Heat, Armadillos and Rocks

I skipped August. It was hot, everything looked like the desert (which I despise, you people can keep your wide open spaces and rocky vistas and sun stroke). I sat inside and wondered why I ever bothered. When it appeared that the majority of plants in a bed were about to die from dehydration I would, accompanied by the constant roar of the airconditioner's condensing unit, go out and lay out a soaker hose. I would water the bed well. In the morning I would wake up to find the bed rototilled by armadillos. I'd go back in to the a/c. This procedure was repeated over and over until it finally rained.
It became September, the heat broke and it rained. Twice. Once it rained 8 inches! Now the garden looks great again. All the plants that I struggled to keep alive are blooming again - russian sage, mealy cup sage, mexican oregano, lantana, pink skullcap, beach vitex and prairie verbena are all in bloom. But the best of the September display is the fall only bloomers. Fall is my favorite season. I know September in Texas is not fall but in fact, just late summer, but with the temperature back in the low 90s and a few rains, some great thing are afoot in the garden. First, oxblood or schoolhouse lillies - small and deep red, they appear with no foliage after the first good rain. Second, mexican bush sage - tall spires of velvety purple blooms. And third but perhaps my favorite, Lindhiemer senna. My dedicated readers will remember the effort I put into replacing my Lindhiemer sennas last spring. It was worth every minute. They provide height, leaf size and texture juxtaposition to most of my natives and beautiful groupings of yellow and black blooms. These plants blooming is the highlight of the garden year.
I have been working, even through the heat associated pouting. I cut down some oak tree limbs that were blocking a path in my cottage garden. I've pulled up last spring's cucumbers and courgettes (which were a big hit - we had courgettes and penne carbonara ala Jamie Oliver and more courgette [alright zucchini, for the love] bread than you can say grace over. Pumpkins are in. I've harvested two acorn squash and another is on the way. Beans, green and dry, are in. I've had little to no luck with beans of all kinds to date, but I like them enough to keep trying. Kohlrabi (what?! - I don't know either) and two summer squash went in today.
I am reading "Square Foot Gardening" and I am really digging (groan) many of his ideas and advice. I think it will make my garden more efficient and enjoyable than just reading the title online and trying to make up what I think square foot garden is. The main thing I've learned thus far is - everyone over plants like I do and it is a foolish thing to do. I over plant, everything sprouts and then I should thin and don't and then I have a mediocre crop of overcrowded and stressed vegetables. This time around, I've only planted what I want to grow, where I want it growing. This has taken more self control than I thought I possessed.
As an aside, I am also reading "The Ivington Diaries" by Monty Don. It is a mix of his diary entries about gardening on his land in England and is very good. He is a natural writer and it hits on to two of my major interest - anglophilia and gardening. You have that book to thank for me getting motivated to blog and again. I know, enough to make you want to burn it, but don't - only real sociopaths get into burning books.
I am building a low rock wall around the garden outside our dining room window. I've wanted to build one for years. I tried oce before, two years ago, but failed. I was using too small a rock, had too narrow a base and one November afternoon, my frustration with the wall met with my frustration at the Aggies losing to Baylor (baylor! really! I'm still mad!) on the radio. This, and the availability of a sledge hammer, made for not a wall, but a small pile of rocks. I didn't feel much better. Two things re-motivated me. One, reading a Charles McRaven book on stone work and two, those pesky armadillos. This rock wall ought to keep them out of their favorite rooting ground. Armadillos's may stand for all thing Texas to you, but I say, support your local gardener - wear armadillo boots. That may be a bit much. How about - don't swerve, he /she has it coming. Still too much? Don't worry, I'll go back to liking them by October or so.