Yesterday, the rains came. Many daylily growers live where that happens often enough that it isn’t out of the ordinary. In Western Colorado, it’s usually out of the ordinary.
Today, all hell started breaking loose. In other words, I had a record number of first blooms for the season. Where to start? Maybe alphabetical.
I best get some sleep. Once it starts, there is no stopping it. Come hell or high water. Because, I think the bloom rate is going to be high this year.
Here is part 1 of this blog post These posts include all daylilies that were in bloom in July in my yard. Please see first post for more details.
No U, No V – I need to fix that with some new flowers 🙂
No X, either!
That is all for July, folks. Look for our Colorado Day (8/1) blooms up next!
The peak is easing, somewhat rapidly. I only had 40+ today, yesterday was 50+, and the day before 60+. And, so the tide recedes for another season. Not that it is over . . . anything but. However, I can keep up with this pace and it will continue to decline while I am away for a few days. I will only miss 4 days of photos.
I can slow my pace just a bit and savor the duos, trios and quartets of blooms. Daylilies don’t clump with a zillion blooms at once much in the desert. So, it is fun to focus on seeing the small gatherings.
One premier today!
Finales:
What are we waiting for – Zuni Thunderbird, Purple Thunderbird, Desert Icicle, Adios Albuquerque, Glen Eyrie, Cripple Creek, Navajo Curls, Skinwalker, Purple Corn Dancer, Royal Palace Prince, Heirloom Heaven, Dr Doom and Pizza Crust all have scapes now but have not bloomed. I could get some other later scapes, too. That is still a lot to look forward to when I return from New Mexico (or tomorrow).
So far, I have had 140 +/- cultivators bloom and it looks like at least 13 more – so mid-150s/180 puts us at mid 80s bloom rate. Much better than last year. I am looking at moving some new, more reliable bloomers in to replace those that bloom only occasionally and aren’t favorites. I love the smell of new daylily roots! Eventually, they will sing duos, trios, and quartets in my yard.
I’m back! My house is cleaner and I feel like I can pick-up the blog, again. Don’t worry, I spent my usual amount of time with my daylilies in the AM. I love getting photos of them – something to get out of bed for. After three years of a stressful job and a commute, I just had to clean because my poor home has been like a neglected garden. I needed to pull weeds and plant some new seeds.
I am going to show off my June blooms (A to Z) for June in this post. I am going to have a good bloom rate this year and it sort of scares me what peak will be like with all my plants so happy. Good thing the house is clean. I count 51 cultivators for June 2021. Last year, it was 50 in June – so close. I think I have about 180 cultivators now – almost 30% have bloomed.
Let’s close the book on June for 2021 – It’s a wrap!
Are you ready for a beautiful July parade? Here goes – a listing of all of my daylilies that had first blooms in July. I count 81. Enjoy!
Today, I had two Premiers – both Ned Roberts spiders with names from the State to south of here – New Mexico. The first one, Navajo Grey Hills, I believe to be named after a trading post just south of Shiprock, NM (Four-Corners region). I drive that way sometimes but never noticed it . . . I need to keep a lookout.
Star over Milagro is the other Premier of the day. Milagro is east of Albuquerque. Off our road trip circuit by a few miles.
Let’s see – Orange Punch was an Encore today.
Finales – Stephanie Returns, Fringe Benefit, Longlesson Show-off, Black Arrowhead, and Cheyenne Eyes. I like about 25 blooms – it is a good amount but not overwhelming. And, the monsoons have been back all week.
Oh, daylilies. I was so clueless when I began collecting these circa 7-8 years ago that I did dumb stuff with them. I stuck them in shade with no water. I stuck them in the hard, clay soil. I put them in pots with no water source except when I remembered the watering can. It never rains here.
A few years ago, it hit me that all I was doing was buying daylilies, watching them bloom for one cycle followed by watching them wither away. So, I put in irrigation and cut down trees. I broke a rib burying pots so the soil was more controlled. I put in more irrigation . . . and more, and more.
I actually think I will have a decent bloom rate this year – and I think it is all in the water. Well, not all – but it is the desert.
So, when I first xeroscaped portions of my front yard, I purchased 3 daylilies to be part of the design – Orange Vols, Lady Fingers and a cultivator named Fooled Me. The first couple of years, they all did fine. Then, Fooled Me started to fade. No bloom, shrinking (last bloom 2015). I know that spot gets dry. Two years ago, I put it in a buried put in the same place . . . it got bigger but no bloom. This year, with the added drip sprinkler, it bloomed – today, for the first time since 2015 -IT BLOOMED!!! I may know how to make daylilies fade, but I am also getting good at year-to-year resuscitation. NEVER GIVE UP!
Other premiers today were Chokecherry Mountain – a Robert’s spider that reminds me a lot of Talon.
And, my favorite early “Southwest name” daylily, Route 66. Roadtrip memories flood my mind when I see her. Love her classic colors.
Soco Gap – a big plant that was a bonus back when the Southwest garden was an experiment. I plunked the little fans in between two medium sized Yuccas thinking she was small. Well, she is a decent sized cultivator and the cactus have grown, too. No way I can dig her out and put her in a pot – but the Yuccas are likely pretty protective of her!
Little Purple de Oro also had a premier bloom. IDK how I ended up with her and she is likely one of my least favorites. I keep waiting to fall in love.
Tomorrow is the 4th and I hope for a big show in the yard because they will be my fireworks during the coronavirus year.
So many people wonder why I am so into daylilies. Afterall, they only last one day. I have orchids, but I am growing pretty bored and letting them go – maybe because the blooms last so long that, after a while, you stop noticing.
Novel experience (as long as it is positive) boosts human wellbeing. We get a dopamine rush when we see something new! Novel experiences boost our memory and improve our longevity. I’m a creative – I need novel experiences to feel alive.
It is funny, because life was in a horrible rut before the novel coronavirus entered my life. Suddenly, the world turned upside-down. My onground job went online. My whole routine changed. Life was novel. Not to say that a novel virus (one that is a whole new experience to the human immune system) is good for us because it is not a positive kind of experience.
So, yea, each bud opens and last a day (two in cold weather). But, if you get enough buds on enough plants, it plays this beautiful melody that is unique each and everyday.
I had 40 today. I’m beat going through photos, but had some great premiers. My strange and handsome Talon gave me a premier bloom for 2020 today.
And, Cherokee Star, who chose not to bloom last year, returned for a 2020 premier today. She looks like velvet.
Speaking of happiness, Happy Hopi showed up today for another bloom year. She has the most interesting shape – definitely NOT a trumpet.
Indian Giver opened her first bud of the year today – a fun bonus daylily in the Southwest garden.
The front garden is coming to life a little more with some fun color – Prairie Wildfire showed up and looks ready for July 4th in Red, White and Blue.
Black Eyed Susan also came into view today – she adds some new color to my Stella pot.
And, in my family garden, my Stephanie Returns returned. Maybe, someday she will return into my life. For now, the flower reminds me of her beautiful spirit.
Daylily Savings Time should mean we only need 4 hours of sleep so we have enough time for the peak. I guess there can be too much novelty. I read we need to balance it with daily routine . . . except, each bloom lasts only one day.
So, I had a record number of cultivators in bloom the day before my trip, but no time to blog. Tomorrow, I’m home but too late to see any blooms. So, here is the 7/16 batch. Honestly, I don’t remember which were new bloom, but I’ll try. It’ll be good to see what’s new on Sunday!
Premiers:
Apache Beacon 7/16
Inwood 7/17
Wild Rose Fandango 7/16
Coral Taco 7/16
Little Cadet 7/16
Winds of Love 7/16
Lacey Doily 7/16
Royal Palace Prince 7/16
Black Eyed Susan 7/16
Anasazi 7/16
Reruns – lots and lots of reruns:
Purple de Oro 7/16
Mauna Loa 7/16
Longlesson Show-off 7/16
South Seas 7/16
Isaac 7/16
Stephanie Returns 7/16
Passionate Returns 7/16
Prairie Wildfire 7/16
Catherine Irene 7/16
Strutter’s Ball 7/16
Prairie Blue Eyes 7/16
Red Riddle 7/16
Indian Love Call 7/16
Purple Many Faces 7/16
Iktomi 7/16
Indian Love Call 7/16
Chief Four Fingers 7/16
Zuni Thunderbird 7/16
Rocky Mountain Friends 7/16
Soco Gap 7/16
Black Ice 7/16
Maya Cha Cha 7/16
Purple Mystery 7/16
Ruby Spider 7/16
Comanche Princess 7/16
Mildred Mitchell 7/16
Thin Man 7/16
Lady Fingers 7/16
Papa Long Legs 7/16
Purple Grasshopper 7/16
Chaco Canyon 7/16
Happy Hopi 7/16
Feather Woman 7/16
Ojo de Dios 7/16
Canyon Colors 7/16
Cheddar Cheese 7/16
Mesa Verde 7/16
Primal Scream 7/16
The Colorado Kid 7/16
Melon Balls 7/16
Pardon Me 7/16
Cricket Call 7/16
Wineberry Candy 7/16
Raspberry Propeller 7/16
Route 66 7/16
Golden Stella 7/16
Yellow Punch 7/16
Early Bird Cardinal 7/16
Pink and Cream 7/16
Mini Pearl 7/16
Orange Flurry 7/16
Golden Stella 7/16
Cheyenne Eyes 7/16
Pink Enchilada 7/16
Apache Bandana 7/16
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.
Colorado Kid Daylilies 