How Many Daylilies (or Cats or Dogs) Is Too Many?

July 10, 2024July 10, 2024Leave a comment

Cats, Dogs, Daylilies, and Addictions

As with cats or dogs, the answer to the “how many daylilies is to many” question varies depending on the situation. I know daylily growers that have acres and acres of gorgeous flowers and they have the support to keep them healthy. For me, I won’t go above 200 varieties. (Of those varieties, I had 4 new ones today: “Fringe Benefit“, Collier, Holy Sombrero, and Hesperus. I will include photos throughout the text.)

“Fringe Benefit” was on the label of this bonus daylily. She isn’t Fringe Benefit, but I call her that, anyway.

Cats

I got too many cats once. Well, not all at once. But, between 2006 and 2013, I collected 6 cats in addition to the one I started with. (The first cat, Serendipity, passed in 2013 before I added the 6th cat.) Since 2012, I have rehomed 3 (one to my grandson, two to friends) and another one, my beloved Soksabal, has passed. Almost 20 years later, I still have 2.

Cats need territories and my house isn’t that big. As I added cats and I also added behavior issues/fighting. The fighting was the main reason for rehoming. I also needed tons and tons of litter plus the associated time cleaning. And, cats smell. I am sorry, but they just do. People actually comment on it when they visit and I work hard to keep the pans clean!

Cats are reasonably inexpensive compared to dogs when it comes to vet expenses. I think I read 1 dog = 3 cats when it comes to vet bills. Cats also live forever. So, my oversupply would take years (decades) to clear had I not rehomed a few. (I am ready for no cats for a while after this group is done. Burnout plus they can’t travel. Although I miss Soksabai in the garden.)

Dogs

Now that I have transitioned to be a dog person, I won’t ever go above 14 pounds/dog or above 3 dogs at a time. I learned my lesson – and the vet/food expenses are my limiting factor with my senior/special needs rescue girls. If you are a dog lover, please check out The Three Amigas/The Traveling Pup Crew Instagram Page to follow their adventures.

Cimarron, Kachina, and Kokopelli at Monument Valley on our Southwest road trip.

How Many X Is Too Many?

So, what questions do I as myself about getting another dog/cat now?

Is there enough physical space for them to be happy? Cats in small territories are stressed!
Are there financial resources to support them to live their best life? Food, vet, etc.
Is there enough time to take on the responsibility? Feeding, walking, litter cleaning. At the point that it feels like a burden more often than a joy, then I have likely crossed a line.
Are there regulations that limit the number of pets you can have in your home?

Back to Daylilies

The same rules apply to daylilies, really.

Is there adequate physical space in the garden or yard? This means space with good soil, water and sunshine.
It costs money to grow daylilies even if you get them for free. Soil, fertilizer, etc cost money. I grow in pots because my soil is so bad and my tree roots are aggressively competitive. So, I had to purchase nearly 200 pots that are at least 12 inches in diameter. $$$. I live in the high desert so I water daily – and I live downtown on City water. Water is another cost and financial limitation.
Time is a big factor. It took hours and hours to dig 200 holes in clay soil and bury pots. The pots need winter care, soil, fertilizer, and weed management. I’m saving time on photography this year because my bloom rate is low (so far), but is that because I didn’t have time to do pot maintenance last year or to water last winter?
There are regulations – like property lines – that matter with daylilies. Or water restrictions. My Southwest Road Trip Garden is on the easement. My lot is small, there really isn’t a lot of other space for it. That’s another reason for pots, though, because the can be moved if the City has to dig. It is a limiting factor.

It you have the space, money, time and aren’t violating any laws, then daylily addiction is perfectly legal. Go for it! There is even a Confessions of a Daylily Addict group on Facebook that you can join. (Yes, I am a member.)

Help Grow This Daylily Artist!

Don’t forget to check out the daylily art in my Etsy shop that is on-sale all summer, and into the fall (hopefully) – or until my last daylily blooms. I also have sales going on houseplants, hypertufa pots/art, and volume purchases. It really appreciate those who take a minute to click the link and visit my shop. I appreciate every click!!! I use my income to help afford my travel with my rescue dogs!

About Art (and Nature) from the Hartt

July 28, 2021Leave a comment

I don’t remember when I first fell in love with daylilies. I know I have purchased them throughout the years because I liked their colorful blooms. Then, several years ago, I picked them for a xeroscaping project. It seems like that was the tipping point to owning 180 varieties.

Daylilies in my Southwest daylily name garden

I got smarter about gardening. I think the daylily blooms were huge motivators. As I got better with daylilies, I got better with houseplants. I went through a orchid phase. Now, it is largely succulents, bromeliads and begonias.

Back to the daylilies. Fall always made me feel sad because the daylilies went away and it made winter seem more dismal than ever. One day, I decided to learn to paint daylilies so I would never have a day pass at my home without a daylily bloom.

I am a creative and so painting was very engaging for me. I made tiles to hang on my walls so that I see daylilies as soon as I open my eyes. I gave everyone daylily coasters for Christmas several years. I broadened to some more scenic paintings. I did a few oils of the Southwest that turned out well enough to hang or give away. I painted stepping stones for my garden. The list goes on. Painting kept me connected with nature during the winter months.

I am a nurse and nurse-midwife by background. My career has been meaningful – I have helped pioneer and/or transition many health-related programs and I still work part time as faculty and leadership at a small college. However, due to multiple unforeseen issues, I decided to semi-retire this summer.

This is me out by my potting shed, tending daylilies.

Am I ready to quit working full-time? Heck no. Am I ready to work for myself doing things that I love and find engaging? Absolutely!

I have had a Facebook page for almost 10 years called “Art from the Hartt” because I had a dream of selling my art. It never moved beyond the Facebook page because work took too much of my time. It is time to live the dream!

I have a background in human wellbeing and resilience. I want to focus my business on creating art (and selling plants) that create positive emotion. I have read that having a flower in the room you are in raises your happiness score! So, that is the vision of my business – making the world more resilient through art and nature.

I have a separate page/blog about my business at Art and Nature From the Hartt (click link). You can also find the business on Facebook (click link for page). I wanted to take a moment to talk about it here so people were aware that I do sell daylily paintings and other nature and Southwest related paintings. I also will be selling daylilies, so if you are ever interested in purchasing one of the daylilies you see on my blog, you can contact me at cathy.hartt55@gmail.com. I will know more about what daylilies are available soon. I also offer some types of begonia, bromeliad, and succulent. I will be launching an Etsy store as soon as I have a bit more inventory.

Before I go, I want to introduce you to my garden helpers. I have three rescue dogs, Kachina, Sazi and Moki. Soksabai, my cat, also follows me to the daylily garden every morning when I do my photos.

Please contact me at the email above if you have any questions. I can do many special or personalized requests. If you love daylilies/plants and/or the Southwest – you are in the right place. I am located in Montrose, CO.

What type of art or plant raises your sense of wellbeing???

. . . And Washed the Spiders Out

July 14, 20214 Comments

Today, the rain came. And, our predicted high is only 77 today. What a shift after 90 something degrees every day. It will stairstep back up by Saturday, but next week (when we are camping) it looks like it only gets above 90 a couple of times.

The walk through the garden was in drizzle. I didn’t use my cellphone at all for fear of getting water in the charging port. My camera is more resilient to moisture. Some flowers were like the cellphone – sort of weighed down by the rain. Thin man was on the ground, passed out. I had to tie him up. Other cultivators seemed to come to life with brighter colors – doing a rain dance.

Dream Catcher 7.14 – premier bloom today in the rain. But, not such an itsy bitsy spider!

And, there were only 54 cultivators in bloom today. Only 1 premier – Dream Catcher. A nice Ned Roberts spider that was one of my 3 pilot daylilies in the Southwest Garden, along with Kokopelli and Aztec Firebird. Interestingly, those are three that grew pretty well in the ground with the tree roots, and all. Not sure if they like the pots as well yet.

Soksabai, my 16 YO calico kitty, has to come help me inspect daylilies every morning. Even in the rain.

Speaking of Ned Roberts, I have had the chance to chat with his wife and daughter via Facebook recently. They live about 5 hours away from me. I need to meet them sometime – they want to come see my garden.

Art and Nature From the Hartt – Succulent Painting Coaster Tile

Today is a good day for a short blog. I think I will try painting a begonia today. Yesterday, I finished my succulent. I will get back to daylilies – just trying to challenge myself a little. Remember to watch for the announcement when our Etsy store opens. I plan to have daylily fans available in limited number this fall . . . plus the artwork!

Daylily Photobombs

July 27, 2019July 27, 2019Leave a comment

The peak lives on with 72 blooms today. One of the things about photographing so many daylilies before I have to leave for work is that I get in a rush. I focus on the flower and hit the shutter button. Sometimes, when I am editing later, I find stuff that I didn’t notice at the time.

My favorite photobombs have other daylilies that I didn’t notice in the background – like Happy Hopi today:

Happy Hopi with friends Laughing Feather and Zuni Thunderbird 7/26

And, the most common photobombs are when I cut off a petal in the shot by a lot. Why am I struggling to get photos of Navajo Grey Hills?

Navajo Grey Hills 7/26

Of course, there are occasionally cat photobombs:

Skinwalker and my cat, Sokasbai – 7/25

Or, dog photobombs:

Blue Beat and my dog, Maizzy – 7/25

The most embarrassing, though, are the foot photobombs. The flower is at a weird angle, so you try to bend over so you can get a front shot. What was I thinking?

Black Ice and my feet – 7/26

OK – so what about Premiers. Only three today. The pace slows a bit, although I saw my neighbors at dinner and the first thing they talked about was my giant daylilies. So, it isn’t over yet!

Nona’s Garnet Spider was a bonus. She hasn’t been a consistent bloomer but is putting on a good show of buds this year.

Nona’s Garnet Spider – 7/26

Autumn Jewels . . . I think this was a bonus, too. She is related to El Desperado. I had a huge El Desperado for years but lost it to the weird, cold, wet spring. I lost a couple and several had setbacks . . . but so many are blooming this year that haven’t before or the regulars have a higher bud count than usual. It’s interesting the yin and yang of this year. Anyway – I got a new El Desperado and it is just putting up scapes now. I like both of these cultivators.

Autumn Jewels – 7/26

And, Nearly Wild is another bonus plant – she looks like her ancestor, the ditch lily or Fulva. I am sure that is where she gets her name.

Nearly Wild – 7/26

It is raining, again. We will see what that brings.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: Soksabai