Finale Ally

July 29, 2018Leave a comment

It is a busy life when I try to add anything. And, this weekend brought an intense application and the rodeo. I did it, got both checked off the agenda. I have been tired all day, through – despite sleeping until 10AM. So, without further ado, here are the Friday and Saturday finales (see date for the finale date). Our cultivators in bloom are dwindling quickly. Still, we had over 20 in bloom today.

Finales:

Purple de Oro 7.27

Aztec Firebird 7.27

Purple Moonrise 7.27

Lime Frost 7.28

Nosferatu 7.28

Twirling Pinata 7.28

My little friends say goodbye. I think about fall work to enhance bloom, again. I have a few to put in pots or divide. My energy is not anything like last summer, where every second of August was spent putting daylilies in buried pots. Actually, glad I did it last year. Especially with the drought. Where on earth did I get that energy?

Other cultivators the past 2 days include: Cherokee Star, Purple Corn Dancer, Purple Thunderbird, Dream Catcher, Mount Echo Sunrise, Chorus Line, Mini Pearl, Hesperus, Ruby Stella, Indian Sky, Orange Vols, Prairie Blue Eyes, Raspberry Propeller, Nearly Wild, El Desperado, Pizza Crust, Marque Moon, South Seas, Baja, Comanche Princess, Pink and Cream, Anasazi, Lady Fingers, Royal Palace Prince, Navajo Curls, Heron’s Cove, Tiger Kitten, Classy Lady, Prelude to Love.

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

A Wednesday in Your Garden

July 19, 2018Leave a comment

Wednesday in your garden – it is a song by the Guess Who. It is kind of a sad song about getting shot down by someone . . . and the person still wants to spend Wednesday in the garden of the shooter. Funny how we cling to things that hurt us sometimes.

So, two awesome new blooms in the garden this Wednesday. Twirling Pinata is a cool Ned Roberts spider. She bloomed last year, but struggled after I put her in the pot . . . well, she was already sick. She did not show up this spring, so I replaced her. It is cool when a bare rook blooms the first year.

She is a sib (same pod) of Raspberry Propeller . . . in bloom today. So, here they are side-by-side. (Pinata – L, Propeller – R)

Nearly Wild 7.18

Nearly Wild also gave a first bloom today. She looks like the original daylily – called Fulva. Fulva is an invasive ditch lily. The hybrids are not invasive. This one clearly bears some genetic resemblance to her ancestor.

Finales today:

Heavenly Curls 7.18

Purple Grasshopper 7.18

And, I forgot to include Mama Cuna yesterday:

Mama Cuna 7.17

That is it, folks. The word is my exhaustion is the real deal . . . I need to be doing a lot of stuff to fight back and get healthy, again. After more work-ups to narrow it down so it can get treated. It’s a permanent deal, most likely. I am glad for my daylilies because they give my life some focus at a time when everything seems so foggy. At the same time, they do take a bite of time every day during peak.

Other blooms today: Comanche Princess, Treasure of the Southwest, Dream Catcher, Bluegrass Music, Mildred Mitchell, Blue Beat, Red Riddle, Nosferatu, Prairie Blue Eyes, Canyon Colors, Heron’s Cove, El Desperado, Purple de Oro, Lime Frost, Marque Moon, South Seas, Longlesson Show-off, Lullabye Baby, Lady Fingers, Mini Pearl, Yellow Punch, Pink and Cream, Prelude to Love, Pick of the Litter, Bela Lugosi, Baja, Chorus Line, Lacy Doily, Return a Smile, Ruby Spider, Bold Tiger, Black-Eyed Susan, Indian Sky, Anasazi, Hesperus, Route 66, Ruby Stella and Strutter’s Ball. Time for bed. Past time for bed.

Friday the 13th!

July 14, 2018Leave a comment

The last time we had a Friday the 13th was in April – the day I left for my annual Southwest Road Trip down the Devil’s Highway all the way to the border of Mexico. I had 2 sick dogs with me . . . well, not sick, sick – post-op and injured. It was a good trip even though I named it Southwest Superstitions. I love my annual road trip just like I love my daylilies.

So, today was a good day in the Garden. Fifty-four bloomers, so one of our top days so far. Mother Earth even managed a couple of new blooms.

Classy Lady is one I got on the auction a few years ago. She is doing better in a pot this year. I usually only get one or two blooms out of her all year. Today, it was a trifecta. She looked so pretty!

Classy Lady 7.13

The other one is another Ned Roberts spider . . . but without a Southwestern name. I ordered a bunch of Southwest named daylilies from a small grower and there was an issue with one I ordered, so I picked another one. However, there were no more spiders to pick from. This is Raspberry Propeller.

Raspberry Propeller 7.13

It is sort of interesting that Raspberry Propeller is a sib (from the same pod) as one of my Southwest spiders – Twirling Pinata. It is interesting that these guys had the same parents but are two different blooms. Like paternal twins, I guess. Clearly related, though!

Twirling Pinata 2017

Tomorrow, I need to move a couple daylilies out of the Walkway Garden into the Border Garden or the Rainbarrel Garden. The problem with pots is the plants get so much bigger here, so I have an over-crowding (blocks the sun) and so I don’t have many scapes in that area. I think I will move Blackthorne and Autumn Jewels. Maybe I can still coax a bloom out of them . . . not great odds, but not 0, either.

Walkway Garden 7.13

OK – here goes the list of today’s Friday the 13th bloomers: Comanche Princess, Skinwalker, Navajo Rodeo, Black Ice, Dream Catcher, Aztec Firebird, Zuni Thunderbird, Iktomi, Treasure of the Southwest, Happy Hopi, Shape Shifter, Nosferatu, Cheddar Cheese, Dark Mystery, Red Riddle, Prairie Blue Eyes, Wineberry Candy, Mesa Verde, Heron’s Cove Purple de Oro, The Colorado Kid, Mildred Mitchell, Blue Beat, Thin Man, Passionate Returns, South Seas, Longlesson Show-off, Return a Smile Chorus Line, Early Bird Cardinal, Lacy Doily, Ruby Spider, Stephanie Returns, Catherine Irene, Mini Pearl, Prairie Wildfire, Pick of the Litter, Bela Lugosi, Baja, Pink and Cream, Yellow Punch, Stella de Oro, Black-eyed Susan, Red Hot Returns, Hesperus, Route 66, Ruby Stella, Strutter’s Ball – I think that is it. I am pretty sure we will have 1 or 2 more new blooms tomorrow.

Grit

August 3, 2017Leave a comment

Today was split shift . . . a day of grit to get more daylilies protected from the soil and roots in my home ground. I gotta tell you, I am ready to be done. And, yet, I have barely started in the Southwest garden. Ugh, that clay soil is definitely part of the problem in the area where the daylilies are not thriving as much. I put my first two full pots out there, buried. The challenge is to make sure the sprinkler hose hits them. Some others are in bottomless pots, and some in the black nursery containers, mostly without bottoms. We will see what works. It is possible that what works is just digging deeper in that clay and replacing it with real soil. But, the pots keep the unwanted roots out. Grit.

So, I had no new blooms. Decided to play with my photo editor. So, here is Indian Sky from today in colored chalk.

Also, I am resharing my Ned Roberts spider collage because I forgot Glen Eyrie. I guess 19 out of 69 could be worse. Almost 30%. But, that clay has to get split up to improve things. Next year, I would like to hit 40. Keep on digging. Grit! Except, this weekend I have a date with my tent.

Left to Right: Top Row – Adios Albuquerque, Aztec Firebird, Black Ice, Chaco Canyon, Chief Four Fingers, Coral Taco. Middle Row: Desert Icicle, Dream Catcher, Dream Keeper, Ghost Ranch, Glen Eyrie, Kokopelli, Papa Longlegs. Bottom Row – Pink Enchilada, Pueblo Dancer, Rasberry Propeller, Skinwalker, Twirling Pinata, Zuni Thunderbird

Web of Spiders

August 2, 2017August 2, 2017Leave a comment

Today, I think I got my last NEW Ned Roberts bloom for the year. The new one is Coral Taco. The challenge is taking a photo of a flower doing yoga. Yes, both me and the flower!

I started collecting Ned’s spiders a couple years ago when I saw one named Kokopelli on the auction. I cannot believe how little I knew about daylilies then!!! Anyway, once I figured out they were hybridized close to home and there were lots of Southwestern and Colorado names, I had to have more. And, most have not ever bloomed yet, although this year most of them grew big and healthy.

From L to R: Top Row: Adios Albuquerque, Aztec Firebird, Black Ice, Chaco Canyon, Chief Four Fingers. Middle Row: Coral Taco, Desert Icicle, Dream Catcher, Dream Keeper, Ghost Ranch, Kokopelli. Bottom Row: Papa Longlegs, Pink Enchilada, Pueblo Dancer, Skinwalker, Raspberry Propeller (not a Southwestern name), Twirling Pinata, Zuni Thunderbird.

It is sort of disappointing that several that bloomed last year did not bloom this year. My Southwest garden was where a pine was planted until they uprooted it for a new sewer a decade or more ago. A pine in the middle of a rock garden. So, I work on water and soil. There is clearly a part of the patch with bigger plants and a part with strugglers. And, so I am working on that, too. Maybe a tree trim???

Despite the disappointment of wanting more bloom, I was impressed when I put these all together in one collage. I cannot wait to see them all!!! I think I have around 50 total.

I think there will be a break for several days before any more new blooms. So, like these cool spiders, I will be thinking of themes to highlight certain daylilies.

Drizzle

July 29, 2017July 29, 2017Leave a comment

It’s Friday! So, after work, I dashed out to continue the daylily potting project. Ran out of potting soil after the first two, so ran to Home Depot. Came home and was working on another two when the rain started. It is a nice rain . . . drizzle, but enough to cool things off and wet the garden.

No new faces today. Tiger Kitten lost his only bud 😦 For tomorrow, I think maybe Nearly Wild might bloom. At any rate, I decided to make a collage like I did every day last year during the peak. I don’t have enough time do to that this year, but wanted something to show for the last of the big bloom days of July.

The rain on Wednesday bought mushrooms to my Southwest garden . . . guessing the mushroom compost come to life. Weird, in the desert.

Tomorrow, the journey continues. I wanted to be camping, but decided to plan 3 camping trips for August this weekend AND STICK TO IT!!!! But, for now, I am making good progress on the daylily potting. And, not camping in the rain. I have so much to do before freeze and Amazon is slow with my second order of pots. Oh, well, like the daylily, all we really have is this moment.

Black Eyes and Twirls

July 19, 2017July 19, 2017Leave a comment

Today, two brand new faces joined the yard. I am most excited about Twirling Pinata. It’s a new Ned Roberts spider that I added last fall. I just love the curly ones! The color is nice, too.

The other one joined this spring after a trip to the nursery in Grand Junction. The name caught my eye – Black Eyed Susan. I like the color of those flowers. And, the daylily version does not disappoint with the rich golden yellow-orange. It has a LOT of buds, too. It was an early addition, so I think it is happy here.

The blooms continue at a steady pace. I am disappointed so many are dropping buds. In continuous improvement, we make changes at a rapid pace to improve outcomes. Daylilies are slower. I can try adding more water or fertilizer, but the die have been largely cast for the year. I’m at 35% bloom. If all bloom with scapes (help me out here insects), then it climbs to 45%. I am sure I will get a handful of late ones to add. Maybe 50% for the year.

At some point, you go from having a few daylilies in your yard to being a hobbiest/collector. For me, I think that happened at about 50. In a way, it becomes more work at that point. There is an art and science that you have to learn. Most do better in pots here, a few prefer the ground. Most all prefer the drip system on my porch. Some areas get more sun. I have a ton of work to do on those who didn’t bloom for the next cycle. But, will it work for next year?

Life goes on, and the years we have left with the flowers shrinks. Heaven help me, I will be at 80% bloom long before I run out of time.

Fall Blooms and Roots

September 1, 2016Leave a comment

Time flies . . . it has been a couple of weeks since I posted. A lot has happened. I am less than two weeks away from my doctorate. And, I believe I have a full-time job in my future. A couple cultivators are still in bloom, and I have new roots in the ground. Perhaps returning to school is like planting new roots. You give them water, soil, sunshine, and fertilizer. Then, in time they bloom. Blooms are like jobs – the reward for the TLC given to the roots.

Today’s blooms were Heirloom Heaven:

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

And, Red Hot Returns (with less thrip damage than before):

Red Hot Returns – Photo by Colorado Kid Daylilies – C. Hartt

As promised, here are the Painted Petroglyph roots from a couple weeks ago next to the photo from a few days ago:

Progress toward that 2017 bloom. Like submitting an assignment . . . it takes time.

Fall is here and my attention is turning to my winter indoor blooms. My amaryllis bulbs and poinsettia need to go dark soon. I got a new mum, Thanksgiving cactus, and designer begonia. My Gerber Daisy is in bloom, as is my azalea. Oh, and those geraniums. They tend to be my winter bloomers. I will probably blog about those some over the winter.

I’m also working on my fall daylily fertilizing program. My re-bloomers ran out of steam this year, so that is a sign that they need more nutrients. I have added some great Ned Roberts roots to my Southwest daylily patch – Glen Eyrie, Adios Albuquerque, Twirling Pinata, and Truchas Sunrise. I got extra fans (as bonuses) of Echo Canyon and Desert Icicle that will thicken up my existing plants. My Navajo Rodeo roots are booming this time. And, I think I am already getting my spring daylily order planned. That paycheck will be great to feed my daylily habit.

A Little Piece of Heaven in my Yard

August 17, 2016Leave a comment

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

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:

Heirloom Heaven with my finger for proportion

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

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

And, Orange Flurry:

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

Oh, and Stella, of course:

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.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: Twirling Pinata