Tacos, Firebirds, and Skinwalkers: Come see what is new in my drought ridden daylily garden!

July 19, 2025July 19, 2025Leave a comment

Droughts, Wildfires, and Daylilies

Droughts and wildfires go together, daylilies not so much. The smoke has cleared (mostly) from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison South Rim Fire (<10 miles away), and they have the fire 15% contained. My last blog post talks more about the fire. Some rain has fallen on my garden since the last post, too. The drought continues, though. Keep reading to enjoy my daylilies from the past week!

Monitoring and Maintaining My Resilient Daylilies

I am surprised my daylilies have done as well as they have this year with the heat and drought. I have somewhere around 190 cultivators. I badly need to do inventory, maps, and labels this year. I love the Flower daylily software, but I struggle to keep it updated. I seem to lose a lot of the newer ones from other climates over the first winter/spring – but I am not even sure what I have lost until I do inventory because some lost tags.

Black Canyon South Rim Fire – Watch Duty from today. About 15% contained.

Honestly, though, I am limited by time and water. I may replace some cultivators if I lose them, but I won’t be adding many more to my total. I’m at capacity. I am growing ditch lilies in the desert drought. I love daylilies, and they are survivors! My time goes into keeping those I have alive and healthy. And, my money goes into city water. I can’t imagine trying to hybridize or sell in my situation.

New Blooms and Current Bloom Rate

I have had a total of 139 cultivators bloom this season (out of around 190). That is a 73% bloom rate. Last year, we only got to the mid-sixties, so I am thrilled. And, the season isn’t over. In the high desert, 80% is a huge win. I need to fertilize, but without the monsoon moisture and cooler temps, I am waiting until next month. With daylilies in pots, I find applying liquid fertilizer improves bloom rate for the following year because the plant is more resilient.

Here are my “first bloom for 2025” cultivators since my last post:

The bloom peak is now over the top and past the plateau. However, I still have 30-40 cultivators in bloom daily, with 2-3 new ones most days. My beloved Ned Roberts’ southwest names spiders are just now peaking! Life gets extremely busy during daylily season, especially with my business and volunteer work.

Which is your favorite daylily from this post? For me, Zuni Thunderbird has always been a favorite! This computer is even named Zuni Thunderbird after the daylily.

Keep flourishing, Cathy H

New 2024 Daylily Blooms: Stunning Photos and Varieties Revealed

July 21, 2024Leave a comment

Return from the Colorado Mountains: Fourteen New Bloomers for the Season

I always feel overwhelmed the day after I take a camping break – especially during daylily season! Fortunately or unfortunately, my underwhelming bloom rate for 2024 has made it more manageable. But, it is still a lot of photos to organize and turn into an Instagram reel/blog post.

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A post shared by Cathy Hartt (@artfromthehartt)

Below are my Ned Roberts’ spiders that are new since my last post.

So, how is the bloom rate doing now? I have had 84 of 196. So, 43%. That’s way down from the past few years for this point in time. I am hoping to hit 60%. That would take 34 more new blooms for 2024. I think that’s optimistic. Too many pots decided to rest this year.

Here are my other first blooms for 2024 (since my last post.)

Remediating a Poor Bloom Rate

Gardening is a science experiment. I am going to try some liquid spray fertilizer once we have a some cooler weather in the forecast. I will probably do more time release before the end of the season – and I am considering working some manure into the pots in September, about a month before freeze.

My Wildflower Dogs on our camping trip this week.

Peaks and Wildflowers

I have a wonderful trip to Hahns Peak, Colorado – and to Pearl Lake State Park which is named after my grandmother. The land was once a summer sheep pasture for my granddad’s companies. Grandma sold it to the Forrest Service – and the State Parks owns that portion with the Lake. This is my blog post from last year – I am still working on my post for this year so please check back in a few days.

If I didn’t get much of a daylily peak this year, at least I got a break in the heat at a picturesque Colorado peak.

Hahns Peak (background) from Steamboat Lake State Park, July 2024.

Until the Last Daylily Blooms Sale: 30% Off Starting Tomorrow

Just a quick reminder about the Until the Last Daylily Blooms sale. Prices drop again tomorrow – 30% off for the next month on daylily wall art, tile art, planters, and cards. I also added my hypertufa and cement yard art and pet memorials. Please visit my last post to see details on the yard art and memorials. So, please come check it out at my Etsy shop!

I wanted to share my Pearl Lake Wildflower Cards as today’s listing. I just added these to the Until the Last Daylily Blooms sale that goes live tomorrow. They will be 30% off for the next month! Perfect for flower lovers. The cards will be approximately (depending on Etsy’s calculator) $2.80 for a single card or 10.50 for a set of all 5 cards. This is in addition to FREE SHIPPING. Click on the photo below or this link to go to the listing.

Questions on the sale? Special order requests? Please reach out and email me!

The Last of the Spiders

August 8, 20221 Comment

WOW! I am do far behind blogging this time. July 26 was almost 2 weeks ago. The old porch is painted and my autoimmune thyroid is kicking me in the butt a little.

I’ll start with the last of the Ned Roberts spiders for this blog. How about that?

Adios Albuquerque is a nice, mid-late spider that reminds me of many New Mexico road trips.

The very next day, Cripple Creek bloomed. Named for the Colorado gold mining town.

Skinwalker, Kachina Firecracker, and Navajo Curls arrived on 7.29. Great array of color. Love the late spiders.

On the 30th came Purple Thunderbird and Fox Ears. Fox Ears hasn’t bloomed in a couple of years so I am especially excited to see her back.

August 2nd brought the last of my Ned spiders to have a first bloom this year. My beloved Purple Corn Dancer. She always closes out the season in my yard. She is the last first of all my blooms.

I’m adding a couple of later bloomers next year (and 3 new Ned Roberts spiders). No more than 200 in my yard because of size and water. I’m also adding a little Coneflower garden as a fur kid memorial garden. I got most of it in yesterday. Both Echinacia and Rudbeckia (Black-Eyed Susan family) should add a little fall interest to the yard.

I’ll be back with more! Peak daylily season with a major DIY project. Add autoimmune thyroid and a new business venture downtown. So much for retirement! Lol.

Sixty-Six Spiderman Daylilies for 2020

August 9, 2020Leave a comment

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 . . .

Flowers for Maia

August 23, 2019August 23, 20192 Comments

Today is my granddaughter, Maia’s, birthday. I limit my words on the anniversary of her birth. Honestly, there are no words for all I feel about her

Adios Albuquerque 8.22

I will say I had a nice bouquet for her today. And, I wanted to see if my computer would run smoother on WordPress tonight. The blog post I did yesterday crashes the app on my phone . . . I don’t know why.

Fox Ears 8.22

Anyway – enjoy Maia’s flowers. The featured photo is Maya Cha Cha – not in bloom today but a great tribute to my beautiful granddaughter.

Frans Hals 8.22

PS – Blogging is a bit easier with this new Lenova 300e tonight – but there is still something funky about Microsoft Edge and WordPress. Is it just me?

Heirloom Heaven 8.22

Mama Cuna 8.22

Purple Corn Dancer 8.22

Cripple Creek 8.22

Shape Shifter 8.22

Ruby Stella 8.22

Colorado Day: My Top 10 Red Daylilies

August 2, 2019August 2, 20191 Comment

August 1st brought a cool day with rain. School starts next week, work is buzzing. But, I tell myself, we are still 6 weeks from fall and the short day, cool seasons. August 1st is also Colorado Day. Colorado means red. So, since I have no new cultivators today (but still 50+ in bloom), I thought I would share my top 10 red daylilies. Here they are in no particular order:

Ruby Spider – one of my oldest daylilies – 2019

Baja – another oldy but goodie (looks like velvet) – 2019

Route 66 – nice colors (she brings to mind my spring road trip) – 2019

Maya Cha Cha – This is for my Granddaughter, Maia! – 2019

Apache Bandana – an eye-catching flower – 2019

Santa’s Pants – a jolly old soul – 2019

Fox Ears – I simply love the shape! – 2019

Nurse’s Stethoscope – I helped name this one (my legacy) – 2019

Navajo Rodeo – I like the distinctive shape and the name – 2019

Kachina Firecracker – looks like red ribbons – 2019

What’s your favorite?

Eye-70

July 22, 2019July 22, 2019Leave a comment

Oh, perhaps more like aye yi yi. I woke up to 70 cultivars in bloom today. Let’s see, I had 13 the day I left on vacation on 7/5. I’ve slept in my own bed 5 going on 6 nights since then.

Thirteen is a good number of blooms. Interesting but not overwhelming. But now, just 5 days at home later, I’m at 118/180 daylilies that have bloomed. We went from 7% to 66%.

The problem is that I had trips and conferences to prepare for along with two sick dogs . . . And, work. So, I’ve been using my cellphone for daily shots. I use my Powershot, too, but haven’t edited or organized anything since June 25 or something.

Today, I got 2 days organized and played a bit with my daylily software. Here it is midnight thirty but I am more caught up. I just know that I’ve been so distracted this year that the blog in mediocre because my passion is not here yet.

Next weekend, I stay home. Hopefully, I can keep catching up. Aye yi yi, I need to stay on the Interstate of progress after I get some sleep. The daylilies are already blooming. Can you hear them?

Fine Time Lucille 7/21

Heron’s Cove 7/21

Truchas Sunrise 7/21

Best Seller 7/21

Taco Twister 7/21

Fox Ears 7/21

We will see what the dawn brings.

A Celebration of Spiders! (Ned Roberts)

August 7, 20183 Comments

The days grow August-quiet. It seems a dream that I had nearly 60 blooms per day just a month ago. So, today, we will do finales. And, then, a roll-call of my Ned Roberts spiders.

Finales:

Chorus Line 8.5

Rosie’s Red 8.6

So, maybe if I do the Ned Roberts spider roll-call it will entice one more into bloom this year. My Ghost Ranch is a fall bloom, but I am having a rough time getting her to thrive here. Maybe some fish fertilizer? Our temps are still above average with little rain.

Ned Roberts Spiders for 2018 Season:

Adios Albuquerque

Apache Bandana

Aztec Firebird

Black Arrowhead

Black Ice

Chaco Canyon

Cheyenne Eyes

Chokecherry Mountain

Comanche Princess

Desert Icicle

Dream Catcher

Dream Keeper

Fox Ears

Happy Hopi

Iktomi

Kachina Firecracker

Kokopelli

Laughing Feather

Mama Cuna

Moon Over Chimayo

Navajo Curls

Navajo Rodeo

Papa Longlegs

Pink Rain Dance

Pueblo Dancer is her label, but she doesn’t look like that one. So???

Purple Corn Dancer

Purple Grasshopper

Purple Many Faces

Purple Moonrise

Purple Thunderbird

Raspberry Propeller

Raven Woodsong

Rocky Mountain Pals

Santa Fe Christmas

Shape Shifter

Skinwalker

Taco Twister

Talon

Twirling Pinata

Wild Rose Fandango

Zuni Eye

Zuni Thunderbird

Out of interest, here are my Ned Roberts spiders that bloomed last year but did not bloom this year:

Coral Taco 2017

Glen Eyrie

Pink Enchilada 2017

And, we had a few in 2016 that have not bloomed again:

Chief Four Fingers 2016

Ghost Ranch

Winds of Love 2016

I have around 64 of Ned’s spiders in my garden. I had 42 bloom this year or about 65%. Last year, I had 13 (about 20%) bloom. Marked improvement. All total, to date, I have had 48 (or 75%) bloom. That is a long way from 100%. But, marked improvement. I think some of the ones that bloomed in 2016 were put in that year (still flourishing from the nursery), struggled last year in the clay soil, and are recovering (growing new roots) this year in their pots. I am sure that the drought had an impact, as well.

So, for fun, here are the ones I have that have never bloomed (photos from the web):

Apache Beacon

Coyote Laughs

Cricket Call

Cripple Creek

Dancing Maiden

Echo Canyon

Feather Woman

Golden Eclipse

Kachina Dancer

Kiva Dancer

Land of Enchantment

Maya Cha Cha

Medicine Feather

Mount Echo Sunrise

Navajo Grey Hills

Ojo de Dios

Orchid Moonrise

The Real Pueblo Dancer

Spirit of the Morning

Star over Milagro

Truchas Sunrise

Wildwood Flower

We made improvements, but we have aways to go. That’s life

The First Sunday of August

August 6, 2018Leave a comment

It was camping weekend, which is good because I need the stress relief. Work is too busy and I am too exhausted. So, I returned to an encore – Stella de Oro has been out of bloom for 3 weeks and she is back. I will just leave her in the roll call. Our last roll call of 2018. We had 37 in bloom this week. We had 56 last week and I predicted half as many this week. Actually – more like 2/3rds. When you look at all the finales this week (see photos below), I will make the same prediction for next week. That’s about 18 for the week. We don’t have many scapes yet, and the ones mostly only have a bloom or two left. Heirloom Heaven, Indian Sky, Pink and Cream, Dream Catcher, and Purple Corn Dancer have some life left in them. I am hoping Passionate Returns, Stephanie Returns, Ruby Stella and Red Hot Returns all return.

Here Goes Roll Call 7/31-8/5:

Anasazi 7.30 – has had finale bloom

Apache Uprising 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Baja 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Blue Beat 8.2

Cherokee Star 8.2

Chorus Line 8.5

Classy Lady 7.31 – Has had finale bloom

Comanche Princess 8.2

Dream Catcher 7.30

El Desperado 8.5

Fox Ears 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Heirloom Heaven 8.2

Heron’s Cove 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Hesperus 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Indian Love Call 8.2 – Has had finale bloom

Indian Sky 8.5

Lady Fingers 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Marque Moon 8.1 – Has had finale bloom

Mini Pearl 8.3

Moon Over Chimayo 8.1 – Has had finale bloom

Navajo Curls 8.1

Nearly Wild 7.31

Orange Vols 8.3

Passionate Returns 7.31 – Has had finale bloom

Pink and Cream 8.1

Pizza Crust 7.30

Prairie Blue Eyes 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Purple Corn Dancer 8.5

Purple Thunderbird 8.1 – Has had finale bloom

Rosie’s Red 8.3

Royal Palace Prince 7.30

Ruby Stella 8.3

South Seas 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Stella 8.5 – Encore bloom today

Tiger Kitten 8.3

Twirling Pinata 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Yellow Punch 7.31 – Has had finale bloom

Running into the Sun, and I’m Running Behind

July 31, 2018July 31, 2018Leave a comment

It is getting dark earlier. It is really noticeable when you get off 3 hours later than most people. I get off in time to walk my dogs when it is still light from mid-May to mid-August. It is probably one of the most depressing parts about working evenings 4 days a week. Oh, I get to look out my window at the yard during the day all year – and I like that. But, there is something about getting off after dark. What most people deal with 3 or 4 months of the year I deal with for 9 months.

So, tis the time for more finales. Six today – oh, how I will miss them. No late scapes yet that I see. Hoping by mid to late August we at least have some reblooms. Darned drought. For now, the peak is still slowly drifting. Or, maybe not so slowly. I love the resilient fall daylilies.

Finales: