Last Sunday in July

July 30, 2018Leave a comment

Wow – It will be August next weekend. The daylily peak has come and gone. The cultivators were in the teens today . . . a massive drop off from 2-3 weeks ago. It is funny how the first 3 weeks of June are slow progress, then it explodes, then it goes to just a few here and there for months.

Today, we had one new cultivator. Heirloom Heaven bloomed for the first time in 2018. She is an adorable late-blooming mini. She is my last unbloomed scape on a cultivator that hasn’t bloomed yet. This could be it. It seems like I usually get some August scapes . . . not many, but a handful. I don’t know with this drought, though.

Heirloom Heaven 7.29

And, I had a rude awakening last night – because Mount Echo Sunrise doesn’t look anything like Mount Echo Sunrise. I looked at her tag, and she has two. The other one says Moon over Chimayo . . . and she looks like that one. So, I assume . . .

Moon over Chimayo 7.27

Finales:

Lullabye Baby 7.29

Roll Call 7/23-29:

Adios Albuquerque 7.26

Anasazi 7.27

Apache Uprising 7.25

Aztec Firebird 7.27

Baja 7.25

Bela Lugosi 7.24

Blue Beat 7.25

Bluegrass Music 7.24

Bold Tiger 7.23

Cheddar Cheese 7.24

Cherokee Star 7.28

Chorus Line 7.26

Classy Lady 7.27

Comanche Princess 7.28

Dream Catcher (with Navajo Curls) 7.27

El Desperado 7.24

Fox Ears 7.25

Heron’s Cove 7.27

Hesperus 7.25

Indian Love Call 7.24

Indian Sky 7.24

Lady Fingers 7.25

Lime Frost 7.26

Longlesson Show-off 7.23

Marque Moon 7.24

Mildred Mitchell 7.23

Mini Pearl 7.29

Navajo Curls 7.24

Navajo Rodeo 7.23

Nearly Wild 7.28

Nosferatu 7.26

Orange Vols 7.24

Passionate Returns 7.29

Pick of the Litter 7.23

Pink and Cream 7.29

Pizza Crust 7.28

Prairie Blue Eyes 7.28

Prelude to Love 7.25

Purple Corn Dancer 7.26

Purple de Oro 7.24

Purple Moonrise 7.27

Purple Thunderbird 7.26

Raspberry Propeller 7.28

Rosie’s Red 7.23

Route 66 7.26

Royal Palace Prince 7.27

Ruby Stella 7.28

South Seas 7.27

Stephanie Returns 7.23

Tiger Kitten 7.27

Twirling Pinata 7.24

Yellow Punch 7.26

56 for the week . . . that is all! I bet we are down to half of that by next week.

Desperado

July 23, 2018July 23, 20181 Comment

It is roll-call day! But, first, a dedication. It is camping weekend and I was listening to a song “Desperado” on my ipod. I have always identified with the song. So, I will put El Desperado as our lead photo today.

Desperado – The Eagles

Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
You been out ridin’ fences for so long now
Oh, you’re a hard one
I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin’ you
Can hurt you somehow

Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds, boy
She’ll beat you if she’s able
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet

Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can’t get

Desperado, oh, you ain’t gettin’ no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they’re drivin’ you home
And freedom, oh freedom well, that’s just some people talkin’
Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Don’t your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine
It’s hard to tell the night time from the day
You’re losin’ all your highs and lows
Ain’t it funny how the feeling goes away?

Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate
It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you (let somebody love you)
You better let somebody love you before it’s too late

OK – so new to the garden for the first time in 2018 today is Pizza Crust. I get a little hungry looking at her because I am stuck with low cholesterol pizza that doesn’t have much crust.

Pizza Crust 7.22

Finales:

Thin Man 7.22

Route 66 7.18

Fairytale Pink 7.22

Nurse’s Stethoscope 7.18

Here goes Roll-Call for the week of 7/16-7/22:

Adios Albuquerque 7.19

Anasazi 7.17

Aztec Firebird 7.17

Baja 7.18

Bela Lugosi 7.19

Black-Eyed Susan 7.16

Blue Beat 7.20

Bluegrass Music 7.16

Bold Tiger 7.17

Canyon Colors 7.15

Catherine Irene 7.16

Cheddar Cheese 7.22

Cherokee Star 7.17

Chorus Line 7.18

Classy Lady 7.18

Comanche Princess 7.17

Dream Catcher 7.18

El Desperado 7.19

Fox Ears 7.19

Happy Hopi 7.17

Heavenly Curls 7.17

Heron’s Cove 7.17

Hesperus 7.17

Indian Sky 7.16

Isaac 7.16

Jungle Queen 7.16

Just Plum Happy 7.17

Lacy Doily 7.20

Lady Fingers 7.18

Lime Frost 7.15

Longlesson Showoff 7.18

Lullabye Baby 7.22

Mama Cuna 7.17

Marque Moon 7.20

Mellon Balls 7.17

Mildred Mitchell 7.18

Mini Pearl 7.19

Mount Echo Sunrise 7.16

Navajo Rodeo 7.16

Nearly Wild 7.18

Nosferatu 7.18

Papa Longlegs 7.17

Passionate Returns 7.20

Pick of the Litter 7.17

Pink and Cream 7.18

Prairie Blue Eyes 7.17

Prairie Wildfire 7.16

Prelude to Love 7.18

Purple Corn Dancer 7.20

Purple de Oro 7.17

Purple Grasshopper 7.17

Purple Moonrise 7.17

Purple Thunderbird 7.18

Raspberry Propeller 7.20

Red Hot Returns 7.17

Red Riddle 7.18

Return a Smile 7.16

Rosie’s Red 7.20

Route 66 7.18

Royal Palace Prince 7.20

Ruby Spider 7.17

Ruby Stella 7.22

Skinwalker 7.19

Soco Gap 7.16

South Seas 7.22

Stephanie Returns 7.17

Strutter’s Ball 7.18

Taco Twister 7.19

Colorado Kid 7.22

Tiger Kitten 7.20

Treasure of the Southwest 7.20

Twirling Pinata 7.20

Wineberry Candy 7.16

Yellow Punch 7.22

The Mamas and the Papas

July 17, 2018July 17, 2018Leave a comment

This morning, I got that song from the Mamas and Papas “Monday, Monday” stuck in my head. Maybe it is because I had Mama Cuna and Papa Longlegs blooming next to each other. I had 51 today! Monday mornin’ you gave me no warnin’ of what was to be . . .

So, for fun, here are the Mamas (Mama Cuna – L) and the Papas (Papa Long Legs – R):

Mama Cuna

Papa Long Legs

So, we had 2 new faces today. The first one is such a pretty flower. Up until this year, when I started running out of blooms, I would go look for later bloomers. Anyway, I almost decided to not bring one home from the nursery . . . until I saw the name. Seriously, I squeezed her into one of the last Southwest Garden spaces. She looks like velvet to me.

Cherokee Star 7.16

The second new face is Bold Tiger. Well, I think that is her name. I got her on discount because they lost the tags and didn’t know what she was. I did a search and she looks most like Bold Tiger. So, we will go with that. I believe that makes 112 so far this year. We are at 64% bloom rate. Can we get to 75%?

Bold Tiger 7.16

Finales (last blooms unless they send reblooms) today:

Isaac 7.16

Catherine Irene 7.16

Taco Twister 7.16

Soco Gap

The Colorado Kid 7.16

Oh, and Papa Long Legs – but he has a photo at the top of the page. And, Desert Icicle retired yesterday, not Happy Hopi – I have one more Happy Hopi left. I will miss these blooms, especially The Colorado Kid. She had a great season this year – bloomed for a month! So, our numbers will drop off pretty rapidly by August. Still hoping for a few late scapes!

Other blooms today: Aztec Firebird, Mount Echo Sunrise, Dream Catcher, Skinwalker, Comanche Princess, Navajo Rodeo, Mama Cuna, Cheddar Cheese, Nosferatu, Heron’s Cove, Canyon Colors, El Desperado, Purple de Oro, Bluegrass Music, Mildred Mitchell, Blue Beat, Ruby Spider, Return a Smile, Longlesson Show-off, Passionate Returns, Lullaby Baby, Chorus line, Mellow Balls, Lacy Doily, South Seas, Marque Moon, Stephanie Returns, Mini Pearl, Prairie Wildfire, Prelude to Love, Bela Lugosi, Pick of the Litter, Raspberry Propeller, Black Eyed Susan, Baja, Prairie Blue Eyes, Hesperus, Indian Sky, Just Plum Happy, Pink and Cream, Ruby Stella, Strutters Ball and Nurse’s Stethoscope.

No Words

August 23, 2017Leave a comment

Eclipse!

August 22, 2017Leave a comment

Today brought the solar eclipse . . . and the first ever Anasazi bloom in my yard! There is a connection between the Anasazi (Ancient Pueblo Indians) and total solar eclipses. The eclipse of 1097 likely mplayed a part in the Ancient Pueblos leaving the Four Corners area. It was one of many celestial events that may have made this civilization decide that they were being given messages to leave.

I saw a video this AM of a Navajo talking about how the eclipse is seen as spiritual by their tribe. They see it as a time of new beginnings . . . a time to make resolutions. Like New Year, he said. My resolution is a big long pause on some things in my life that were not good for my spirit. I love them too much to ever do harm to them . . . or to ignore harm being done. That is a BIG resolution for me. I am glad I won’t have to do that for another 100 years 🙂

I wish I had realized how the sun reflects in the drops on the petals of the daylilies. I missed my 100-year chance to capture the eclipse within one of the daylilies in my yard. This photo was taken several minutes before the peak. If you look closely in the background, you can see some crescents in the shadows of the tree leaves. It was weirdly dark . . . but I never thought of focusing on the drops. Dang!

I nursed Anasazi from a 3.50 cent fan to a blooming size pot . . . it took 2 years. She is in a pot, of course. I smile for my progress. I had Heirloom Heaven and Cherokee Star also today. Somewhat sad to say this will be my last new bloom for the year . . . unless I get a surprise.

Catch 22

August 17, 2017August 17, 2017Leave a comment

I swore I would not work putting pots in the Southwest garden again today. I lost the bet with myself. Because there was an area on the thriving side that looked sad and I was curious. What did I find? Lots of tree roots. Even the daylily that I put in a half pot a couple months ago had roots growing up into the pot – but the daylily was doing better than without the pot.

Such findings make me feel a little nauseated, really. I made an investment in daylilies after doing a pilot out there. All my pilot plants did (and do) beautifully. So, I make a bigger garden spot there. The problem is that I think the scale is drawing the roots. In the pilot, I hand watered. But, now I have to mass water and fertilize. The half pot I dug up had roots woven around the outside of the pot in its exact shape. They dominate.

So, now I think I may have to do real garden pots (as opposed to nursery pots) out there, after all. The reason is that if I cut big enough holes in the pot bottoms to protect from root rot, I get root invasion. Catch 22. The real (decorative plastic) pots that I used in the front garden have a second bottom piece to help with drainage – so I can have a large drainage hole and roots can’t really grow up into the daylily space. Oh, I will work with the nursery pots for this year. But, I see the future. I am feeling like a farmer now.

I also divided several more daylilies. Little by little, the fall work is getting done. I am really ready for a boring split shift where I walk the dogs downtown. I feel overwhelmed with daylilies. Seriously. Am I ready to be a farmer?

Anyway, enjoy my blooms from today. I’ll worry about the tree roots.

Under the Surface

August 16, 2017Leave a comment

Today brought a good variety of color. From the yellow-pink blooms of Pizza Crust and Pink & Cream to the deep red of Cherokee Star and Heirloom Heaven. In the middle was pretty Indian Sky.

I am keeping a close eye on the Southwest garden since the replantings. Some yellow leaves here and there. Overall, they are in much better shape despite looking a bit frazzled.

It makes me think of our humanity. Sometimes everything can look pretty perfect on the surface. The garden had mulch and few weeds. The sprinkler ran regularly. And, the lilies looked pretty much OK. But, several were too small and one died. The bloom rate was poor and the blooms looked stunted. I wondered about the sunlight, mostly. Something was off, but the thought of fixing what lay under the surface was something I wanted to deny.

It was odd to deny it . . . I knew what was underneath. Somehow, I hoped top soil would be enough to get the lilies started. I mean, maybe they could do OK in the clay . . . that is what it says on the internet. Seriously, this Colorado Plateau clay is like an abusive, addictive relationship. Not only does it not provide nutrition, it is like cement. I have never seen it get damp more than a couple inches below the surface. The roots that do penetrate are stuck forever, unable to move yet starving for a better existence.

Diving under the surface and fixing the real problem is hard, hard work. And, I am sure there is more of it ahead in this adventure. I could continue to ignore it . . . normalize it. You know, just keep watering harder and hope somehow it corrects itself. But, then it comes time to stop the cycle and do something different. I hope it will pay off and that everything flourishes and blooms. Then, it will be worth it for daylily generations to come.

Double Helix

August 12, 2017Leave a comment

Today, I believe, brought my next to last NEW bloom for 2017. Pizza Crust, a late bloomer that I added last year. This year, a two bud wonder. Seriously?

At any rate, I was taken back by how it looked like a twin to Western Sandstone. Like, can you see a difference?

So, curiosity got the best of me. I thought that these two had the same DNA, and while their parents were not listed, they originate from the same hybridizer. Ah, ha . . . I think my eye does not deceive.

Honorable mention goes to Cherokee Star, who put out a near perfect, velvet bloom today.

Today was the beginning . . . of a weekend of daylily digging and putting in pots, again. This time the Southwest Garden. Only the bad side. But, that’s over 40 daylilies and the digging is hard. Tight space, tree roots and clay below the good soil that is now full of tree roots, too. I have 17 done and like 25 left to go. I think I will hit the hay early and get up early to start. I would prefer to be done or mostly done by Sunday. I still have divisions to do for friends. This work actually makes me look forward to snow . . . kind of. I do wonder if I will end up with decorative pots out in that garden, too. I guess this is a pilot. PS – I was digging up the daylilies out there to raise the grade of the garden at exactly this time last year. Sigh. It never ends!

Tomorrow, I think my Ugly Daylily will be in bloom. That is my confused Amaryllis. Life in the garden is always full of surprises.

Savoring at Half-Time!

August 1, 2017August 1, 2017Leave a comment

Today, I have a new bloom! Except, maybe it is cheating to add a new daylily with lots of buds the day before. Or, maybe not. How could I resist with a name like Cherokee Star?

Daylilies are often pretty fragrant, but I get so hung up with using my visual sense that I forget to smell them. Then, as the blooms slow, I remember. Savoring the second half of summer is a joy.

Monday and Thursday are my 10 hour days, and the first week of the month is a killer! So, I savor where and when I can. I brainstorm ideas for flourishing daylilies in my spare moments. I savor ideas about growing a flourishing life, too. I need to get a “Lessons from Daylilies” poster . . . or make one.

Tomorrow, Coral Taco is going to bust open, me thinks. That bud is huge!!! And, so we start month three of daylily season.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: Cherokee Star