We’ve been blessed with two significant rains in the last 2 weeks and my gardens have responded beautifully. We’ve received over 4 and half inches this month! Yippee!

The plants out front have all perked up, sent out flowers and stopped wilting. The super heat (upper 90’s) has backed off and it is in the high eighties now, which has helped most of the plants recover. Some plants such as the Winecup did not make it through the summer though. I am not sure what killed it – over watering, or the heat. I thought it might come back now that it is cooler, but there is no sign of it.

The back garden is looking so much more lush now too. And it looks really cool with the pond in the background.

Even the water lilies are appreciating the warm humid days:

I find it humorous that what we consider fall-like cool temperatures in Texas – aka temps in the high eighties – is considered sweltering, hot summer weather up in New England. I am simply amused by the fact that I am so relieved that the hot weather is gone and we have  “cool” upper eighties to look forward to. 🙂 I guess it’s all relative.

Also amusing is the fact that I used to dread the fall in New England because it meant the long, cold, snowy winter was just around the corner. Here I relish the shorter, cooler days and the stunning display of color the plants are all giving. It’s as if life is just picking up here while in New England everything is slowing down to sleep.

The soft-leaf yucca is making a surprising and stunning display of bloomage!

  Even the surrounding fields are all green again – Aaaah – looks so good.

I have learned over the last almost 2 years I have lived and gardened here, that the perennials (even though they were all chosen for the exceptional drought tolerance ) appreciate a good soaking by sprinkler every 2 weeks. Even though I hand watered all the plants whenever they seemed to be close to wilting, a sprinkler soaking in the late evenings did so much more for them. It would cut down on the need to hand water considerably and they would not wilt in the late afternoon sun. It seems that when hand watering just the plant and not the surrounding earth, the water just is leached away by the dry dirt around the plant roots and little water actually stays in the root zone of the target plant.

So in September, wanting to make good use of all that wonderful rainwater in our 5000 gallon storage tanks we bought a 12 volt solar pump and hooked it up to the tanks and have started watering every 2 weeks. I also use the pump to water in the wildflower seedlings I have sprinkled in the area where the huge mound of dirt from the pond excavation used to be.  (So glad that huge mountain is gone!)

Pond in early September with mound of excavation dirt.

Dirt is gone, now it’s time to plant those new perennials!

 It’s amazing what a difference 2 months make to a pond.

AHHH – No more mountain of DIRT!