Wow. We have been having some work done at the house, extending the back patio and paving the area with pavers, changing out some plants, and getting mulch put down. Yes, I know, we've had workers doing most of the work. But we've been woken early - the workers usually started at 7 or 8 AM and finished by mid afternoon in order to beat the heat late in the day. Its made for early mornings. But the planters do look good and the patio extension looks great. So it has been well worth the expense. Things I am learning during this work. Even plants they want full sun can benefit from some afternoon shade. Many of the pots I had in the back near the patio got moved into what areas I could find that got some afternoon shade. They are doing pretty good. The couple of matching pots that were in full sun are growing, but not doing as well. Moral of the story - afternoon shade helps in this heat. As a learning lesson the tom...
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Things I'm learning this summer. I have two pots that do not have drainage holes - the strawberry pot and another pot. Pot 2 has plastic taking up part of the bottom of the pot. The strawberry pot is entirely filled with soil. When we had our recent over and inch of rain, the strawberry pot was practically floating. It actually had water sitting on the top of it. I gently tilted the pot onto its side and let water drain out. I hadn't realized the strawberry pot didn't have drainage holes. I knew pot 2 didn't have hole, but I knew it had plastic in the bottom taking up some room. I'm starting to wonder if holding water in these pots is not quite the bad thing during the summer. Yes, the strawberry plants are getting some sun burn, but considering the heat of the sun and the fact the pot is sitting in direct sun with no shade - I'm not surprised some of the edges are getting burned. But I wonder - if I don't put drainage holes,...
I know its been a while. Got back from my trip last week and promptly got sick. I'm getting better thank you. Well talk about Texas rain. Last night, around 12:45 AM we got rain. We got 1-1/4 inches of rain in a bit over an hour, maybe an hour and a half. At least we've had rain, and we still need it.
This is Memorial Weekend, and its raining in Austin, Texas. We had about 1.25 inches yesterday here at the house, and its raining again today. I don't know how much rain we will get. It is very much needed, no question there. But it is still strange. If it were any cooler I would think I was back in Washington state. As is, we are in the 70's, ranging from the low to high. But I'm sure all the plants will be happy for the rain. This time of year I don't think they expect much rain. But its here. With the drought, plants and the reservoirs will be happy to get the much needed moisture. And it hasn't all been those heavy downpours either. Yesterday we got about the first inch of rain in one hour. Then it was just kind of slow and drizzly. It didn't rain overnight. But this morning it started up again and its been slow and steady. Just the kind of rain I would see in Washington. But at least it shou...
This weather is making no sense. We had rain last week, then dry. Then this past weekend it began clouding over. Right now it is cloudy, kind of misty, but 68 with 91% humidity. At least the good thing is its nice weather for gardening. Not too cold, but not too hot either. I went over to my neighbor last week to see her iris' in bloom. She had given me some rhizomes last fall which I attempted to plant. Attempted since the deer insisted on pulling some of them put. Well, it appears they are growing. This one is blooming in my garden. Some of the others have buds, but have not quite bloomed yet. We can hope. The roses I had purchased online are also blooming. Here's three of them. Right now they are in pots, that's the best I can do. But they seem happy. Hopefully soon they will get a better planting. The greenhouse has been well worth the time and trouble. I'm not sure wha...
The weather must be changing, even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes. Last night we saw our first scorpion in the house. We don't get a lot of them, but because of where we are we do get scorpions. We do have a pest control system built into the house walls so that keeps most of the bugs away. But last night I saw the first scorpion of the season in the house. Bill stepped on it since I was barefoot - no more worry about that one. But we must be changing seasons for them to show up. The weather has been strange. The past couple of days have been overcast but warm, in the 70's. Last night only got down to 62, so that is a change in temp. Especially since earlier this week we had night time temps down in the low 30's. They keep saying we may get rain, 40% chance for tomorrow, Easter. We even have a 50% chance on Wednesday. I'm not holding my breath on it, we'll see if we actually get any. But it is overcas...