Late June/Early July Daylily Blooms: A Peak Season Update

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.

AI Impact on Blogging and Etsy: Insights from a Daylily Hobbyist and Artist

Midseason Monday Meanderings

Midseason Monday brings only 2 first blooms for 2024 to the yard. The first is an older daylily, Prairie Blue Eyes. Even though she is a classic, Prairie Blue Eyes has a nice blue hue around the eye zone.

Prairie Blue Eyes

The second is one I got as a bonus called Nona’s Garnet Spider. She is a 90s girl. Nona is a petite spider that adds a nice red accent in my front path garden.

Nona’s Garnet Spider

It was a nice break in the flurry of midseason today. I had other things to get done today. Finding balance during peak season is always a challenge, and I don’t think I am at peak. This year may be more like a prolonged plateau until Fall.

Ned Roberts Spider Daylily Collection To Date

I wanted to show off my Ned Roberts spiders so far this season. I have over 70 total Ned cultivators – I hope this isn’t an accurate mid-season picture as far as bloom rate. I am nowhere close to 35 (or midway). Here they are in the order shown below: Chaco Canyon, Chief Four Fingers, Chokecherry Mountain, Comanche Princess, Coral Taco, Echo Canyon, Fried Green Tomatoes, Kachina Dancer, Kokopelli, Maya Cha Cha, Papa Longlegs, Pueblo Dancer, Talon. 13 of 70 is about 18%, so the Southwest Road Trip Garden is lower than my yard as a whole.

To AI or Not to AI? That is the Question!

To my fellow bloggers out there, what are your thoughts on AI? I have been using the Word Press AI feature for headlines and my stats seem to be up, but it also feels a little distant or impersonal. That said, it does save a little time. The excerpt is another time-saver, but again feels impersonal. I feel like the 3rd person.

I usually use Grammarly, but it hasn’t been running for a few days for some reason. I like the feedback it gives, generally speaking. I used it for my doctorate, also, and found it helpful – although it argues with the AI I use for my Etsy listings. I SMH with the bots arguing about grammar but using AI does seem to be increasing my Etsy traffic.

Bloggers – if you are using AI, do you think it is helping with traffic? If yes – why and how much???

Speaking of Etsy . . .

Please don’t forget my Until the Last Daylily Blooms art sale on Etsy. This sale is on all of my daylily artwork – wall art, pots, clocks, and cards. Please follow my Art from the Hartt page on Facebook and Instagram for updates and process videos. Click here to visit my Etsy shop.

I will be adding some new pieces before the summer is over. I plan to do some daylily paintings over a marbled acrylic pour background. I will be talking more about my process in the next few weeks!

A Little Steam

Today, the daylily garden picked up a little speed with 6 “first bloom for 2023” cultivators. It feels like late June usually does. I wonder if peak will be late or if we will just ride the plateau this year.

Here are photos via Instagram. Names in order: Nona’s Garnet Spider 🕷, Passionate Returns ❤️, Heron’s Cove 🐦, Holy Sombrero 🤠, Kiva Dancer💃, and Chorus Line 💃. Potpourri of cultivators.

The next few days are supposed to be scorchers and no rain in sight.

Please visit my website Www.artfromthehartt.com

Colorado Foothills

Gradual increases in elevation as we climb to the peak. Today, it felt like the peak was not too much more of a climb. Grab your oxygen, here are the new blooms for today:

Cricket Call 7.7 (Ned Roberts spider #15)
Maya Cha Cha 7.7 (Ned Roberts spider #16)
Mayan Poppy 7.7
Nona’s Garnet Spider 7.7
Prairie Blue Eyes 7.7
Prelude to Love 7.7
Quilt Patch 7.7
Return a Smile 7.7
Rocky Mountain Pals 7.7 (Ned Roberts spider #17)

That’s 9 new, 44 in bloom today, and 70 total that have bloomed this year. That’s a 40% bloom rate and we are headed for around 90%. 70 down, almost 100 to go to reach that goal. Makes me tired but tomorrow, we climb, again. Good thing for our Rocky Mountain Pals.

July Daylily Round-up N-Z

Here is part 1 of this blog post These posts include all daylilies that were in bloom in July in my yard. Please see first post for more details.

Navajo Grey Hills 7.16-present
Nearly Wild 7.11-7.31
Nona’s Garnet Spider 7.5-7.18
Nosferatu 7.12-7.19 (end 7.19-7.24 during vaca)
Nurse’s Stethoscope 6.24-7.16
Oh Erica 7.17 (end 7.19-7.24 during vaca)
Ojo de Dios 6.28-7.15
Orange Flurry 7.10-7.26
Orange Vols 7.27-present
Orchid Moonrise 6.17-7.8
Papa Longlegs 7.2-7.17
Pardon Me 6.30-7.18
Passionate Returns 6.28-7.29
Petite Petticoats 6.26-7.10
Pink and Cream 6.24-7.11
Pink Enchalada 7.4-7.18
Pink Rain Dance 7.4-7.25
Pizza Crust (started week of 7.19)-present
Platinum Pink Pallet Whispers 6.21-7.2
Prairie Blue Eyes 7.1-7.27
Prelude to Love 7.3-8.1
Primal Scream 6.25-7.15
Pueblo Dreamer 7.5-7.19
Purple Corn Dancer 7.27-present
Purple de Oro 7.11-7.16
Purple Many Faces 7.17-7.27
Purple Thunderbird 7.26-present
Purple Grasshopper 6.11-present. Non-stop!
Purple Moonrise 6.15-7.5
“Purple Mystic” NOID 6.24-7.16
Quilt Patch 7.9-7.19
Raven Woodsong 7.8-present
Red Hot Returns 7.11-7.19 (ended 7.19-7.25 during vaca)
Red Riddle (NOID) 6.23-7.9
Return a Smile 6.25-7.14
Rocky Mountain Pals 7.9-7.28
Rosie’s Red 7.9-present
Route 66 7.1-7.19
Royal Braid 7.18 (ended 7.19-7.25 during vaca)
Royal Palace Prince 7.25-present
Ruby Spider 6.22-7.19 (ended 7.19-7.24 during vaca)
Ruby Stella 7.5-present
Santa Fe Christmas (right) 7.2-7.26
Santa’s Pants 6.26-7.9
Skinwalker 6.19 to present
Soco Gap 7.3-7.19
South Seas 6.30-7.25
Spirit of the Morning 7.12-8.1 (unless I missed a bud)
Stella 6.7-7.1
Stephanie Returns 6.30-7.28
Strutters Ball 7.5-7.27
Taco Twister 7.12-present
Talon 7.5-7.18
The Colorado Kid 6.23-7.18
Thin Man 7.3-7.18
Treasure of the Southwest 7.15-present
Truchas Sunrise 7.10-7.19

No U, No V – I need to fix that with some new flowers 🙂

Wild Horses 6.15-7.3
Wild Rose Fandango 7.1-7.19
Winds of Love 7.13-7.27
Wineberry Candy 7.4-7.13

No X, either!

Yellow Punch 6.15-7.4 (first encore 7.31)
Zuni Eye 7.15-present
Zuni Thunderbird 7.19-present

That is all for July, folks. Look for our Colorado Day (8/1) blooms up next!

Daylilies are My Life

This time of year, it feels like daylilies are my life. I have had about 30 blooms in the garden for several days. Yesterday, we hit 40. Today, we hit 60!. It took me almost an hour just to photograph them – let alone photo editing and posting. Last night, I took a lot of photos of fireworks – It felt very similar in my garden today. A few pauses, but mostly lots of action. Do I think we are at peak – no. But it is getting closer.

Here are the premiers for today. Hang on – there are 10 (so about 80 cultivators have bloomed so far). Today, there were several of my favorite hybridizer’s blooms that opened (Ned Roberts). Daylily season is like Christmas . . . the peak is a little overwhelming. At the same time, it is like old friends who visit once a year.

Chokecherry Mountain 7.5 (A Ned Roberts Spider)
Feather Woman 7.5 (A Ned Roberts spider)
Heavenly Curls – one of my favorite bonus daylilies!
Longlesson Show-off – Not one of my favorite bonus daylilies, but the bloom looked fuller and more colorful today than usual. Maybe the soil change and drip system.
Medicine Feather – A lanky Ned Roberts spider
Another bonus – Nona’s Garnet Spider – I have always liked her.
Pueblo Dancer – 7.5 – another Roberts spider but I have always questioned her ID. Her blooms are larger this year with the soil change!
Ruby Stella 7.5
Strutter’s Ball – 7.5 – a late bloom start for this long-time member of my daylily pack
Talon – 7.5 Another old friend from my Roberts collection

Finales have started to add up a little, too. I missed Platinum Pink Palette Whispers. Today was the last of Funny Valentine’s show for 2021.

Platinum Pink finale 7.2
Funny Valentine finale 7.5

Wholly cow! This took all day. It’s 4:30! Hopefully, I got the bugs worked out of my back-up system so it doesn’t take as long tomorrow. I gotta get painting and get my business inventory going! Follow my business blog for updates, too.

http://www.artandnaturefromthehartt.com

July’s Colorful Parade

Are you ready for a beautiful July parade? Here goes – a listing of all of my daylilies that had first blooms in July. I count 81. Enjoy!

Apache Bandana 7.6.20
Autumn Jewels 7.22.20
Aztec Firebird 7.22.20
Baja 7.18.20
Bela Lugosi 7.22.20
Bella Boo 7.6.20
Black Arrowhead 7.19.20
Black Eyed Susan 7.2.20
Black Ice 7.22.20
Bold Tiger 7.26.20
Carlotta 7,30.20
Cheddar Cheese 7.4.20
Cherokee Star 7.6.20
Chokecherry Mountain 7.20.20
Chorus Line 7.29.20
Classy Lady 7.29.20
Coyote Laughs 7.17.20
Cripple Creek 7.29.20
Dancing Maiden 7.20.20
Desert Icicle 7.30.20
Dream Catcher 7.28.20
El Desperado 7.30.20
Fairy Tale Pink 7.22.20
Fine Time Lucille 7.19.20
Fooled Me 7.6.20
Frans Hals 7.22.20
Fringe Benefit 7.21.10
Glen Eyrie 7.29.30
Golden Eclipse 7.30.20
Happy Hopi 7.3.20
Heirloom Heaven 7.30.20
Heron’s Cove 7.3.1
Hesperus 7.29.30
Holy Sombrero 7.3.20
Hopi Jewel 7.17.1
Iktomi 7.30.20
Indian Giver 7.2.20
Indian Sky 7.28.20
Just Plum Happy 7.16.1
Kachina Firecracker 7.30.20
Kiva Dancer 7.4.20
Lacy Doily 7.7.1
Lime Frost 7.16.20
Lobo Lucy 7.21.20
Longlesson Showoff 7.20.20
Mama Cuna 7.22.20
Marque Moon 7.21.20
Maya Cha Cha 7.22.20
Navajo Grey Hills 7.30.20
Nona’s Garnet Spider 7.28.20
Nosferatu 7.27.20
Orange Flurry 7.26.20
Orange Vols 7.28.20
Painted Petroglyph 7.21.20
Papa Longlegs 7.16.20
Pardon Me 7.17.20
Passionate Returns 7.17.20
Prairie Wildfire 7.2.20
Prelude to Love 7.27.20
Purple de Oro 7.4.20
Raspberry Propeller 7.17.20
Raven Woodsong 7.18.20
Red Hot Returns 7.17.20
Red Mystery 7.17.20
Route 66 7.5.20
Royal Palace Prince 7.30.20
Ruby Stella 7.30.20
Shape Shifter 7.22.20
Skinwalker 7.29.20
Soco Gap 7.5.20
South Seas 7.17.20
Spirit of the Morning 7.27.20
Moon over Chimayo 7.20.20
Stephanie Returns 7.19.20
Taco Twister 7.21.20
Talon 7.27.20
Thin Man 7.4.20
Treasure of the Southwest 7.30.20
Twirling Pinata 7.29.20
Winds of Love 7.19.20
Zuni Thunderbird 7.22.20

Three

I had three charming premiers today, including one of my all-time favorite Ned Roberts spiders – Winds of Love. She always looks like she if floating on the breeze – probably influenced her name.

Winds of Love 7.19.20

Kachina Firecracker also gave a first bloom of the year – She looks like Kachina Dancer to me. Cousins, no doubt

Kachina Firecracker 7.19.20

And, Nona’s Garnet Spider gave us a hello bloom today.

Nona’s Garnet Spider

I did the counts of unbloomed with and without scapes. I believe we are at 117 cultivators that have bloomed now. I have a list of 16 more with unbloomed scapes – so that would come to a total of 133 or 78% bloom rate. That works for me – but it always bugs me why some don’t bloom (41 was my count). Navajo Rodeo, Cricket Call and Purple Grasshopper were big bloomers the last couple of years. Maybe I need to fertilize a bit more and refresh dirt if it has settled. The front garden had several that no-showed this year, but I just put the sprinkler in a few weeks ago, so maybe the drought was the issue. Maybe I will get some late scapes, too.

The southwest corner of my Southwest Garden today 7.19.20

Last year this day I had 70+ in bloom. But, last spring was so cold that my earlier bloomers didn’t show until early to mid July – and the mid bloomers were going by then, too. 70+ is insane. I prefer the more gradual peak.

Lovely Ladies

As I download, upload, and edit photos every night, I try to think of some meaningful focus for this blog.  Tonight, I am tired and what strikes me are the lovely lady names of some of today’s bloomers.  They all look like they are dancing to me, too.

Classy Lady caught my eye first thing!

ClassyLady8.6.1.jpg

Classy Lady 8/6

Dancing Maiden is getting some great, flowing blooms now.

DancingMaiden8.6.1.jpg

Dancing Maiden 8/6

Rosie’s Red always adds such color to the front garden.

RosiesRed8.6.1.jpg

Rosie’s Red 8/6

Nona’s Garnet Spider is doing morning yoga.

NonasSpider8.6.1.jpg

Nona’s Garnet Spider 8/6

Maya Cha Cha is always an eye-catching gal ready to meet the day with a smile.

MayaChaCha8.6.1.jpg

Maya Cha Cha 8/6

Lobo Lucy is a fine redhead.

LoboLucy8.6.1.jpg

Lobo Lucy 8/6

Black-eyed Susan shines on.

BlackEyedSusan8.6.1.jpg

Black-Eyed Susan 8/6

And, Ruby Stella is a non-stop bloomer this summer!

RubyStella8.6.1.jpg

Ruby Stella 8/6

The top photo is Spirit of the Morning, who woke up dancing a beautiful ballet.

And, amidst my flourishing daylilies who have not been bug sprayed or fertilized all summer due to my busy schedule are my Christmas plants.  My baby amaryllis bulbs of 3 years ago are sending up spikes now!  But, my poinsettias still look like they are frozen in early June.  New leaves, but small.  I started fertilizing . . . but I usually bring these in late August to start the bloom cycle and these guys are nowhere close to ready.  Well, one is big and full.  Two are small size but not pigmy.  Three are pigmy.  What to do with them if they don’t correct in the next few weeks???  Was it the cold spring??? And, oh, the fall daylily chores start to cross my mind – maybe move a couple that haven’t bloomed or add a front garden drip system.  A gardener’s mind is always dancing.

 

Morning Has Broken

Today was an early day in the garden before a hike with my family.  I love having my daughter and grandkids in Colorado so I can see them every couple of months.  Grandkids are the best blooms of all.

The morning brought two very first blooms to my yard.  The first is Nona’s Garnet Spider.  Sadly, Nona only produced one viable bud year.  (So far – keep hoping!)  She was another small root planted last fall.  I really like her.  I hope Nona brings more buds next trip.

 

NonasGarnetSpider5.8.3

Nona’s Garnet Spider – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

Apache Uprising was also added late fall and was pretty small.  I added a couple of intentional late bloomers.  It’s a pretty flower.

 

ApacheUprising5.8.3

Apache Uprising – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

It was also a day of hiking and swimming, so I am beat.  But it is making me smile to have 13 blooms on an August day.  My dream is May – October.  This year started early June.  Let’s see where it ends.    (71 blooms so far – so I made my 50% goal.)  I have noticed Heirloom Heaven with brand new scapes forming.  Plus Tiger Kitten and Frans Hals are growing scapes.  I may hit 74.  And, who knows, I may have another scape or two join the show.

 

Collage 2016-08-04 00_15_17

From L to R:  Top Row – Lime Frost, Fine Time Lucille, Nona’s Garnet Spider.  Row Two – Royal Palace Prince, Purple de Oro, Marque Moon, Stella de Oro, Orange Vols.  Bottom Row – Apache Uprising, El Desperado, Pizza Crust.