Land of Enchantment

August 24, 2019August 24, 2019Leave a comment

I love New Mexico. It is, indeed, lives up to its motto of being the Land of Enchantment. I have a fair number of daylilies named after New Mexico places. More than any other State with the exception of Colorado. Probably largely because Spiderman, Ned Roberts, (my favorite hybridizer) lived in Albuquerque for several years.

Land of Enchantment 2019

We traveled through New Mexico on our April Southwest road trip this year. We saw badlands, flea markets, monuments, ruins, and white sands. It was awesome . . . at least until norovirus hit and wrecked havoc on the last 4 days of a 9 day trip. But, I was well until we were in Arizona and headed back toward the 4-corners.

Chaco Canyon 2019

We will be down in the 4-corners area for Labor Day. I am looking forward to it . . . I should say we were also near there on our summer road trip, but not in New Mexico.

Chama Valley 2019

I have actually visited places in New Mexico because I have daylilies with that name. Like Ghost Ranch – totally put it on the map because of my daylily.

Ghost Ranch 2019

Chaco Canyon I visited long before my daylily collection – It is such a sacred place with the roughest 20 something mile road in the world. But worth it.

Santa Fe Christmas 2019

Santa Fe is a pretty yuppie town (is that still a word?) Artists abound and it is kind of pricy, but we were near there a few years ago passing through New Mexico.

Truchas Sunrise – 2019

Truchas, New Mexico is about halfway between Santa Fe and Taos. I actually contemplated driving there just because of my daylily, but didn’t like the traffic of Santa Fe.

Star over Milagro 2019

I’ve never been to Milagro – but it isn’t too far from the Salinas Pueblo Mission Ruins south of Albuquerque that we have visited a couple of times. Next time, maybe I will plan to go watch stars over Milagro.

Moon over Chimayo

Chimayo, New Mexico is east of Espanola, where my favorite Aunt Pearl once lived. The road trips have taken us close to Chimayo . . . maybe next time.

Navajo Grey Hills 2019

Navajo Grey Hills is likely named after Two Grey Hills Trading Post. This is a place I have driven through between Shiprock and Window Rock on the Navajo reservation. Honestly, it must have been before one of my daylilies was named after the place because I had to look up where the name came from. Again . . . future destination.

Adios Albuquerque 2019

I have been to Albuquerque many times. I don’t like cities – but there are also some cool smaller towns and attractions near Albuquerque. I like Petroglyph National Monument! US Highway 550 starts in my hometown of Montrose, CO and ends just north of Albuquerque – 305 miles from my door (+/-). Chaco Canyon is along that route. I often take the backroads, though.

So, tonight I am using internet explorer to blog. Still glitchy (my photos keep disappearing) but faster than Edge. Ugh . . . I may just have to switch out of S Mode and go back to Chrome. This would be murder during peak season.

The Amazingly Huge Spiders of August

August 14, 2019August 14, 2019Leave a comment

Oh, my – school starts tomorrow. I worked early and late. My daylilies had 12 hours between my first round of photos and my second.

I am not sure what to say tonight – my brain is mush and I crave ice cream. But, I do want to highlight three big, colorfast Ned Roberts spiders that are late bloomers. Colorfast becomes obvious when we photograph at 7 AM and 7 PM. And, my photos of these three look good both times – wide awake all day.

Purple Corn Dancer steals my heart with every bloom. I have her in two locations so I may get 3-4 weeks of blooms.

Purple Corn Dancer 8/13/1

Mama Cuna is a HUGE spider. She, also, wears make-up that lasts all day – she adds an amazing highlight to the Southwest garden late season.

Mama Cuna 8/13

Purple Thunderbird is CRAZY HUGE – and also looks great all day. Very colorfast.

Purple Tunderbird 8/12

I am guessing they are related because they all make me smile.

PS – My orchid cactus did not bloom last night – this waiting is the stuff of my midwifery days! I even got up briefly at 3 AM to check.

Orchid Cactus bud 8/12

My Colorado Kids

August 8, 2019August 8, 2019Leave a comment

Faculty comes back to work tomorrow (except me – because the boss gets to work all summer 😉 ) Still, I had 40 cultivators in bloom today. Last year at this time, I was having surgery in a week, in-process with interviewing for this job . . . and I had only a handful of daylilies. There were none left to bloom. And, mid-August, the blog dropped into nothingness until poinsettia time. It is Jugust in my yard – my poinsettias look like it’s June and my daylilies think it is July . . . and faculty come back to work tomorrow.

Anyway – I still have 5ish that have scapes and have not bloomed yet and a lot with buds left – this blog season is not close to being over yet. So, what to talk about today? Well, I was going to talk about my daylilies with Colorado names. A couple are in bloom today – but let’s look at the summer.

Cripple Creek is a golden Ned Roberts spider that I assume is named for the gold rush town of Cripple Creek in Colorado. Ned, the hybridizer, lived fairly near Cripple Creek, CO.

Cripple Creek – 2019

I believe Echo Canyon is named for a canyon near the Royal Gorge. Ned Roberts lived closeby in Colorado Springs.

Echo Canyon – 2019

Glen Eyrie IS a place in Colorado Springs – no doubt about it! It is an old castle and new conference center. Another Ned Roberts spider.

Glen Eyrie 2019

Hesperus is the name of a sacred (to the Navajo) mountain in the San Juan Mountain Range near my home. I have no idea if the cultivator was named after the mountain, but I like the theory enough that I bought the daylily.

Hesperus – 2019

Mount Echo Sunrise – I am guessing this is named after Echo Mountain that is the tallest mountain visible from Denver. It is a guess because it is another Ned Roberts daylily.

Mount Echo Sunrise – 2019

Rocky Mountain Pals was named for the folks at the University Cancer Center in Denver – there Ned Roberts went for treatment later in his life. At least that is the story I was told.

Rocky Mountain Pals – 2019

The Colorado Kid is named after the movie – but when I saw the name early in my place name and blue daylily addiction, she had to be mine. She is the mascot of this blog!

The Colorado Kid – 2019

A Watched Pot

August 5, 20191 Comment

So, this was my camping weekend. And, I’ve had 5 Premiere blooms since my last post. I want to say something before I share them. I had over 30 still in bloom. I have 5 or 6 with scapes that have not bloomed yet. I could possibly get late scapes. I’m at 85% bloom rate – anticipate low 90’s. This week, my regular hours start. It’s going to get crazy. I hope to photograph those that are open before I leave but many don’t open until 9 or 10 AM. They are pretty cooked by 2 PM, so we will see how this goes. Crazy late cycle.

Two brand new blooms on Friday. Cripple Creek – a golden flower that I assume Ned Roberts named after the Colorado gold rush town. Coberg Fright Wig – from back when I bought crazy names. Tried to die, but I finally got it thriving 4 years later.

Cripple Creek 8/2

Coberg Fright Wig 8/2

And, today some new blooms for 2019 on old favorites. Western Sandstone and Pizza Crust. They look and act enough alike that I looked up parentage a couple years ago and they are kin.

Pizza Crust 8/4

Western Sandstone 8/4

Orange Vols is probably my favorite orange.

Orange Vols 8/4

50 Startling Southwest Spider Daylilies!

August 1, 20191 Comment

Only 40 something daylilies today and no Premiers. So, it leaves time to talk about some of my daylily categories. I have talked a lot about my Ned Roberts spiders. I originally started collecting them after seeing Kokopelli on the Lily Auction – I love the Southwest and had to have her (I got the bid)! From there, I added more = lots more. At first, it was all fully Southwest names. Then, I gathered some animal and insect names to my Ned collection. And, some stellar names. IDK, is Dancing Maiden a name from the Southwest?

So, tonight, I will show you my purely Southwest named daylilies – the obvious names from the Southwest. But, first, Mildred Mitchell had an extra petal today – a genetic flaw that made her look pretty cool.

OK – Here are my Southwest Ned Roberts spiders. (These are the ones that have bloomed the last two years. Mostly this year, except Kokopelli did not bloom this year – which is unusual).

Adios Albuquerque – 2019

Apache Bandana – 2019

Apache Beacon – 2019

Aztec Firebirds – 2019

Black Arrowhead – 2019

Chaco Canyon – 2019

Cheyenne Eyes – 2019

Chief Four Fingers – 2019

Chokecherry Mountain – 2019

Comanche Princess – 2019

Coral Taco – 2019

Desert Icicle

Dream Catcher

Echo Canyon – 2019

Feather Woman – 2019

Ghost Ranch – 2019

Glen Eyrie – 2019

Happy Hopi – 2019

Iktomi – 2019

Kachina Firecracker – 2019

Kokopelli – 2018

Land of Enchantment – 2019

Laughing Feather – 2019

Mama Cuna – 2019

Maya Cha Cha – 2019

Medicine Feather – 2019

Mount Echo Sunrise – 2019

Navajo Curls – 2018

Navajo Grey Hills – 2019

Navajo Rodeo – 2019

Ojo de Dios – 2019

Pink Enchalada – 2019

Pink Rain Dance – 2019

Purple Corndancer – 2018

Purple Many Faces – 2019

Purple Thunderbird – 2019

Santa Fe Christmas

Shape Shifter – 2019

Skinwalker – 2019

Spirit of the Morning – 2019

Star Over Milagro – 2019

Taco Twister – 2019

Talon – 2019

Truchas Sunrise – 2019

Twirling Pinata – 2018

Wild Rose Fandango – 2019

Zuni Eye – 2019

Zuni Thunderbird – 2019

Singing the Blues

July 31, 2019July 31, 2019Leave a comment

Why is it that we always want what we can’t have? Early in my daylily addiction, when I had planted my first mail-order roots, I became fascinated with blue daylilies. Well, actually, daylilies lack the genetics to make blue. So, you know, I became infatuated with “near blue” daylilies whose mosiac genetics lead them to look blue. This predates my addiction to Ned Roberts spiders. All my near blues are in pots and come into the back porch for the winter because they are evergreen daylilies and prefer warmer temps. My near blues have a special spot in the front yard where the pots live from March-October.

So, one of my Premiers today is a new near blue added last year called Baby Blue Eyes. I honestly thought I had killed her because the drought hit and, after my skin cancer surgery, I just gave up on the yard. I kept her on the porch, though, despite the fact she looked dried up. And, come spring, she came to life. I love the colors – she is a true near blue.

Baby Blue Eyes 7/30

I am going to show off my other near blues because their bloom cycle is nearing an end. My favorite is The Colorado Kid. I was just googling place names to see if there were daylilies with that name – and she popped up. I think this is year 4 for her – she is our mascot flower. She had a lot of blooms this year and has a couple of buds left. Baby Blue Eyes has similar coloring.

The Colorado Kid – July, 2019

I also have Blue Beat, an early addition and a nice blue replica.

Blue Beat – July, 2019

Bluegrass Music is a must-have blue daylily. I got pretty ripped off by the place I bought her from, but she has paid off with several years of blooms.

Bluegrass Music – July, 2019

Mildred Mitchell is an older cultivator, but she caught my eye as having a nice blue -looking color in the right light.

Mildred Mitchell – July, 2019

Prairie Blue Eyes is not in my blue section, but she also has a blue hue at times.

Prairie Blue Eyes – July, 2019

I got Heron’s Cove as a near blue – but moved her because she rarely looks blue – but occasionally, I see a bit of a bluish tint in her.

Heron’s Cove – July, 2019

OK – So I had two other Premiers today – both Ned Roberts spiders. Golden Eclipse showed her first bloom in my yard today. I have had her 2-3 years. The grower is someone I got a lot of my Neds from and she said it was an ugly brown color and to be sure I really wanted it. I think she is a pretty gold – a unique color for a daylily.

Golden Eclipse 7/30

And, big bloom Purple Thunderbird is back this year.

Purple Thunderbird 7/30

I will be out of premiers soon with three in one day. I maybe have 6-12 left in my whole yard. Honestly, I will be glad for it to slow down. I had 58 today.

Daylily Rodeos

July 29, 2019July 29, 2019Leave a comment

Yesterday was our County Rodeo. I go every year. In fact, when I worked less in the summer and didn’t have so many dog duties, I went almost every evening to some event. The rodeo signals that summer is on the downside. I guess we are only 5 weeks into summer, but school starts in a couple of weeks or so. And, the daylily blooms drop off – which I only had 50+ of today. That is a drop off of 10-20.

Montrose County Ram Rodeo 7.27

Anyway – not a Premier, but Navajo Rodeo looked very pretty for rodeo weekend. I need to paint her this winter. IDK which Robert’s daylilies I want to paint the most – but there are a lot. By far the highest bloom rate of his cultivators. So many first blooms this year.

Navajo Rodeo 7/28

That is my segway to the Premiers for today. Only two. The first one is a never bloomed in my yard before Roberts spider named Dancing Maiden. She looks a lot like Aztec Firebird, except her shape is a little different. I barely noticed that she was from a different plant! I should have put her in a different place – but oh, well.

Dancing Maiden on the right, Aztec Firebird to the left 7/28

And, I got my first ever bloom on Sanctuary in the Clouds. I got this daylily for the woman who runs the animal sanctuary (Black Canyon Animal Sanctuary) where my dogs (and one cat) came from. I ordered this for her the year I adopted Kachina – so 2016. It came with lots of fans and I saved one. Anyway – finally, she blooms!

Sanctuary in the Clouds 7/28

Tomorrow is Monday – so squeeze blooms between my workday! Better get to bed.

Show Me Your Stethoscope!

July 28, 2019July 28, 2019Leave a comment

I am a nurse and a midwife. Remember the “show me your stethoscope” incident on The View a few years back? It took over my Facebook feed for a few weeks – nurses united! During that time, I was pretty active on the American Daylily Society Facebook page. I had an idea – they should name a daylily Nurse’s Stethoscope. Well, one of the hybridizers who was also in healthcare picked-up on the suggestion and registered a daylily with that name.

It was a pretty daylily – beautiful, I thought. Except it was new on the market so out of my price range. Summer before last, I finally caved and bought it. It thrived last summer and gave me quite a show of blooms. But, she was one of the ones who struggled because of the cold, wet spring. Her scapes died back after sprouting. I put her in a smaller pot and moved her to the front yard for the summer. I crossed my fingers. She is coming back enough to have a couple buds. Once she blooms, I will fertilize. Glad to have her as one of my premiers today! My little daylily legacy!

Nurse’s Stethoscope 7/27

Another Premier was Kachina Firecracker, another Ned Roberts spider. I was putting her in my new daylily garden three years ago when I adopted my rescue dog, Kachina. There were two daylilies – Kachina Firecracker and Kachina Dancer. Kachina was a stray before going to the sanctuary, so they gave her the name Tina due to her small size (7 pounds of anxiety!) I was trying to think of a name for her that rhymed with Tina. It was the daylilies named Kachina that synapsed my choice of names for my mutt.

Kachina Firecracker 7/27

Last Premier is Baja – an old favorite. One of my early daylilies that just keeps coming back every summer.

Baja 7/27

I do find the taking photos of 70+ flowers every day for a few weeks is exhausting on top of the blogging. I start to dream of fall hikes in the canyon and watching Call the Midwife. For now, we will see what tomorrow brings. We had another gusher monsoon today, so I will see what is up when I awaken from much-needed sleep.

Daylily Who’s Who????

July 25, 2019Leave a comment

Another amazing day with over 60 cultivators in bloom. I blogged the other day about knowing my flowers by name tags, mapping, and photographic surroundings. Well, I blew it on one of my Roberts spiders. It all feels so rushed with being at work most of the day – I have been home with my daylilies for the last 4 summers. That is when my collection grew. Now, I rush around in the morning to get pictures and that is really the only time I see these beauties. Hopefully, in a couple years, I can reduce my summer hours.

Until then, my flub was stellar. That is, both daylilies referred to the sky. Seriously, looking at them, they totally look like their names. I don’t know how I got them mixed up other than taking 80-100 photos off my camera, editing and organizing in the evening . . . and travel, and two special needs dogs, and work. Well, stellar flubs happen. Here they are both in bloom the same day (today), which helped.

Star over Milagro 7/24

Truchas Sunrise 7/24

So, now that I have confessed, here are today’s Premiers:

Mama Cuna is another Roberts daylily – it is good to see her, again! She resembles Star over Milagro – I need to look up and see if they share genes in common.

Indian Sky is probably not the real Indian Sky, although it was sold as such. It was one of my early online purchases – it fit my Southwest theme. I think it is still really pretty.

Rosie’s Red was another bonus daylily – and one I really like. The deep red color is beautiful and I like the shape.

Mama Cuna 7/24

Indian Sky 7/24

Rosie’s Red

Route 66

July 24, 2019Leave a comment

Route 66 is, of course, a famous highway that runs partially through the Southwest. We usually pass over it going and coming from our spring road trip to the desert. Route 66 is also the name of one of my favorite daylilies. It was the first place name daylily that I got and after that, I was hooked. My daylily names are like points on a road trip a lot of the time.

Route 66, Flagstaff, Arizona

Today, I had 66 cultivators blooming in my yard. I was thinking about Route 66 (she was in bloom and is the lead photo) and my own route to having 66 daylilies in bloom in one day. In 2015, I had 7. I now have 10X the number of daylilies. How did I get here? . . . well, I started at local nurseries. Then I tried one online site, then another. Eventually, I got attached to my Ned Roberts spiders and found a couple growers with good supplies of those. (I now have around 70 of his cultivators.) I also found the lily auction – which was fun but I get into trouble on that site. LOL.

Some of the daylilies I got in 2015/16 are having their first bloom this year. I think it takes them time to adapt to the desert – and last year, we had the exceptional drought. The year before that, I transplanted them into buried pots – so that was another adjustment. Anyway – it is cool to finally see some of these after tending them for a few years.

A couple of our Premiers today have been around that long and finally blooming. One is Navajo Grey Hills and another is Fringe Benefit. Navajo Grey Hills was a sought after Ned Roberts Southwest named daylily. Fringe Benefit, on the other hand, was a bonus plant that looks nothing like the Fringe Benefit I see online. But, oh well. I honestly had no idea what it looked like until today. I like both of them a lot!

So, without further ado, here are the Premiers (it’s not slowing down – So far, 133 blooms or about 74% bloom rate. Last year this date we were at 123 – and I have a lot more scapes left this year.):