Hi all – When it is Saturday and it hasn’t been the fun day that I planned. COVID had driven the world mad – and they seem to all be mad at me. So, how about a little Ned Robert’s daylily therapy? I fell in love with Ned’s southwestern named daylilies after finding Kokopelli on Lily Auction 5 years ago. I have a collection of 70 ish now. I am including a few from 2019 if they didn’t bloom this year. Comment with your favorite! Direct from Montrose, Colorado . . .
A different kind of 4th of July. I slept in – no parade. Then, after taking photos of the 28 cultivators in bloom, I decided it was too hot to take the dogs downtown. So, I puttered around the yard a little. Then, came the weather warning on my phone – big thunderstorm. I quickly finished lunch on the porch and brought the dogs in.
As the storm passed, I worked on my daylily business. I mean – I found an Oh Erica for my yard!!!! One daylily nursery had one listed as display only (not for sale) – but that must mean they have some if they aren’t for sale, right? Turns out, right. He was willing to sell me a couple of fans this fall. I’ll also be adding Dr Doom for a memory I have with my daughter.
Once the business was done, I headed out to pot some of the succulents that I have been rooting. I use orchid pots and fill the holes with decorative moss. It is cute and provides a lot of ventilation. Except, I ordered the moss a month ago and I can’t find where I put it. I had enough left over from last time for today’s project.
The thunderheads continued to pass over, which means non of my yard work that involves power tools got done. Other than daylily business, plotting my roadtrip, updating my GPS, and baking a silly 4th cake, I got nothing done. But, maybe that is balance.
I had a few premiers today – Let’s start with an alltime favorite Ned Roberts spider – Aztec Firebird. I love this one – it is so colorful – really stands out in the garden for all who pass by.
Passionate Returns is back for another year. She is a favorite among my Facebook followers.
And, little $5 special, Bella Boo, made an appearance. She makes a statement for a simple flower.
So, tomorrow, that means lots of yard work and getting ready for my trip. Maybe today is Groundhog day and we can just get stuck on a lazy day for awhile. LOL – Groundhog day in the daylily garden is my life . . . maybe if I do that or that differently next time, it will bloom.
Oh – one Finale from yesterday that I forgot to mention – Echo Canyon.
Happy 4th! PS – Fire Flowers are a synonym for fireworks. This year, my daylilies are the only fireworks. Hopefully, next year things are a little more normal, again. Wear your mask! Get one with daylilies on it!
Last year, I posted all my blooms each week on Sunday since it is too much to do daily. This year, I am going to try to do a recap at the end of the month. So, for June 2020, we had the following 50:
As I scribe this, I sit in my tent near Blue Mesa Lake in Colorado. The wind finally stopped. It’ll be cool tonight, low 40s.
Maybe the reason I like camping is the raw exposure to nature. It’s how my daylilies live. And, they don’t have sleeping bags for the cold nights or tents to protect they from the wind. No wonder drought years (50% of the time?) Take their toll on bud count and bloom rate.
I had some great premiers today. All American Chief was a bonus plant I got 6 years ago that finally bloomed last year. It reminds me of Ruby Spider.
Cheyenne Eyes is a pretty Robert’s spider with an interesting color combo.
Comanche Princess also has a premiere. I live her curly spider legs.
My other pot that says Happy Returns had a bloom. I think it’s a little more yellow that the other pot I have on them.
It’s 10. I can barely keep my eyes open. I’m usually up until after midnight. The melatonin of watching a sunset, maybe feeling the temp drop. We respond to nature’s signals just like the daylilies.
Happy Birthday, Erica. May you be safe, may you be happy, may you be healthy, may you live with ease.
The wind was picking up the day we left Española and headed home through Northwestern New Mexico. And, I wanted to visit one of the Pueblos. We often track through Arizona, so this day would be our chance to take-in an experience in a modern day Pueblo village.
Courtyard, Espanola, New Mexico
I was kind of bummed that they didn’t allow pictures, because from what I remember it was a mix of the old and new Pueblo Indian culture. I remember walking several blocks with Maizzy to see the church. The residents didn’t pay much attention to me and my old dog wondering around.
Espanola, New Mexico
There were residential homes with jewelry sale signs in front. I didn’t want to leave without some treasure from our adventure – and no pictures. At first, this felt uncomfortable. I remember wandering around for awhile before being brave enough to knock on a door. I remember the nice gentleman showing me the jewelry in cases. It was more expensive than I wanted – but I believe in supporting the culture. And, they took Mastercard. My Santa Clara necklace is still my absolute favorite Native American necklace. It has been with me on a few job interviews!
Santa Clara Pueblo Necklace
We were headed down the road, again, all too soon. One thing I have learned in my research on the Santa Clara Pueblo is that they have a corn dances in honor of patron saint, Saint Clare. They also have Comanche Dances in June. I think immediately of two of my favorite Ned Robert’s spiders, Purple Corn Dancer and Comanche Princess.
Purple Corn Dancer – 2019
Ned lived in Albuquerque – I wonder if he visited this place?
Comanche Princess – 2019
At any rate, I took another division off of Purple Corn Dancer last weekend – so I now have it in 3 places. Comanche Princess is in two places – I got them in the same shipment a few years ago.
Purple Corn Dancer with all petals curled under – 2019
Purple Corn Dancer blooms last most years – with the harvest. Named for the corn dances. We have Olathe Sweet Corn’s home town just 10 miles away – not Native corn, but I can understand having festivals to celebrate because we have one. We use to have powwows here, too – I miss them so much.
Purple Corn Dancer looks like a Corn Dancer in this picture
So, camping at State Parks is open but we should still stay close to home, take our own food, try to limit gas stops out of our neighborhood. I’m old enough, I should hold off travel another couple of weeks, anyway. After the students graduate . . . early June for a few days. My photos give me wanderlust – I learn so much from travel. I learn so much from daylilies, too. How else would I know about Purple Corn Dancers? Within every daylily bloom lies an adventure.
Only 40 something daylilies today and no Premiers. So, it leaves time to talk about some of my daylily categories. I have talked a lot about my Ned Roberts spiders. I originally started collecting them after seeing Kokopelli on the Lily Auction – I love the Southwest and had to have her (I got the bid)! From there, I added more = lots more. At first, it was all fully Southwest names. Then, I gathered some animal and insect names to my Ned collection. And, some stellar names. IDK, is Dancing Maiden a name from the Southwest?
So, tonight, I will show you my purely Southwest named daylilies – the obvious names from the Southwest. But, first, Mildred Mitchell had an extra petal today – a genetic flaw that made her look pretty cool.
OK – Here are my Southwest Ned Roberts spiders. (These are the ones that have bloomed the last two years. Mostly this year, except Kokopelli did not bloom this year – which is unusual).
Adios Albuquerque – 2019
Apache Bandana – 2019
Apache Beacon – 2019
Aztec Firebirds – 2019
Black Arrowhead – 2019
Chaco Canyon – 2019
Cheyenne Eyes – 2019
Chief Four Fingers – 2019
Chokecherry Mountain – 2019
Comanche Princess – 2019
Coral Taco – 2019
Desert Icicle
Dream Catcher
Echo Canyon – 2019
Feather Woman – 2019
Ghost Ranch – 2019
Glen Eyrie – 2019
Happy Hopi – 2019
Iktomi – 2019
Kachina Firecracker – 2019
Kokopelli – 2018
Land of Enchantment – 2019
Laughing Feather – 2019
Mama Cuna – 2019
Maya Cha Cha – 2019
Medicine Feather – 2019
Mount Echo Sunrise – 2019
Navajo Curls – 2018
Navajo Grey Hills – 2019
Navajo Rodeo – 2019
Ojo de Dios – 2019
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Pink Enchalada – 2019
Pink Rain Dance – 2019
Purple Corndancer – 2018
Purple Many Faces – 2019
Purple Thunderbird – 2019
Santa Fe Christmas
Shape Shifter – 2019
Skinwalker – 2019
Spirit of the Morning – 2019
Star Over Milagro – 2019
Taco Twister – 2019
Talon – 2019
Truchas Sunrise – 2019
Twirling Pinata – 2018
Wild Rose Fandango – 2019
Zuni Eye – 2019
Zuni Thunderbird – 2019
So, I had a record number of cultivators in bloom the day before my trip, but no time to blog. Tomorrow, I’m home but too late to see any blooms. So, here is the 7/16 batch. Honestly, I don’t remember which were new bloom, but I’ll try. It’ll be good to see what’s new on Sunday!
Premiers:
Apache Beacon 7/16
Inwood 7/17
Wild Rose Fandango 7/16
Coral Taco 7/16
Little Cadet 7/16
Winds of Love 7/16
Lacey Doily 7/16
Royal Palace Prince 7/16
Black Eyed Susan 7/16
Anasazi 7/16
Reruns – lots and lots of reruns:
Purple de Oro 7/16
Mauna Loa 7/16
Longlesson Show-off 7/16
South Seas 7/16
Isaac 7/16
Stephanie Returns 7/16
Passionate Returns 7/16
Prairie Wildfire 7/16
Catherine Irene 7/16
Strutter’s Ball 7/16
Prairie Blue Eyes 7/16
Red Riddle 7/16
Indian Love Call 7/16
Purple Many Faces 7/16
Iktomi 7/16
Indian Love Call 7/16
Chief Four Fingers 7/16
Zuni Thunderbird 7/16
Rocky Mountain Friends 7/16
Soco Gap 7/16
Black Ice 7/16
Maya Cha Cha 7/16
Purple Mystery 7/16
Ruby Spider 7/16
Comanche Princess 7/16
Mildred Mitchell 7/16
Thin Man 7/16
Lady Fingers 7/16
Papa Long Legs 7/16
Purple Grasshopper 7/16
Chaco Canyon 7/16
Happy Hopi 7/16
Feather Woman 7/16
Ojo de Dios 7/16
Canyon Colors 7/16
Cheddar Cheese 7/16
Mesa Verde 7/16
Primal Scream 7/16
The Colorado Kid 7/16
Melon Balls 7/16
Pardon Me 7/16
Cricket Call 7/16
Wineberry Candy 7/16
Raspberry Propeller 7/16
Route 66 7/16
Golden Stella 7/16
Yellow Punch 7/16
Early Bird Cardinal 7/16
Pink and Cream 7/16
Mini Pearl 7/16
Orange Flurry 7/16
Golden Stella 7/16
Cheyenne Eyes 7/16
Pink Enchilada 7/16
Apache Bandana 7/16
Life changes. This summer is so different from last year. Jobs, schedules, weather. So, I returned from Utah yesterday afternoon to an overwhelming thunderstorm that wiped out a lot of yesterday’s blooms. I decided to start fresh today, kind of. I leave for a work conference in Atlanta on Wednesday. Next Sunday, I can start my regular routine for daylily season. Lol.
So, a lot of Premier blooms (to me) today. Let’s start with my Ned Roberts spider collection:
Apache Bandana 7/14
Black Arrowhead 7/14
Chokecherry Mountain 7/14
Mount Echo Sunrise 7/14
Feather Woman 7/14
Navajo Rodeo 7/14
Rocky Mountain Pals 7/14
Talon 7/14
Zuni Thunderbird 7/14
Echo Canyon 7/14
Chief Four Fingers 7/14
Happy Hopi 7/14
Aztec Firebird 7/14
Laughing Feather 7/14
Iktomi 7/14
Pink Enchilada 7/14
Pink Rain Dance 7/14
Raspberry Propeller 7/14
And, the other Premier blooms:
Holy Sombrero 7/13
Isaac 7/14
Stephanie Returns 7/14
Catherine Irene 7/14
Pink and Cream 7/14
Early Bird Cardinal 7/14
Blue Beat 7/14
Primal Scream 7/14
Ruby Spider 7/14
Passionate Returns 7/14
Purple de Oro 7/14
Santa’s Pants 7/14
Lady Fingers 7/14
Red Riddle 7/14
Pardon Me 7/14
Prairie Blue Eyes 7/14
Route 66 7/14
Orange Flurry 7/14
Strutter’s Ball 7/14
Mini Pearl 7/14
Purple Mystery (hmmmmmm- Strutter’s Ball, perhaps?) 7/14
Wineberry Candy 7/14
Prairie Wildfire 7/14
That’s like almost 40 new cultivars since I left 9 days ago! Overwhelmed doesn’t say it with another trip coming up. I have no clue on bloom rate, but the cold, wet spring mostly seems to have helped.
Reruns:
Yellow Punch 7/14
Comanche Princess 7/14
Return a Smile 7/14
The Colorado Kid 7/14
Papa Long Legs 7/14
Land of Enchantment 7/14
Canyon Colors 7/14
Hopi Jewel 7/14
Ojo de Dios 7/14
Echo Canyon 7/14
Indian Love Call 7/14
Treasure of the Southwest 7/14
Yellow Stella 7/14
Funny Valentine 7/14
Petite Petticoats 7/14
Purple Many Faces 7/14
All American Chief 7/14
Ok, that’s enough. Battery is dead. Several Finales while gone: Saratoga Springtime, Dream Keeper, Chama Valley.
If you are going to miss the start of peak bloom, Utah is a great place to do it. Also amazing colors.
Wow . . . It was slow on Solstice and I have only thirteen on the 4th of July. Last year, I had 40 something. And, for the last several years, I’ve had white daisies, blue bells, and Ruby Spider all in close enough proximity for a July 4th shot. Not this year.
Today isn’t only the 4th, but also the day before my trip. It was my dad’s birthday and my due date with my youngest daughter. My family have been a bit like daylilies in my life . . . Enjoy them when they last and consider each day a new beginning. Still, the 4th is both a community day and a time PTSD can rear its ugly head.
Cricket Call 7/4
So, here we go with the one Premiere for today:
And, 11 sweet reruns.
Canyon Colors 7/4
Hopi Jewel 7/4
Land of Enchantment 7/4
Mesa Verde 7/4
Comanche Princess 7/4
Purple Many Faces 7/4
Ojo de Dios 7/4
Petite Petticoats 7/4
Golden Stella 7/4
Yellow Stella 7/4
Saratoga Springtime 7/4
Yellow Punch 7/4
Maybe not red, white and blue – But the Southwest and Native American names certainly honor our heritage.
Oops, missed one!
Chama Valley 7/4
Wow, time flies when you’re having July. Almost road trip time. I won’t miss peak, I don’t think. But, it could be starting by the time I get back. I’ll be cutting down used scapes soon enough.
So, a couple quick stories. All American Chief gave me a first bloom ever after three years. He was a gift plant. I love that the sellers pick up my Southwest theme and send approximately named daylilies. Hopi Jewel has bloomed every year, but has a similar story.
Here are today’s Premieres:
All American Chief 7/3
Hopi Jewel 7/3
Return a Smile 7/3
Petite Petticoats 7/3
And, that makes for 13 Reruns:
The Colorado Kid 7/3
Echo Canyon 7/3
Saratoga Springtime 7/3
Canyon Colors 7/3
Mesa Verde 7/3
Navajo Blanket 7/3
Comanche Princess 7/3
Funny Valentine 7/3
Dream Keeper 7/3
Indian Love Call 7/3
Yellow Stella 7/3
Yellow Punch 7/3
Golden Stella 7/3
For the first time in years, Ruby Spider isn’t going to bloom on the 4th. I don’t I can do a shot with red, white and blue flowers together. Oh well, happy 4th!
Colorado Kid Daylilies 