Yesterday, the rains came. Many daylily growers live where that happens often enough that it isn’t out of the ordinary. In Western Colorado, it’s usually out of the ordinary.
Today, all hell started breaking loose. In other words, I had a record number of first blooms for the season. Where to start? Maybe alphabetical.
I best get some sleep. Once it starts, there is no stopping it. Come hell or high water. Because, I think the bloom rate is going to be high this year.
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.
Alabama Jubilee 6.26-7.10All American Chief 6.22-7.9Apache Bandana 6.30-7.10Autumn Jewels 7.16-presentAztec Firebird 7.8-7.31Baby Blue Eyes 7.6-7.27Baja 7.10-7.29Bella Boo 7.2-7.16Bela Lugosi 7.4-7.26Big Red Rhyme (NOID) 6.22-7.11Black Arrowhead 7.6-7.30Blackthorne 7.6-7.13Black Eyed Susan 7.4-7.19Black Ice 7.4-7.18Blue Beat 7.9-7.17Buttered Popcorn 7.7-7-25Candy Cane Dreams 7.1-7.19Canyon Colors 6.15-presentCatherine Irene 6.24-7.13Chaco 6.27-presentCheddar Cheese 7.3-7.17Cherokee Star 7.9-8.1Cheyenne Eyes 7.6-7.19Chief Four Fingers 6.12-7.15Chokecherry Mountain 7.5-7.27Chorus Line 7.6-presendClassy Lady 7.6-7.29Coburg Fright Wig 7.11-7.30Comanche Princess 6.18-7.11Coral Taco 7.2-7.16Cricket Call 7.3-7.17Cripple Creek 7.19-presentDancing Maiden 7.16-presentDesert Icicle 7.26-presentDr Doom 7.30-presentDream Catcher 7.14-presentDream Keeper 6.11-7.1Early Bird Cardinal 6.27-7.13Echo Canyon 6.21-7.10El Desperado 7.17-presentFairytale Pink 7.11-7.17Feather Woman 7.5-7.9Fine Time Lucille 7.10-7.17Fol de Rol 7.4-7.17Fooled Me 7.10-7.16Frans Hals 7.15-present“Fringe Benefit” 6.27-7.12 (mislabeled bonus)Funny Valentine 6.20-7.8Ghost Ranch 7.12-7.17Glen Eyrie 7.25-7.30 (started while I was on vaca 7.19-24)
Golden Eclipse 7.16-present
Happy Hopi 7.7-7.31Happy Returns 6.27-7.12Heavenly Curls 7.5-7.17Heirloom Heaven 7.25-presentHesperus 7.12-presentHoly Sombrero 7.7-7.25Hopi Jewel 6.27-7.17Iktomi 7.9-7.29Indian Love Call 7.13-7.27Indian Sky 7.13-presentIndian Giver 6.30-7.17Inwood 6.22-7.12Jungle Queen 7.1-7.19-24? Finished during vacationJust Plumb Happy 7.4-7.15Kachina Dancer 6.30-7.16Kokopelli 6.25-7.19Lacy Doily 7.3-7.16Lady Fingers 6.23-7.19Land of Enchantment 6.23-7.11Lime Frost 7.11-7.16Lobo Lucy 7.13-7.31Longlesson Showoff 7.5.7.18Lullaby Baby 7.7 to presentMama Cuna 7.11-presentMarque Moon 7.13-7.19 (ended 7.19-7.24 during vaca)Mauna Loa 6.27-7.10Maya Cha Cha 7.4-7.19Medicine Feather 7.5-7.18Melon Balls 7.6-7.15Mesa Verde 6.15-7.13Mini Pearl 6.26-7.31Mount Echo Sunrise 6.28-7.19
This time of year, it feels like daylilies are my life. I have had about 30 blooms in the garden for several days. Yesterday, we hit 40. Today, we hit 60!. It took me almost an hour just to photograph them – let alone photo editing and posting. Last night, I took a lot of photos of fireworks – It felt very similar in my garden today. A few pauses, but mostly lots of action. Do I think we are at peak – no. But it is getting closer.
Here are the premiers for today. Hang on – there are 10 (so about 80 cultivators have bloomed so far). Today, there were several of my favorite hybridizer’s blooms that opened (Ned Roberts). Daylily season is like Christmas . . . the peak is a little overwhelming. At the same time, it is like old friends who visit once a year.
Chokecherry Mountain 7.5 (A Ned Roberts Spider)Feather Woman 7.5 (A Ned Roberts spider)Heavenly Curls – one of my favorite bonus daylilies!Longlesson Show-off – Not one of my favorite bonus daylilies, but the bloom looked fuller and more colorful today than usual. Maybe the soil change and drip system.Medicine Feather – A lanky Ned Roberts spiderAnother bonus – Nona’s Garnet Spider – I have always liked her.Pueblo Dancer – 7.5 – another Roberts spider but I have always questioned her ID. Her blooms are larger this year with the soil change!Ruby Stella 7.5Strutter’s Ball – 7.5 – a late bloom start for this long-time member of my daylily packTalon – 7.5 Another old friend from my Roberts collection
Finales have started to add up a little, too. I missed Platinum Pink Palette Whispers. Today was the last of Funny Valentine’s show for 2021.
Platinum Pink finale 7.2Funny Valentine finale 7.5
Wholly cow! This took all day. It’s 4:30! Hopefully, I got the bugs worked out of my back-up system so it doesn’t take as long tomorrow. I gotta get painting and get my business inventory going! Follow my business blog for updates, too.
Today, I had two Premiers – both Ned Roberts spiders with names from the State to south of here – New Mexico. The first one, Navajo Grey Hills, I believe to be named after a trading post just south of Shiprock, NM (Four-Corners region). I drive that way sometimes but never noticed it . . . I need to keep a lookout.
Navajo Grey Hills 7.23.20
Star over Milagro is the other Premier of the day. Milagro is east of Albuquerque. Off our road trip circuit by a few miles.
Star Over Milagro
Let’s see – Orange Punch was an Encore today.
Yellow Punch 7.23.1
Finales – Stephanie Returns, Fringe Benefit, Longlesson Show-off, Black Arrowhead, and Cheyenne Eyes. I like about 25 blooms – it is a good amount but not overwhelming. And, the monsoons have been back all week.
Change of shift is obviously when one group goes home and another one takes over. Well, since I left on vacation last Wednesday, I have had a lot of premiers and finales. I am not sure how many of each – but I do know that I have 44 in bloom today and 21 are new since I pulled out on my trip.
Rifle Falls State Park, CO
I had about 400 trip photos to go through, so I haven’t had time much time to count finales. I do know I missed at least one and others I only saw one bloom.
Wild Mustang in the Sand Wash Basin, CO
Was it worth it? Oh, yea – Colorado is beautiful and it is good to get out of town. Of course, the downside is that I now worry about COVID. Oh, I masked and carried hand sanitizer everywhere – around my neck. That said, there are a lot of people wondering around Colorado and our cases are on the rise.
Rocky Mountain National Park, COState Forest State Park, CO
I’ve now had about 104 bloom (+/-) so we are at a 61% bloom rate. I’d like to get to 80%, but we will see. I am just going to list the 21 new bloomers (Premiers) in alphabetic order:
Black Arrowhead 7.17.20Cripple Creek 7.17.20Dancing Maiden 7.17.20Dream Catcher 7.17.20Fine Time Lucille 7.17.20Glen Eyrie 7.17.20Hesperus 7.17.20Longlesson Show-off 7.17.20Mama Cuna 7.17.20Marque Moon 7.17.20Painted Petroglyph and her sad, bug eaten bloom 7.17.20Prelude to Love 7.17.20Raspberry Propeller 7.17.20Red Hot Returns 7.17.20Red Mystery 7.17.20Ruby Stella 7.17.20Shape Shifter 7.17.20South Seas 7.17.20Spirit of the Morning 7.17.20Taco Twister 7.17.20Zuni Thunderbird 7.17.20
With 44 in bloom, I am still at peak. We will see what tomorrow brings . . .
So, I had a record number of cultivators in bloom the day before my trip, but no time to blog. Tomorrow, I’m home but too late to see any blooms. So, here is the 7/16 batch. Honestly, I don’t remember which were new bloom, but I’ll try. It’ll be good to see what’s new on Sunday!
Wow – It will be August next weekend. The daylily peak has come and gone. The cultivators were in the teens today . . . a massive drop off from 2-3 weeks ago. It is funny how the first 3 weeks of June are slow progress, then it explodes, then it goes to just a few here and there for months.
Today, we had one new cultivator. Heirloom Heaven bloomed for the first time in 2018. She is an adorable late-blooming mini. She is my last unbloomed scape on a cultivator that hasn’t bloomed yet. This could be it. It seems like I usually get some August scapes . . . not many, but a handful. I don’t know with this drought, though.
Heirloom Heaven 7.29
And, I had a rude awakening last night – because Mount Echo Sunrise doesn’t look anything like Mount Echo Sunrise. I looked at her tag, and she has two. The other one says Moon over Chimayo . . . and she looks like that one. So, I assume . . .
Moon over Chimayo 7.27
Finales:
Lullabye Baby 7.29
Roll Call 7/23-29:
Adios Albuquerque 7.26
Anasazi 7.27
Apache Uprising 7.25
Aztec Firebird 7.27
Baja 7.25
Bela Lugosi 7.24
Blue Beat 7.25
Bluegrass Music 7.24
Bold Tiger 7.23
Cheddar Cheese 7.24
Cherokee Star 7.28
Chorus Line 7.26
Classy Lady 7.27
Comanche Princess 7.28
Dream Catcher (with Navajo Curls) 7.27
El Desperado 7.24
Fox Ears 7.25
Heron’s Cove 7.27
Hesperus 7.25
Indian Love Call 7.24
Indian Sky 7.24
Lady Fingers 7.25
Lime Frost 7.26
Longlesson Show-off 7.23
Marque Moon 7.24
Mildred Mitchell 7.23
Mini Pearl 7.29
Navajo Curls 7.24
Navajo Rodeo 7.23
Nearly Wild 7.28
Nosferatu 7.26
Orange Vols 7.24
Passionate Returns 7.29
Pick of the Litter 7.23
Pink and Cream 7.29
Pizza Crust 7.28
Prairie Blue Eyes 7.28
Prelude to Love 7.25
Purple Corn Dancer 7.26
Purple de Oro 7.24
Purple Moonrise 7.27
Purple Thunderbird 7.26
Raspberry Propeller 7.28
Rosie’s Red 7.23
Route 66 7.26
Royal Palace Prince 7.27
Ruby Stella 7.28
South Seas 7.27
Stephanie Returns 7.23
Tiger Kitten 7.27
Twirling Pinata 7.24
Yellow Punch 7.26
56 for the week . . . that is all! I bet we are down to half of that by next week.
It was a busy day for a Monday after the peak. 35 cultivators blooming today . . . that is a lot. Last year, I had 18 in bloom this day. In 2015, the number was 8. Maybe I was camping in 2016. Anyway, today we hit a total of 123 cultivators for the year – about 70% bloom rate. I only have a couple with scapes that have not bloomed . . . I don’t know if we will get to 75%. But was are sure ahead of 48% last year.
So – for today – two new babies. A first-ever bloom is Navajo Curls. I got her a couple years ago and she didn’t come back last spring. She was replaced in the fall. Worth it! She is another Ned Roberts spider – can you tell?
Navajo Curls 7.23
And, my old favorite brilliant orange daylily – Orange Vols – opened today. I put her in 6 years ago when I xeriscaped parts of my yard. I love to paint her!
Orange Vols 7.23
Encores – Our first rebloom of the season! Indian Love Call came back for seconds.
Indian Love Call 7.23
Finales – Our last blooms today are below (unless they do encores). When it is the last Ruby Spider, you know the peak is waning. I’m kinda ready for those 10 or fewer blooms a day, honestly!
It is roll-call day! But, first, a dedication. It is camping weekend and I was listening to a song “Desperado” on my ipod. I have always identified with the song. So, I will put El Desperado as our lead photo today.
Desperado – The Eagles
Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses? You been out ridin’ fences for so long now Oh, you’re a hard one I know that you got your reasons These things that are pleasin’ you Can hurt you somehow
Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds, boy She’ll beat you if she’s able You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet
Now it seems to me, some fine things Have been laid upon your table But you only want the ones that you can’t get
Desperado, oh, you ain’t gettin’ no younger Your pain and your hunger, they’re drivin’ you home And freedom, oh freedom well, that’s just some people talkin’ Your prison is walking through this world all alone
Don’t your feet get cold in the winter time? The sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine It’s hard to tell the night time from the day You’re losin’ all your highs and lows Ain’t it funny how the feeling goes away?
Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses? Come down from your fences, open the gate It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you You better let somebody love you (let somebody love you) You better let somebody love you before it’s too late
OK – so new to the garden for the first time in 2018 today is Pizza Crust. I get a little hungry looking at her because I am stuck with low cholesterol pizza that doesn’t have much crust.