Happy Birthday, Colorado!!!! I was hoping to post a blog with all my remaining cultivator’s first blooms of the season for July today. Guess what? Out of time because we are going to the concert in the park tonight. So, I will post the two new ones from today.
Two Ned Roberts spiders – Spirit of the Morning and Desert Icicle. I adore Spirit of the Morning – and she fades by noon, too. One of my most colorful late bloomers! And, Desert Icicle was a gift plant when I first put in the Southwest Road Trip garden. A great late season bloomer.
Spirit of the MorningDesert Icicle
Enjoy! I will be back soon with the remaining July blooms.
Droughts and wildfires go together, daylilies not so much. The smoke has cleared (mostly) from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison South Rim Fire (<10 miles away), and they have the fire 15% contained. My last blog post talks more about the fire. Some rain has fallen on my garden since the last post, too. The drought continues, though. Keep reading to enjoy my daylilies from the past week!
I am surprised my daylilies have done as well as they have this year with the heat and drought. I have somewhere around 190 cultivators. I badly need to do inventory, maps, and labels this year. I love the Flower daylily software, but I struggle to keep it updated. I seem to lose a lot of the newer ones from other climates over the first winter/spring – but I am not even sure what I have lost until I do inventory because some lost tags.
Black Canyon South Rim Fire – Watch Duty from today. About 15% contained.
Honestly, though, I am limited by time and water. I may replace some cultivators if I lose them, but I won’t be adding many more to my total. I’m at capacity. I am growing ditch lilies in the desert drought. I love daylilies, and they are survivors! My time goes into keeping those I have alive and healthy. And, my money goes into city water. I can’t imagine trying to hybridize or sell in my situation.
New Blooms and Current Bloom Rate
I have had a total of 139 cultivators bloom this season (out of around 190). That is a 73% bloom rate. Last year, we only got to the mid-sixties, so I am thrilled. And, the season isn’t over. In the high desert, 80% is a huge win. I need to fertilize, but without the monsoon moisture and cooler temps, I am waiting until next month. With daylilies in pots, I find applying liquid fertilizer improves bloom rate for the following year because the plant is more resilient.
Here are my “first bloom for 2025” cultivators since my last post:
The bloom peak is now over the top and past the plateau. However, I still have 30-40 cultivators in bloom daily, with 2-3 new ones most days. My beloved Ned Roberts’ southwest names spiders are just now peaking! Life gets extremely busy during daylily season, especially with my business and volunteer work.
Which is your favorite daylily from this post? For me, Zuni Thunderbird has always been a favorite! This computer is even named Zuni Thunderbird after the daylily.
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.
7.10 Colorado Drought Monitor
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!
July is here, and with it comes peak season. I don’t think we are quite to peak yet, but it is approaching quickly. My day starts with photographing each daylily in bloom. Then I feed dogs, irrigate, jog for an hour. When I return, I sit on the front porch and edit the photos. Then, I put them in folders online and post to my personal Facebook page. By then, it’s 2 PM and time for breakfast!
I have had a bunch of new ones since my last post. I will put them in a gallery below. I’ve had 50 new ones since my last post last week!!!
I have had 73 cultivators bloom so far this season out of approximately 190. I lost some last winter. I really need to update my inventory in the software program. Based on those numbers, my bloom rate is about 38% currently. My hope is for 80% this season.
Today, the rain came. Finally! I am hoping for a good monsoon season. We need it. The drought lingers and is growing to the north. So many wildfires out west. I’m surprised that my daylilies are as happy as they are all things considered.
I adore daylily season. But it is always a lot of work that takes a chunk of the day with the photography. However, at this elevation, heat and humidity, the blooms don’t last long. Somedays, they are pretty faded by noon. They look like melted wax to me.
It’s a very different summer with my civic volunteer work. I adore my mornings on the porch editing daylily photos. Finding balance is hard in a “drought of time.”
Catcha next week. I hope your 4th of July garden brings you joy. Sometimes, we are best to focus on the small things right before our eyes and feel gratitude.
It’s gotten hot, and my yard is exploding with many daylilies. Peak season is still a couple of weeks away, and I have about 130 cultivators with scapes! I lost a couple over the winter, so I need to update my total number one of these days.
All American Chief first bloom 6.22Bluegrass Music first bloom 6.23Burgundy Crab first bloom 6.18Candy Cane Dreams first bloom 6.22Comanche Princess first bloom 6.21NOID Dark Mystery first bloom 6.20Happy Returns first bloom 6.21Hopi Jewell first bloom 6.20Jungle Queen first bloom 6.16Land of Enchantment first bloom 6.23Orchid Moonrise first bloom 6.21Prairie Wildfire first bloom 6.19Primal Scream first bloom 6.23NOID Red Riddle first bloom 6.22Return a Smile first bloom 6.18Ruby Spider first bloom 6.18Stephanie Returns first bloom 6.23The Potter’s Touch first bloom 6.23Wild Horses first bloom 6.16Yellow Punch first bloom 6.22
Wow! That’s 20 more cultivators in bloom since my first post of the year! My very large array is getting larger! Today, I celebrate 3 years retired from 40 years of nursing. Quite a retirement anniversary bouquet.
I will say that some of my buds opened funny today – Stephanie Returns and Bluegrass Music both look like they wanted to sleep in. We have had days of fire weather with highs in the 90s, wind speeds 35+ MPH, and humidity under 15% (often single digits). And, we are still in extreme drought here (although no water restrictions yet). I think the buds get dried out! I will also say that the super ruffled blooms just don’t open right in such low humidity. I stay away from super ruffles now.
My community work consumes me. I don’t feel as retired as I did last year. I have always made time for the daylily blog. This year, I feel what I am doing is time-sensitive, and I need to balance my time with that in mind. I am not doing daily Instagram posts this year. I think I will update my latest blooms and gardening tips here about once a week.
Tip for today: Deserts don’t have ruffles! They have ridges.
Which of my blooms from this blog is your favorite?
The weather has turned from spring to summer since my last post a couple weeks ago! It is in the mid to upper 90s this week. The scapes are sprouting fast and furious. I have around 100 cultivators with scapes now. I’m never sure how the daylilies will respond to drought, but I am optimistic that my bloom rate will be decent. My water bill, not so much! (I am city water dependent. It’s not cheap because we don’t get much help from Mother Nature.)
I have two cultivators that just came into bloom today. Jungle Queen and Wild Horses. Sounds like the title of a good sci-fi novel. I asked AI and got the photo below. I kind of like it. Maybe I need to use some fun AI photos of daylily names in the blog this year!
What AI says Jungle Queen and Wild Horses look like!
Here are the actual blooms. Both of these are cultivators that were early to my collection and neither bloomed last year. Good to see them back.
Jungle QueenWild Horses
My Maylily was Saratoga Springtime. I don’t usually have a Maylily, so worth a mention that the blooms started earlier than usual.
My other early bloomers are Dream Keeper and Stella de Oro. Both are still actively blooming. I always say when Saratoga Springtime gets done, that is when the popcorn starts to pop.
Daylily popcorn!
It’s getting too hot to be outside during the day. Maybe I will have more time to post between camping and community involvement! This year brings new civic priorities but I will do my best to keep you all updated on what is going on in my Western Colorado daylily garden!
My pups, Cimarron, Kachina, and Kokopelli, enjoying camping season at Ridgway, CO last week.
And so it begins! The 2025 daylily season began on May 28th with Saratoga Springtime. Always my first!
Saratoga Springtime 6.2.25
First, I am naming this bloom season “A Very Large Array of Daylilies” in honor of our recent road trip through New Mexico and Arizona with a stop at the Very Large Array (of telescopes). I wonder if daylilies can be used to talk to aliens? (The movie Contact was filmed there.)
My dogs, Kokopelli, Kachina, and Cimarron during our visit do the Very Large Array.
The season started a week or two early this year. This is likely because of the drought. It has been a dry winter and spring so far. My lawn is still semi-brown. I got out a couple of weeks ago and started my drippers to add to the sprinkler water.
Life on the edge of an extreme drought – in April!
Drought tends to bring the daylilies out early, but negatively impacts the overall bloom rate. So, we will see what happens. I currently have about two dozen cultivators with scapes.
This year, I had a lot of weeds in my pots. It is so discouraging to see this because I have nearly 200 pots and digging weeds out is costly in time and money because of soil replacement. I have creeping bellflower that is an invasive weed. The roots of the bellflower resemble daylily roots and they grow into the daylily and choke it out. Pulling them just causes roots to break and spreads the plant.
I decided to get more of the coir rounds (small tree rings) because covering bellflower is somewhat effective. I used these rounds several years ago, and they have helped, but they break down over a few years. The downside is my daylilies don’t spread – but they don’t die, either. They are not for everyone, but growing in a desert in pots – especially with invasive bellflower – they work.
Stella de Oro 6.2.25
Other bloomers so far are Stella de Oro and Dream Keeper. Stella is the generic daylily that is so common in flowerbeds. I like her because she is an early and repeat bloomer. Like most early bloomers, she is a yellow trumpet. (So is Saratoga Springtime.)
Dream Keeper 6.3.25.
Dream Keeper did not bloom last year, so I am happy to see lots of buds on several scapes. She is my first Ned Roberts daylily of the year. For those who may be new to my blog, I have a decent collection of of Ned’s spiders. Last year, my blooms were low for the garden where most of these are located.
As far as the 4 new cultivators I added last year, I lost 2 of them. I lost at least two others. I will blame the drought and the fact that I had some minor medical challenges this winter. I wasn’t focused on watering. I need to do inventory and labeling this summer (hopefully).
This post starts the blog. I generally won’t be doing daily posts this year because I am involved in a lot of civic volunteer work this summer. I will plan weekly, except for during peak. IDK if I will have a set day of the week. We will take it one post at a time. Just wanted to get started on the VERY LARGE ARRAY!
The daylilies dwindle and I am back to creating new art! Each day still starts with a walk through the blooming daylilies to get photos. It is just a lot easier (and less spectacular) when there are only a couple blooming. And, my Art from the Hartt is back in production because I need colorful adventures to survive!
To encourage my rebloomers, I used liquid fertilizer yesterday and today. I gave about 1/3rd of the pots some organic fertilizer in their water. The rest got Miracle Grow spray today. This should help the plants fill out and rejuvenate before they go dormant.
Kachina FirecrackerNavajo CurlsNOID Ned Roberts SpiderPurple Corn DancerRaven WoodsongRosie’s RedSimmering ElephantsSkinwalker
I think part of my problem this year is that I didn’t do any fall care. I also need to put more soil in a few pots this fall – plus I plan time-released fertilizer next month. The weather is cooling off and we have some rain the next several days, so I picked the spray type since it is still summer.
Until the Last Daylily Blooms Art Sale Prices Drop Again This Week
On the 20th of August, my Until the Last Daylily Blooms sale prices drop to 35% off select items in my Etsy Shop. These prices drop to 40% off is I still have a daylily in bloom on September 20th. My sale ends within 72 hours of my last daylily bloom! Don’t wait!
What is on sale starting August 20th?
Most of my hypertufa art is included in the August 20-Sept 19th sale prices. This includes pots, leaf castings, leaf castings and pet memorials!!!
All of my hand painted tile clocks. There are stunning pour paint on tile and wood styles (various sizes) and landscape clocks. I even have one daylily clock.
My daylily wall art is part of the sale. Hand painted daylily wood panels and signed prints to help you see daylilies 365 days a year!
My daylily terra cotta pots are on sale. These are an adorable way to show your daylily love with a year around houseplant or succulent.
I wanted to spend a minute on the adorable hypertufa pumpkins that I just made. These stunning fall art pieces would look awesome in the yard for Halloween or on the table for Thanksgiving. I have several in process – so more designs will be added to Etsy soon! Great for garden lovers who want some fall color in their lives! Learn more about the pumpkins on my art blog – Art from the Hartt.
More Sale Merchandise Planned for September
I have more autumn themed art that I will add to the Until the Last Daylily Blooms sale IN A MONTH on September 20th – if my daylilies are still blooming. The art is so new it isn’t listed (of finished) yet! I have everything from paw art to candle holders to succulent planters coming to the sale if those daylilies keep blooming! Sneak preview below.
I will run the sale through September 2nd regardless to give the rebloomers a little time. If I end the sale and get a very late scape – we will restart the sale where we left off!
Don’t Forget to Enter the Give Away TODAY!
I also have the give-away of $35 if you email a guess on the day the last daylily will bloom. Entries are due by midnight September 2nd. Email me at cathy@artfromthehartt.com with your guess (the day my last daylily blooms for 2024) and put daylily in the topic to enter. More info on the contest here – click.
Life can change in a moment. A couple of years ago, an online friend who I met through a Facebook daylily group called Daylily Lovers and I did a daylily exchange. He lived in the same USDA zone but in the eastern US. I’m out west. I sent him Saratoga Springtime and he sent me Autumn Minaret. I guess we were looking for daylilies from opposite seasons to add to our yards.
Autumn Minaret
The daylily he sent didn’t do much last year, so today is the first ever bloom for Autumn Minaret. I want to dedicate this post to my friend. So much happened to him so quickly. I doubt he will ever see this post but I wonder how he are doing. The flower will always remind me of his love of daylilies.
Readers – Have you ever exchanged daylilies with a friend? How did it go? Please share the experience! Did you stay local or ship the daylily roots? Do you recommend daylily exchanges to others?
Until the Last Daylily Blooms: Skinwalker Painting and Signed Prints
Immerse yourself in the serene beauty of nature with this exquisite, original hand-painted daylily wall art. Capturing the delicate forms of Skinwalker, a yellow daylily with subtle pink edging, this piece serves as a charming accent for any room.
Return from the Colorado Mountains: Fourteen New Bloomers for the Season
I always feel overwhelmed the day after I take a camping break – especially during daylily season! Fortunately or unfortunately, my underwhelming bloom rate for 2024 has made it more manageable. But, it is still a lot of photos to organize and turn into an Instagram reel/blog post.
Below are my Ned Roberts’ spiders that are new since my last post.
Cricket CallDancing MaidenFox EarsPink Rain Dance (from last year, missed this year’s only bud.)Raven Woodsong
So, how is the bloom rate doing now? I have had 84 of 196. So, 43%. That’s way down from the past few years for this point in time. I am hoping to hit 60%. That would take 34 more new blooms for 2024. I think that’s optimistic. Too many pots decided to rest this year.
Here are my other first blooms for 2024 (since my last post.)
Coburg Fright WigHeirloom HeavenInk HeartIrresistible CharmOff to See the WizardOrange FlurryRosie’s Red at duskRuby StellaWestern Sandstone
Remediating a Poor Bloom Rate
Gardening is a science experiment. I am going to try some liquid spray fertilizer once we have a some cooler weather in the forecast. I will probably do more time release before the end of the season – and I am considering working some manure into the pots in September, about a month before freeze.
I wanted to share my Pearl Lake Wildflower Cards as today’s listing. I just added these to the Until the Last Daylily Blooms sale that goes live tomorrow. They will be 30% off for the next month! Perfect for flower lovers. The cards will be approximately (depending on Etsy’s calculator) $2.80 for a single card or 10.50 for a set of all 5 cards. This is in addition to FREE SHIPPING. Click on the photo below or this link to go to the listing.
Questions on the sale? Special order requests? Please reach out and email me!
Colorado Kid Daylilies 