. . . For Last! Today came what I think is likely the last of the premiers of the season – Purple Corn Dancer. Honestly, one of my favorites! It is almost sad because Saratoga Springtime is cool enough, but not a favorite. Saratoga stars when my desire to see daylily blooms is the highest. Purple Corn Dancer is frequently the cultivator with the last blooms of the season. Funny, she showed up the same day Olathe Sweet Corn was shipped across the State!
Purple Corn Dancer 8.5.20
All too often, I am sidetracked or just at a saturation with daylily photos. I guess it’s like how they say there are almost always more photos of the first born child.
Purple Thunderbird 8.5.20
I had 13 today and I am exhausted after my first day back to work in 5 months. I think I will just feature my Ned Roberts cultivators from today. Purple Thunderbird had a nice bloom, even at 6:45 AM.
Navajo Grey Hills 8.5.20
It is interesting how daylilies look different throughout the day. Navajo Grey Hills looks like she is falling in space at 6:48 AM
Cripple Creek 8.5.20
Cripple Creek is an early riser and was bright-eyed for the AM photo shoot.
Desert Icicle 8.5.20
Desert Icicle actually looks really good first thing in the morning. She resembles Skinwalker first thing in the morning.
Shape Shifter 8.5.20
But, Shape Shifter is having a hard time opening her eye.
Golden Eclipse 8.5.20
I had to wait to get Golden Eclipse until after work. Fortunately, it was a short work day (until 3:30) and some cloud cover, so she also looks decent.
Absolutely, some of my favorites still blooming. So much richer than the yellow trumpets of June. Now, to find time to savor them all.
Maybe a daylily blog is a weird place to talk about grief . . . but the daylilies are part of it. Friday the 13th of March was the day my life shifted. We put a traditional onground program online over the weekend. I had two enthusiastic brand new, full-time instructors to help me and I was super glad for years of online teaching experience.
Chaco Canyon 8.3, 20 (blooming since 6.25.20)
It was weird at first . . . we thought it would end in two weeks 😉 The days were long – 15 hours. I was exhausted – But I made progress without the distractions of the office. The students got a little crazy and that was hard . . . but we got through and got the nursing students graduated in late May.
Chorus Line 8.3.20
Once the warm weather came, I could eat lunch on my porch and enjoy my yard and daylilies. My pups got to be outside all day instead of cooped up in the house waiting for me to get home at 7 PM. We took evening walks and howled on the porch at 8 PM. I taught my disabled dog to use wheels and got my senior dog through two more treatments to finally clear her of infection. I got projects done around home – like painting murals and installing drip systems. Without the artificial need for an 8-6 with commute, my creativity came back. My energy got better.
El Desperado 8.3.20
Oh, there were the MA students who were in limbo with no clinical rotations who I had until the second week of July. But, I was surrounded by the other elements of my life throughout the journey. I guess I didn’t realize how much I missed them – how they fed my energy. Saturdays are not enough!
Heirloom Heaven 8.3.20
My camping trip came and went with only a few crisis – like one of my two full-time people resigning. Once I got home 3 weeks ago, I started feeling the grief. The daylilies would dwindle . . . and once school started, I would have no time for them. More than that, my life would dwindle back to a rut that is created by monotonous work in a small office with no windows and countless unforeseen issues to deal with, mostly alone. I am the only faculty with a doctorate in my institution – and 20 years teaching, 35 as a nurse – it is isolating to be so experientially separated from others. (The new college director is the second person with a doctorate.)
Navajo Grey Hills 8.3.20
Tomorrow is my last day at home until mid October. Until the leaves turn my pups will be in crates by day. My daylilies will wonder where the camera went. I will become enmeshed in the endless tasks of the day and be too tired to want to walk into the house of hungry dogs at 7 PM. My dogs will become a chore in an all too busy day, again.
Purple Thunderbird 8.3.20
What is wrong with me, I think to myself? I really wanted to get away from a stay at home job because of the isolation. And, there are good things about this job. But, I am more engaged with my pups than my career at the moment. It has been a time of a lot of change for my program the past two years . . . a lot of change. And, I am responsible for way more than I want to be at this point in my life.
Ruby Stella 8.3.20
An online job beckons, again – and/or retirement. Maybe at the end of this school year. I am writing this blog to remind myself of this moment . . . of all the horrible and tragic things Corona Virus has brought to the world, it has brought me insight into my grief. I could step out of my rut and now I am having a hard time finding a purpose in returning.
Shape Shifter 8.3.20
I hope I have a new direction or at least attitude by the times the greens of the next crop of daylilies is born through the earth. Please enjoy my bloomers on my next to last day of freedom.
Skinwalker 8.3.20
I will not forget the lessons of Corona. Perhaps the strangest part of all is that no one seems to see the struggle inside of me . . . . that makes the isolation 10 X worse. Thanks for letting me share with you.
This was a camping weekend – and, like it or not, the last weekend before school starts. I had a frightening encounter with a drunk driver on the ride home. Not awful, but it coulda been.
Purple Thunderbird 8.2.20
We got home early afternoon. With temps in the 90s with high UV, my blooms were pretty weathered by the time I took pictures. I had one premier – Purple Thunderbird. That leaves only a couple of Roberts premier spiders to bloom in 2020. Purple Thunderbird is a big flower. Her scapes are short in my yard, though.
Navajo Grey Hills 8.2.20
I also noticed that the weathered coloring makes Navajo Grey Hills look, well, grey. She is decidedly purple in the morning.
Shape Shifter 8.2.20
I ordered my first round of improved pots. I need to get soil and manure for the transfers. Might start next weekend and work around those still in bloom – a number that dwindles daily.
The end of July lurks, school starts soon . . . why does summer break end halfway through summer? I mean, it has only been 6 weeks from Solstice. I had 18 in bloom this pre-fall day.
Heirloom Heaven 7.30.20
My daylilies follow the academic calendar, mostly. My students graduated the end of May and the blooms started 6/6. Now, I have Heirloom Heaven as a premier, a steady and late-blooming mini daylily. I only have a couple premiers left to bloom . . . 3 maybe. IDK, maybe the monsoons will bring some August scapes.
Royal Palace Prince 7.30.20
I had a second premier today – Royal Palace Prince. I really don’t remember that one being a late bloomer. But, this bonus daylily is definitely on the late side this year.
Skinwalker 7.30.20
What’s left? Some cool Roberts spiders – Purple Thunderbird, Navajo Curls and Purple Corn Dancer all have scapes.
I dread return to work. No windows in my office and a bleak brick building with gravel around it. I will miss my dogs and my yard. I finally decided to spend a few bucks on photo squares of a few of my Roberts daylilies for my office. I need to get some of my summer camping trips, too – next paycheck. It is the best I can do right now.
So, my day job is busy, although the buzz of the term is settling down some. My evening job this week is tweaking the new drip system. Last night, it was staples and stakes. Tonight, I tried sprayer heads on a couple of the larger pots that were hogging water. I think the little sprayers will work better without a much water waste.
I can’t believe I still have 7 in bloom today. But, the buds become rare and every day I say goodbye to at least one cultivator for another year.
Purple Corn Dancer is in 2 locations and so she has most of her buds left in location #2.
Purple Corn Dancer 8.27
Frans Hals has maybe 10 buds left – +/-
Frans Hals 8.27
Purple Grasshopper and Ruby Stella have a handful of buds left.
Purple Grasshopper 8.27
I think both Navajo Curls and Cripple Creek have a bud or two left.
Navajo Curls 8.27
Purple Thunderbird maybe has one bud left (max).
And, then it ends. Except that I found one of my Lowe’s Stella hybrid rebloomers with a new scape. It only has a few buds, but it is still 90 degrees. So, my hope is that the new drip system might give me a few more reblooms. My stay of execution.
Ruby Stella 8.27
My poinsettias seem to be perking up – but it is not a good year for them. I need to start forcing the big ones so they can all cycle through the bloom closet.
El Desperado 8.27
I’m camping this weekend and maybe looking for succulents down in SW Colorado. Oh, and I mail ordered my first air plants. They should be here tomorrow. I was reading that too many varieties of plant detracts from all of them. I honestly am OK with having less and getting more air plants and succulents. All my super market specials make the place look cluttered . . . we will see. The long and boring winter is less than 4 months away. My stay of execution is only temporary.
My mom would be 102 years old this day. That makes me sound older than I am. Mom waited to have kids. It is also the anniversary of the job offer for my current job. This job is a great match for my strengths, but not for my senior energy. I am likely too liberal minded to be an early morning person – my coworkers do much better. Yes, circadian rhythm does relate to our liberal vs conservative brain. I am middle-of-the-road, slightly liberal. And, yea, political views are only one small part of how this part of our brain impacts our work. Liberals do better starting and ending their days later than conservatives.
Frans Hals 8.24
At any rate, I didn’t celebrate today – other than a few more air plants. My yard looks neglected. I worked all summer and camped every other weekend. I have been keeping up with daylily photos (sort of), but not much else.
Purple Corn Dancer 8.24
Today’s chore was installing a drip system in the front garden. Daylilies, squash, poinsettias – they get too dry. When I worked from home, I could run out and water. Don’t get me wrong – I am glad to be less isolated. But, my yard suffers especially when summer isn’t a pause.
Carlotta 8.24
I went to the nursery for a plant for a coworker – a surprise. I grabbed a couple of air plants – my new addiction. I like them because they are small and less needy than my orchids. I was into water culture orchids – but with not being home, it is hard to keep up with all the water changes. The air plants are small – and I plan to get more into succulents as my current plants thin.
Purple Thunderbird 8.24
So, the coleus were half price – I have some in with my daylilies that are on the side of the driveway but not in all the pots. So, I grabbed 3 of those. They are actually nice companion plants for daylilies. I got some fall colors. Then, of course, I have to decide if I bring them in when it gets cold. Probably – one big pot. I can take cuttings and replant outside next spring. Sure . . . if I have time.
Navajo Curls 8.24
Putting in the drip system meant giving the daylilies a haircut. I cut a lot of stuff back – like those blue bells. I have about 27 drippers in and 17 to go. For now, I need to this sleep, precious sleep. Goodnight, momma. I lost you too young and miss you every day.
Purple Grasshopper 8.24
Oh, BTW – I tried the block editor for WordPress on Internet Explorer – It was awful! A few more days of testing S mode before I likely go to regular Windows 10.
Ruby Stella 8.24
One last note – the featured photo is from earlier this year. Catherine Irene – the same name as my mom.
My new little 2 in 1 laptop showed-up. Same brand and size as my last one – different model. Five years since I updated. It is faster – and my last computer got glitchy and finally lost its wifi driver. Plus it moved miscellaneous files to my memory card with the last update. This model was less expensive – by a lot. But, sick dogs, car wrecks and travel meant a budget model.
I need to get on and save stuff other places. You know, like my daylily software. I hope this Windows S mode will allow me to do that. Honestly, I hate new technology like I hate new hiking shoes. You have to break them in before they are comfortable.
Autumn Jewels 8.21
So, back to daylily land . . . nearly 11 today. Photo editing is faster, but I am several days behind, again, due to no computer access
I teach all day tomorrow . . . until evening. So, for now, enjoy the photos.
Cripple Creek 8.21
Oh, PS – Blogging was a tad rough. I don’t like the way Microsoft Edge and WordPress are interacting. Maybe it is just my learning curve. I did name my new computer Zuni Thunderbird after my favorite daylily. I always name my computers . . . but never after a daylily.
It’s crazy – I had 13 cultivators in bloom today. Hello . . . It’s August 20th. The weather is now acting like desert weather. Hot and dry. It was in the 90s today.
Purple Corn Dancer 8.20
It’s been a year tomorrow since my surgery. After that, I could not be in the sun for a few months, so the blog just stopped . . . Until the poinsettias bloomed. I only had Purple Corn Dancer in bloom, anyway. Healing was a journey.
Purple Thunderbird 8.20
I never know what to think this time of year. Tired of the heat but dreading the cold, dark seasons ahead. Tired of my camera but don’t want to miss the late bloomers. Hate to see camping season end but ready for some mellow hikes around home. I think my daylilies are in a similar place with life right now – still blooming but longing for a rest.
Cripple Creek 8.20
PS – I ordered my new 2 in one laptop. My old one was tired, too.
Oh, my – school starts tomorrow. I worked early and late. My daylilies had 12 hours between my first round of photos and my second.
I am not sure what to say tonight – my brain is mush and I crave ice cream. But, I do want to highlight three big, colorfast Ned Roberts spiders that are late bloomers. Colorfast becomes obvious when we photograph at 7 AM and 7 PM. And, my photos of these three look good both times – wide awake all day.
Purple Corn Dancer steals my heart with every bloom. I have her in two locations so I may get 3-4 weeks of blooms.
Purple Corn Dancer 8/13/1
Mama Cuna is a HUGE spider. She, also, wears make-up that lasts all day – she adds an amazing highlight to the Southwest garden late season.
Mama Cuna 8/13
Purple Thunderbird is CRAZY HUGE – and also looks great all day. Very colorfast.
Purple Tunderbird 8/12
I am guessing they are related because they all make me smile.
PS – My orchid cactus did not bloom last night – this waiting is the stuff of my midwifery days! I even got up briefly at 3 AM to check.
Only 40 something daylilies today and no Premiers. So, it leaves time to talk about some of my daylily categories. I have talked a lot about my Ned Roberts spiders. I originally started collecting them after seeing Kokopelli on the Lily Auction – I love the Southwest and had to have her (I got the bid)! From there, I added more = lots more. At first, it was all fully Southwest names. Then, I gathered some animal and insect names to my Ned collection. And, some stellar names. IDK, is Dancing Maiden a name from the Southwest?
So, tonight, I will show you my purely Southwest named daylilies – the obvious names from the Southwest. But, first, Mildred Mitchell had an extra petal today – a genetic flaw that made her look pretty cool.
OK – Here are my Southwest Ned Roberts spiders. (These are the ones that have bloomed the last two years. Mostly this year, except Kokopelli did not bloom this year – which is unusual).
Colorado Kid Daylilies 