More Spiders in My Bed

July 19, 2022Leave a comment

Spider daylilies in my flower bed, that is.

I had 3 new Roberts spiders today. That makes 45 Cultivators from Ned Roberts so far.

Dream Keeper was one of my first 3 Roberts spiders when I started the Southwest Visions garden 6 years ago. Love the whispy shape and colors.

Mama Cuna reminds me of the painting I did last fall. She is planted right next to my huge banana yucca and looks like a weird bloom from the succulent. Mama Cuna is a signal that the season is moving on. She is mid-late.

Santa Fe Christmas was my favorite today for some reason. The colors are shape are unique and caught my eye. Not many buds this year, so savor every one of them.

Also, little Tiger Kitten (funny, I sell begonias with that name) opened one of its few buds for the first time today.

134 have bloomed so far. So, bloom rate in the 70s with lots left to go. Purple Corn Dancer is starting to put out scapes. She is always the last one.

Five Months Until Christmas!!!

July 26, 2019July 26, 2019Leave a comment

The rain is pouring outside as the thunder crashes. It was hot today and I had over 70 blooms, again. For some reason, the 7/25 hit me as 5 months until Christmas. The daylilies will lie still under the ground and snow; under layers of leaf mulch. I will be inside bored and playing with orchids and poinsettias as the daylilies rest before the next season. I thought I would share my two Christmas named daylilies from today as a reminder that the seasons change so quickly.

Santa Fe Christmas 7/25

Santa’s Pants 7/25

I got called in early to work, so my daylily photos had to wait until after work – late afternoon. Some were a little weathered, but all were fully open (which is a challenge before work). I had 3 new kids today – and I forgot to take a photo of Navajo Grey Hills. I saw it but got distracted by all the others so had to blow up a photo of it in the background (see top photo). Tired and out of sync.

Navajo Grey Hills – 7/25

Today’s Premiers include Classy Lady – she was one that was either a bonus or an add on to a lily auction order. I like her shape and color – she is a consistent bloomer.

Classy Lady 7/25

Tiger Kitten gave us her first purr for the season. I am fairly sure she was a bonus. Seriously, I paid nothing for many of my daylilies. Others were only a few dollars online. Nurse’s Stethoscope was my most expensive at about $100. But, I helped to name her so it was a treat. (She suffered a set back with the cold spring but finally has a scape.)

Tiger Kitten 7/25

The last Premier is Bella Boo. I got Bella Boo and Platinum Pink Palet Whispers for $10 for 2 deal at a local nursery a couple years ago. I stuck them in the same pot. I think this might be Bella’s first bloom ever in my yard.

Bella Boo 7/25

My flowers are so beautiful at peak. I love the huge spiders the most. Tomorrow, we will see what blooms after the downpour. PS – Speaking of Christmas and poinsettias, the cold spring has my plants looking like they should in mid-June. Sort of wondering if they will come back enough before fall.

Christmas in August: The Ugly Daylily

August 13, 2018August 13, 2018Leave a comment

The blooms thin out way too rapidly this time of the season. Every day brings another finale or three. I hung the black-out curtains on the poinsettia bloom closet so I can start forcing them in a couple of weeks. It’s 90 degrees outside so it doesn’t feel right. The amaryllis will come in soon, too. Speaking of amaryllis, Ambience bloomed this weekend. Well, more like she is blooming. Unlike daylilies, she takes her time. She blooms every summer at this time. I call her the ugly daylily. Unfortunately, the bugs love her thin blossoms. But, her color is stunning just the same. She looks like Christmas in August.

Amaryllis Ambience 8.11

Now, back to the real daylilies for the past two days. I took last night off of the blog . . . needed a break.

Finales:

Mini Pearl 8.11

Royal Palace Prince 8.11

Tiger Kitten 8.11

Navajo Curls 8.12

Other Saturday and Sunday blooms:

Pink and Cream 8.12

Blue Beat 8.11

Stella de Oro 8.11

Ruby Stella 8.12

Purple Corn Dancer 8.11

Dream Catcher 8.11

Indian Sky 8.11

That’s all folks. We are headed into the quiet of late August. No new scapes at this point. I think we needed monsoon rain for that to happen.

Oops . . . I forgot!

August 8, 2018Leave a comment

OK – I forgot my plan was to post all my bloomers from every day and eliminate roll call. Oh, well, that is not the worst of it – I forgot to pay my bills in July and didn’t realize until last night. Seriously, this exhaustion is something else! I have NEVER in my life forgotten to pay bills every month. Oh, well – get through work one day at a time and do what I can to take care of myself. Flower therapy helps, but also takes time. Life balance is a balance indeed. PS – So far, the lights are still on 🙂

So, here are the bloomers from yesterday and today . . . except the finales that were featured yesterday. First, today’s finales.

Finales:

Comanche Princess – in bloom since 6.17!!!

Bloomers:

Mini Pearl 8.6

Purple Corn Dancer 8.6

Pink and Cream 8.6 and 8.7

Dream Catcher 8.6 and 8.7

Ruby Stella 8.6

Navajo Curls 8.7

Tiger Kitten 8.7

Orange Vols 8.7

The First Sunday of August

August 6, 2018Leave a comment

It was camping weekend, which is good because I need the stress relief. Work is too busy and I am too exhausted. So, I returned to an encore – Stella de Oro has been out of bloom for 3 weeks and she is back. I will just leave her in the roll call. Our last roll call of 2018. We had 37 in bloom this week. We had 56 last week and I predicted half as many this week. Actually – more like 2/3rds. When you look at all the finales this week (see photos below), I will make the same prediction for next week. That’s about 18 for the week. We don’t have many scapes yet, and the ones mostly only have a bloom or two left. Heirloom Heaven, Indian Sky, Pink and Cream, Dream Catcher, and Purple Corn Dancer have some life left in them. I am hoping Passionate Returns, Stephanie Returns, Ruby Stella and Red Hot Returns all return.

Here Goes Roll Call 7/31-8/5:

Anasazi 7.30 – has had finale bloom

Apache Uprising 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Baja 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Blue Beat 8.2

Cherokee Star 8.2

Chorus Line 8.5

Classy Lady 7.31 – Has had finale bloom

Comanche Princess 8.2

Dream Catcher 7.30

El Desperado 8.5

Fox Ears 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Heirloom Heaven 8.2

Heron’s Cove 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Hesperus 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Indian Love Call 8.2 – Has had finale bloom

Indian Sky 8.5

Lady Fingers 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Marque Moon 8.1 – Has had finale bloom

Mini Pearl 8.3

Moon Over Chimayo 8.1 – Has had finale bloom

Navajo Curls 8.1

Nearly Wild 7.31

Orange Vols 8.3

Passionate Returns 7.31 – Has had finale bloom

Pink and Cream 8.1

Pizza Crust 7.30

Prairie Blue Eyes 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Purple Corn Dancer 8.5

Purple Thunderbird 8.1 – Has had finale bloom

Rosie’s Red 8.3

Royal Palace Prince 7.30

Ruby Stella 8.3

South Seas 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Stella 8.5 – Encore bloom today

Tiger Kitten 8.3

Twirling Pinata 7.30 – Has had finale bloom

Yellow Punch 7.31 – Has had finale bloom

Last Sunday in July

July 30, 2018Leave a comment

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.

Desperado

July 23, 2018July 23, 20181 Comment

It is roll-call day! But, first, a dedication. It is camping weekend and I was listening to a song “Desperado” on my ipod. I have always identified with the song. So, I will put El Desperado as our lead photo today.

Desperado – The Eagles

Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
You been out ridin’ fences for so long now
Oh, you’re a hard one
I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin’ you
Can hurt you somehow

Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds, boy
She’ll beat you if she’s able
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet

Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can’t get

Desperado, oh, you ain’t gettin’ no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they’re drivin’ you home
And freedom, oh freedom well, that’s just some people talkin’
Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Don’t your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine
It’s hard to tell the night time from the day
You’re losin’ all your highs and lows
Ain’t it funny how the feeling goes away?

Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate
It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you (let somebody love you)
You better let somebody love you before it’s too late

OK – so new to the garden for the first time in 2018 today is Pizza Crust. I get a little hungry looking at her because I am stuck with low cholesterol pizza that doesn’t have much crust.

Pizza Crust 7.22

Finales:

Thin Man 7.22

Route 66 7.18

Fairytale Pink 7.22

Nurse’s Stethoscope 7.18

Here goes Roll-Call for the week of 7/16-7/22:

Adios Albuquerque 7.19

Anasazi 7.17

Aztec Firebird 7.17

Baja 7.18

Bela Lugosi 7.19

Black-Eyed Susan 7.16

Blue Beat 7.20

Bluegrass Music 7.16

Bold Tiger 7.17

Canyon Colors 7.15

Catherine Irene 7.16

Cheddar Cheese 7.22

Cherokee Star 7.17

Chorus Line 7.18

Classy Lady 7.18

Comanche Princess 7.17

Dream Catcher 7.18

El Desperado 7.19

Fox Ears 7.19

Happy Hopi 7.17

Heavenly Curls 7.17

Heron’s Cove 7.17

Hesperus 7.17

Indian Sky 7.16

Isaac 7.16

Jungle Queen 7.16

Just Plum Happy 7.17

Lacy Doily 7.20

Lady Fingers 7.18

Lime Frost 7.15

Longlesson Showoff 7.18

Lullabye Baby 7.22

Mama Cuna 7.17

Marque Moon 7.20

Mellon Balls 7.17

Mildred Mitchell 7.18

Mini Pearl 7.19

Mount Echo Sunrise 7.16

Navajo Rodeo 7.16

Nearly Wild 7.18

Nosferatu 7.18

Papa Longlegs 7.17

Passionate Returns 7.20

Pick of the Litter 7.17

Pink and Cream 7.18

Prairie Blue Eyes 7.17

Prairie Wildfire 7.16

Prelude to Love 7.18

Purple Corn Dancer 7.20

Purple de Oro 7.17

Purple Grasshopper 7.17

Purple Moonrise 7.17

Purple Thunderbird 7.18

Raspberry Propeller 7.20

Red Hot Returns 7.17

Red Riddle 7.18

Return a Smile 7.16

Rosie’s Red 7.20

Route 66 7.18

Royal Palace Prince 7.20

Ruby Spider 7.17

Ruby Stella 7.22

Skinwalker 7.19

Soco Gap 7.16

South Seas 7.22

Stephanie Returns 7.17

Strutter’s Ball 7.18

Taco Twister 7.19

Colorado Kid 7.22

Tiger Kitten 7.20

Treasure of the Southwest 7.20

Twirling Pinata 7.20

Wineberry Candy 7.16

Yellow Punch 7.22

The Bud Stands for All Things

July 20, 2018July 20, 2018Leave a comment

Something different tonight before our normal rounds – I am starting off with a poem about flowers that was sent out by the Father of Positive Psychology to a listserve I am on earlier this week. I love the flower reference and the need to reteach us of our inner loveliness so we bloom, again. Boy, I identify with that this year.

Saint Francis and the Sow

By Galway Kinnell

The bud stands for all things,

even for those things that don’t flower,

for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;

though sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness,

to put a hand on its brow of the flower

and retell it in words and in touch it is lovely

until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;

as Saint Francis put his hand on the creased forehead

of the sow, and told her in words and in touch

blessings of earth on the sow, and the sow

began remembering all down her thick length,

from the earthen snout all the way

through the fodder and slops to the spiritual curl of the tail,

from the hard spininess spiked out from the spine

down through the great broken heart

to the sheer blue milken dreaminess spurting and shuddering

from the fourteen teats into the fourteen mouths sucking and blowing beneath them:

the long, perfect loveliness of sow.

Ok – Here we go – new blooms. I am in love with Purple Thunderbird. Another Ned Roberts spider that is in bloom for the first time in my yard. I didn’t realize it until I took off photos tonight . . . but I went back for photos like 5 different times.

PurpleThunderbird7.19.11

Other newbies that opened for the first time this year – Tiger Kitten. She is a petite little tiger.

TigerKitten7.19.3.jpg

And, Royal Palace Prince – whose first bloom was messed up by bugs a little. Always feel sorry for the ones whose first buds make them look a little goofy.

RoyalPalacePrince7.19.2.jpg

We are fast running out of scapes from unbloomed daylilies for 2018. Still hoping for a few late scapes and rebloomers. I had 40 in bloom today. We are at 119 total cultivators for 2018 out of 175 or so. I know of 4 or 5 that have not yet bloomed. So, let’s call it 123. We will hit 70% if all those bloom. I am happy with that, given we only got 48% or something last year. Big improvement for a drought year.

Finales:

Return a Smile 7.19

Red Hot Returns 7.19

And, yesterday (forgotten):

Strutter’s Ball 7.18

Prepping the Daylily Beds is a Bunch of BS!

August 15, 2016August 15, 2016Leave a comment

So, first there are the first fans of spring. Actually, other than my garlic and spring bulbs, one of the very first signs of spring in my yard. Then, there come the scapes followed by peak bloom season. And, then the lovely late bloomers signal time to start preparing for another cycle. I think of the Native Americans and their focus on the changing seasons.

I did have bloomers this weekend. So, I will show those first, followed by the tale of BS in my garden.

Tiger Kitten only produced two buds. This was a one fan root last summer. It’s making progress. Can’t wait for next year!

Tiger Kitten – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

Stella, of course, was here with me all weekend, in both yellow and gold.

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

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

And, Orange Flurry lit up my smaller zeriscape garden in the rocks.

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

So, here is my Ned Roberts Southwest spider garden that I put in this spring. The first two pictures are before. It is of note on the second photo that the earth no longer comes up to the top of the bricks. PS – I would have done a higher raised bed, but the yuccas won.

Ned Roberts Southwest spider patch (before) – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

Note the level of the soil and mulch within the bricks.

Here is the after picture. Probably no different to most people. The difference is that the earth is now back up to the top of the brick. Because daylilies are funny about planting depth, this meant raising the grade of the garden by first loosening up each daylily, putting the growing medium underneath, and then surrounding each cultivator with the medium. It reminds me of the tale of raising Galveston Island several feet after the 1900 Great Storm. They did it one structure at a time, too. It took all afternoon yesterday.

Southwest lily patch (after) – a lot of work for something that looks pretty much the same. Just ask the daylilies, though, it has been a weekend of prep for a new season.

Today, I filled the gaps with the remaining medium because the daylilies were all in mounds after being raised. Sounds easy enough, except I was mixing up a concoction of steer manure, compost, peat moss, water crystals, soil acidifier, and time release fertilizer. Oh, and given that I tromp around pretty hard with my camera, I also added some little stepping stones so the soil could stay fluffy. I think my motivation is not only the anticipation of the blooms (a type of savoring), but also the number of little gardens that I see on my dog walks that have gone untended. I think how cool the initial intention was . . . . but it is long gone. This Colorado Plateau is a different ecosystem than the South.

I read yesterday that with plenty of water, amendments, and the right amount of fertilizer you can get 2-3 x as many blooms. Might as well give it a shot. For tomorrow, we will talk about grass weeds vs daylily sprouts. Maybe someone out there can help me with that issue!!!

Tigers, Skinwalkers, Apaches, and Princes. Oh My!

August 10, 2016August 10, 20163 Comments

Yesterday was my first no bloom day since early June. Today brought several blooms, including my very first Tiger Kitten.

Tiger Kitten – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

And, after a few weeks of deformed Skinwalkers, today comes a picture perfect bloom. I think the early blooms were premature. What a great Ned Roberts bloom!

Skinwalker – Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

Apache Uprising made a huge show with three blooms.

Apache Uprising – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

And, how awesome it is to see my last two Royal Palace Princes in full bloom.

Royal Palace Prince – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

Stella also showed up to meet this crowd in the garden – both my golden and yella Stella.

Yella Stella – Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

Golden Stella – Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

And, calm little Orange Flurry was present in the background.

Orange Stella – Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

That leaves only two unbloomed cultivators . . . Heirloom Heaven and Red Hot Returns. However, that is not bad for mid-August. And, nine total have unbloomed buds. Will I make it until freeze?

This weekend, I start the work of fall mulching. I’m learning more about promoting my rebloomers. And, so more improvements in store for the future.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: Tiger Kitten

More Spiders in My Bed

Five Months Until Christmas!!!

Christmas in August: The Ugly Daylily

Oops . . . I forgot!

The First Sunday of August

Last Sunday in July

Desperado

The Bud Stands for All Things

Prepping the Daylily Beds is a Bunch of BS!

Tigers, Skinwalkers, Apaches, and Princes. Oh My!