When it Doesn’t Rain, It Pours!

July 10, 2018July 10, 2018Leave a comment

The drought is still on. We have had hints of monsoons, but no real rain. I think there are close to a dozen wildfires in Western Colorado now. My water bill is awful and my lawn is still brown. But, somehow, the daylilies keep pouring. I wonder what my bloom rate would be WITH rain? It won’t be perfect this year but improved already. We will return to that in a minute.

New flowers today – Let’s start with the surprise! So, when I planted the Southwest Garden, I ended up with lots of bonus plants that were the same plants that I had ordered from someone else. So, I combined them. I had Fox Ears next to Happy Hopi – and I had 2 Happy Hopis. I thought. So, last fall when I did the containers, I thought I had put one of the Happy Hopis in a pot in the mural garden. Joke is on me . . . this is Fox Ears. I love that she seems to be in love with the solar light. Like a cartoon where a person falls in love with a robot. This is obviously a first-ever bloom.

Fox Ears 7.9

My other new (for 2018) Ned Roberts spider is Desert Icicle. Man, I could use an icicle about now. And, some rain!

Desert Icicle 7.9

Indian Sky had a first bloom for 2018 – she bloomed later last year, I believe.

Indian Sky 7.9

Speaking of later, Anasazi showed up early this year. She is an early re-bloomer, but did not bloom until August last year – and gave pretty double blooms. It will be interesting to see if she returns with those in the fall.

Anasazi 7.9

Fairytale Pink is such a pretty little bloom. I nearly lost her last year before I put them in pots. She had a few scrawny fans and put out only two buds last year. I think this year will be better.

Fairytale Pink 7.9

Last, but never least, is Cheddar Cheese. She has not bloomed since 2016! She is one of my older daylilies and bloomed reliably for a few years. Same pot, same place – stopped blooming. Now, she has a new pot and is in the Border Garden (a change) this year.

Cheddar Cheese 7.9

OK – so last night, I was counting daylilies to put myself to sleep. As of today, we are up to 98 cultivators for the year that have bloomed. Remember less than a week ago when we were trying to get to 69? Man, I am a little burned out with all the photos! That means, for this year so far we have a 56% bloom rate. Last year, we only made it to 48%. I count 25-30 scapes on daylilies that have yet to bloom. I figure we might see 5 late scapes (hopefully more, but I will stick with this for now). So, if I add 32 blooms to out 98, that brings us to 130. That’s about 75%. Not bad for the first year of a new pot system . . . in a horrific drought. The new faces should be slowing down shortly. I’m ready.

Other blooms today were Navajo Rodeo. Black Ice, Comanche Princess, Soco Gap, Happy Hopi, Iktomi, Laughing Feather, Dream Catcher, Aztec Firebird, Nosferatu, Dark Mystery, Red Riddle, Lady Fingers, Red Hot Returns, Jungle Queen, Prairie Wildfire, Prairie Blue Eyes, Blue Beat, The Colorado Kid, Mildred Mitchell, Mesa Verde, Heron’s Cove, Purple de Oro, South Seas, Passionate Returns, Stephanie Returns, Alabama Jubilee, Longlesson Showoff, Nurse’s Stethoscope, Petite Petticoats, Funny Valentine, Ruby Spider. I think that is all . . . I am too tired to think about it any more 🙂

It’s Late

August 21, 2017August 21, 2017Leave a comment

Camping weekend, but still time for an afternoon of fun putting daylilies in underground pots. My carpal tunnel is acting up from the trowel, my back hurts from the shovel. So, I switch back and forth. Five more moved. I have 7 more pots – so that is all I am doing this fall. I should be done by next weekend. In fact, the whole fall daylily thing should be wrapping up soon. I prefer the blooms to the digging. And, having more time to savor camping. 🙂

Here are a few from the last few days.

Coral Taco, Heirloom Heaven, Pink and Cream, Passionate Returns, Indian Sky

And – Three weeks after I discovered the scape, Anasazi is looking ready to bloom. Now, how cool if a flower with that name blooms on the eclipse day? I need to sleep first!

Under the Surface

August 16, 2017Leave a comment

Today brought a good variety of color. From the yellow-pink blooms of Pizza Crust and Pink & Cream to the deep red of Cherokee Star and Heirloom Heaven. In the middle was pretty Indian Sky.

I am keeping a close eye on the Southwest garden since the replantings. Some yellow leaves here and there. Overall, they are in much better shape despite looking a bit frazzled.

It makes me think of our humanity. Sometimes everything can look pretty perfect on the surface. The garden had mulch and few weeds. The sprinkler ran regularly. And, the lilies looked pretty much OK. But, several were too small and one died. The bloom rate was poor and the blooms looked stunted. I wondered about the sunlight, mostly. Something was off, but the thought of fixing what lay under the surface was something I wanted to deny.

It was odd to deny it . . . I knew what was underneath. Somehow, I hoped top soil would be enough to get the lilies started. I mean, maybe they could do OK in the clay . . . that is what it says on the internet. Seriously, this Colorado Plateau clay is like an abusive, addictive relationship. Not only does it not provide nutrition, it is like cement. I have never seen it get damp more than a couple inches below the surface. The roots that do penetrate are stuck forever, unable to move yet starving for a better existence.

Diving under the surface and fixing the real problem is hard, hard work. And, I am sure there is more of it ahead in this adventure. I could continue to ignore it . . . normalize it. You know, just keep watering harder and hope somehow it corrects itself. But, then it comes time to stop the cycle and do something different. I hope it will pay off and that everything flourishes and blooms. Then, it will be worth it for daylily generations to come.

Sick Day Bouquet

August 15, 2017August 15, 2017Leave a comment

Today, I ended up taking half the day off as a sick day. It makes me feel guilty to write a blog with the smattering of photos I managed this AM. But, believe me, the 4 hours of hard sleep and other viral symptoms are as real as the beauty of the flower. My first sick day in the year I have worked there . . . well, almost a year. I’m sure my crazy shifts in the yard added to the exhaustion.

Of course, there are no new blooms today. I sort of like the fall in daylily-ville, because you don’t have to look as hard to be sure you didn’t miss one.

This weekend is camping weekend. I also hope to get the daylily roots washed for my coworkers so I can mail them on Wednesday next week. I have a few more divisions to do . . . some of my co-workers down South will do better with the evergreens. I just haven’t gotten that far yet. And, I have a musical pots thing that needs to happen. But, before that MORE garden soil to buy. Jeez.

In thinking of next year, I think I will pull two of my three Stellas completely out of their pots and add divisions of Pink & Cream and Yellow Punch. They have earned their stripes as pretty rebloomers this year. The color and shape is better than Stella.

With all these pots, next year I may have a daylily yard sale. I love to give them away. And, if the pots do well, I will have more than enough for that. So, maybe a little one-day sale or something. I need to think about it. Anyone with any experience out there? Or is online better?

For winter, I want to blog more about my poinsettias, orchids, and Amaryllis. I actually may look at other Christmas bloomers. I got the coolest Mexican pottery at . . . Walmart. It was a few weeks ago . . . amazing prices. Anyway, thinking of some winter wonder bloomers in there. Ah, it is time to sleep, again.

Grit

August 3, 2017Leave a comment

Today was split shift . . . a day of grit to get more daylilies protected from the soil and roots in my home ground. I gotta tell you, I am ready to be done. And, yet, I have barely started in the Southwest garden. Ugh, that clay soil is definitely part of the problem in the area where the daylilies are not thriving as much. I put my first two full pots out there, buried. The challenge is to make sure the sprinkler hose hits them. Some others are in bottomless pots, and some in the black nursery containers, mostly without bottoms. We will see what works. It is possible that what works is just digging deeper in that clay and replacing it with real soil. But, the pots keep the unwanted roots out. Grit.

So, I had no new blooms. Decided to play with my photo editor. So, here is Indian Sky from today in colored chalk.

Also, I am resharing my Ned Roberts spider collage because I forgot Glen Eyrie. I guess 19 out of 69 could be worse. Almost 30%. But, that clay has to get split up to improve things. Next year, I would like to hit 40. Keep on digging. Grit! Except, this weekend I have a date with my tent.

Left to Right: Top Row – Adios Albuquerque, Aztec Firebird, Black Ice, Chaco Canyon, Chief Four Fingers, Coral Taco. Middle Row: Desert Icicle, Dream Catcher, Dream Keeper, Ghost Ranch, Glen Eyrie, Kokopelli, Papa Longlegs. Bottom Row – Pink Enchilada, Pueblo Dancer, Rasberry Propeller, Skinwalker, Twirling Pinata, Zuni Thunderbird

Focus

July 25, 2017July 25, 2017Leave a comment

I was downloading photos from my camera tonight and had to laugh that the first 5 or 6 were horribly out-of-focus. Must have been Monday! The first photo is Mini Pearl – I was trying to catch a bee on her. No luck, but the focus is kinda cool. (Little Cadet – in focus.)

Daylilies give a focus to my life for several months every year. Not the only focus, but a creative focus. Now, work is more structured and less creative. I crave my time with the colors. One woman walked by yesterday and says she choose this route so she can see which lily blooms next. Yea, me too! (Black Eyed Susan is putting on a good show.)

Nothing new in bloom today – and not much cued-up. I’m featuring my golden blooms with eyes today, I guess. The season winds down a bit, and I am sad by the number of blooms I did not see this year. Fol de Rol dropped its bud. Why? It is hard to be a farmer. (Indian Sky paints the front lawn today.)

I did order pots – lotsa pots – from Amazon. Digging and transplanting kills much of a chance for reblooms. But, making the plants stronger this season will build blooms for the next. And, that’s my focus. PS – Two of the three featured blooms today are in pots!

Indian Sky

July 22, 2017July 22, 20173 Comments

Indian skies remind me of camping trips to the Southwest. And, today, my Indian Sky bloomed for the first time. Well, second time. But the first time it was still on the back porch for the winter and it was April. It only had 2 buds then, and the blooms lasted 2-3 days on the cool porch. They were faded, but I could see the shadow of what they would be someday.

Today’s bloom was so much more colorful than that poor anemic bloom.

But, still some difference from the more colorful (with yellow) web images. See below.

I loved the colors enough to superimpose Indian Sky a sunset from last summer near Monument Valley, UT/AZ. I think it turned out cool.

Other first blooms (I don’t want to use them all up at once, but I had 3 today) included Best Seller. I am so jazzed that this one finally bloomed . . . a gift plant the summer of 2014, I believe. I like the purple hue and ruffles! I was so impressed with this one when it arrived – it’s been a long wait.

Lastly, an inexpensive late bloomer that I got to put in last year, Little Cadet. It is the first bloom in my yard. It is a cute little thing, and the scapes are too short this year. But, it is here.

Honorable mention to my best (and last) Zuni Thunderbird for the season.

After work, I ventured to Home Depot for supplies to start my daylily buried pot project. I figured out that I have lost 1.5 daylilies in the front part of the walkway garden to competition. So, tomorrow, I move the ones who have virtually no chance of blooming this year into pots – then back in that garden. I feel overwhelmed – I have around 20-30 in the front area that may benefit from a pot. I need to plug away at it, because I need to be done in about 6 weeks so they can resettle before freeze.

I have decided that I need to learn how to get daylilies to flourish in the desert before I get too many more new ones . . . and that means trying different things. I read somewhere recently that you should put your daylily where it can grow huge before putting it in less desirable places. My potted daylilies are so much happier than my in-grounds for the most part. I am curious to see what happens. Oh, and then there are those who need to be divided. Some, I’ll keep. Others will need to find new homes.

Today, Our Mascot Bloomed!!!

June 29, 2017June 29, 2017Leave a comment

The Colorado Kid. I found her on some site and ordered her from far away. Near-blue, Colorado in the name . . . This is her second year in my yard. And, her blooms make me smile. They are so pretty in the morning before the sun hits and turns the near blue to a deeper, more lavender color. Still pretty, but the UV by mid day makes all the blooms frump a little.

Other first blooms today – the much awaited Pink Enchilada. This flower gives me hope that it just takes time for the bare roots to bloom in the new garden. It is year 2 in the garden, but a first bloom today.

The Southwest Garden also welcomed Indian Love Call. This flower seems happier here than in the pot I had it in last year . . . so that is a positive sign, too.

Soco Gap is a huge daylily in that garden. It was a bonus plant that I stuck between 2 yuccas before I enlarged the garden. It thrives, also a positive sign.

Those positives said, I only have 12 plants with scapes out of 76 plants in the Southwest Garden. Yard-wide (including the porch pots, front garden and Southwestern Garden, I have had 28 cultivators bloom so far (most in the front now have scapes). I have around 160 cultivators total. So, it’s under 20% still. Should be interesting to see what happens in July. (6 of 9 of my back porch pots have bloomed already – interesting on sun and drip systems).

In hindsight, I don’t think I did enough spring watering in the Southwest Garden. The new sprinkler hose also seems to give better coverage. I have also leaned on over fertilizing this year to get the plants some size before they invest in blooms. The soil will need more work – but it is decent for year 2. I wonder about the trees giving too much shade. I think I will go out and snap a cell photo every hour some day soon to see if each area gets 5 -6 hours. I think it is close, but I may invest in some tree trimming this fall. LOL – Who says skiing is the most expensive hobby in Colorado???

Up for tomorrow . . . maybe Bluegrass Music. Maybe Primal Scream or even Aztec Firebird. And, Indian Sky has some baby scapes, finally. The daylily garden is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.

A Time to Every Purpose

September 28, 2016September 28, 2016Leave a comment

Today, Ruby Stella bloomed. She only has two buds left and freeze is headed our way soon. I was thinking of firsts and lasts today. My first daylily bloomed in March . . . in zone 6A. Indian Sky was accidentally forced on my porch and produced two blooms. She did not rebloom this year.

Indian Sky – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

My first in-yard bloom was another container that was forced a bit early from winter on the porch – Electric Lizard.

Electric Lizard – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

My first planted in the dirt daylily to bloom was Dream Keeper (6/13) – this is my daughter’s choice for a painting for her birthday.

Dream Keeper – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

And, the last . . . Miss Ruby Stella from today. Last, but not least.

Ruby Stella – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

They spanned seven months . . . maybe we make it to October? Then, eight.

The other thing I hope spans a lot of months are the new labels. What a project to make these for every daylily, not just the 50 or so southwestern garden ones that I blogged about earlier this month. They have held up, so I am giving it a shot. I just want labels that last more than a month or two. So, we will see. Fingers crossed.

PS – I did become a Doctor of Nursing Practice. And, then I went on a camping road trip through SE Utah. New job starts next week. Time to get cracking with some winter strong labels!

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: Indian Sky