Texas Gardening: Time for reckoning., 1 by Texnerd

Texnerd wrote:
I need some encouragement and guidance. As we Texans know, it can be tough to garden here. I live in northern Hays county, and on my particular patch of caliche we have received exactly .15 inches (not 1.5, but .15) of rain since the end of June. Also, I had surgery on my foot recently so hobbling on crutches so can only do very limited watering. We planted a few young trees last winter, including a bur oak, two bare-root peaches, a Mexican plum and a Texas redbud. They all loved the rains in the spring and grew like crazy. When I do water, I am giving these guys a slow soak every 10 days or so just to keep them alive until they establish. Other than these trees, I'll water the perennials if they're not too far gone, and kissed the annuals goodbye. My question is, for those of you in a similar situation, what have you had to let go? How do you decide? also, is it worth starting new annual seeds under my plant light (zinnias, morning glories, cosmos) in preparation for the fall rains and cooler weather? Thanks!