Tag: Shady Rest Gardens

My Experience Online Daylily Shopping at Shady Rest Gardens

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Happy Trails, Shady Rest Daylily Nursery

Last week, I got news that my favorite online daylily grower was closing. I absolutely adore Doris at Shady Rest Gardens and I am still adapting to the idea that this summer is her last ever sale. She and her husband are on to the next chapter, as I was a couple years ago. I knew I had to be one of her last customers and order something, despite my pots being pretty full currently. So, last night she posted the sale daylilies for this fall. It was like midnight-thirty and I was shopping for daylilies from my couch.

Comanche Princess in bloom today came from Shady Rest

How did I get started shopping for daylilies online? It was 2015 when I returned to school for my doctorate and somehow daylilies became my healthy escape from studies (I loved my program but needed stress management breaks). I had a few daylilies around the yard for years and found them pretty hardy here, but they weren’t really a hobby until I went back to school at age 60.

Online Doctorates and Daylilies

Before becoming a serious hobbyist, I picked up a daylily or two at the local nursery here and there. I don’t remember what spurred me to try online, but I did. I mean, if you can get a doctorate online then why not a daylily? It was a lesson that bare roots are not the same as blooming plants and I had to be patient. But the varieties were endless and they were less expensive. Because of my love of the Southwest US, I was especially attracted to the ones with names that were also Southwestern. That helped me hone in on my favorite hybridizer – Ned Roberts. He lived in the Southwest and his daylily names showed it.

Ruby Spider is originally from a local nursery and in bloom today.

It was a web search for his daylilies that led me to Doris and Shady Rest. It was like striking gold – she had so many of his daylilies for sale. Way more than I could afford. So, every year, I added a few. Now I have 74 Ned Roberts registered daylilies and a grand total of 198 different daylilies. They aren’t all from Shady Rest, but I loved getting my packages from her and they were a substantial contribution. More than a grower, Doris became my garden mentor. Fortunately, we are still friends on social media, but I will miss those packages.

What is your favorite place to shop for daylilies???

Prairie Wildfire originally came from a local nursery and is in bloom today.

So, What Daylilies Did I Choose?

Last night, I decided on one Ned Roberts daylily called Green Warrior and two for my Oz collection – If Only I Had A Brain and Oz’s Cowardly Lion. I had Green Warrior before but lost it to spring freeze-thaw before it ever bloomed. (Fall is my favorite time to plant bare roots here because then they will usually bloom the following season, but freeze-thaw is problematic before they get established.) If Only I Had A Brain reminds me of Dr Doom a little. And Oz’s Cowardly Lion has a similarity to Chaco Canyon. They arrive in August. (Photos from garden.org)

Green Warrior
If Only I Had A Brain
Oz’s Cowardly Lion

Aloha Mauna Loa

Mauna Loa daylily – a little beat up from recent thunderstorms.

Today’s only first bloom for the season was Mauna Loa. This is a different Roberts hybridizer than Ned but a luscious neon orange color in the yard.

Until the Last Daylily Blooms Sale on Etsy

Speaking of my beautiful Ned Robert’s spider daylily collection with Southwestern names – this original wood panel painting of Skinwalker is on sale until my last daylily blooms in 2024. The original wood panel is only $26.25 during the sale. And, I have signed prints of the painting that are only $9 with free shipping. If you miss daylilies in the winter, then now is the time to hang one on the wall! Click here or on the photo below to go to listing.

Skinwalker daylily – original painting or signed print

A Little Piece of Heaven in my Yard

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Today, Heirloom Heaven bloomed for the first time.  This little one was one of my first root plantings last year.

 

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Heirloom Heaven – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

It is a miniature, at least this first bloom cycle.  Here it is with my petite finger:

 

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Heirloom Heaven with my finger for proportion

 

Other blooms were my orange/yellow combos.  Frans Hals:

 

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Frans Hals – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

And, Orange Flurry:

 

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Orange Flurry – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

Oh, and Stella, of course:

 

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Yella Stella – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

Today also brought the first of a couple fall plantings.  I got one called Painted Petroglyph on fall sale at Shady Rest Gardens.  It is not a Robert’s cultivator, but it still belongs in my Southwest garden.  It is beautiful.  Live long and prosper little one.  I also replaced Navajo Rodeo – love the fall sales!  I added a few more fans of Electric Lizard, as mine are still anemic.

I didn’t order much this fall, but the daylilies keep me going.  I am getting two new Roberts blooms, too.  Twirling Pinata and Glen Eyrie.  My daughter lives in Colorado Springs, so I couldn’t resist the second one. (Many of the Roberts cultivators were hybridized right there!)  I love fall plantings because, by spring they act like they have been here forever!  I think I will hit 80 cultivators that bloomed this summer.  That’s just over 50%.  Keep on mulching!

Oh, and keep on painting.  I finally finished Chief Four Fingers in the wee hours.

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Sweet Dreams!

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I am one of those daylily addicts who tore up part of my old rock garden to put in a themed daylily garden.  Most of the residents are Ned Roberts daylilies with southwestern names.  But, thanks to the daylily farmers who send bonuses (many with the southwestern theme, too), I have a few others in that area.

Anytime you rip up rocks and plant something there (after 50+ years), it is a bit of an experiment.  The sun exposure is best there, that is why I picked that spot.  The tree that used to be there was taken down for a new sewer system a decade ago.  I made a little garden with yucca and a lilac, and so that is the history.  Last year, I put three Roberts daylilies out in that small area.  They came back (fall planting) looking great.  Now there is a whole list of Roberts blooms “to be” out there.  And I hold my breath that a few inches of good soil, water crystals, a permanent sprinkler, and mulch will make that habitable.

Today, it happened – the first bloom.  Dream Keeper.  I got up early to take photos and went back to bed (as I was up til after 2 AM doing homework).   I love these spiders, so delicate.  I love how the peddles twist and turn.  And, hey, this one looks like its photo.  Here is Dream Keeper from my yard. I purchased this one from Blueridge Daylilies.  They send healthy big plants!

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And, here is the one from the web. Mine actually looks a little more vibrant!

Dream Keeper

So, I take a deep breath that my new babies are happy out there.  I don’t think I’ll have another bloom for a few days.  But, in someways it is nice because I can savor each one.

For anyone looking for Ned Roberts southwestern cultivators, here is a list of growers who I purchased from the last couple of years (in no particular order):