Why I still love Gardening!

Debating on mowing the long grass today and feeling sad over the drought and heat and what it has done to plants and animals alike. I walked around my yard and found some reasons to still enjoy the garden and decided if these plants could take the heat one more day...so can I. So I am slathering on sun screen and putting on long sleeves to mow and edge out there. If I am not back in the house by noon, send a search party with water.
C

zexmenia seedlings...I could have 100's of these if I wanted.

Will send camels. St.Bernards don't do so good here. :-D

Mowed and partly trimmed. Is sweat good for your complexion?

Hibiscus laevis, needs to be moved to a less dry bed.

These pop up everywhere but look bad after a month or so.

Black foot daisy looks good but I do water them. I had a pot full last year that gave me a lot of little plants near the pond, wonderful. This is an old timer in full bloom.

Some of the pink skullcap look good others look poorly, no idea why.

Golden dew drop is so pretty. I have to admit its still in a pot. The bee and I agree it needs to be loved and protected.

Phlox pilosa decided to put out just a few more blooms. If you cut it back early enough and the weather is not too bad it can actually put on a pretty good post spring show.

Red dome blanket flower again. One of my new favorites. Taller than expected (too much water?) but shows no signs of burned leaves and is blooming like crazy. Flowers are not as showy as some but they do have an elegant beauty. Seems to be producing lots of seeds but don't know if they are viable.

Gomphrena came up in the kitchen sink bed from plants I composted last fall. Is that like reincarnation?

Sweat is dry so its time to head back out. I hope this drought is just a weather event and not climate change. I honestly don't think I can take every summer being like this one. Plus, we will run out of water in TX.
C

winter sown seedlings. I hope to see some monarch cats on them again this fall.

Those are wonderful. :-)

Will keep camels at the ready.

Cheryl, you have such good luck with volunteer seedlings!!! I need to learn your secret.
Very lovely, great job too.
Josephine.

Josephine the secret was really a disadvantage. They came up in the bed that wasn't mulced. I left it that way because I deliberately sowed so many seeds in there this spring. The zexmenia come up pretty much anywhere.
C

Love your pics and comments. I have the same effect with skullcap: all in the same bed but one of them looks sickly. Love the Golden dew drop...was that sown from seed?

No, Josephine gave me that plant.

You are a good plant mama!

I can never get my milkweeds to grow tall and strong! I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with them. The stems stay skinny and they only get about 6" tall. Sigh!

Mine don't branch much either. The ones in beds that get watered a lot and have rich soil are taller. The ones in the dry bed are shorter, about 14" or so.
C

Is this the Dahlberg daisy? http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=8695710 If you have too many volunteers I will gladly take some. LOL!

It is some form of that plant. It is sold as annual and thats how it behaves in my yard. The smell when you brush against it or step on it is very strong. Honestly I am not sure its the native species.
C

Went out to get a flower to compare and I think it is this plant: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/220/

It doesn't transplant well from seedlings plus they pop up between rocks and in cracks etc. I can collect you some seeds if you want them.


This message was edited Jul 18, 2011 10:12 AM

Dallas Morning News has an article today about wild animals abandoning their newborns as they can't feed them and the momma's are dying as well. Lot of statistic about this being the worst drought in recorded history with no end in sight.

How sad. I know its wasteful but I keep my birdbaths filled and have one saucer that I keep on the ground. When I go out at night there are always insects and sometimes toads sitting in the saucer or drinking from it.

This message was edited Jul 18, 2011 10:10 AM

Not wasteful... I would never consider sharing water with birds and wildlife wasteful. They need it as much as we do and serve many valuable purposes on this earth.

LouC ~ I had heard the same. We have a pond (still holding water ) that has critter tracks all around it. I've recognized possum, racoon and deer from large to fawn size. I've seen squirrels, birds and deer drinking out of it all at the same time. Sad but fun to see them also...

we have a double decker fountain with a pump just outside our desk window. At this very moment there are two baby robins and one baby cardinal perched and waiting for momma to help. Daddy cardinal is waiting in the wings. His little one apparently doesn't know how to drink water. Robins just flew. baby cardinal finally got to the water. Momma and daddy are in the feeders. We also have a pond made from a 350 gallon stock trough with a fountain. I am careful to keep both of them full.

I have flocks of doves, grackles, starlings, and cedar waxwings come to the pond waterfall to drink and bathe. Always see the bluejays, cardinals too. I wonder about the woodpeckers and chickadees, where do they get water when there is no rain on leaves? They are always at the feeders but never at the birdbaths or ponds that I am aware of. The frogs are happily croaking when we retire at night, and dragonflies busy during the day along with hummers, butterflies and bees.
I don't enjoy gardening in the sun, but I am out taking pictures with my big hat on a few minutes a day. It will rain again and we will be back to normal....meanwhile, why do we love gardening?...in my opinion it is our exposure to nature.

Sheila, all birds will use the birdbaths. Chickadees are just sneakier than most! :-)

Carla