Centuplicate!

The hot, dry weather continues here. The daylilies are popping and I had 10 cultivators with their first bloom of the year today. And, I’ve had 100 total cultivators bloom this season.

I can’t even tell you how many I have total. Probably 170-180. I added, Mother Nature subtracted. Plus, I just got a new computer and I haven’t moved my daylily software over yet. Too busy counting flowers on my wall.

Please enjoy my Instagram of today’s blooms. In order of appearance: Dr Doom, Wildwood Flower, Bela Lugosi, Bluegrass Music, Fol de Rol, Taco Twister, Chokecherry Mountain, Coral Taco, Treasure of the Southwest, Lobo Lucy,

The Summit is Just the Halfway Point

The thought that half or more of my scapes are still unbloomed is staggering. Especially days when there are a dozen premiers in one day. And, I’ve ordered 3 new daylilies plus replacements for 2 of mine that died last winter. It’s like raising the altitude of Everest a thousand feet when you are struggling to reach the summit. I’ll need to add on to my drip system.

I had some cool Ned Roberts spiders blooming for the first time today. 73 total in bloom and 67% of all my cultivators have bloomed so far.

Here we go!

We will see what tomorrow brings.

Staying engaged after the peak

I’m back, but only to catch up on finales since Sunday. Once school starts next week, it seems like the daylilies fade in my mind a little. But, this year I am semi-retired so hoping to stay a bit engaged. Last year, I did that huge 70+ buried pot repotting. That was 4 weekends of work and nearly ran into freeze. So, I suppose you could call that engaged.

This year’s project is to re-organize some of my less favorite/poor bloomers with some new cultivators. I just purchased Singing in the Sunshine, Irish Handshake, Ghost Ranch (more fans because I only have one), Off to See the Wizard, Memories of Oz, Sea Panther, Ruby Slippers, Blue Flirt, Wildwood Flower (mine died a couple years ago), and (maybe) another fan of Coyote Laughs (I am not sure the one I have is actually Coyote Laughs). That is 9 or 10 more, but I will be selling some of mine that I am eliminating. I also may do a big pot of leftovers – I have one that does great! I am amazed because it is soooo crowded.

Chaco Canyon – Finale 8.4. Bloomed from 6.27 to today – good year for this one!
Pizza Crust Finale 8.3
Taco Twister finale 8.4 (today).
Treasure of the Southwest finale 8.3
Dancing Maiden finale 8.2
El Desperado finale 8.2
Indian Sky finale 8.2

I have several with only a few (if that) buds left. I think the closing daylilies this year will be Purple Corn Dancer, Navajo Curls, Purple Thunderbird and Adios Albuquerque. Will they last until September? Will there be an August surprise scape on a non-bloomer?

A Celebration of Spiders! (Ned Roberts)

The days grow August-quiet.  It seems a dream that I had nearly 60 blooms per day just a month ago.  So, today, we will do finales.  And, then, a roll-call of my Ned Roberts spiders.

Finales:

ChorusLine8.5.1.jpg

Chorus Line 8.5

RosiesRed8.6.1.jpg

Rosie’s Red 8.6

So, maybe if I do the Ned Roberts spider roll-call it will entice one more into bloom this year.  My Ghost Ranch is a fall bloom, but I am having a rough time getting her to thrive here.  Maybe some fish fertilizer?  Our temps are still above average with little rain.

Ned Roberts Spiders for 2018 Season:

AdiosAlbuquerque7.23.2.jpg

Adios Albuquerque

ApacheBandana6.29.1.jpg

Apache Bandana

AztecFirebird7.8.1.jpg

Aztec Firebird

BlackArrowhead7.2.4.jpg

Black Arrowhead

BlackIce6.28.3.jpg

Black Ice

ChacoCanyon7.5.1.jpg

Chaco Canyon

CheyenneEyes6.25.1.jpg

Cheyenne Eyes

ChokeCherry7.6.1.jpg

Chokecherry Mountain

ComanchePrincess6.17.1

Comanche Princess

DesertIcicle7.15.1.jpg

Desert Icicle

DreamCatcher7.13.2.jpg

Dream Catcher

DreamKeeper6.6.2.JPG

Dream Keeper

FoxEars7.12.2.jpg

Fox Ears

HappyHopi7.13.1.jpg

Happy Hopi

Iktomi7.6.3.jpg

Iktomi

KachinaFirecracker7.6.2.jpg

Kachina Firecracker

Kokopelli6.3.1.JPG

Kokopelli

LaughingFeather6.19.3.jpg

Laughing Feather

ManaCuna7.13.1

Mama Cuna

MoonOverChimayo7.16.1.jpg

Moon Over Chimayo

NavajoCurls7.23.6.jpg

Navajo Curls

NavajoRodeo7.15.1.jpg

Navajo Rodeo

PapaLongLegs6.30.3.jpg

Papa Longlegs

PinkRainDance6.25.1

Pink Rain Dance

PuebloDancer6.26.1.jpg

Pueblo Dancer is her label, but she doesn’t look like that one.  So???

PurpleCornDancer8.5.2.jpg

Purple Corn Dancer

PurpleGrasshopper7.12.1.jpg

Purple Grasshopper

PurpleManyFaces6.20.2.jpg

Purple Many Faces

PurpleMoonrise7.27.3.jpg

Purple Moonrise

PurpleThunderbird7.19.11.jpg

Purple Thunderbird

RaspberryPropeller7.28.2.jpg

Raspberry Propeller

Raven7.4.3.jpg

Raven Woodsong

RockyMountainPals6.29.1.jpg

Rocky Mountain Pals

SanteFeChristmas7.15.1.jpg

Santa Fe Christmas

ShapeShifter7.6.1.jpg

Shape Shifter

Skinwalker7.19.1.jpg

Skinwalker

TacoTwister7.11.1.jpg

Taco Twister

Talon6.29.3.jpg

Talon

TwirlingPinata7.28.1.jpg

Twirling Pinata

WildRose7.4.2.jpg

Wild Rose Fandango

ZuniEye6.18.1.jpg

Zuni Eye

ZuniThunderbird7.10.7.jpg

Zuni Thunderbird

Out of interest, here are my Ned Roberts spiders that bloomed last year but did not bloom this year:

CoralTaco1.8.17.jpg

Coral Taco 2017

GlenEyrie1.7.5.jpg

Glen Eyrie

PinkEnchilada1.7.4.jpg

Pink Enchilada 2017

And, we had a few in 2016 that have not bloomed again:

ChiefFourFingers23.7.3.jpg

Chief Four Fingers 2016

GhostRanch13.7.29.jpg

Ghost Ranch

WindsofLove6.6.28.jpg

Winds of Love 2016

I have around 64 of Ned’s spiders in my garden. I had 42 bloom this year or about 65%.  Last year, I had 13 (about 20%) bloom.  Marked improvement.  All total, to date, I have had 48 (or 75%) bloom.  That is a long way from 100%.  But, marked improvement.  I think some of the ones that bloomed in 2016 were put in that year (still flourishing from the nursery), struggled last year in the clay soil, and are recovering (growing new roots) this year in their pots.  I am sure that the drought had an impact, as well.

So, for fun, here are the ones I have that have never bloomed (photos from the web):

Apache Beacon

Apache Beacon

coyote laughs

Coyote Laughs

Cricket Call

Cricket Call

cripple creek2.jpg

Cripple Creek

Dancing Maiden

Dancing Maiden

Echo Canyon_jpg

Echo Canyon

Feather Woman

Feather Woman

Golden Eclipse

Golden Eclipse

Kachina Firecracker.jpg

Kachina Dancer

Kiva Dancer

Kiva Dancer

Land of Enchantment.jpg

Land of Enchantment

Maya Cha Cha

Maya Cha Cha

Medicine Feather

Medicine Feather

Mount Echo Sunrise

Mount Echo Sunrise

Navajo Grey Hills

Navajo Grey Hills

Ojo de Dios

Ojo de Dios

 

Orchid Moonrise

Orchid Moonrise

PuebloDancer.JPG

The Real Pueblo Dancer

Spirit of the Morning

Spirit of the Morning

Star over Milagro

Star over Milagro

Truchas Sunrise.JPG

Truchas Sunrise

Wildwood Flower

Wildwood Flower

We made improvements, but we have aways to go.  That’s life