Southwest Roadtrip Garden: Daylily Bloom and Plant Adventures

July 1, 2024Leave a comment

Mellow day in the daylily garden after the rain last night. I should be camping but I postponed a day due to more rain predicted tonight. I didn’t have any first blooms for 2024 today.

Catherine Irene in bloom in my garden today.

My scape count is hanging in the 80s, although it is slowly increasing. When I say scape count, I really mean that I am counting plants with scapes, not total scapes in the yard. Some plants have several scapes, but they only count as one plant. My Southwestern Named Daylily Garden is just not moving much. The first year I had a bloom rate of maybe 20% and I am a little nervous that this could be a repeat. Not even Dream Keeper showed up this spring – and she always shows up.

All American Chief in bloom today in my Southwest Roadtrip Garden.

When I have a bad year, I always wonder why. Dry winter (only shoveled once), dry spring, didn’t winter water, left the leaf mulch on the Southwestern Named Garden too long, pot soil needs more fertilizer, etc. I’ll likely be working on those pots this fall – because spring is often too late. In my climate, I find that if I can get them thriving before freeze, they come back pretty strong as long as they get moisture during the winter months.

PS – Southwest Named Daylily Garden is a weird long name. How do you like Southwest Road Trip Garden? Afterall, that is the inspiration for this garden!

Next Up: Colorado Windflowers

I’m headed camping tomorrow, so no blog for a few days. Hopefully, I’ll have some nice photos of our Colorado native wildflowers when I post, again. And, I will have billions and billions of new scapes!

Wild Columbines from this time last year.

Today’s Chores: My Plant Business

I worked on harvesting and potting succulents for my Art from the Hartt booth at Country Flair in downtown Montrose, CO. I am 80-90% focused on art with my business, but people love plants. It’s that dopamine I was just talking about! I have some nice agaves and aloes that I get while on my Southwest road trip every spring plus a variety of other succulents. I also cleaned out my yucca pots. So far, no rain. (Oops – I lied. That weather report changed since I started writing the blog an hour ago. Check out this monsoon just a little while ago!)

Daylily Pots for Succulents

Speaking of succulents, my little mini-terra-cotta pots are part of my “Until My Last Daylily Blooms” sale on Etsy. I handpainted every one of these to resemble a daylily from my yard. This one is Primal Scream. Click on this link or the listing to go to the sale listing. These are perfect for daylily lovers who also have small succulents!

My Experience Online Daylily Shopping at Shady Rest Gardens

June 29, 2024Leave a comment

Happy Trails, Shady Rest Daylily Nursery

Last week, I got news that my favorite online daylily grower was closing. I absolutely adore Doris at Shady Rest Gardens and I am still adapting to the idea that this summer is her last ever sale. She and her husband are on to the next chapter, as I was a couple years ago. I knew I had to be one of her last customers and order something, despite my pots being pretty full currently. So, last night she posted the sale daylilies for this fall. It was like midnight-thirty and I was shopping for daylilies from my couch.

Comanche Princess in bloom today came from Shady Rest

How did I get started shopping for daylilies online? It was 2015 when I returned to school for my doctorate and somehow daylilies became my healthy escape from studies (I loved my program but needed stress management breaks). I had a few daylilies around the yard for years and found them pretty hardy here, but they weren’t really a hobby until I went back to school at age 60.

Online Doctorates and Daylilies

Before becoming a serious hobbyist, I picked up a daylily or two at the local nursery here and there. I don’t remember what spurred me to try online, but I did. I mean, if you can get a doctorate online then why not a daylily? It was a lesson that bare roots are not the same as blooming plants and I had to be patient. But the varieties were endless and they were less expensive. Because of my love of the Southwest US, I was especially attracted to the ones with names that were also Southwestern. That helped me hone in on my favorite hybridizer – Ned Roberts. He lived in the Southwest and his daylily names showed it.

Ruby Spider is originally from a local nursery and in bloom today.

It was a web search for his daylilies that led me to Doris and Shady Rest. It was like striking gold – she had so many of his daylilies for sale. Way more than I could afford. So, every year, I added a few. Now I have 74 Ned Roberts registered daylilies and a grand total of 198 different daylilies. They aren’t all from Shady Rest, but I loved getting my packages from her and they were a substantial contribution. More than a grower, Doris became my garden mentor. Fortunately, we are still friends on social media, but I will miss those packages.

What is your favorite place to shop for daylilies???

Prairie Wildfire originally came from a local nursery and is in bloom today.

So, What Daylilies Did I Choose?

Last night, I decided on one Ned Roberts daylily called Green Warrior and two for my Oz collection – If Only I Had A Brain and Oz’s Cowardly Lion. I had Green Warrior before but lost it to spring freeze-thaw before it ever bloomed. (Fall is my favorite time to plant bare roots here because then they will usually bloom the following season, but freeze-thaw is problematic before they get established.) If Only I Had A Brain reminds me of Dr Doom a little. And Oz’s Cowardly Lion has a similarity to Chaco Canyon. They arrive in August. (Photos from garden.org)

Aloha Mauna Loa

Mauna Loa daylily – a little beat up from recent thunderstorms.

Today’s only first bloom for the season was Mauna Loa. This is a different Roberts hybridizer than Ned but a luscious neon orange color in the yard.

Until the Last Daylily Blooms Sale on Etsy

Speaking of my beautiful Ned Robert’s spider daylily collection with Southwestern names – this original wood panel painting of Skinwalker is on sale until my last daylily blooms in 2024. The original wood panel is only $26.25 during the sale. And, I have signed prints of the painting that are only $9 with free shipping. If you miss daylilies in the winter, then now is the time to hang one on the wall! Click here or on the photo below to go to listing.

Skinwalker daylily – original painting or signed print

Pacific Moisture Impact on Daylilies: Winter Watering Tips

June 28, 2024Leave a comment

Pacific Moisture, Winter Watering, Rearranging Daylilies

More Pacific moisture today on the Colorado Plateau in Montrose, CO. It’s an unusual amount of moisture for us so far this summer. I have a feeling it will be too little too late to increase my daylily scape production. That winter watering matters when we don’t get much precipitation. Next year, I am going to put a reminder in my phone every 2 weeks starting in February to find a warm day to winter water. Lightbulb: When there is no ice build-up on my front porch in the winter, there isn’t enough moisture for the daylilies during these months.

The day started off warm and sunny, so I decided to slip away and buy the daylily that I passed up the other day (Collier) because one of my pots needed more daylily. Once I got home, I wrestled the crabgrass out of my beloved Canyon Colors daylily pot and was left with 4 scrawny fans. That is why I got Collier. The colors are fairly close, so I hope they each stand out – but I won’t get any blooms from Canyon Colors this year in the pot – fortunately, I have it in another area and it has scapes.

Then, I moved stuff around. I rescued Just Plumb Happy from the border garden and put her in a pot. She is also very scrawny and won’t bloom this year. I divided my Kwanso (ditch lily) and put some of it in my little front corner garden. Now, that plant is supposed to be slightly invasive (unlike its hybridized daylily offspring) but the high desert is no tropical ditch. She won’t bloom in the pot. I also put a couple fans in my native plant garden. Another day, another experiment. If she becomes invasive, I’ll regret what I did today.

Today’s First Blooms of the Season

I had a lot of first blooms of the season today. I’ll post my reel with all the names below. Pandora’s Box was added just a couple days ago. I have almost bought this daylily online so many times! I also want to mention All American Chief as being a favorite spider daylily today.

Etsy Shop Daylily Art Sale

This is a friendly reminder about my “Until the Last Daylily Blooms” daylily art sale. How about these beautiful fun-shaped flat cards? These make great thank-you notes! Click here or on the photo to go to the listing.

And, I also have several houseplants on sale. The Tiger Kitten begonias are so pretty and hardy. Very easy care. Click here or on the photo to go to the listing.

If you need a small planter, I have a bunch! How about this cute red, white, and blue VW-type hippy bus for fun 4th of July decor? Click here or on the picture to go to the listing (email me if you like this specific bus because I am still in process with listing it.)

Maximizing Daylily Blooms: Fertilizer Tips and Rainy Day Experiments

June 27, 2024Leave a comment

Ruby Spider, my gateway daylily (I’m a daylily addict), showed up for the first time this season. I adore these big red and yellow blooms. Several years ago, I divided her and I now have her in 3 places. She is the only one that can thrive in this clay soil of the Colorado Plateau with all the competitive plant roots.

Today was also a perfect day for a little experiment with fertilizer. Overcast, drizzly, and pretty cool. Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty rainy. By the time I was done, it was sprinkling.

I used to fertilize spring and fall with a sprayer. I am not sure why I stopped. Probably just got busy but I am thinking I need to fertilize more regularly. Pot soil doesn’t interact with the environment the way that ground soil does. The soil can run low on nutrients.

This is the fertilizer I used today – I put 1/3-1/2 cup per plant. I used more for larger pots and plants that had not scaped. Fingers crossed.

Today, I used a perennial fertilizer that may help with inducing some blooms. It is a slow-release type dry fertilizer and I only used it sparingly. I put more closer to the drip system water source. I made this choice because if the soil is depleted, this might be better than a spray.

A small amount of fertilizer in each pot.

I always hold my breath a little when temps are this warm. I have turned daylily plants a stunning yellow by overdoing it with fertilizer, especially with high temps and low water. Sigh – so much for blooms. I am hoping the rain really washes this in tomorrow, but I will likely step up my irrigation for several days.

I also got more daylily photos from last year (and a few from this year) added to my software. If I put a photo of the bloom each year, then I can look back and see if something hasn’t bloomed for a couple of years. That’s a great way to know which pots may need some TLC in the fall or early spring. Or, sometimes, I move it to a different location in the yard to see if that makes a difference.

I decided that, for now, I am going to focus on water and fertilizer for the strugglers. I don’t want to mess with roots for fear of stopping any bloom they may have coming – and roots don’t like to be messed with in the heat. I may purchase more coir circles or just buy landscape fabric to put over the top of the grass in the grass/weed-infested pots. Landscape fabric has the advantage of being tucked in a little around the edges, but it is a pain to cut into circles.

I always forget how much time the blog takes. And, I am trying to add backlinks, so that adds more time. Hopefully, I can finish cataloging photos tomorrow – which will help with time. However, wait until peak and keeping up with 60 blooms in one day! Yikes.

Until the Last Daylily Blooms Sale On Etsy

Don’t forget to visit my Etsy shop to see all the daylily art that is on sale for the summer. I also wanted to share one of my tile clocks. This one is on sale until July 5th (not part of the daylily art sale) and is called Arizona Road Trip. The vibrant red-orange center reminds me of a daylily. Click on this link or the photo below to visit the listing.

I think I am going to make some pours during the peak by using the primary color of each cultivator in my yard that day. That will be pretty fun! I’ll add those to the sale! Cupboard knobs, clocks, coasters, succulent planters. Can’t wait!

The Late Show

August 6, 2023August 6, 2023Leave a comment

Sorry, no blog for a few days. Had some evening social events. I’ve had several mid-late and late cultivators join the collection of 2023 blooms. Here we go.

Thursday 8.3 blooms in order: Purple Corn Dancer, Spirit of the Morning, and Zuni Eye. All Ned Roberts spiders on this day.

Friday 8.4 blooms in order: Heirloom Heaven, Shape Shifter, and Memories of OZ. Potpourri day as far as colors, shapes, hybridizers.

Only 2 today (8.5) – so regular photos. Had an orange and yellow theme.

Please visit my website Www.artfromthehartt.com

My Favorite Spiders!

July 31, 2023July 31, 2023Leave a comment

The last couple of days have been filled with several of my Ned Roberts spiders blooming for the first time this year. One side of my Southwest Garden has been so quiet because the early bloomers ghosted us. But, it’s filling up with mid-late bloomers!

I went to the Rodeo yesterday so didn’t post. It rained afterwards and again this afternoon. Finally, a break in the heat.

I combined yesterday and today into one reel. Names in order: (7/29) Desert Icicle, BlackArrowhead, (7/30 Skinwalker, KachinaFirecracker, Dancing Maiden, Cricket Call, Aztec Firebird, and GoldenEclipse.

Illusion in the Garden

July 29, 2023July 29, 2023Leave a comment

Another warm (hot with UV of 9) in the desert daylily garden. Four new mif-late season cultivators. Winds of Love is suck a cool daylily because she always looks like a painting to me. Like an illusion of perfection in my imperfect garden.

The rains still have not come. They seem more a forecaster’s illusion than science at the moment. Looks like maybe some cooling and rain next week. I’ve said that before.

Please enjoy my IG reel from today. In order: Marque Moon, Western Sandstone, Winds of Love, Zuni Thunderbird.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

July 28, 2023July 28, 2023Leave a comment

Today, mid-late season arrived in my yard with a bang. Eight new cultivators. Of note, this was Oh, Erica’s first healthy bloom after three years in my yard. She only has 2 buds, though. The desert if hard.

Titan Sky had the first bloom ever and I’m in love with the colors! My second Ghost Ranch plant bloomed for the first time – the first one died about 3 years ago. I got the new one 2 years ago. If you live in the tropics, it’s different here.

Please enjoy my Instagram with photos.

Cultivators in order: Oh Erica, Ghost Ranch, NOID seedling?, Glen Eyrie, Navajo Grey Hills, Titan Sky, Coburg Fright Wig, El Desperado.

Code Red

July 27, 2023Leave a comment

I’ve had 3 red and 1 orange daylily have their premiere blooms for 2023 since my last blog 2 days ago. It’s hot and by evening i look like my cooked daylilies. Enjoy!

Double Nickles

July 24, 2023Leave a comment

Today, saw 55 cultivators in bloom and nearly 100 degrees. It’s too hot to enjoy them before the fizzle in the dry heat. I savor my picture taking time because it forces me to pay attention. I’m done with the endless heat and no rain.

My Instagram reel for today has 4 cultivators, but only 3 were new. Previously, I misidentified Wild Rose Fandango as Chokecherry Mountain. I realized today when Chokecherry Mountain bloomed. In order: Prelude to Love, Chokecherry Mountain, Santa Fe Christmas and Wild Rose Fandango.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: Colorado Gardening