Kachina Dancer and a Mural

May 25, 2020Leave a comment

I started my mural 22 years ago. I finished a few hours ago. For this round. So much has changed. Now, daylilies live on a drip system on this porch.

Little Chief dances on a ruin wall from Canyons of the Ancients National Monument

As I’m taking my spring road trip vicariously through my daylily names, I’ve got my dream vacation in my mural. All the 4-corners States are represented.

A hoodoo from Goblin Valley and my dogs on a Dead Horse Point rock

The older mural have cactus from the Senora, Monument Valley, and a Pueblo Indian dwelling. It’s funny, I used artwork that I owned as my prototype for the latter two.

Now, I use actual photos of vacations. The Southwest is a much bigger part of my life now. So are daylilies.

An old section of the mural -I still need to sign this year

I blogged about my mural last week and used Pueblo Dancer. This time, I’m using Kachina Dancer.

She is a pretty Ned Roberts spider. I’ve had her several years. She has only bloomed once, and I captured only one bloom. I hope she paints the garden this summer.

Pueblo Dancer

May 18, 2020May 24, 2020Leave a comment

“My mom just painted a mural on the neighbor’s garage,” my daughter told the friend she was chatting with on the phone. The year was 1998 and I had just purchased my home, which came with murals on the garage. I live on a split lot, so the side of my neighbor’s garage is also my back fence. It never occurred to me that was wrong to paint it. In fact, I am likely helping preserve the old wood building by keeping it painted.

The murals in 2016 (and a few daylilies)

I knew I wanted a Southwest feel, so I took a Native American pot off my fireplace (BTW, five moves and 22 years later it is back on the mantel) and painted the Monument Valley design that was on the pot across the top of the mural.

Mural 2018 – still looks pretty good. The year I added the orchids.

I moved away in 1998, but came back in 2006. The mural was still there, although weathered – so I revitalized it then.

The mural in 2020 after stripping loose paint off.

It wasn’t until 2011 that I revitalized it, again. This time, I added a Native American Pueblo off some artwork on my wall. Now, anyone who knows the Southwest knows I am mixing my metaphors on that mural. Monument Valley does not have Native America pueblos. But, oh well, the original mural on the garage is the Senora desert. It is like a collage of my spring road trip right in my own back yard.

The mural site with primer – 2020 (yesterday)

The paint was curling bad this spring. It looked as bad as I have seen it. Maybe it’s cause I have my orchids under the shade sail against part of the wall, so it stays more humid.

Mural looks as good as new today!

Another section of the mural now has my dogs added.

Anyway, I stripped it down to wood where the paint was peeling and used primer to help hold the paint down better. It was a project that took all weekend. Well, I added my dogs, and that took time. And, I am working on a new Native American powwow dancer for the other wall.

Next week, I will finish the dancer and add some hoodoos from Goblin Valley to the area that has the dogs. Hopefully, it won’t take all weekend.

New painting will be a likeness of this young dancer

Pueblo Dancer is the name of a daylily in my Southwest garden. I have had her several years, she came with a bunch of Ned Roberts daylilies. The only thing is, I think she is mislabeled because she was suppose to be a tall daylily, and she is not.

“Pueblo Dancer” in my yard – 2018

She doesn’t look like that much the pictures of the cultivator, Pueblo Dancer. I would love anyone’s input on who she really is – or is she herself? Maybe she just isn’t happy in my yard? At any rate, next weekend, I will be adding this Native American dancer to the mural near the pueblo. A new pueblo dancer to replace the peeled one.

Picture of Pueblo Dancer from Shady Rest Gardens

I have to thank the stay-at home (and COVID-19) for helping me to find my creative side. I do better with a schedule I can flex. It is just how creatives are.

Daylilies for the Navajo Nation

May 10, 2020May 10, 2020Leave a comment

Today, it struck me that no series of blogs about the Southwest during Coronavirus would be complete without a mention of the Navajo. I love the Navajo culture – it makes my trips to the Southwest take on a cultural feel that is humbling. I have so much to be grateful for in life. And, I do envy their sense of family and community.

I was wondering if we could trace the boundaries of the Navajo Nation from various road trips. So, last year, we traced the New Mexico side starting at the Shiprock and down through the Bisti Badlands.

Shiprock Flea Market – 2019 road trip

Bisti Badlands – 2019 road trip

If we were to have headed due east after the Bisti Badlands the way the crow flies, would would trace the Navajo Nation boundary to Window Rock (the capitol of the Navajo Nation) and Fort Defiance. These are absolutely some of my favorite stops in Navajoland. I like to spend the night in Window Rock so I can spend the whole day taking in the scenery.

Window Rock, AZ – 2018 Road Trip

Near Fort Defiance – 2018 Road Trip

Then we would turn due south – if we were tracing the boundary. That would take us just south of Route 66.

Route 66 Arizona – 2014 Road Trip

And, then we trace west to the Northern Border of the Painted Desert at Petrified Forest National Park.

Painted Desert – 2018 Road Trip

From there, you head due west, almost to Flagstaff. Then it is a turn to the North through Cameron up to Page – just east of the Grand Canyon.

Eastern Grand Canyon – 2015 Road Trip

You end up almost to Utah, at Page, AZ. That was a strange stop the year we went because they weren’t on rez time, even though everything surrounding the city was an hour later. We visited the famous Horse Shoe Bend near Page.

Horse Shoe Bend – 2015 Road Trip

Then, you are up in Utah at the Glen Canyon Dam area – a favorite stop on our road trips!

Glen Canyon – 2015 Road Trip

Mexican Hat – 2019 Summer Camping Road Trip

Then, it is pretty much due east to Mexican Hat, UT. Very iconic Utah.

Bluff Utah – 2019 Summer Camping Road Trip

And then a bit further to Bluff, UT – we camped here last summer. It was a fun (but hot) spot to explore.

We approach home as we get to Hovenweep National Monument on the Colorado Border – this is absolutely a favorite spot and a place I plan to go camping as soon as we can travel more than 10 miles, again.

Hovenweep National Monument – 2019 Summer Camping Road Trip

From there, the boundary heads South to Teec Nos Pos, AZ. They have a great trading post there.

Teec Nos Pos – Fall Break Four Corners Trip 2015

And, we are almost back to Shiprock, where we started. I wish I could end the story here, but there are a few other favorite places that are internal to the Navajo Nation that we must visit. First, the infamous Monument Valley. This is just south of the Mexican Hat.

Monument Valley – 2019 Summer Camping Road Trip

And, Navajo National Monument has great free camping and some very spiritual ruins.

Navajo National Monument – 2016 Utah Graduation Camping Trip

The other route we frequent is 191 South – This is a good route to the Senora through the Four Corners area. I absolutely love Canyon de Chelly – it has the best red rock of any canyon I have visited.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument – 2017 Road Trip

With a stop at the Hubbell Trading Post on the way to Petrified Forest.

Hubbell Trading Post – 2017 Road Trip

Sadly, Coronavirus has hit the Navajo Nation hard. As of tonight (5/9) they have nearly 3,000 cases and nearly 100 deaths. So, this blog is my tribute to this nation that is feeling the grip of COVID-19.

OK, back to the daylily blog. Here are my Navajo named daylilies. (I have a few, I wonder why?)

Navajo Blanket Daylily – 2019

Navajo Curls Daylily – 2019

Navajo Grey Hills Daylily – 2019

Navajo Rodeo Daylily – 2019

With this, I live vicariously through my daylilies while I stay safe at home. It is not the time to travel to Navajoland – but my heart goes there often. Now, I think of the reservation. I think of the poverty and the hardship that these people know. They lived a less hurried life, they honor their ancestors. I learn so much from my visits. With this, I send heartfelt thoughts of hope and healing to this spiritual land.

PS – This was fun, although a bit time consuming – I never really thought about tracing the border of the Navajo Nation through my trip photos.

Getting My Kicks With Route 66

May 9, 2020May 10, 20201 Comment

Route 66 is due South of Montrose, CO. You can get to the New Mexico one by just driving south on Highway 550 until you hit Route 66 in Albuquerque. Or, you can take Highway 491 and catch-up with it in Gallup. You can also catch it in Arizona – we often drive by Monument Valley to Flagstaff and catch it there. Of course, you can also catch it in Holbrook at the Petrified Forest. We have done all of the above plus more. I have always said that it must have been a pretty amazing highway in its day – the road to the Southwest – the ruins and rock structures.

Maizzy, my crazy old chi-hound and I met up with it in Gallup on our first road trip (after a trip to Chaco Canyon and El Malpias). We rode it all the way to Petrified Forest. Well, we took the sections that we could and were mostly on I-40, a place full of big, fast semi trucks. We got to Holbrook, where we hung out on Route 66 for a bit. Then, back home through Monument Valley and Canyonlands. That was 2014.

Maizzy on Route 66 marker in Holbrook, AZ – 2014

Our road trip is South, so we almost always cross Route 66 – well, always because we have to cross it to get to the other side of the Southwest. The next year, we traveled from down to Catalina State Park, AZ and back up to the Grand Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. We went out for a night on the town at Route 66 in Flagstaff.

Maizzy, Route 66, Flagstaff, AZ – 2015

The following year, 2016, we went down to Lost Dutchman State Park, AZ and on the way, we stopped at the Petrified Forest – where we walked in the Crystal Forest and crossed the old Route 66. We headed home through Socorro, NM and up through Farmington, NM. Good grief, I can barely remember these amazing routes!

Maizzy hiking in the Crystal Forest at Petrified Forest National Park, AZ – 2016

Where did 2017 take us? From the Four Corners to Flagstaff and down to Gila Bend and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. We came back and visited Casa Grande – then back up by Route 66 at the Petrified Forest. By then, I had acquired dog #2, little once-feral, Kachina.

On that bench on Route 66, Flagstaff, AZ, again – 2017

Soon enough it was 2018, and a new adventure came when spring warmed the earth. This year, we left on Friday the 13th and took the Devil’s Highway (once numbered 666 because it was the 6th spur off Route 66) all the way to the AZ/Mexico border. We visited Canyon de Chelly and headed south to Chambers, AZ, which is smack-dab on Route 66. We drove to Clifton on the long, winding road and ended up in Tombstone. We stopped at the Petrified Forest on the way home. It was a horrific windstorm that day – but my dogs managed a photo at the Route 66 turnout. Oh, and another dog joined the family – my little disabled chi rescue, Sazi Ana (think Anasazi).

Windstorm at the Route 66 turnout at Petrified Forest National Park, AZ – 2018

And, my last road trip in 2019 was super awesome to start. We went through Shiprock, NM and then down through the badlands to Grants, NM – which is on Route 66. It is a long story that I forgot to get gas on the way to El Morro National Monument, so I was too tired to stop at any of the Route 66 attractions. We headed south (I can’t stand I-40 in a Honda Fit with all those semis) after Grants and stopped at Salinas Pueblo Mission Ruins near Albuquerque – then to White Sands. We did a long sprint to Tucson, Catalina State Park, then back up to . . . um, drum roll . . . Petrified Forest. You see, it’s dog friendly so we stop most years. Except, last year I got Noravirus the day we were suppose to go. We went – but I was too sick to do anything but pray for a motel bed ASAP. We cruised (wanting to upchuck) I-40 (the new Route 66) and turned off to get to Window Rock. The scenery in that part of the State is worth posting, except I was too ill to get pictures.

El Malpias National Monument Near Grants, NM, off of Route 66 – 2019

The motel in Window Rock, AZ, a few miles from Route 66 – 2019

Why am I talking about Route 66 on a daylily blog? Because I am taking a road trip vicariously through my Southwest named daylilies while we wait for COVID-19 to settle down. (Maybe Noravirus helped me to see how serous it is to catch a virus when you are traveling – all those restrooms, hotels, eateries, gas pumps – not safe yet). Route 66 is a cultivator that I picked up years ago at the local greenhouse – long before I started collecting daylilies with Southwest names. Long before I started taking road trips.

Route 66 Daylily in bloom – 2019

However, now the blooms are more special. I think of our trips to Gallup and Grants and Chambers and Holbrook and Flagstaff. I think of the colors that are on the tee shirts – the red and black. When I see the blooms, I think of my goofy dogs and all of our fun times, getting our kicks on Route 66.

Dog Day Bouquet

August 27, 2019Leave a comment

It’s National Dog Day!!! Dogs and daylilies are my two most expensive hobbies. LOL. Well, my dogs help me garden to earn their keep. They take naps in the sun for me and chase off every other dog who dares walk past my daylily garden. My dogs have been sick a lot this summer, unfortunately. Maizzy, the larger, short-haired chi, is just senior and Sazi, the small long-haired chi, has disc disease and was paralysed in June. She slowly regains function – she is walking and running but lost a lot of feeling in her back legs. I do blame that for part of the fact that my yard is not at its best. Of course, they are a happy part of my camping travels and the best companions ever! Happy Dog Day pups!

Kachina, Sazi, and Maizzy at Monument Valley last month.

What bloomed for them today?

Purple Corn Dancer is doing yoga around her bud. I have a few more blooms to look forward to from her.

Purple Corn Dancer doing yoga 8.26

Royal Palace Prince is on the new drip line and opened his last bud today. Hoping for more blooms next year.

Royal Palace Prince 8.26

Mama Cuna also opened her last bud. She is so big and showy – I may see if I can divide her and put a couple fans up in the front yard.

Mama Cuna 8.26

Indian Sky – and I am not sure if she has buds left. Maybe. But, not many.

Indian Sky 8.26

Purple Grasshopper – this would be Kachina’s favorite. She loves to chase those things! (Kachina is the Terrier).

Purple Grasshopper 8.26

Ruby Stella – she is a champion bud maker this year and I have a few left to bloom.

Ruby Stella 8.26

And, as the blooms fade away, the weeds seem more noticeable. My front yard looks as gross as ever. Don’t plant grass on a hill in the desert. And, the daylilies can disrupt the sprinkler flow . . . which doesn’t help. I am thinking of thyme or sedum for part of it – and maybe ornamental grass. Thrilling to dig in this mud. Can’t wait. LOL.

Indian Sky

July 22, 2017July 22, 20171 Comment

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.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: Monument Valley