Summer in List Form

I almost forgot that I was going to use an easy to read list form for my garden happenings -

• Harvested Cherokee trail of tears - 10 vines, good growth = enough dry beans to feed one very small person one very small meal
• harvested garlic - never made big bulbs
• no show by tobacco horn worms - apparently my tomato plants are too lame for catepillars
• turks turban squash was going like gang buster and then the main branch wilted and died. I suspect squash vine borer
• sweet potatoes holding on and alive but not getting bigger. They would like some water, I bet
• stem off my plumeria was broken off accidentally, so I am rooting it in a pot with compost - it looks to be going well. (using water from a/c condensation collection to keep it and the main plumeria watered)
• planting acorn squash, turks turbans and pumpkins this weekend to have in time for fall. I will hand water and set up western shade until they get established - if no rain in september, I'll let them go, too.
• waiting and begging for fall, football season and rain.

Early Summer

I decided to take my vegetable garden off life support. When the 100 degree days and non-stop wind started on March 1st, I knew I was in trouble. With a well as my only current water option and our area of the state in extreme drought, I decided that watering my vegetable garden every day or even every other day just to say I made a few okra and tomatoes would be a bad idea. Those few vegetables would be little consolation the day the well went dry. With my self inflicted draconian ration of one deep soaking a week, my garden was alive, but not thriving or producing. So no more supplemental water.

Of course the week I decided to let it die, it rained an inch and a half, but - too little too late. I am going to focus on getting it ready for my fall garden. I trust better times are ahead.

My cottage garden has been suffering, too. It really loved the rain and decided to not die in response. My plan is to water the cottage beds deeply once a month while the drought continues. Whatever plants can't make through that, will have to go. This summer may be especially bad, but there is no use designing a garden with mild, wet summers in mind when hot and dry are the rule.

I am starting to get a handle on which plants are really drought tolerant and which are only partially so.

The known tough guys - rosemary, succulents (duh), culinary sage, mealy cup sage, artemesias (native is tougher than powis castle - also, duh), Lindheimer senna, russian sage, mexican oregeno, bush germander, flame leaf sumac, copper canyon daisy, pink skullcap, native bunch grasses

The not as tough as advertised - lantanas, mexican sage (especially wimpy - santa barbara), lambs ears (duh again - strike three, I'm out), guara, bicolor iris

Tougher than you'd think - old roses (if it weren't for the deer, these guys would still look great), catmint (very english garden, six hills giant and all that, but still tough), bearded iris, beach vitex

This fall I am going to fill in the dead spaces with more tough customers. And I am going to plant an absolute crap-ton of poppy and larkspur seeds and hope for fall rain. Don't judge, I never claimed to be rational about gardening all the time. Where is the fun in that?