I had 3 new cultivators in bloom for 2023 today: Happy Returns, Indian Love Call, and Ruby Spider. The few blooms get lost in slow-moving garden. Ruby Spider stands out, though.
The Red Blooms are Coming!
Category: spider daylilies
Psychrophilic Daylilies of 2023
It’s been a weird year. Not just the weather, but definitely the weather. Cold, wet spring. It felt like winter until it was summer – then BAM we get into fire weather with high winds and low humidity. I also lost my beloved soul dog, Sazi, in March. I adopted a new special needs senior in April and she had major surgery in May. Oh, and my art/houseplant business, Art from the Hartt, changed locations in May.
So, daylilies have been on the back burner. But, hey, it is July 1, and only 6 cultivators have bloomed so far this season, anyway. Mostly Saratoga Springtime – who bloomed on June 7th and is now finished. I lost almost all of the daylilies that I added last fall plus a couple old timers 😦 I added a few new ones from local nurseries to fill gaps – I am also using coleus as pot savers. I ordered a few new ones for fall, but I think I am out of space to nurture too many more.
I can’t believe it has been nearly 11 months since my last blog. One would think I had 4 other websites and a bunch of social media to run. . . Wait, I do. LOL. Plus, it was past peak when I stopped blogging last year in early August and we are no where near peak today. Anyway, enjoy my list (with pictures) of cultivators that have come through the cold spring and into bloom. I call them psychrophilic.
Look What the Rain Brought With It!
Hey, Guys, I’m super tired after a long day. Want to share my newbies from today.
Spirit of the Morning is a unique cultivator. I absolutely adore her. She earns her name. These blooms are wasted by noon.
Raven Woodsong is a gorgeous near black. It is such a stunning color and form. (That makes 57 Ned Roberts spiders so far this summer).
El Desperado is actually the first daylily I put in the Southwest Visions garden area a few years before I put in the garden. Wasn’t well planned out for irrigation and he moved back closer to the house. Then, I lost him a few years later and immediately replaced him. Definitely, a late bloomer.
Bloom rate headed for high 80s, but the Southwest Visions garden is nearly 100%. Except Truchas Sunrise, Navajo Gray Hills, the other 70 something have bloomed or have scapes.
Stay Tuned For The Late Show
I can’t believe I haven’t blogged in 4-5 days. I’m revamping my old porch that’s 80 years old with a 50 year old extention. And, part of it was DIY to begin with. It’s been an adventure.
Meanwhile, the daylilies keep blooming. I’m even starting to get late bloomers. My daily count has dropped from 70 to 40. It’s slowing down but definitely not done.
7.21 saw Golden Eclipse, Shape Shifter, and Purple Grasshopper. All Ned Roberts spiders.
7.22 saw Zuni Eye, Coyote Laughs (which I think is a different Roberts spider but was sold to me as CL), Pizza Crust and Memories of OZ.
7.23 saw Dancing Maiden. My 55th Ned Roberts spider. I have 8 more with unbloomed scapes. Still hoping Navajo Gray Hills will throw a scape.
And, today, two bloomers that signal that the season is winding down: Royal Palace Prince and Heirloom Heaven.
I’m still working on the porch but hopefully done in a couple of days. I had no idea what I was getting into.
The Heat is On
It’s just too hot to enjoy my harden after 11 AM. And my daylilys often look like melted wax by then, anyway. What happened to our cooling monsoons?
The flow of new daylilies begins to drop. It won’t be long until I’m counting non-blooming pots instead of blooms. I think I only have 4 left to bloom in front (unless I get a late scape). I have one on the porch and several in the Southwest Visions garden. It’s like late afternoon on Christmas Day when you realize that the day won’t last forever but there is still dessert to eat.
So, my premiers for yesterday and today included three Ned Roberts spiders and a beautiful bonus cultivator. I think I’m up to 48 Ned Spiders now. I think I have at least 10 more with scapes and there could still be surprise late scapes. So, 140 total cultivators have bloomed so far. 75% bloom rate. Hoping to get to mid 80s if more buds don’t dry up.
So, here we go.
More Spiders in My Bed
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
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
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
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
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:
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.
Colorado Kid Daylilies 