H2O

August 26, 2017Leave a comment

Water, the giver of life. Usually. I watch Hurricane Harvey and think of my days living in Galveston, Texas. Eighteen years ago? Where did the time go? Well, anyway, those days taught about having so much water that it becomes life threatening. Tonight, my thoughts are with those affected by the storm.

Coral Taco

I live in the desert, so our rain is never close to what they get on the Gulf Coast. Generally, my daylilies beg for more water, not less. Still, I hold my breath as I try both pots and a drip system in the Southwestern garden. I worry that they are too dry. I worry that they are too wet and going to get root rot. I have 3 makes of pots out there, too . . . so one may be OK and the other not. In the spring, I will put them all in plastic pots with drainage inserts = that should also keep the tree roots out. If they all survive the storm.

Passionate Returns

Water. Life giving. Most of the time.

Yellow Punch

The Stages of Daylily Obsession

August 25, 2017Leave a comment

Today, I got a package with daylily roots from one of my favorite places –Shady Rest Gardens. Well, Doris always sends huge fans . . . and she included some extra fans of two that I ordered. Two of the ones I ordered were to thicken up some of mine that shrunk in the Southwestern garden. So, it becomes too much daylily for the pots. I divided both the new ones into two and put the existing small ones with the smaller division of the new ones.

Pink and Cream

So, now I need to make room in the front or side yard for the extras. I am giving away a couple that I have doubles of to make room. And, so it begins . . . which to keep and which to give away? Is variety better than focusing on favorites? I have a feeling this problem could get worse before it gets better. In a way, though, it is nice because you can see how the same cultivator behaves in different conditions in your yard.

Yellow Punch

So, I decided to come up with some stages of daylily obsession:

You consider daylilies the perfect perennial enough that you favor them when you pick out nursery plants for your garden.
You start noticing more little things about the daylilies you pick . . . like size, shape, and name.
You decide to have daylilies as the dominant plant in at least one garden.
You discover that roots are a cheaper way to fill the space, with more selection.
You discover the auctions and find several reputable daylily root nurseries.
You start to favor some type of bloom or hybridizer. In my case, it was the Southwestern names of the Ned Robert’s cultivators that caught my eye.
You realize there are billions and billions of the type you want . . . you start collecting. You have to make fairly major garden revisions to host so many.
A year or two later, you have all the ones you want. They need to be divided and find new homes. It seems weird to have too many.
(I am not here yet) You become a hybridizer and/or farm them to sell.

Coral Taco

Oh, it is my mom’s 100th birthday today. I wish she could be here to see the Easter Lily Cactus blooms today. Like daylilies, they only last one day. I love all their biological features.

Easter Lily Cactus

They’re Back!

July 28, 2017Leave a comment

OK, so I said I would try to focus on new blooms for this blog . . . and that works during peak. As that falls off, the focus will need to shift in order to keep the blog alive through the summer and early fall. There are tons of possibilities . . . colors, shapes, etc.

For tonight, the focus in these two awesome rebloomers – Pink & Cream and Yellow Punch. I rarely buy Big Box daylilies, but I was in the mood for more color in early June, and these added some spice to the yellow trumpets. And, so they finished but now they are back.

They are offspring of Stella de Oro, but I like them a lot better. They were marketed as better rebloomers than Stella, and this year in my yard that is 100% true. Maybe these two will be my last daylilies of the year. Oh, I have younger scapes on a few . . . Pizza Crust, Western Sandstone, Nearly Wild, Heirloom Heaven. But, these could keep coming back. Until today, the last bloom for Pink and Cream was late June. And, yea, they live in pots.

Nightlilies

June 14, 2017June 14, 2017Leave a comment

Daylilies bring to mind blooms that come and leave with the daylight, each lasting only a day. Some, however, are called nocturnal or extended bloom. These open in the evening and bloom all night, perhaps until the following evening. This is Yellow Punch with a retro filter.

My Lowe’s newcomers seem to be nocturnal extended bloomers. This makes me even more curious about the genes, other than Stella.

PS – I had Indian Sky bloom in March in my fibreglass porch. The blooms (only 2) lasted 3 days each in that cooler, shadier place.

For tomorrow, I think Ruby Spider and Papa Long legs.

Big Box Punch

June 13, 2017Leave a comment

Today came my first Yellow Punch bloom. One of my Flower Power daylilies from my weekend trip to Lowes.

I’m not much of a big box shopper, but I do appreciate rebloomers. Stellas are the best! So, I was curious about what big box did with Stella. I wish I could find out the parentage. Monrovia just says it’s new this year. (It looks lots like Pink and Cream that I got at the same time. Hmmm.)

I do see mother Stella. It also reminds me of my Frans Hals, which is an older daylily. Hard to know. Many after it’s less new??? (Below: Stella and Frans Hals)

Two For the Road

June 11, 2017Leave a comment

Today brought family . . . And a trip to Lowes. I don’t normally buy daylilies from big box stores, but I like live souvenirs. So, two new daylilies. Miniature offspring of Stella de Oro. The one that is starting to bloom in my hatchback is called Pink and Cream. I can find no information on it. The other one is Yellow Punch. Never a daylily-less day. Tomorrow, it’s the long drive home. With two for the road.

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: Yellow Punch

H2O