, so the first date you can pick is September 2nd.
I typically have some blooms throughout September. Last year my last bloom was October 30th. I have had blooms up until Thanksgiving. If I get a very late scape, I may put it in the lean-to at night to protect it from freezing. However, it is rare to get a new scape once the freeze happens. Our date of first freeze is generally around October 1st. Zone 6 Colorado. That’s all the hints that I am giving!
Purple Corn Dancer: One of my favorite late bloomers.
The entry closest to the actual date of the last daylily bloom will win. In the case of a tie, the winning entries will receive a coupon code for $17.50 each. (I do not sell my email list or use it to send spam.)
Last Year’s Last Bloom: Open My Eyes (October 30th.)
One entry per customer. Winner will be notified within a week of the last daylily bloom and will be sent a code to use in my Etsy Shop valid through January 1, 2025.
What If There Are No Rebloomers?
I hope I didn’t jinx myself by running this sale. What if there are no rebloomers? What if the scapes I have now are the last ones of the season? I think the best way to handle this is to give a 20% off coupon to all people who entered the contest if there are no blooms on September 2nd or later. In that case, everyone wins!!! Coupons will expire January 1, 2025 – these will be great to use for Christmas!!!
Purple Thunderbird: Another stunning late bloomer
Come on, Bloom fertilizer, work some magic.
Cool Stuff You Could Win!
Daylily art – of course! Wall art, paintings, signed prints, pots and more.
Pour knobs – colorful hand painted fluid art door knobs (coming soon to Etsy.)
Fall palette hand painted tiles
Hand painted fluid art pumpkins
Stunning pour paint tile and wood pallet clocks
Handmade pots and planters for succulents and houseplants
Daylily and wildflower greeting cards
Yard art and pet memorials!
Visit my shop Art from the Hartt to see the possibilities – you can apply the $35 to any item in my shop!!!!
You have nothing to lose – just drop an email to cathy@artfromthehartt.com with “daylily” in the heading with your guess. Be sure to send in your entry before midnight on September 1st.
Recycled Habitat for Humanity tile turned into a colorful, hand painted coaster.
I am working on fall seasonal decor right now that will be added. For more info on my art – please follow my art process blog at Art from the Hartt.
The Savings Are Happening Now!
Don’t wait for the $35 prize! The shop now has several items at 30% off. This goes up to 35% off in about a week – and I will be throwing in more items! What would you like to see added to the sale items?
I am posting a quick update. Several mid-late bloomers in the past week. I haven’t posted here because of brain fog (no AC), little dogs, other blogs (I have 4 active) and old frogs. I am just going to do a quick post to catch-up.
My 3 Special Needs/Senior Rescues Keep Me Busy!
On 7.24, Ghost Ranch bloomed with the first decent sized blooms ever in my yard. I replaced the first plant a couple years ago because it died. I also had a NOID Red Spider that may be another Skinwalker or Winds of Love, but doesn’t perfectly match either. It was suppose to be Coyote Laughs, but it clearly isn’t. I also had reliable El Desperado.
It’s an interesting year – I am still in the low 20s every day. My highest day was in the 30s or low 40s – nothing like 60-70. It has been a slow, steady season.
I am going to go to weekly with this blog now that the season is slowing. I will continue to blog until the last daylily blooms, but frequency will decrease as the yard slows. I need to get back to life!
And, a quick reminder about my Until the Last Daylily Blooms Etsy sale! I use my earnings to help support my rescue dogs, so I appreciate readers who take the time to visit my shop. Thank you!
Colorado Kid Daylilies 