Jewels of the Garden

June 22, 2016June 22, 2016Leave a comment

With the light of day, two jewels glimmered in my garden. One is my old favorite, Ruby Spider. Ruby is one of the oldest of my daylily collection. I have had her close to a decade. She was added to fill a planter box that hides my drip system controls. I used ornamental grass the first couple years, but it always died over the winter. So, why not daylilies? This one is still in the same planter (although divisions are now in the main garden) with Return a Smile and Just Plum Happy. Ruby’s bloom is so big and bright that it almost looks fake to me. I know daylily season has started when this one opens its first bloom.

Ruby Spider – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies (C. Hartt)

The other jewel in bloom today is a new daylily called Hopi Jewel. My thanks to Blue Ridge Daylilies for picking up my Southwest name theme and sending this as a gift plant. It’s in with my new Ned Roberts garden, as are a select few other aptly named non-Neds.

Hopi Jewel – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies (C. Hartt)

I must be taken with Hopi Jewel, because I took a lot of photos of her. It is a nice shape and color combination. And, maybe it is just fun to see another new face in my new garden. It took me days to clear the rocks, dig out some of the hard clay desert soil (we call it adobe soil), and fill it in with topsoil and compost. And, now it is home to over 50 new daylilies, mostly my Southwest named Neds. It is nice, though, to have a few with rounder shapes.

Hopi Jewel – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies (C. Hartt)

I keep wondering if the daylilies will spread to take over or if they will stay in their current space. The desert has the sun these guys love, but the soil is hard clay and the rain virtually non-existent. It’s not Asia. It’s not even Georgia, where many of these plants came from. According to climatemps.com, Georgia gets about 5 times as much precipitation. That’s about 25 more gallons per square foot. One good thing about my Neds is that they were hybridized in New Mexico and Colorado. Still, they do so much better in bagged soil and added water crystals.

I am at a clinical conference out-of-town during the day tomorrow. I am unsure if anything else is on the verge of a bloom, but I am going to do my best to go out and check before I leave . . . sometime between 5 and 6 AM. Unlike my lilies, I do not bloom that early!

Mystery in the Daylily Garden

June 22, 2016June 22, 2016Leave a comment

So, the first blooms are appearing in my brand new Ned Roberts (mostly) daylily garden. And, today a plant clearly labeled as Chief Four Fingers bloomed. Beautiful bloom . . . but it doesn’t look like Chief Four Fingers. The label is from the grower, so I am guessing they were busy. I don’t care too much other than hoping it is in the right row for its height. So, here is the bloom from today:

And here is what Chief Four Fingers photo looks like (note the petal count discrepancy):

And here are the other ones ordered from that grower with that order:

Mount Echo Sunrise

Purple Many Faces

Aztec Firebird

So, any guesses? My own thought is Purple Many Faces. I guess we will see what the one labeled as such looks like when it blooms. And, PS, I mean nothing negative against the grower. These are the probably the best blooming sized plants that I get from any grower. It is just sort of funny and hopefully the Chief shows up this summer.

Also making an appearance in the front garden is Early Bird Cardinal. This one blooms early and is a repeat bloomer. The show has just begun. I think Ruby Spider is getting ready to hatch! Those are the biggest, most colorful blooms in my garden . . . and I divided my main plant into three last fall. So, I should have plenty of color soon! I also think Hopi Jewel is due soon. And, if Electric Lizard is strong enough now, I think there will be a new bloom there soon. She dropped her last buds so fingers crossed that she is growing stronger. Ta Ta Til Blooms.

Focus on Daylilies

June 20, 2016June 20, 20162 Comments

I went camping this weekend. It’s my semester break from my doctoral program. However, I am teaching a class and implementing my project. So, it was a quick get away. I came home to find that I had missed Chief Four Fingers and Early Bird Cardinal’s first blooms. However, Happy Returns had two blossoms to greet me.

As always, I ran out with my Canon Powershot and my Kindle to get a shot. After that, I went in to download my vacation pictures. On the same card are my first camera versions of the photos that I have shared here. I thought would do a couple of comparisons.

Below is my first bloom, Electric Lizard. The first one is by Kindle, the second with the Powershot.

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Electric Lizard Daylily taken with Amazon Kindle

Electric Lizard taken with Canon Powershot

Below is Dream Keeper, first by Kindle and then by Powershot:

Dream Keeper taken with Amazon Kindle

Dream Keeper taken with Canon Powershot

I paint my Christmas gifts from the photos, so detail and color are important. Still, I am on a student budget until I return to work. So these are my options. The Kindle does a decent job for something that I can post immediately. However, the Canon sure has crisper detail.

I welcome any thoughts experiences readers have had with photographing these beauties. I am hopeful for another bloom or two very soon.

Sweet Dreams!

June 13, 2016June 13, 2016Leave a comment

I am one of those daylily addicts who tore up part of my old rock garden to put in a themed daylily garden. Most of the residents are Ned Roberts daylilies with southwestern names. But, thanks to the daylily farmers who send bonuses (many with the southwestern theme, too), I have a few others in that area.

Anytime you rip up rocks and plant something there (after 50+ years), it is a bit of an experiment. The sun exposure is best there, that is why I picked that spot. The tree that used to be there was taken down for a new sewer system a decade ago. I made a little garden with yucca and a lilac, and so that is the history. Last year, I put three Roberts daylilies out in that small area. They came back (fall planting) looking great. Now there is a whole list of Roberts blooms “to be” out there. And I hold my breath that a few inches of good soil, water crystals, a permanent sprinkler, and mulch will make that habitable.

Today, it happened – the first bloom. Dream Keeper. I got up early to take photos and went back to bed (as I was up til after 2 AM doing homework). I love these spiders, so delicate. I love how the peddles twist and turn. And, hey, this one looks like its photo. Here is Dream Keeper from my yard. I purchased this one from Blueridge Daylilies. They send healthy big plants!

And, here is the one from the web. Mine actually looks a little more vibrant!

So, I take a deep breath that my new babies are happy out there. I don’t think I’ll have another bloom for a few days. But, in someways it is nice because I can savor each one.

For anyone looking for Ned Roberts southwestern cultivators, here is a list of growers who I purchased from the last couple of years (in no particular order):

Blueridge Daylilies/Blooming Auction
Crossview Gardens
Daylily Diva
Earthly Treasures
The Lily Auction (Brooks, Connie Horner, Floota, Amy Garden, Parklane)
Smokey’s Garden
Oak Hill Nursery
Shady Rest Gardens

Welcome to my daylily blog

June 5, 2016June 5, 20162 Comments

Thanks for visiting my daylily blog. Last year, I started back to school full-time to complete a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. I am an educator and healthcare leader, so I felt ready for some added wisdom. I have always been a fan of daylilies, and the past year I would say that they have become my therapist. I am also a resilience coach and believe these flowers are the symbol of flourishing.

So, last year, I discovered the joy of ordering daylily roots directly from the hybridizers and growers. Before that, I was dependent on the varieties at the local nurseries. I have gotten some great cultivators that way! However, last year I decided that I wanted to reorganize my languishing front path garden and make daylilies the primary flower. And, for cost and variety sake, I decided to try my luck at using mail order.

Like all new hobbies, there is a learning curve to this stuff. And, so I ordered too late for blooms last year. I used coconut pots that cramped the roots, which didn’t help. At first, I used just one grower. Then, I got fascinated with the near blue daylilies, and those searches lead me to a couple of other farmers. By fall, I figured out the auctions, as well as several other mail order daylily suppliers.

I studied evergreens, semi-evergreens, and dormant varieties. The blue ones were often evergreen and spent the winter on the porch. Those blue ones that were semi-evergreen stayed outside and succumbed to a late freeze. Even one of the ones that looked good inside has slowly died this spring. That was hard because they were expensive! And, I didn’t know about getting the best deals, so I paid too much for them.

Fortunately, I still have five near-blues that are thriving. I also have around 140 other varieties. My late summer interest was the Ned Roberts daylilies with Southwestern names. I started with Kokopelli on the auction. Now, I have a whole section of the rock garden converted for a variety of those blooms.

And, so this blog is born as a way to document the beauty of the daily flowers with photography. I have almost a dozen scapes growing on daylilies, so the first blooms are only a couple of weeks away. I hope you enjoy and will share your adventures with your own gardens here.

Today, I am sharing a photo of one of my favorites, Stephanie Returns. This variety is one that I got from a local grower last spring. That was the same season that my daughter, Stephanie, returned to Colorado. Until those blooms happen, I will be blogging about some of my oldies from last year.