National Park – Colorado Kid Daylilies

The red canyons of the Southwest warm my heart and soul in ways beyond words. My body instantly comes alive, my curiosity sparks, I feel like I am where I belong in the Universe. So, another blog in my series on my vicarious road trip through my Southwest named daylilies.

I think my favorite canyon is Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. The red is just deeper or richer than most of the sandstone of the Southwest.

Dominguez Canyon, much closer to home, is my favorite day adventure.

McInnis Canyons National Recreation Area – Fall 2019

McInnis Canyons National Recreation Area is also pretty close to home. My first COVID plan was to hike here every weekend all spring, but it is more than 20 miles.

Canyonlands National Park is fabulous on a grander scale, and we usually get her once a year in February. It is often snowy at Island in the Sky.

Chaco Canyon is the most spiritual canyon I can think of – I hope to go back on one of my roadtrips soon.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park – 2019

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is in my own back yard – 10 miles or so away. It is a canyon of a different color.

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument – 2018

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is so cool – Hovenweep and all the surrounding areas filled with Ancient Pueblo Ruins.

Of course, there is the Grand Canyon. And, that’s just to name a few.

In my yard, there is a daylily named Canyon Colors. When she blooms, she takes me to all the canyons that I love from my road trips. She was an early Southwest order, the name (of course) drew me in.

Being a semi-evergreen, she lives on my little back porch in winter but summers in her pot on the corner of my house. IDK – Which canyon do you think best reflects her color?

I didn’t look to see if she had scapes yet. Saratoga Springtime, Ojo de Dios, Dream Catcher and Kokopelli are the only ones I noticed – but I was busy grading so didn’t get outside much.

I did have a chance to hook-up my new solar drip pump. It is one of those you get off of Amazon. I have used them for the last decade – replaced them often at first but the last one lasted 3 years. They have made improvements – so I am hopeful for at least a couple with this one. Three days of 50 MPH winds, I think my driveway pots are ready for a little drip of water.

And, I am ready to see canyon colors.

Anasazi is a Navajo word meaning “enemy ancestors” – but today we equate the word with the Ancient Pueblo people of the Southwest. This week, I talked about Chaco Canyon, which was the center of the population – like our New York. If there was a pandemic, it would likely center at Chaco. But, I have visited so many Ancient Pueblo ruins on my trips that it is mind boggling. Here are some favorites:

Maybe we should start at the center: Chaco Canyon, NM – The Center of the Universe!

Chaco Canyon – 2014

Chaco Canyon has outlying ruins that are miles and miles away – We have visited the two directly to the north – Salmon and Aztec Ruins National Monument near Farmington, NM.

Salmon Ruins – 2016

Aztec Ruins – 2016

One of the most interesting of the Chacoan Outliers is Chimney Rock near Durango, CO. My heavens, I had the worst vertigo when we camped there in 2009. This is the highest of all the Chacoan Ruins and they think it was used to send smoke signals to the other sites! It was beautiful and rainy on the day I visited.

Chimney Rock – 2009

Of course, not too far west of Chimney Rock is the famous Mesa Verde National Park. I started fostering my little disabled dog the same weekend we visited Mesa Verde. She was Dotsie in her past life, and I was trying to think of a name that rhymed, so she is Sazi Ana.

Mesa Verde – 2017

Not to talk politics (save me from that during this pandemic!), but White House Ruins at Canyon de Chelly, AZ is also part of the the system. I miss this canyon.

White House Ruins, Canyon de Chelly – 2018

Lowry Pueblo is a very interesting outlier not too far from my home. I love this one because you have to drive through rural farm land to reach the site. I love the figurines in the kiva – they represent summer and winter people.

Lowry Pueblo – 2019

Then, let’s zoom up to Utah to Edges of the Cedars State Park, where there is another Chacoan outlier. They had a crazy large geographic area for that time in civilization.

Edges of the Cedars State Park, UT – 2019

There were other Ancestral Puebloan ruins that are not direct Chaco outliers, like the ruins at Petrified Forest National Park. I love the Agate House – a ruin made of petrified wood!

Agate House, Petrified Forest National Park – 2018

And, Navajo National Monument has Betatakin and other Ancient Pueblo ruins.

Navajo National Monument – 2016

My old favorite, Hovenweep National Monument, has awesome Ancient Pueblo castle ruins.

Hovenweep National Monument – 2019

Some lesser known Ancient Pueblo Ruins we have visited include Five Kiva Pueblo near Blanding, UT.

Five Kiva Pueblo, UT – 2019

And, Yucca House National Monument near Cortez, CO.

Yucca House National Monument – 2019

I think the furthest one from the Four Corners is at Anasazi State Park in Utah – way up in the mountains near Boulder, UT.

Anasazi State Park, UT – 2019

That is a lot of ruins for one daylily. And, that Daylily is Anasazi. How on earth could I resist a name like this one? She was a bitty fan when I first got her – took her a few years to bloom. But, the first year she bloomed, she threw a double. It was memorizing.

Anasazi daylily double bloom – 2017

She usually blooms fairly early, but is a rebloomer.

Anasazi daylily – 2018

She looks a bit slow to take-off this spring. I probably should refresh her soil – the ants like her pot so I probably should take a look at the roots.

Anasazi daylily – 2019

I have other cultivators that would fit with this blog, but I will wait because I am trying to savor the vicarious daylily road trip for a couple more weeks.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: National Park

Canyon Colors of the Southwest

Anasazi: My Daylilies in Ruins