Tag: Oh Erica

The Colorado Kid: Getting His Kicks on Route 66

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Hello Daylily Fans!

It’s hard to believe another week has passed in the daylily garden. Today, our blog mascot, The Colorado Kid, bloomed for the first time this year. And, another old favorite also came into bloom today: Route 66. I am living my road trip in the garden today.

However, today also brought another day of unhealthy smoke from the fire near Ouray, CO – the Gold Mountain Fire. The smoke makes the whole garden look like it’s in a haze in the morning. Normally, the smoke lifts as the heat comes in. Today, it didn’t lift much.

My garden in the smoke this morning. The camera doesn’t capture the haze that is up close, but it is everywhere.

What does wildfire smoke 24/7 due to daylily buds? To answer that, let’s back-up to the cause of the fires. Colorado is in a bad drought year after receiving minimal snowfall last winter and little rain during the spring or summer. Snowmelt is where Colorado gets the bulk of its water, so when there isn’t snow it creates a serious drought situation. Then, the fire season starts in the Western US because everything is too dry – and the hot, dry, windy weather arrives along with dry lightening. With the fires comes the dense blankets of smoke.

Beautiful but smoky sunset from our campground last week. This is near Blue Mesa, CO and is also smoke from the Gold Mountain Fire.

Montrose has had horrible air quality for several days since the Gold Mountain Fire started near Ouray, but there are other fires compounding the situation. (I heard today they don’t expect to get the Ouray fire entirely out until snow falls in October!) The particles in the air contain chemical vapers that can cause bud blast. They also dry out the air further. So, watching buds blast is the combined impact of the drought, the hot/dry weather, and the chemical vapers. The plant gives-up on blooming in order to save energy. It’s sad to watch the buds melt like butter.

Fortunately, many of my daylilies are blooming anyway. But, several only have 1-2 buds this year. My Southwestern Garden is the hardest hit. Because it is in the easement, it needs more fertilizer and moisture than the ones that get some help from my sprinkler system. My bloom rate out there will probably not hit 50% this year. I can’t fertilize until it cools down and we get some moisture. Sadly, that is where the bulk of my Ned Robert’s spiders are planted. Better luck next year!

Despite the barriers, the daylilies show there resilience by continuing to bloom daily. Here are my new bloomers this week:

Buttered Popcorn 7.4.26
Cheddar Cheese 7.4.26
Cherokee Star 6.30.26
Classy Lady 7.2.26
Echo Canyon 7.4.26
NOID “Fringe Benefit” 6.30.26
Hesperus 7.2.26
Irresistible Charm 6.30.26
Kachina Firecracker 7.4.26
Kiva Dancer 6.30.26
Mayan Poppy 7.2.26
Nurse’s Stethoscope 7.1.26 (only 1 bud and I missed it 😦 )
Oh, Erica 7.2.26
Pandora’s Box 7.5.26
Pick of the Litter 7.3.26
Pueblo Dreamer 7.4.26
Rosie’s Red 7.2.26
Route 66 7.6.26
Santa’s Pants 7.3.26
South Seas 7.3.26
Talon 7.2.26
The Colorado Kid 7.6.26
Titan Sky 7.2.26
Twirling Pinata 6.30.26
Wild Rose Fandango 7.4.26
Winds of Love II 7.5.26

That’s 26 new ones this week, folks! Last week I posted 34. The week before that, 18. And the first post was 9. That adds up to 87. I have about 189 total, so a 46% bloom rate. Could it be peak has come and gone already? I fear that may be true this year. When daylilies only have a few buds, the peak comes fast and dies fast. That’s a drought year pattern in the high desert.

Let’s see what the next week brings. But, even if the monsoons were to come, it is too late for the daylilies that have saved their energy to survive the drought to bloom this year.

Don’t let the smoke stop you from blooming this week,

Cathy Hartt

Please take a moment to visit my art business page, Art from the Hartt. and see what I am working on this summer. I have some great garden gnomes up for adoption!

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

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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!!!

Alabama Jubilee first bloom 7.2.25
Apache Beacon first bloom 7.1.25
Baby Blue Eyes first bloom 6.27.25
Bela Lugosi first bloom 6.28.25
Blackthorn first bloom 6.28.25
Buttered Popcorn first bloom 6.29.25
Canyon Colors first bloom 6.25.25
Catherine Irene first bloom 6.24.25
Chaco Canyon first bloom 6.27.25
Chief Four Fingers first bloom 6.27.25
Chorus Line first bloom 7.2.25
Cricket Call first bloom 7.1.25
Early Bird Cardinal first bloom 6.28
Echo Canyon first bloom 7.2.25
Fine Time Lucille first bloom 7.2.25
“Fringe Benefit” (mislabeled) first bloom 6.28.25
Funny Valentine first bloom 6.24.25
Grape Smash first bloom 7.3.25
Holy Sombrero first bloom 7.3.25
Indian Love Call first bloom 6.24.25
Inwood first bloom 6.25.25
Jog On first bloom 6.27.25
Lady Fingers 6.24.25
Lime Frost 6.26.25

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.

Longlesson Showoff first bloom 6.24.25
Lullaby Baby first bloom 7.2.25
Mauna Loa first bloom 6.28.25
Maya Cha Cha first bloom 7.2.25
Melon Balls first bloom 6.28.25
Mount Echo Sunrise first bloom 6.26.25
Nona’s Garnet Spider first bloom 7.3.25
Nurse’s Stethoscope first bloom 6.29.25
Oh Erica first bloom 7.2.25
Ojo de Dios first bloom 6.24.25
Pandora’s Box first bloom 6.28.24
Papa Longlegs first bloom 8.29.24
Pardon Me first bloom 7.3.25
Passionate Returns first bloom 7.2.25
Pick of the Litter first bloom 7.2.25
Prairie Blue Eyes first bloom 7.3.25
Pueblo Dreamer first bloom 7.2.25
Purple Many Faces first bloom 7.3.25
Purple Moonrise first bloom 7.2.25
NOID “Purple Mystique” first bloom 6.26.25
Quilt Patch first bloom 7.2.25
Royal Palace Prince (maybe) first bloom 6.29.25
South Seas first bloom 7.2.25
Strutter’s Ball first bloom 6.27.25
Thin Man first bloom 6.27.25
Titan Skye first bloom 6.28.25

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.

Unique Yard Art and Memorials for Daylily Gardens

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My Memorial/Family/Pet Gardens

How many of my readers have a memorial garden integrated into your yard? Daylilies are great for memorial gardens because the names often speak to us of a friend or loved one. In fact, I have a family name section of my daylily garden with Catherine Irene, Mini Pearl, Stephanie Returns, Isaac, Mayan Poppy and Oh Erica that are all names of family members, both alive and dead. It’s almost as good as having them come to visit.

Catherine Irene
Mini Pearl
Stephanie Returns
Isaac
Mayan Poppy
Oh Erica

I also have a pet memorial garden that is actually coneflower. I didn’t get coneflowers with pet names – they have Southwestern names like Moab Sunset, though. I have my handmade memorial pet leaf castings, each with a little of my pet’s own ashes in the hypertufa (cement + sphagnum moss + vermiculate) mix. I also added some of my cute handmade garden gnomes and I have a plague for the first dog I lost, Maizzy. In the lilac tree that towers above the garden I have a solar bird feeder collection.

Coneflowers in my pet memorial garden.

Please share a story about and/or photo of your memorial gardens in the comments!

Bouquet of the Day

After no new blooms yesterday, I had 5 today. I am at about 35% bloom rate. Not great for mid-season but the plateau shaped peak in blooms continues. We will see where we are when the last daylily blooms.

Fairytale Pink
Mildred Mitchell
Nearly Wild
Classy Lady
Open My Eyes

I had some vivid colors and some pastels today. And, an older near blue, Mildred Mitchell. The vivid orange of Nearly Wild and the deep maroon of Open My Eyes add stunning color to the collection. My pink girls – Fairytale Pink and Classy Lady – added a nice contrast.

Yard Art & Memorials Added: Until The Last Daylily Blooms Sale

This blog inspired me to add my handmade yard art to the Until the Last Daylily Blooms Sale at my Etsy shop – at least for July-August 19th. Specifically, I added hypertufa leaf casting ash memorials, cement dog plaque memorials, garden gnomes, and mushrooms. These are great companions for daylily gardens.

Hypertufa Leaf Casting Ash Pet Memorial

Pet memorial ash leaf castings – click here for listing.

Cement Pet Memorial Plaque: Acrylic Pour and Solid Colors

I am playing with painting my cement dog/cat plaque memorials with pour acrylics. This is one I made yesterday. The lettering will be painted in a lighter color to make it more readable and other highlights added. I will get this listed as soon as possible, in the mean time if you are interested, please email me. I also can do custom colors if you prefer.

Process video of a pour acrylic pet memorial plaque.
New Pour Acrylic Style
Green Style A
Flowered Style B

Garden and Holiday Gnomes: Pour Acrylic or Solid Colors

These garden gnomes are my “seconds” so I decided to try pour painting on them. I have 6 gnome styles (see slides below and click here for Etsy listing) and I am adding a couple new styles very soon. I normally paint them solid, traditional colors, but I will be adding some pour paint styles soon. Again, I can do custom colors – contact me via email or my Etsy shop.

Time For Nature

I’m headed off on a camping adventure tomorrow. It will be next weekend before I post, again, unless I do a post on wildflowers. You can follow our adventure at my travel blog – click here to visit and subscribe.

Pearl Lake State Park, Colorado

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

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Today, mid-late season arrived in my yard with a bang. Eight new cultivators. Of note, this was Oh, Erica’s first healthy bloom after three years in my yard. She only has 2 buds, though. The desert if hard.

Titan Sky had the first bloom ever and I’m in love with the colors! My second Ghost Ranch plant bloomed for the first time – the first one died about 3 years ago. I got the new one 2 years ago. If you live in the tropics, it’s different here.

Please enjoy my Instagram with photos.

Cultivators in order: Oh Erica, Ghost Ranch, NOID seedling?, Glen Eyrie, Navajo Grey Hills, Titan Sky, Coburg Fright Wig, El Desperado.

Please visit my website Www.artfromthehartt.com

July Daylily Round-up N-Z

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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!

Mapping Daylilies

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Perhaps it is a bit premature to start my “between the seasons” chores. However, the best time to update my garden map was with several of the cultivators in bloom. It is funny what I forget when they aren’t blooming and look like a cross between grass and a spider plant. So, I printed off the old map and thought it would be a few adjustments. However, the garden grew and changed over the years and the numbering system was confusing – so I started from scratch.

Garden maps are great, though. You know what you have and what you don’t have. You know approximately where your cultivators are – so when that bloom you don’t remember pops up, you can figure out what it is (esp if you lost the label.

Anyway, back to the blooms – I had 3 very different premiers today.

El Desperado 7.17 – This was actually the first cultivator I had in the Southwest Garden (that was much smaller and just had yucca. I put it in a pot and set it out there with no water system other than my watering can. Suffice it to say, she didn’t flourish. I moved her and she did fine but up and died a couple years ago, so this is a replacement. She taught me that I needed irrigation out there before I tried daylilies in that spot, again. Now, there are 79.
Oh Erica 7.17 – This is a new addition to the family garden this year. I found the daylily by searching the family member’s name but couldn’t find it for sale. I found the hybridizer and he sold me the fans. I hope she does OK – she looks a little but eaten.
Purple Many Faces 7.17 – Pretty late for a premier bloom from this Roberts spider. It usually blooms early July. IDK – moving to the pot – also the drought – she was very slot to start this spring due to looking very dry.

Finales included a lot of big yellow-white flowers today. Sad to see them go.

Heavenly Curls finale 7.17 – She had her best bloom year ever, though!
Ghost Ranch finale 7.17 – She only had 2 buds so one premier and one finale. Glad I ordered more.
Papa Longlegs finale 7.17 – He also had a good bloom year.
Hopi Jewel finale 7.17 – I think of her as an earlier bloomer so it is unusual to still have her blooming.
Coral Taco finale 7.16 – I missed her yesterday
Prelude to Love finale 7.17

Only about 36 hours until I head for New Mexico for a few days – to see a Truchas sunrise and visit Ghost Ranch – Oh, and drive the Enchanted Circle in the land of enchantment.