Tag: High UV

The Heat Was Hot and the Air Was Dry, But the Garden Was Full Of Blooms

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Hello fellow daylily fans!

It is a drought in the high desert this year. Every day it seems I get a fire weather warning from Montrose County. It’s been consistently in the high 80s to mid 90s with very low (single digit) humidity. And, the daylilies are blooming, anyway. They bloom in their little pots that keep the desert tree roots out and the moisture in. They bloom in the middle of my rock easement on the alkaline, hard, clay soil. They bloom in the high UV until they melt into translucent shadows of themselves.

This is not the land where daylilies flourish in huge patches that can be divided and sold or shared at any volume. It’s the land of the Colorado Plateau with Arches, Monument Valley, Zion, Canyonlands and Horseshoe Bend. It’s the land where they film western movies. How many daylilies have you ever seen in a John Wayne movie?

So, it’s late and I don’t have a lot of time to blog. But, I don’t want to get behind. In the last week – here are the new faces (premier blooms for this year’s cycle) in my hot, dry desert garden:

Alabama Jubilee 6.20
All American Chief 6.20
Blackthorn 6.21
Catherine Irene 6.16
Early Bird Cardinal 6.21
Happy Returns 6.19
Hopi Jewel 6.15
Jungle Queen 6.20
Kokopelli 6.16
Laughing Feather 6.21
Longlesson Showoff 6.15
Mildred Mitchell 6.19
Ojo de Dios 6.16
Orange Flurry 6.21
Prairie Wildfire 6.18
Primal Scream 6.15
Thin Man 6.20
Wild Horses 6.15

That’s 18 in a week! Peak may come early because of the drought. It feels like it went from 0 to 60 in a New York Minute. Can’t wait to see what happens next week. Hope I can stay caught up!

Happy Summer Solstice, Cathy Hartt

Wax Daylily Booms of Independence Day

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Today started with a parade and will end with fireworks. Must be July 4th, In between, I visited my daylilies. I think in July in Colorado (or the desert States) that we should call them 7-11 lilies, because after about 11 AM, the blooms start to melt. I mean, they literally look like melting wax to me. Our UV is just so high for them here when the humidity drops towards the single digits. Maybe that is why I take so many photos and paint the blooms. There is no hanging out with them all day because it is just too hot and I melt, too.

Anyway – I had 43 in bloom today, including 3 premiers. No finales today. Oh, and add Maya Cha Cha = who premiered yesterday but I missed her photo with the camera. I actually take pictures with both cell and camera. I post the cell shots to my Facebook page ASAP. That is a great back-up to the camera and helps me remember what is what if I get behind on camera shots. Maya is on the phone yesterday, but not in my computer library. I guess that puts us at 76, which is a patriotic number.

Bella Lugosi premier 7.4
Just Plum Happy premier 7.4 – One of my very first daylilies. I divided her and put half in the boarder garden. The potted half died this year, but the one in the ground is doing OK.
Lullaby Baby premier 7.4 – a favorite pastel daylily
Maya Cha Cha premier 7.3
Pink Enchilada premier 7.4
Pink Rain Dance premier 7.4

It is hard to believe only 40% of my daylilies have bloomed. I probably have a dozen or so without scapes so who knows if they will skip or be late? If they don’t bloom – that means we have 92 more premiers and our bloom rate will be 93%. That’s an A in my book. I am just waiting for water cost to shoot up because they declared a state of drought emergency in my part of the State yesterday.

Keep on blooming. Happy 4th!

Purple T-bird

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No, I don’t mean a wild looking old car.

Purple T-Bird Car (google images)

This was a camping weekend – and, like it or not, the last weekend before school starts. I had a frightening encounter with a drunk driver on the ride home. Not awful, but it coulda been.

Purple Thunderbird 8.2.20

We got home early afternoon. With temps in the 90s with high UV, my blooms were pretty weathered by the time I took pictures. I had one premier – Purple Thunderbird. That leaves only a couple of Roberts premier spiders to bloom in 2020. Purple Thunderbird is a big flower. Her scapes are short in my yard, though.

Navajo Grey Hills 8.2.20

I also noticed that the weathered coloring makes Navajo Grey Hills look, well, grey. She is decidedly purple in the morning.

Shape Shifter 8.2.20

I ordered my first round of improved pots. I need to get soil and manure for the transfers. Might start next weekend and work around those still in bloom – a number that dwindles daily.