Jewels of the Garden

June 22, 2016June 22, 2016Leave a comment

With the light of day, two jewels glimmered in my garden. One is my old favorite, Ruby Spider. Ruby is one of the oldest of my daylily collection. I have had her close to a decade. She was added to fill a planter box that hides my drip system controls. I used ornamental grass the first couple years, but it always died over the winter. So, why not daylilies? This one is still in the same planter (although divisions are now in the main garden) with Return a Smile and Just Plum Happy. Ruby’s bloom is so big and bright that it almost looks fake to me. I know daylily season has started when this one opens its first bloom.

Ruby Spider – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies (C. Hartt)

The other jewel in bloom today is a new daylily called Hopi Jewel. My thanks to Blue Ridge Daylilies for picking up my Southwest name theme and sending this as a gift plant. It’s in with my new Ned Roberts garden, as are a select few other aptly named non-Neds.

Hopi Jewel – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies (C. Hartt)

I must be taken with Hopi Jewel, because I took a lot of photos of her. It is a nice shape and color combination. And, maybe it is just fun to see another new face in my new garden. It took me days to clear the rocks, dig out some of the hard clay desert soil (we call it adobe soil), and fill it in with topsoil and compost. And, now it is home to over 50 new daylilies, mostly my Southwest named Neds. It is nice, though, to have a few with rounder shapes.

Hopi Jewel – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies (C. Hartt)

I keep wondering if the daylilies will spread to take over or if they will stay in their current space. The desert has the sun these guys love, but the soil is hard clay and the rain virtually non-existent. It’s not Asia. It’s not even Georgia, where many of these plants came from. According to climatemps.com, Georgia gets about 5 times as much precipitation. That’s about 25 more gallons per square foot. One good thing about my Neds is that they were hybridized in New Mexico and Colorado. Still, they do so much better in bagged soil and added water crystals.

I am at a clinical conference out-of-town during the day tomorrow. I am unsure if anything else is on the verge of a bloom, but I am going to do my best to go out and check before I leave . . . sometime between 5 and 6 AM. Unlike my lilies, I do not bloom that early!

Mystery in the Daylily Garden

June 22, 2016June 22, 2016Leave a comment

So, the first blooms are appearing in my brand new Ned Roberts (mostly) daylily garden. And, today a plant clearly labeled as Chief Four Fingers bloomed. Beautiful bloom . . . but it doesn’t look like Chief Four Fingers. The label is from the grower, so I am guessing they were busy. I don’t care too much other than hoping it is in the right row for its height. So, here is the bloom from today:

And here is what Chief Four Fingers photo looks like (note the petal count discrepancy):

And here are the other ones ordered from that grower with that order:

Mount Echo Sunrise

Purple Many Faces

Aztec Firebird

So, any guesses? My own thought is Purple Many Faces. I guess we will see what the one labeled as such looks like when it blooms. And, PS, I mean nothing negative against the grower. These are the probably the best blooming sized plants that I get from any grower. It is just sort of funny and hopefully the Chief shows up this summer.

Also making an appearance in the front garden is Early Bird Cardinal. This one blooms early and is a repeat bloomer. The show has just begun. I think Ruby Spider is getting ready to hatch! Those are the biggest, most colorful blooms in my garden . . . and I divided my main plant into three last fall. So, I should have plenty of color soon! I also think Hopi Jewel is due soon. And, if Electric Lizard is strong enough now, I think there will be a new bloom there soon. She dropped her last buds so fingers crossed that she is growing stronger. Ta Ta Til Blooms.

Focus on Daylilies

June 20, 2016June 20, 20162 Comments

I went camping this weekend. It’s my semester break from my doctoral program. However, I am teaching a class and implementing my project. So, it was a quick get away. I came home to find that I had missed Chief Four Fingers and Early Bird Cardinal’s first blooms. However, Happy Returns had two blossoms to greet me.

As always, I ran out with my Canon Powershot and my Kindle to get a shot. After that, I went in to download my vacation pictures. On the same card are my first camera versions of the photos that I have shared here. I thought would do a couple of comparisons.

Below is my first bloom, Electric Lizard. The first one is by Kindle, the second with the Powershot.

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Electric Lizard Daylily taken with Amazon Kindle

Electric Lizard taken with Canon Powershot

Below is Dream Keeper, first by Kindle and then by Powershot:

Dream Keeper taken with Amazon Kindle

Dream Keeper taken with Canon Powershot

I paint my Christmas gifts from the photos, so detail and color are important. Still, I am on a student budget until I return to work. So these are my options. The Kindle does a decent job for something that I can post immediately. However, the Canon sure has crisper detail.

I welcome any thoughts experiences readers have had with photographing these beauties. I am hopeful for another bloom or two very soon.

First bloom

June 11, 2016June 11, 2016Leave a comment

Today came the first bloom. Electric Lizard opened it’s bud as the first daylily for the season, 2016. It is a pale and anemic bloom . . . just like Indian Sky was when it bloomed in March. For some reason, both evergreens bloomed early despite scraggly foliage. It is still pretty, it just looks very different from its online photo.

I could be upset of disappointed. Mostly, though, I am curious about how to be a successful daylily gardener. It fascinates me how the color can be so off. So, I asked the American Hemerocallis Association Facebook page. One of the nice hybridizers inquired about fertilizer and gave me suggestions. He also said this one is a hybrid from Ohio, even though it is evergreen, so it could probably be left outside in the winter.

OK, so I am curious about differences in climate between Western Colorado and Ohio. I found a website where I can compare Denver to Dayton. The main thing I see there is that Ohio gets more moisture and isn’t quite as cold, on average. Oh course, Denver is on the other side of the Rockies, so I am unsure how true the comparison is to my garden. More than those items, I wonder about how our crazy Rocky Mountain springs impact the more delicate daylilies. It will be 75 one day and 25 the next, over and over. I am sure that is what got two of my evergreens this spring. That is what makes this Western Slope gardening so interesting. (I bet the soil is way different, too!)

So, of course, the dilemma is to leave it out or not leave it out next winter? First, though, I have got to treat the anemia. If I can get it to flourish (I adopted it in the fall last year so it is still a baby), then I would consider leaving it out. At any rate, tomorrow I will get some slow release fertilizer for the two spindly ones and watch for the next bloom.

What is next? I am not sure but Happy Returns is an early bird. Mesa Verde, Dream Keeper, Kokopelli (and a couple of others in the new garden), Early Bird Cardinal, etc. all have some decent sized buds forming. Lots of scapes out there. Oh, and The Colorado Kid! I can’t wait to see how close the colors on that are to the logo on this blog. I don’t think any will open tomorrow . . . but soon, very soon.

Leaping Lizards!

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016Leave a comment

One of the interesting things about adopting some evergreens this year is watching them adapt to life outside of the winter porch, again. I had one premature bloom on Indian Sky in March and had to cut the fans back because they were a little anemic looking after that. It seems to be recovering.

The other one that I have been keeping an eye on because it looks a little scraggly is Electric Lizard. This guy is special to me because he was one of my very first Lily Auction buys. I remember that day so well. I was editing a final paper for one of my first term courses while I waited to participate in the bidding on a couple of daylilies that I really wanted for my Southwestern garden. Well, the first one came and went with me totally losing out to a flurry of bidding. Total neophyte at online auctions, I was. And, I really wanted the other one that was up for bid later.

It became obvious that I needed to find some affordable lilies that were up for bid between now and the time of the second Southwest bloom. Why? So I could figure out the system. I ended up winning three before that second lily came up on the clock. And, I figured it out. First, on a slow item . . . then I slowly turned up the volume.

Electric Lizard was my first fast bidding experience. And, I obviously won the iridescent bloom. Won, of course, is a misnomer because you pay more when you battle the competition. And it’s addicting. I have never done a full-day like that since.

So, now this somewhat skinny-leafed friend has a scape with a bud that looks ready to open soon. Very soon. Maybe tomorrow. It has to think spring started in February on my porch to be the first bloomer of 2016, because it is supposed to wait until mid-season. Happy Returns is always the first, but it looks like it will get beaten this year. And, once the daylily popcorn starts to pop, it’s just going to keep going. Can’t wait . . . time to charge the camera battery because this blurry cell phone shot does not do it justice.

(PS the Electric Lizard bloom photo is from the Lily Auction).

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: Electric Lizard