Tag: Pandora’s Box

The Colorado Kid: Getting His Kicks on Route 66

Leave a comment

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

1 Comment

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.

Capturing Exquisite Daylily Photography: Tools and Techniques

Leave a comment

Hot Fun!

It’s the time of the season for heat. The monsoons have evaporated for the last week or two. It’s 94 today, suppose to be 100 on Sunday. I wonder what the temp spike will do for my cultivators but also look forward to a mountain get-away from the heat wave next week.

Nurse’s Stethoscope

Buttered Popcorn, Anyone?

It’s odd to only have one first-of-the-season bloom on a day like today. But, perhaps a good day to think about Buttered Popcorn. Or maybe it is just that it is 5:30 already and I am getting hungry. Too hot to walk the dogs for an hour or so. Dinner is a ways off. Buttered popcorn – YES! Can I DoorDash that? LOL.

Buttered Popcorn

Daylily Photography Processes and Improvements

I am curious what other daylily photographers are using for their photos. I use to use my Canon Powershot and had no complaints. Except, I had to download the photos and edit them to upload them to my online drive. As my daylily collection grew, my time for photo editing shrunk.

All American Chief

I then shifted to my Kindle for a year or two because of the large screen for focus. It worked OK, but was an awkward size and getting the photos to the online drive was still a pain.

Papa Longlegs

Now, I use my Samsung Galaxy A52. The camera is decent. I honestly don’t see much difference between it and the Canon for my purposes, and I think it is better than the Kindle. It’s easy to upload to my online drive, share to social media, and even blog from my phone (although I prefer my PC for blogging.) Since I use my photos as a tracking method and daylily art reference, I find it adequate and time-efficient. I’m not after super high-quality photographic images to sell.

Pandora’s Box

I would love to hear from other daylily bloggers and photographers about their camera and daily photo process.

Add a Splash of Color to Your Space!

Speaking of daylily art – my original paintings and art prints are on sale ALL SUMMER at my Until the Last Daylily Blooms sale on Etsy. This one of Chief Four Fingers is one of my favorites. The original was acrylic on tile, giving this painting a unique texture. The signed prints look adorable in an 8X8 frame and add a splash of color to any space! Click this link or the photo to go to the Etsy listing! Only $9 currently!!!

Chief Four Fingers daylily signed print.