I can’t believe I haven’t blogged in 4-5 days. I’m revamping my old porch that’s 80 years old with a 50 year old extention. And, part of it was DIY to begin with. It’s been an adventure.
My old porch stripped of paint that covered the previous owner’s names. I’ve owned my home for 25 years.
Meanwhile, the daylilies keep blooming. I’m even starting to get late bloomers. My daily count has dropped from 70 to 40. It’s slowing down but definitely not done.
7.21 saw Golden Eclipse, Shape Shifter, and Purple Grasshopper. All Ned Roberts spiders.
Golden Eclipse 7.21Shape Shifter 7.21Purple Grasshopper 7.21
7.22 saw Zuni Eye, Coyote Laughs (which I think is a different Roberts spider but was sold to me as CL), Pizza Crust and Memories of OZ.
Zuni Eye 7.22Coyote Laughs 7.22Pizza Crust 7.22Memories of Oz 7.22
7.23 saw Dancing Maiden. My 55th Ned Roberts spider. I have 8 more with unbloomed scapes. Still hoping Navajo Gray Hills will throw a scape.
Dancing Maiden 7.23
And, today, two bloomers that signal that the season is winding down: Royal Palace Prince and Heirloom Heaven.
Royal Palace Prince 7.24Heirloom Heaven
I’m still working on the porch but hopefully done in a couple of days. I had no idea what I was getting into.
I’m back, but only to catch up on finales since Sunday. Once school starts next week, it seems like the daylilies fade in my mind a little. But, this year I am semi-retired so hoping to stay a bit engaged. Last year, I did that huge 70+ buried pot repotting. That was 4 weekends of work and nearly ran into freeze. So, I suppose you could call that engaged.
This year’s project is to re-organize some of my less favorite/poor bloomers with some new cultivators. I just purchased Singing in the Sunshine, Irish Handshake, Ghost Ranch (more fans because I only have one), Off to See the Wizard, Memories of Oz, Sea Panther, Ruby Slippers, Blue Flirt, Wildwood Flower (mine died a couple years ago), and (maybe) another fan of Coyote Laughs (I am not sure the one I have is actually Coyote Laughs). That is 9 or 10 more, but I will be selling some of mine that I am eliminating. I also may do a big pot of leftovers – I have one that does great! I am amazed because it is soooo crowded.
Chaco Canyon – Finale 8.4. Bloomed from 6.27 to today – good year for this one!Pizza Crust Finale 8.3Taco Twister finale 8.4 (today). Treasure of the Southwest finale 8.3Dancing Maiden finale 8.2El Desperado finale 8.2Indian Sky finale 8.2
I have several with only a few (if that) buds left. I think the closing daylilies this year will be Purple Corn Dancer, Navajo Curls, Purple Thunderbird and Adios Albuquerque. Will they last until September? Will there be an August surprise scape on a non-bloomer?
I’m a nurse and I have worked the last shift – in the old days that was 11 PM to 7 AM, although most places have gone to 12s, so it is 7 P to 7 A. When you show up for the last shift, there is still a lot that can happen. It is far from over. However, it tends to be quieter with administration and many of the departments (and physicians) asleep at home unless called. As a midwife, I generally preferred last shift births because it was less hectic.
I would say the same for daylilies – their cycle is more like the 8 hour day, but the first shift is slower than in nursing. These are the early bloomers, often yellow trumpets plus a few brave early bloomers. The second shift is crazy, especially this year. Many of the first shift stayed late and a few of the last shift showed up early. Hectic, yes. Now, it is clearly the late shift – time to gear down and savor the last few weeks of the season.
I am going to focus on premiers since 7.18, since I was on a camping road trip last week. I have had numerous finales during that time . . . too many. I plan to do a month wrap-up post at the end of the month with all the July bloomers and their bloom date range. It will take hours to put together.
Premiers (with date of premier bloom if known)
Cripple Creek – Premier 7.19Skinwalker – Premier 7.19Zuni Thunderbird – Premier 7.19Royal Palace Prince – Premier 7.25 (actually, while I was on vacation)Glen Eyrie – Premier 7.25 (actually, while I was on vacation)Heirloom Heaven – Premier 7.25Desert Icicle – Premier 7.26Premier 7.26 (actually, while I was on vacation)Purple Corn Dancer – Premier 7.27 (She usually closes out my blooms, but I have new scapes on Adios Albuquerque, Navajo Curls and Dr Doom. IDK who will clock-out last this year).Orange Vols – Premier 7.27 (actually, while I was on vacation)Pizza Crust – Premier 7.27 (actually, while I was on vacation)
I now count 151 +/- cultivators that have bloomed this year. I have 3 more premiers (with scapes) coming. Occasionally, someone will through a brand new (not re-bloom) scape in August. One time, Santa’s Pants threw one in October. But, we can count on 154 +/- for the season. That puts us at about 86% bloom rate – one of our highest years. I need to look back.
From here on, the focus will be finales. There are lots so maybe I’ll just wait until the end of the month and tie it up there. IDK.
So, this was my camping weekend. And, I’ve had 5 Premiere blooms since my last post. I want to say something before I share them. I had over 30 still in bloom. I have 5 or 6 with scapes that have not bloomed yet. I could possibly get late scapes. I’m at 85% bloom rate – anticipate low 90’s. This week, my regular hours start. It’s going to get crazy. I hope to photograph those that are open before I leave but many don’t open until 9 or 10 AM. They are pretty cooked by 2 PM, so we will see how this goes. Crazy late cycle.
Two brand new blooms on Friday. Cripple Creek – a golden flower that I assume Ned Roberts named after the Colorado gold rush town. Coberg Fright Wig – from back when I bought crazy names. Tried to die, but I finally got it thriving 4 years later.
Cripple Creek 8/2
Coberg Fright Wig 8/2
And, today some new blooms for 2019 on old favorites. Western Sandstone and Pizza Crust. They look and act enough alike that I looked up parentage a couple years ago and they are kin.
The season winds down, and I find myself hitting my snooze a couple extra times. The work of the daylilies has gotten to be a lot less intensive. It has positives and negatives. Here are today’s bloomers:
Finales:
Nearly Wild 8.9
Pizza Crust 8.9
The rest from 8.9:
Purple Corn Dancer
Pink and Cream
Dream Catcher 8.9
For fun, let’s look at the Walkway Garden cultivators that bloomed last year, but didn’t bloom this year. I wonder why? Drought? Adapting to pots? Neighboring plants got bigger and blocked sunlight?
Little Cadet 2017
Best Seller 2017
Chama Valley
Fine Time Lucille 8.9
Fol de Rol 2017
Pardon Me 2017
Western Sandstone 2017
Tis the season to check these pots and see if they need dividing. Then, there are the ones that have never bloomed in my yard – ever. I think 1 more year and some may get recycled. It seems only fair to give them another year in the pots to see. They are Happy Happy, Scorpio, Coberg Fright Wig, Navajo Blanket, Sanctuary in the Sky, Fringe Benefit, Carlotta, and Quilt Patch.
I wish I had the energy that I did last year because time is getting shorter. Sometimes I wish camping season and daylily season did not run concurrently. I read my blog from last year, and I was burying pots every spare second. Now, it feels like too much to add dirt to the bottoms of the pots that have settled. And, I do need to dig up a couple in the Southwest garden and put in pots. Dividing is easier in pots, though. I guess it is my year not to bloom. Droughts happen, and sometimes it isn’t about water.
It was camping weekend, which is good because I need the stress relief. Work is too busy and I am too exhausted. So, I returned to an encore – Stella de Oro has been out of bloom for 3 weeks and she is back. I will just leave her in the roll call. Our last roll call of 2018. We had 37 in bloom this week. We had 56 last week and I predicted half as many this week. Actually – more like 2/3rds. When you look at all the finales this week (see photos below), I will make the same prediction for next week. That’s about 18 for the week. We don’t have many scapes yet, and the ones mostly only have a bloom or two left. Heirloom Heaven, Indian Sky, Pink and Cream, Dream Catcher, and Purple Corn Dancer have some life left in them. I am hoping Passionate Returns, Stephanie Returns, Ruby Stella and Red Hot Returns all return.
Wow – It will be August next weekend. The daylily peak has come and gone. The cultivators were in the teens today . . . a massive drop off from 2-3 weeks ago. It is funny how the first 3 weeks of June are slow progress, then it explodes, then it goes to just a few here and there for months.
Today, we had one new cultivator. Heirloom Heaven bloomed for the first time in 2018. She is an adorable late-blooming mini. She is my last unbloomed scape on a cultivator that hasn’t bloomed yet. This could be it. It seems like I usually get some August scapes . . . not many, but a handful. I don’t know with this drought, though.
Heirloom Heaven 7.29
And, I had a rude awakening last night – because Mount Echo Sunrise doesn’t look anything like Mount Echo Sunrise. I looked at her tag, and she has two. The other one says Moon over Chimayo . . . and she looks like that one. So, I assume . . .
Moon over Chimayo 7.27
Finales:
Lullabye Baby 7.29
Roll Call 7/23-29:
Adios Albuquerque 7.26
Anasazi 7.27
Apache Uprising 7.25
Aztec Firebird 7.27
Baja 7.25
Bela Lugosi 7.24
Blue Beat 7.25
Bluegrass Music 7.24
Bold Tiger 7.23
Cheddar Cheese 7.24
Cherokee Star 7.28
Chorus Line 7.26
Classy Lady 7.27
Comanche Princess 7.28
Dream Catcher (with Navajo Curls) 7.27
El Desperado 7.24
Fox Ears 7.25
Heron’s Cove 7.27
Hesperus 7.25
Indian Love Call 7.24
Indian Sky 7.24
Lady Fingers 7.25
Lime Frost 7.26
Longlesson Show-off 7.23
Marque Moon 7.24
Mildred Mitchell 7.23
Mini Pearl 7.29
Navajo Curls 7.24
Navajo Rodeo 7.23
Nearly Wild 7.28
Nosferatu 7.26
Orange Vols 7.24
Passionate Returns 7.29
Pick of the Litter 7.23
Pink and Cream 7.29
Pizza Crust 7.28
Prairie Blue Eyes 7.28
Prelude to Love 7.25
Purple Corn Dancer 7.26
Purple de Oro 7.24
Purple Moonrise 7.27
Purple Thunderbird 7.26
Raspberry Propeller 7.28
Rosie’s Red 7.23
Route 66 7.26
Royal Palace Prince 7.27
Ruby Stella 7.28
South Seas 7.27
Stephanie Returns 7.23
Tiger Kitten 7.27
Twirling Pinata 7.24
Yellow Punch 7.26
56 for the week . . . that is all! I bet we are down to half of that by next week.
It is roll-call day! But, first, a dedication. It is camping weekend and I was listening to a song “Desperado” on my ipod. I have always identified with the song. So, I will put El Desperado as our lead photo today.
Desperado – The Eagles
Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses? You been out ridin’ fences for so long now Oh, you’re a hard one I know that you got your reasons These things that are pleasin’ you Can hurt you somehow
Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds, boy She’ll beat you if she’s able You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet
Now it seems to me, some fine things Have been laid upon your table But you only want the ones that you can’t get
Desperado, oh, you ain’t gettin’ no younger Your pain and your hunger, they’re drivin’ you home And freedom, oh freedom well, that’s just some people talkin’ Your prison is walking through this world all alone
Don’t your feet get cold in the winter time? The sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine It’s hard to tell the night time from the day You’re losin’ all your highs and lows Ain’t it funny how the feeling goes away?
Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses? Come down from your fences, open the gate It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you You better let somebody love you (let somebody love you) You better let somebody love you before it’s too late
OK – so new to the garden for the first time in 2018 today is Pizza Crust. I get a little hungry looking at her because I am stuck with low cholesterol pizza that doesn’t have much crust.
Today brought a good variety of color. From the yellow-pink blooms of Pizza Crust and Pink & Cream to the deep red of Cherokee Star and Heirloom Heaven. In the middle was pretty Indian Sky.
I am keeping a close eye on the Southwest garden since the replantings. Some yellow leaves here and there. Overall, they are in much better shape despite looking a bit frazzled.
It makes me think of our humanity. Sometimes everything can look pretty perfect on the surface. The garden had mulch and few weeds. The sprinkler ran regularly. And, the lilies looked pretty much OK. But, several were too small and one died. The bloom rate was poor and the blooms looked stunted. I wondered about the sunlight, mostly. Something was off, but the thought of fixing what lay under the surface was something I wanted to deny.
It was odd to deny it . . . I knew what was underneath. Somehow, I hoped top soil would be enough to get the lilies started. I mean, maybe they could do OK in the clay . . . that is what it says on the internet. Seriously, this Colorado Plateau clay is like an abusive, addictive relationship. Not only does it not provide nutrition, it is like cement. I have never seen it get damp more than a couple inches below the surface. The roots that do penetrate are stuck forever, unable to move yet starving for a better existence.
Diving under the surface and fixing the real problem is hard, hard work. And, I am sure there is more of it ahead in this adventure. I could continue to ignore it . . . normalize it. You know, just keep watering harder and hope somehow it corrects itself. But, then it comes time to stop the cycle and do something different. I hope it will pay off and that everything flourishes and blooms. Then, it will be worth it for daylily generations to come.
Colorado Kid Daylilies 