Tag: Strutter’s Ball

Colorful Big Birds Land in My Garden

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Wow!  Thirty bloomers today.  And, yet, the scapes are still everywhere.  I think the Walkway Garden is about to start popping.  And the Southwest and Mural Gardens are close to peak.  It is going to get busier very soon.

Today’s new blooms include two of my favorite Ned Roberts spiders out in the Southwest Garden.  Of all my daylilies, Zuni Thunderbird is my favorite.  Let me say that again – My favorite daylily of all the 170+ in my yard had its first bloom today.  Zuni Thunderbird was one of my original 4 pilot flowers in the Southwest Garden (AKA Yucca Garden).  I had Kokopelli first – but quickly added Dream Catcher and Zuni Thunderbird.  Of all the Southwest named daylilies I was discovering, those names caught my eye.

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Zuni’s first blooms are never her best – but this year, they are better than I have ever seen them.  I think the bug spray helps.  No one nibbled her buds and sucked her color out.  Why is she my favorite – I like the deep color and she gets some of the most amazing curls you have ever seen.  I just love her.

The other big bird is Aztec Firebird.  Aztec Firebird likes where she is planted and puts on a great show every year.  She was added the spring after the pilot, yet she is bigger than most the plants added at that time.  I love her bright colors . . . she is a firebird!

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The other newbie for 2018 today is Strutter’s Ball.  She is in the mural garden.  Added a few years ago and a pretty reliable bloomer.  I like her with my solar flower.

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So, tomorrow is my early day.  And, I am dealing with some minor health issues now, so I do need to sleep.  Depending on the Walkway Garden, we should have around the same number of blooms . . . maybe more.  Several of my minis look almost ready.  I am sure I will have at least one in bloom tomorrow.

Other bloomers today: Treasure of the Southwest, Mesa Verde, Pink Rain Dance, Purple Many Faces, Comanche Princess, Black Ice, Pueblo Dancer, Soco Gap, Prairie Blue Eyes, Red Riddle, Wineberry Candy, Jungle Queen, Saratoga Springtime, Colorado Kid, Canyon Colors, Pink and Cream, Yellow Punch, Wild Horses, Funny Valentine, Ruby Spider, Return a Smile, Indian Love Call, Holy Sombrero, Dream Keeper, Ruby Stella, Route 66, and Nurse’s Stethoscope.  I think that is it.  Goodnight, Big Bird!

Few things are more stunning than daylilies, but . . .

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I have had a busy weekend revamping my back porch.  This is the place that my evergreens spend 3 months of the winter.  Spring and fall are temperate in the south-facing fiberglass lean-to style porch.  So, why not have a place to sit and pretend it’s spring?

At any rate, when I did get a chance to go get some pictures of flowers, I was focused on a gorgeous bouquet of Ruby Spider and Return a Smile, when something caught my eye.  It was a bloom on my Easter Lily Cactus.  I brought it home from the Senora a couple months ago.  It’s bloom buds fell off in the colder weather – but I guess we are Senora hot now.

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New to the yard for this year (and doing much better than last year) is Strutter’s Ball.  A common daylily, but still a favorite big purple-red bloom.

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With my work schedule this year, I am sticking primarily with new blooms for photos.  I had 7 varieties in bloom in the yard today.  I take photos, but don’t have time for posting more than I do.  So, please enjoy these two beauties.

PS – I named my back porch the Senora Room!

Estimated Day of First Daylily: Tomorrow

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Stella in half bloomed, so I think it’s safe to say my first daylily of the year shows up tomorrow. I have to give up AM news for camera time in the garden. It’s better, the garden.

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I killed my very first Stella a few years back. Then, I got into daylilies, and Stella seemed too common. But they bloom all season. So, last year, I hit the sales and got a few.

I have a growing number of scapes popping up. It’s like watching popcorn start to pop. Kokopelli, Soco Gap, Papa Long legs,  Hopi Jewel, Happy Returns, Ruby Spider, Chama Valley, Strutters Ball,  Wild Horses, Ghost Ranch, Funny Valentine,  Inwood, Jungle Queen, Return A Smile. All have scapes. And, it’s just the beginning.  I guessed Juneteenth (16th) for bloom 1. Off by 9 days. I’m good with it.

I have a lot of friends who think I’m a Lily expert. Daylilies are not really lilies. They are more closely related to Olathe Sweet Corn. And, I hope they do as well in my high desert garden.

Climbing to the Peak of Daylily Color

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If yesterday was a little quiet (for July) in my garden, today was a bit overwhelming.  There were several new faces.

Thin Man bloomed for the first time ever – the biggest bloom (12 inches) in my garden.

 

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Thin Man – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

One of my Ned Roberts Southwest spiders also showed his colors for the first time ever in my yard.  Meet Aztec Firebird.

 

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Aztec Firebird – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

And, a nice little addition called Pick of the Litter was also a first-time in my yard bloomer today.  Funny, this was a gift plant and I don’t remember the plant it came with – or if that plant has bloomed.

 

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Pick of the Litter – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

First blooms for 2016 in my existing daylilies included one that I don’t have a name for – so I decided to call it Montrose Sunset.  I picked this up when I xeriscaped a few years ago . . . before I was a true hobbiest.  And, I cannot find the name but I like the bloom a lot.

 

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??? “Montrose Sunset” – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

Prelude to Love is a pretty dark red/purple bloom that reappears each year, as well.

 

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Prelude to Love – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

Strutter’s Ball is one I added last year and (like its neighbors, Inwood and Funny Valentine) it is astruggling to produce blooms this year.  I decided today that when my blues finish blooming in a week or two, I will switch their locations and see what happens.  The issue, I believe, is figuring out which pots the sprinkler system over-waters, and which it under-waters.  And, then, balancing that.

 

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Strutter’s Ball – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

Cheddar Cheese, aptly, lives near my outdoor grill and is back to top-off our hamburgers.

 

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Cheddar Cheese – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

Blackthorn is one I put in last year – I really like this bloom!

 

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Blackthorne – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

 

And, here is today’s collage.  I tried to put this is semi-rainbow order.  It is a lot of color, for sure.  The peak has come to this yard on the Colorado Plateau.

 

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From L to R: Top Row: Route 66, ? “Montrose Sunset”, Isaac, Mildred Mitchell, Razzamatazz, Prelude to Love. Row Two: Indian Love Call, Soco Gap, Aztec Firebird, Lady Fingers, Purple De Oro, Strutters Ball.  Row Three: Early Bird Cardinal, Thin Man, Cheddar Cheese, (Lady Fingers), Blackthorn, VooDoo Dancer.  Bottom Row: Stephanie Returns, Pick of the Litter and Return a Smile.

 

Hey, folks, that is eight new blooms in the yard today.  That puts me at circa 45 different blooms this year. (That means about 90 have not bloomed – but many are year ones or small year twos.)   I only need 20+ more to hit 50%.  I have a lot of scapes – so maybe . . . stay tuned.