Staying engaged after the peak

August 4, 20213 Comments

I’m back, but only to catch up on finales since Sunday. Once school starts next week, it seems like the daylilies fade in my mind a little. But, this year I am semi-retired so hoping to stay a bit engaged. Last year, I did that huge 70+ buried pot repotting. That was 4 weekends of work and nearly ran into freeze. So, I suppose you could call that engaged.

This year’s project is to re-organize some of my less favorite/poor bloomers with some new cultivators. I just purchased Singing in the Sunshine, Irish Handshake, Ghost Ranch (more fans because I only have one), Off to See the Wizard, Memories of Oz, Sea Panther, Ruby Slippers, Blue Flirt, Wildwood Flower (mine died a couple years ago), and (maybe) another fan of Coyote Laughs (I am not sure the one I have is actually Coyote Laughs). That is 9 or 10 more, but I will be selling some of mine that I am eliminating. I also may do a big pot of leftovers – I have one that does great! I am amazed because it is soooo crowded.

Chaco Canyon – Finale 8.4. Bloomed from 6.27 to today – good year for this one!

I have several with only a few (if that) buds left. I think the closing daylilies this year will be Purple Corn Dancer, Navajo Curls, Purple Thunderbird and Adios Albuquerque. Will they last until September? Will there be an August surprise scape on a non-bloomer?

July Daylily Roundup A-M

August 1, 2021August 1, 20212 Comments

The next two posts are a listing of the daylilies that have bloomed ANYTIME during July – even if they started in June. It is a large list but also a colorful one. I believe only 3 of my cultivators were totally done in June – Saratoga Springtime, Scorpio and yellow Stella de Oro.

If you like Ned Roberts cultivators, you have come to the right place because I have about 70 of them, and most (except Navajo Curls and Adios Albuquerque) that are going to bloom the year have bloomed sometime during July.

I went to the rodeo here last night, so I am all practiced-up and ready to go.

“Fringe Benefit” 6.27-7.12 (mislabeled bonus)

Glen Eyrie 7.25-7.30 (started while I was on vaca 7.19-24)

Golden Eclipse 7.16-present

Jungle Queen 7.1-7.19-24? Finished during vacation

Marque Moon 7.13-7.19 (ended 7.19-7.24 during vaca)

July Round-up N-Z – click here for more beautiful July blooms!

Please contact my business – Art and Nature from the Hartt for sales questions/availability.

Truchas, Chimayo, and Ghost Ranch

July 27, 20212 Comments

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.

Truchas, New Mexico – A small mountain town on the High Road to Taos. I didn’t see a Truchas sunrise, more like monsoon over Truchas.

Just a few miles down the road it Chimayo, famous for the Santuario de Chimayo. We didn’t see a moon over Chimayo, although I may look into camping here in the future. (the lead photo is also Chimayo)

This is Moon over Chimayo daylily from my yard last summer. She put out tons of new foliage this year, but no bloom. She looks a lot like Truchas Sunrise – probably why they are named for communities just a few miles apart. However, after the road trip, I think I won’t mix the two up any more.

Ghost Ranch is to the southwest of Truchas and Chimayo – an hour plus down the road and to the west. The land changes from Rocky Mountains to Colorado Plateau in those miles. So, the geography is distinctly different.

This is Ghost Ranch daylily from my yard this year. Distinctly different from Truchas and Chimayo namesake daylilies.

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!

Mapping Daylilies

July 18, 20211 Comment

Perhaps it is a bit premature to start my “between the seasons” chores. However, the best time to update my garden map was with several of the cultivators in bloom. It is funny what I forget when they aren’t blooming and look like a cross between grass and a spider plant. So, I printed off the old map and thought it would be a few adjustments. However, the garden grew and changed over the years and the numbering system was confusing – so I started from scratch.

Garden maps are great, though. You know what you have and what you don’t have. You know approximately where your cultivators are – so when that bloom you don’t remember pops up, you can figure out what it is (esp if you lost the label.

Anyway, back to the blooms – I had 3 very different premiers today.

El Desperado 7.17 – This was actually the first cultivator I had in the Southwest Garden (that was much smaller and just had yucca. I put it in a pot and set it out there with no water system other than my watering can. Suffice it to say, she didn’t flourish. I moved her and she did fine but up and died a couple years ago, so this is a replacement. She taught me that I needed irrigation out there before I tried daylilies in that spot, again. Now, there are 79.

Oh Erica 7.17 – This is a new addition to the family garden this year. I found the daylily by searching the family member’s name but couldn’t find it for sale. I found the hybridizer and he sold me the fans. I hope she does OK – she looks a little but eaten.

Purple Many Faces 7.17 – Pretty late for a premier bloom from this Roberts spider. It usually blooms early July. IDK – moving to the pot – also the drought – she was very slot to start this spring due to looking very dry.

Finales included a lot of big yellow-white flowers today. Sad to see them go.

Heavenly Curls finale 7.17 – She had her best bloom year ever, though!

Ghost Ranch finale 7.17 – She only had 2 buds so one premier and one finale. Glad I ordered more.

Papa Longlegs finale 7.17 – He also had a good bloom year.

Hopi Jewel finale 7.17 – I think of her as an earlier bloomer so it is unusual to still have her blooming.

Coral Taco finale 7.16 – I missed her yesterday

Only about 36 hours until I head for New Mexico for a few days – to see a Truchas sunrise and visit Ghost Ranch – Oh, and drive the Enchanted Circle in the land of enchantment.

Daylily Gridlock

July 12, 2021Leave a comment

I woke up to over 60 different daylily cultivator blooms today, again. I keep thinking that it is slowing down until I count the shots on my cell phone. So, if between taking the photos, posting the cell shots to Facebook, downloading/editing the camera shots, and blogging, I spend 5 minutes per cultivator (a conservative estimate) . . . well, do the math.

This year is weird because I made significant changes. I put my Southwest garden daylilies all in nicer pots with weed guard underneath (they are buried) to keep tree roots from destroying the pot. When I did that, I refreshed the soil with miracle grow plus their organic soil. It took weeks and a lot were really locked in with tree roots. I also refreshed the soil in all my front path pots – it had really collapsed over time. I added or improved drip systems in all areas that needed it. So, that is the positive. Oh, perhaps the biggest thing of all is that I am semi retired so have way more time to water regularly. My drip systems are not automatic.

On mother nature’s side, we are in a bad drought, again – it was a dry spring with a late, cold spell but little moisture. More like a fan got turned on high. We did have a little monsoon action for the week before the 4th of July. We are still somewhere between severe and extreme drought. And, that is an improvement from last month! It is hot with record breaking temps close to or at 100 degrees.

Put it all together and I have a lot of June bloomers that have scapes but haven’t bloomed yet, but my later bloomers are blooming pretty much on schedule. So, it is a bit of grid lock as the early birds are still in the intersections as the later blooms enter the scene. We are, therefore, still on the Grand Daylily Mesa (vs peak season) with 64 cultivators, with 5 premiers and 3 finales (so net gain of 2 in bloom).

Several of the premiers are Roberts spiders today – which is cool because we had several finales recently in that collection. Here we go!

Ghost Ranch 7.12 – Big surprise because I have had issues keeping this one alive in my yard. This is one fan that is in a group planter – the first bloom since I added the second try. I am buying a couple more fans this fall. This is a Roberts spider and it’s named after a place we are going camping next week!

Hesperus 7.12 – A giant yellow spider that brightens my driveway garden.

Nosferatu 7.12 – A large, dark purple daylily that adds a nice splash of color.

Spirit of the Morning 7.12 – Another Roberts spider. I think he named her because she has no UV resistance. Gotta get out early with the camera to see her at her best. I love the colors.

Taco Twister 7.12 – Reminds me of yellow ringlets. This one comes later in the season (about now) but I still have early birds like Kokopelli with buds.

Finales for today (if I didn’t miss one):

Let’s see what tomorrow brings. Today, I logged about 6 hours on daylily duty. How much time do you spend during peak season?

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 . . .

Oh, the Places We’ll Go: Ghost Ranch

May 8, 2020May 8, 2020Leave a comment

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.

Land of Enchantment

August 24, 2019August 24, 2019Leave a comment

I love New Mexico. It is, indeed, lives up to its motto of being the Land of Enchantment. I have a fair number of daylilies named after New Mexico places. More than any other State with the exception of Colorado. Probably largely because Spiderman, Ned Roberts, (my favorite hybridizer) lived in Albuquerque for several years.

Land of Enchantment 2019

We traveled through New Mexico on our April Southwest road trip this year. We saw badlands, flea markets, monuments, ruins, and white sands. It was awesome . . . at least until norovirus hit and wrecked havoc on the last 4 days of a 9 day trip. But, I was well until we were in Arizona and headed back toward the 4-corners.

Chaco Canyon 2019

We will be down in the 4-corners area for Labor Day. I am looking forward to it . . . I should say we were also near there on our summer road trip, but not in New Mexico.

Chama Valley 2019

I have actually visited places in New Mexico because I have daylilies with that name. Like Ghost Ranch – totally put it on the map because of my daylily.

Ghost Ranch 2019

Chaco Canyon I visited long before my daylily collection – It is such a sacred place with the roughest 20 something mile road in the world. But worth it.

Santa Fe Christmas 2019

Santa Fe is a pretty yuppie town (is that still a word?) Artists abound and it is kind of pricy, but we were near there a few years ago passing through New Mexico.

Truchas Sunrise – 2019

Truchas, New Mexico is about halfway between Santa Fe and Taos. I actually contemplated driving there just because of my daylily, but didn’t like the traffic of Santa Fe.

Star over Milagro 2019

I’ve never been to Milagro – but it isn’t too far from the Salinas Pueblo Mission Ruins south of Albuquerque that we have visited a couple of times. Next time, maybe I will plan to go watch stars over Milagro.

Moon over Chimayo

Chimayo, New Mexico is east of Espanola, where my favorite Aunt Pearl once lived. The road trips have taken us close to Chimayo . . . maybe next time.

Navajo Grey Hills 2019

Navajo Grey Hills is likely named after Two Grey Hills Trading Post. This is a place I have driven through between Shiprock and Window Rock on the Navajo reservation. Honestly, it must have been before one of my daylilies was named after the place because I had to look up where the name came from. Again . . . future destination.

Adios Albuquerque 2019

I have been to Albuquerque many times. I don’t like cities – but there are also some cool smaller towns and attractions near Albuquerque. I like Petroglyph National Monument! US Highway 550 starts in my hometown of Montrose, CO and ends just north of Albuquerque – 305 miles from my door (+/-). Chaco Canyon is along that route. I often take the backroads, though.

So, tonight I am using internet explorer to blog. Still glitchy (my photos keep disappearing) but faster than Edge. Ugh . . . I may just have to switch out of S Mode and go back to Chrome. This would be murder during peak season.

50 Startling Southwest Spider Daylilies!

August 1, 2019Leave a comment

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

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

Here Comes the Sun

June 30, 2019June 30, 2019Leave a comment

Well, time to stop thinking summer will never come. While I anticipate my daylilies are 2-4 weeks behind average, today there was a shift in numbers and colors.

Here are the today’s premieres:

The Colorado Kid 6/30

Comanche Princess 6/30

Canyon Colors 6/30 (first bloom 6/29)

Indian Love Call 6/30

Yellow Punch 6/30

Funny Valentine 6/30

And, here are the show stoppers who have been around for a week or three:

Saratoga Springtime 6/30

Dream Keeper 6/30

Golden Stella 6/30

Yellow Stella 6/30

I’m working on moving my history website moved to WordPress this weekend, so that’s all for the daylilies today. Oh, the cover photo is Ghost Ranch, whose one and only bud opened yesterday.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: Ghost Ranch