Our area is on voluntary water restrictions so I've moderated the sprinkler schedule and it seems to be working. Basically I run the sprinklers in the middle of the night twice a week, and I run them for an abbreviated amount of time, and then repeat. So it's not using any more water than before, but more of the water is soaking in and not running down the street to the storm drain and it's not evaporating as soon as it hits the ground.
I love it and the garden seems to like it as well. As usual, the photos will enlarge when you tap them.
In the repurposed grill-turned-planter, the vinca that I planted has put out a zillion seedlings. Not sure what I'll do with them, but I should be able to get at least a couple of plants going from this lot.
I forget what this is, and apparently didn't make a note in my garden journal (tsk. tsk) It was looking pretty ragged a few days ago, but I trimmed off the dead bits, gave it a drink and it rewarded me with some new flowers.
I suppose I'm going to have to trim the "Scentless Star Jasmine" as we call it. It's growing so rampantly there's almost as much on the other side of the fence as there is on ours. Or perhaps future neighbors won't mind a vine taking over the fence?
Amazingly, in spite of being subject to benign neglect and drying out completely more than once, this petunia is still putting out blooms. I've been deadheading and trying to keep it evenly moist this week and it seems to be thanking me. As I was putting birdseed out early this morning, there was a hummingbird moth nectaring on it which was neat, but I didn't get photos.
Underneath it, I almost missed this bloom on the Tropi-Canna. It looks like there are some more blooms on the way too.
Underneath the Southern Wax Myrtle, this Dutchman's Pipe Vine languished for a long time. Now suddenly it's growing and even flowering (see pic below).
In front of the lattice hiding the phone and cable utility boxes, the bulbine is blooming. I nearly lost this early in the year, so I'm thrilled to see the little blooms on it.
That's all I got photos of today in the back garden. This doesn't include the Rose of Sharon, the Vitex and the Texas Star Hibiscus, which are all still blooming, but I thought it was time to show you the front.
Beside the driveway, this little bed bids you Welcome, and offers a view of the new house being built on the lot.
More rampant plants - this time sweet potato vines. Does anything kill this plant?
And when I looked closer, I spotted this daylily getting ready to rebloom (it even looks like I missed one bloom today)
Elsewhere in the front, lots of Lantana "New Gold" (as well as "White Gold" not shown) Can't kill this stuff either - I love it!
Underneath the seedling Live Oak, a Guallardia "Fanfare" has been blooming for months. I'm resisting the temptation to deadhead it and letting it reseed if it wants to.
Speaking of reseeding - last year's tropical milkweed reseeded everywhere. They seem to be doing well this year and you know what I noticed?
NO UGLY ORANGE APHIDS THIS YEAR! Last year they were COVERED with those nasty things. This year, not a one (YET)
And finally, one more reblooming daylily about to bloom. Please just ignore the raggedy-looking verbena. It needs trimming back, but I've been on the injured list this week and haven't done any weeding at all --- that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.
8 comments:
Jayne: You still have lots of beautiful flowers in your garden despite of hot and dry weather. The plant that you forgot name about is wishbone flower. I have three different colors of it, and just love them. It also will self sow. So expecting to see more next year :)
Lovely. Sounds like you've got a winning watering routine. If I ever move again, I'll get a smaller yard, someplace where you can dig without a pickax, and we'll have a drip & sprinkler system so I don't have to get up before dawn on watering day during the inevitable droughts.
Thanks for reminding me of the name of that plant, Ami. I knew it began with a T, but could not think of the name! It's very pretty, so I'll collect some seeds if I can.
Thanks Kathleen. I'm so glad I was able to talk my husband into agreeing to have sprinklers installed when the house was built. Our neighbor across the street bought an inventory home that didn't have sprinklers and he is out at all hours moving his sprinklers around his huge corner lot.
Hello to Jayne (originally from England), from Jane in England! Just happened across your blog as I'm stuck indoors with heavy summer showers (you remember those!) soaking everything outside. We're up in Bronte Country, Yorkshire, and there has been some flooding in York. Lovely to see your photos and all the flowers... I'll be back :-)
Jane Gray
Hi Jane, thank you for stopping by and commenting on my blog. Feel free to send some of that rain our way, we certainly need it, being in the worst drought for 50 years! I visited your blog too - your book is just my cup of tea and I'm looking forward reading more.
Jayne it's probably too warm for those aphids this year in your garden. I'm sure you are so glad you installed a watering system in your garden.......... watering is a chore I don't like at all. The plants seem to be thriving in all of that heat. Now I realise why I meet so many US people in Scotland over the summer time... they don't seem to mind our UK rain and cool temperatures at all.
Hi Rosie - yes, having the sprinkler system installed was definitely a good choice! Unfortunately, a week later, I'm starting to notice aphids on the milkweed. I noticed a couple of ladybugs (laydbirds in the UK) too, so hopefully they will be able to keep them under control.
My husband and I are planning to visit the UK next spring. My parents live in the south, so we probably won't get up to Scotland - but it's definitely something to think about :-)
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