Well, it's looking better than I thought it would at this point ...
Three months after the 'incident' the yard is looking better than I thought it would.
Notice the covered over trench in the foreground ...
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After doing the watering for several weeks Bob decided to do away with my 75 ft heavy lifetime guaranteed Craftsman water hose (I loved that hose -- heavy as it was!) and put in three watering stations with lighter weight 50 ft hoses.
Here is one of the stations. I don't know where he found the purple paint, but I like it. Later I'll paint the white pipes blue or green or sumthin' ...
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Thank you darling. It does make watering a LOT easier! Here's another of the stations ...
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While we're back here I'll show you a favorite canna I had years ago that came up recently from seed. The flower is a tiny red thing that barely shows at the top, but I love the red rimmed leaves and red stems ...
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Not knowing how many photos are allowed in the first post this will be continued ...
Comments (15)
bossyvossy
5 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoYes, Bossy, beloved put in a lot of thought and labor to install those stations. He did mention timers. We'll see. But I kinda' like being out there throwing water around ... lol
You've seen my photos of this plant before, but it's new for me this year and it has proved it's worth so I'm showing it again: 'Dragon wing begonia'. It gets a lot of sun and watering has been sporadic, but the leaves and flowers remain fresh ...
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At this stage of my life I am committed to cutting back on plants. I really mean it this time. Experience IS the best teacher.
All the plumerias are gone, but five of the nine bougies I had remain. It's hard to find a plant that provides this much color in a small pot ...
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I do like the shady spots and the jungle look. Can you spot the animal?
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More jungle ...
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And I enjoy swooping plants like the flower stalks of the red yucca ...
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In the fall when I can dig, a few more things will be going and I'll be replacing them with dry land shrubs and small trees. I'm impressed with how well some of the ones I have now have done. A few are showing in the photo above.
At a later time I will list the ones that have done the best in the heat with little attention. In the meantime, I'm open to suggestions so bring them on! ... :-)
Related Discussions
Well I better get better at this fast
Comments (16)Leava, The watering issue always will be with us so I try not to stress over it when I have to stop watering and let plants die, which generally happens about 1 out of 3 years here. Unfortunately, it often happens 2 or 3 years in a row, but then after that, I know it likely won't happen for a while again. It is excrutiating to leave our lovingly-raised plants to suffer, but that's just how it is when you live and garden in an area prone to drought. It is a shame that some years we have way too much water and other years we have way too little, but we sure can't do anything about it. Succession planting sounds harder than it is. If you know you're planting broccoli, for example, and it matures in 60 days from transplant, just look at the calendar 60 days out from your transplant date and ask yourself what grows well if planted in that month. I usually start seeds of succession crops in tiny bathroom-sized paper cups with the bottoms cut out about 5-7 days before I expect to harvest the in-ground plants. Then, with harvest in the morning and transplanting the new crop (cups and all to lessen transplant shock) in the afternoon (or evening if the weather is very hot), that bed doesn't stay out of production long. You also can plant many succession crops by direct-sowing the seed in the ground, but with each crop you have to know your soil temps and air temps and make sure it isn't too hot for the succession crop to sprout. I just like starting mine inside in cups so I'll have an "instant replacement" and fill up that space and put it to work right away. I hate sowing seed in summer, waiting a week or two for it to sprout, and then having to thin or replant in areas as needed. I'd rather have the sure think of plugging in a growing plant into each bit of available space. Really, if you're replacing cool season crops, you have to replace them with a warm season crop so that narrows down your choices a lot, and it shouldn't be tomatoes or peppers (unless they're a new batch for fall) since they already should be in the ground before you're harvesting something like broccoli or cabbage. It can be harder to decide on succession crops for fall because you can choose from both some shorter-season warm-season crops or some of the cool-season crops. For fall, I try to plant more of whatever we have put up the least of or whatever we like the best. I don't necessarily succession crop after mid-summer if it is a very dry summer because there's no point in planting something that will struggle with a lack of water. Dawn...See MoreIs your house smaller than you thought it would be?
Comments (16):) Our house isnt near your previous house of almost 4k sq ft (ours is 2,250) but when the foundation was first poured and cured. I remember walking on the slab like this doesn't look like all of our rooms on the 1st floor are going to put let alone the 3 car garage. Once framing went up the house even appeared smaller to me so thats why I had to laugh with your post because I remember at that point pulling out the tape measurer to make sure the dimensions were correct. Let me tell you that if you feel its small now, you will start to think its even smaller once the drywall goes up because you wont have the depth perception of being able to look between all of the rooms...lol In the end the specs of the rooms were on but for some reason during the build they just appeared to be smaller than they really were!...See MoreWhat I thought looked good did not turn out so well, WTD?
Comments (27)Actually, I think your tiles look great. And I am really particular about things. As said, it is just the grey with the blue, they are too close in colour so they seem as though they are supposed to match and do not. Just go to another paint colour. For example, greys and palest yellows with white trim look fantastic. This isn't a bathroom but look how great the colours are: http://yournestdesign.blogspot.ca/2010/08/exploring-color-aganthus-green-benjamin.html Lots of choices. I painted a room in Benjamin Moore Weston Flax (at 50% lighter) and it came out very well, like the palest shade of butter (like a palest butter with a cream undertone). or look at this: http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-ca/for-your-home/rooms-by-colour/warm-and-cozy-yellow-living-room or http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-ca/for-your-home/rooms-by-colour/classic-yellow-living-room-with-a-twist Since it is a small room, I would suggest cutting the colour by 50% so that it would be really soft. ------------------- Or.... I had a bathroom with tiles in a design like yours and painted the walls in the palest pearl grey - almost an off white (be careful not to get a grey that turns blue or green). And they I added white accents (towels, mat) with some art with white and a bit of colour. When we sold the house the new owners really liked the room. Wait until you see it with another paint colour and your rich wood vanity. Your bathroom will be fine, I am sure. Post a photo and show us the success! Radley...See MoreThey Grew Better than I thought they Would. Now what do I do?
Comments (5)so what ... whats wrong with that??? .. it wont bother them ... if you dont prefer such.. move every other one ... some dude did a brilliant expose on moving a fully leafed out hosta.. maybe he will link it for you .. or someone else will ... are you officially hooked???? .. we are very fine enablers... now that you can grow some of the old standards... why not try some of the hoity toity ones???? ken ps: oh.. wait... it was me ... http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2000608/moving-a-large-fully-leafed-out-hosta-lots-o-pix...See Morebossyvossy
5 years agocarrie751
5 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
5 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
mamachile
5 years agoAww Ragna, your garden is forever awesome despite three stripe broken bones. I hope you are getting better now weeding while planking.
I don’t have anything going on in my yard other than the grass specialty st Augustine sucking up water worth hundred of dollars plus grass cutting. Oh almost forgot. My moringa is 10’ tall with long beans. Whoo hoo!
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked mamachileroselee z8b S.W. Texas
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
mamachile