Tis the season to look through my daylily bloom photos and put together my gratitude quote of the year. This year, I picked orange daylilies to highlight the quote on gratitude from The Little Book of Gratitude by Robert Emmons. My silly dogs (The City Slickers) also appear in the credits. I hope where ever you are, you enjoy a little gratitude today.
When describing daylilies, most people talk about bloom season, bloom size, scape height, smell, etc. For me, I see places from road trips. I chose many of my daylilies because of their Southwest names, because that is where I go for my road trips.
Last week, I took a road trip through southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. My favorite hybridizer, Ned Roberts, lived in New Mexico and many of his daylilies find their namesakes in that State. When I shop for daylilies, I often get out the Google maps to see what it is named after. And, on this road trip I wanted to go new places and see things that I had never seen before.
I literally drug out the recreation map and looked for interesting places in northern New Mexico – because despite living not too far away, I know little about it (other than the 4-corners area). Anyway, I found something called the Enchanted Circle that sounded interesting and included Taos. The road between Taos and the highway east . . . well, there were two routes. I picked the High Road to Taos because there are two namesake towns on that road: Truchas and Chimayo
The next day, we visited Ghost Ranch, another daylily namesake. I had stopped there about 7 years ago on a road trip because of the daylily. It is a Presbyterian resort that is open to the public for hiking and other activities. It looks like home with the red sandstone. I stop not because I think it is unfamiliar, but because it is a daylily namesake! And, if any of you remember the old movie City Slickers, that is where it was filmed. So, if you have a Ghost Ranch daylily you be like me and think about that movie and the trail boss, Curly.
I have a bunch of premiers since my last post but I am drowning in vacation photos and daylily photos . . . it is going to take a few days to get the blog caught up. So, for tonight, lets look at the name sakes.
That is all for tonight folks. I am trying to stay adjusted to tent times and get to bed earlier at night. I will get caught up with the blog and the new blooms in the next few days. There are several – Skinwalker, Zuni Thunderbird, Desert Icicle, Purple Thunderbird, Cripple Creek, Glen Eyrie, Royal Palace Prince, Pizza Crust , , , I don’t even remember where I left off with the blog. I need to refresh my memory. Stay tuned!
Thanks for joining my journey!
I live for my spring road trip, my summer camping trips and my daylilies. The first was knocked out by COVID-19. The second is on hold for an undetermined amount of time. The daylilies are my hope right now.
Ghost Ranch, NM on a windy day in 2016
I’m a nurse, I have no issues with staying home and taking care of myself – except for the obvious grief for things I love way more than Christmas.
Old log cabin at Ghost Ranch, 2016
So, Saturday Night, I decided to watch City Slickers on Amazon. I haven’t seen that movie since it came out. It was funnier than I remembered. But, something looked different this time . . . the scenery on the first shots. I knew where it was filmed – instantly. De ja voo. Because of my road trips. It was Ghost Ranch!
The Colorado Plateau from Ghost Ranch, 2016
The funny thing about that scenery is that I would never have visited the place except that I had a daylily by that name. Ghost Ranch named for Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.
Hike at Ghost Ranch, 2016
It has been a few years since that road trip. I remember the big wind storm that started the day before as we drove through the ruins near Albuquerque. But, by the next day, it was a full-blown Southwestern windstorm. I hit one almost every spring road trip. Not this year, though.
Dust storm at sunset over Farmington, NM – 2016
This one I remember because I was excited to see Ghost Ranch, but the short hike was a little uncomfortable with the winds. And, the landscape wasn’t as vibrant because of the dust. But, I understood why the hybridizer (Ned Roberts) thought the place was worth naming a daylily after.
Ghost Ranch Daylily in Bloom – 2019
My Ghost Ranch daylilies have struggled a bit. I lost a couple. Last year, I tried again. And, they survived the winter. So, I guess we will see what summer brings. I hope the blooms with my favorite road trip names aren’t cancelled.
Ghost Ranch Daylily in Bloom – 2016
I think I will kick-off my 2020 daylily blog with all of my road trip named daylilies – Adios Albuquerque, Anasazi, Aztec Firebird, Chaco Canyon, Cripple Creek, Glen Eyrie, Hesperus, Land of Enchantment, Mesa Verde, Mount Echo Sunrise, Route 66, Trochas Sunrise. Oh, the places we will go – right in my own back yard.
Colorado Kid Daylilies 