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.
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.
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.
When I logged off on Sunday, I didn’t think it would be almost a week before I got a chance to write another blog. The heat is on!!! Camping, the 4th of July, and lots of daylilies have happened since I last posted.
And, this summer is slow. Some of the early bloomers no-showed. I am currently in the low 100s with plants that have scapes, are in bloom, or have finished blooming. Forty one out of 198 have bloomed so far this season. That’s 21%. So, it’s either going to be a wild late summer peak or a boring season. Likely somewhere in-between.
Until the Last Daylily Blooms + Hypertufa Planter Sale on Etsy
Just a quick reminder that all of my Etsy shop daylily artwork – wall art, clocks, pots, paintings – is on sale “Until the Last Daylily Blooms” in my yard. If you follow this blog, you know the photos and paintings are original Colorado artwork. On July 21st, this discount goes from 25% to 30% off. On August 20th to goes from 30% to 35% off. In September it will jump to 40% off. Will I still have blooms in mid to late October? IDK but if I do, my art will be 45% off. How low can you go??? Don’t miss the bus!!! Click here or on the photo below for the specific listing – and be sure to check out all my sale items.
Original wood panel painting of Skinwalker daylily from my Etsy Shop.
I also make hypertufa (a mix of Portland cement, sphagnum moss, and vermiculate) planters that are 25% off on Etsy during July. My planters are too small for daylilies, but I know many of us adore a wide variety of flora. Hypertufa is porous, similar to terra cotta. So, it lets the roots breath. It has thick walls for stability and can be left outdoors in winter. I do put mine in a protected area (shed) for winter due to freeze, thaw. All of my handmade hypertufa pots are put in a vinegar bath for several days to assure that the pH is favorable to plants of all types. Planters can be used indoors or outdoors. I also make some fun art with hypertufa that is also on sale during July. Click here or on the photo to go to the listing – be sure to check out my other hypertufa pots and art that is on sale during July. Love this one of the cat petroglyph at Petrified Forest
Peak this year is going to be more of a Kansas Peak than a Colorado Peak. So many plants either succumbed to the prolonged freeze-thaw or they just didn’t put out scapes. Many early bloomers seem to be missing, but my garden is trying.
I came home from camping to 15 new cultivators in bloom for the first time in 2023. Here is my Instagram reel from today.
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 yesterdayPrelude 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.
Colorado Kid Daylilies 