Surviving a 1,000-Year Drought: Daylily Care in High Desert Conditions on the Colorado Plateau

July 15, 2026Leave a comment

Hello Daylily Fans!

July, she flies. In fact, all of daylily season flies. Every year. It seems like the time between Saratoga Springtime and Purple Corndancer is about a week. But, in reality, it’s generally late May through sometime in August or September.

I have had several bloom since my last post on July 6th. We are getting into middle-late bloomers now. The temps have been close to or at 100 degrees daily for several days with minimal humidity. The smoke has cleared some, but the daily poor air quailty reports continue. And, we had about 10 minutes of rain a couple days ago – the first in weeks.

While droughts are common here in the high desert of the Colorado Plateau, this year is different. According to Drought.gov, this is the most severe drought period the region has experienced since at least 800 CE, beating out droughts that led Ancestral Puebloan cultures to abandon the Four Corners region.

And, despite that, my daylilies have done OK. Not great, but OK enough that I am at a 61% bloom rate for the year so far. The sad part is that it is my Southwestern Roadtrip Garden that is hardest hit. And, that is where my favorite cultivators live – my Ned Robert’s spiders and others that bear high desert names. The list of what hasn’t bloomed is bigger than the list of what has – at least for that garden.

I am planning to do some hardcore rehab of my pots in the Southwestern Roadtrip Garden this fall. And, the winter looks good for snow so far. Hopefully, my high desert spiders will be back in 2027.

Here are all my cultivators that have bloomed since July 7th. Enjoy!

I should add, that I have had about 34 of my Ned Roberts spiders bloom so far this year. That’s a gift. Last year, I had about 50. I still have a few left to bloom. But, it won’t be close to last year. I will do a whole blog on this once they have all bloomed.

Until next week,

Keep on blooming, Cathy Hartt, DNP (Daylily Nerd Person)

Visit my Art from the Hartt website for some great garden and daylily art from the high desert of the Colorado Plateau.

Drought Impact on Daylilies: Black Canyon of the Gunnison South Rim Fire & Garden Update

July 12, 2025Leave a comment

Hi Daylily Lovers,

The South Rim Fire, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

I want to start by saying a few words about the drought that has been growing in Western Colorado all season. Yesterday, in the early hours of the morning, a “dry lightning” storm came through and set off multiple fires in our region. This is like striking a match to dry kindling.

Now, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is evacuated because of an active fire on the South Rim – about 15 miles away on the road – maybe 10 miles as the crow flies. The smoke and air quality are bad. The South Rim Fire is one of three very active fires in my county – the others are the Sow Belly Fire and the Deer Creek Fire. I can hear the aircraft humming almost constantly from my garden, about 2 miles from our airport.

Watch Duty screen shot 7.11.24 Montrose County, CO

So many daylily farmers live in places that get regular rain. Here, the daylilies often get their only water from my City water hose. But, beyond the daylilies, please keep our firefighters in your thoughts as they battle these blazes in 90+ degree weather and single-digit humidity.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park photo (credit Facebook) 7.11.25

Garden Update: First Blooms for 2025 Since July 4th

I’ve had a lot of bloomers since I last posted on July 4th. It’s hot now, too uncomfortable to garden. And, now there is smoke. But, I still manage to get out everyday for my photos and a jog around the neighborhood.

I hit peak bloom 2 days ago, with 60+ in bloom that day. As of today, I have had 113 total cultivators in bloom this season for a bloom rate of 60%. I am hoping to make it to 80% this season. If I keep all the current buds and add a few more, I’ll be OK. Bud blast happens in these conditions, thought. I need 39 more!

I continue with my community volunteer work. I feel that is my priority this summer, but I miss my more frequent and in-depth posts about daylily gardening. Fortunately, it has been a better bloom year than I expected with the drought. And, I am getting a couple of hours on my porch editing my photos every day. It is a joyful escape (even in the heat) from today’s politics. I am grateful for my daily daylily escape!

Until next week, keep blooming! Cathy H

Illusion in the Garden

July 29, 2023July 29, 2023Leave a comment

Another warm (hot with UV of 9) in the desert daylily garden. Four new mif-late season cultivators. Winds of Love is suck a cool daylily because she always looks like a painting to me. Like an illusion of perfection in my imperfect garden.

The rains still have not come. They seem more a forecaster’s illusion than science at the moment. Looks like maybe some cooling and rain next week. I’ve said that before.

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A post shared by Cathy Hartt (@coloradokiddaylilies)

Please enjoy my IG reel from today. In order: Marque Moon, Western Sandstone, Winds of Love, Zuni Thunderbird.

Please visit my website Www.artfromthehartt.com

The Summit is Just the Halfway Point

July 17, 2022Leave a comment

The thought that half or more of my scapes are still unbloomed is staggering. Especially days when there are a dozen premiers in one day. And, I’ve ordered 3 new daylilies plus replacements for 2 of mine that died last winter. It’s like raising the altitude of Everest a thousand feet when you are struggling to reach the summit. I’ll need to add on to my drip system.

I had some cool Ned Roberts spiders blooming for the first time today. 73 total in bloom and 67% of all my cultivators have bloomed so far.

Here we go!

We will see what tomorrow brings.

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.

Love Ya to the Moon!

July 13, 2021July 14, 2021Leave a comment

Holy cow! I had almost 70 again today. We have been hovering in the 60s since 7.5. That is definitely a record of some sort. That said, the finales are starting to outnumber the premiers, so it should start to die down soon. That being said, I have about 30 with scapes that have not yet bloomed. I think my bloom rate is around 66% currently. (I finally moved my daylily software from my old computer – which took an hour to boot up 😛 )

Here we go – today we had two loves, one moon and one timber wolf as premiers.

Winds of Love 7.13 – I love the mellow colors of this Roberts spider.

Indian Love Call 7.13 – Weirdly putting out a first bloom when it normally is in rebloom mode.

Marque Moon 7.13 – A funny, ruffley guy from the local nursery

Lobo Lucy 7.13 – Another Roberts spider out dancing with her Chokecherry Mountain cousin.

Finales for today were:

Wild Horses 7.13 finale. Was in bloom almost a full month.

Blackthorne 7.13 finale after producing only a few buds and not blooming for several years.

Mesa Verde finale 7.13. In bloom almost a month.

Wineberry Candy finale 7.13. This guy didn’t have a great year and likely needs some new soil.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

July’s Colorful Parade

July 31, 20203 Comments

Are you ready for a beautiful July parade? Here goes – a listing of all of my daylilies that had first blooms in July. I count 81. Enjoy!

Change of Shift

July 18, 2020Leave a comment

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.

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.

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.

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:

Painted Petroglyph and her sad, bug eaten bloom 7.17.20

With 44 in bloom, I am still at peak. We will see what tomorrow brings . . .

The Company They Keep!

July 23, 2019July 23, 2019Leave a comment

Sorting photos of daylilies . . . People ask me how I keep them straight. Well, I don’t always but I generally do OK because I have some systems to help. First, I have a garden map that I created a couple years ago. It is awesome, it has circles for each daylily in my Southwest Garden with the color of each daylily. And, they have letters/numbers. You can look up the letter/number and see the daylily name with a photo.

The other system is metal markers that have paint pen on them. Want to know a little secret – if you spray them with engine spray after you paint the name on it stays on for years!!!

So, if one system fails, I have the other. As I go through old photos, though, there is a system that works even if it has been a while since you took the photo. Well, look at the company it keeps. I look for landscaping or other plants. I look for other daylilies – what is the backdrop. Usually, I can figure it out. I did make a couple mistakes on Treasure of the Southwest (confused with Soco Gap) that I need to go back and fix.

It feels good to be sort of caught up. But, I realize how different this year is as far as photography. Previous years, I took my phone photos to post on Facebook or if I didn’t have time to download from the camera. I used the camera to get multiple shots of each bloom – especially new blooms and last blooms. This year, both the cell and camera only have one photo of each cultivator/day except in a few cases. That means if the daylily was blooming during my trip, I may only have a photo or two of it for the whole year – half a dozen max.

Perhaps I can enjoy snapping a few more photos now that the trips are done and I have my photosystem for the year up and running. I had 65 total, today. The peak is still with us. Anyway – not quite so many Premiers today. Here they are:

Apache Uprising 7/22

Marque Moon

Red Hot Returns 7/22

Zuni Eye 7/22

Oh, and my amazing Easter Lily Cactus bloomed today. Like daylilies, the blooms only last one day. Enjoy each moment for it will never return.

Happy Colorado Day!

August 2, 2018Leave a comment

Well, August has arrived. It was dark when I walked my dogs after work, but I worked almost an hour late. I am glad for fewer pictures because big changes at work mean more days where I work later than normal. It will be an improvement once it gets settled.

It’s Colorado’s birthday – so a good day to celebrate with a bouquet of daylilies! The photo at the top is my Ned Roberts Purple Thunderbird. And, below are the finales:

Finales (I forgot Classy Lady yesterday):

Classy Lady 7.31

Baja 8.1

Marque Moon 8.1

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: Marque Moon