Home of the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox and other native plants for pollinators

Monday, October 11, 2010

Please Join Me On The Porch For A Little Whine and Chocolate

I knew better... You would think by now that I wouldn't go down that road. I did anyway. Like a moth to the flame I had to look a the weather forecast. Another week of absolutely blue skies and 10 to 15 degree above normal weather. Another week without rain. Another week of dragging that hose from plant to plant.

Just add that to the six we've already had and you get a big dry garden. There's just the slightest chance of rain sometime in the future and a great big High Pressure System stuck over the middle states. Nashville is in the middle this time!

I don't suffer quietly.





A little whine time with a chaser of chocolate really helped take the edge off my grumpiness!


Okay, I admit, it's not all bad in the garden!
Some plants are getting along just fine~ the New England Asters* and the goldenrods can't be stopped.


They are putting on a great show.


They're my rough and tumble wildflowers and every fall they light up this garden. They make me smile, they make me laugh and they've been blooming in full sun with no supplemental watering for weeks.


Now that's a good reason to celebrate with a little chocolate and a beverage on the porch. So come join me!

xxooGail

* Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (Aster novae-angliae)

33 comments:

  1. I'm hoping the slight chance of rain we have this week at least gives us a sprinkle! You have every right to whine - this dryness has been miserable for my garden - and every other gardener I talk to.

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  2. Gail,
    Even with an irrigation system your garden is still in better shape than ours. Your efforts are paying off. :-)--Randy

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  3. Dear Gail, skip the whine and pass the chocolate! HA I think we are going to have to rethink what is normal for us and adjust our plantings accordingly! Don't you just love a challenge? :-)
    xxxooo
    Frances

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  4. There's nothing harder than dragging hoses. However, even an irrigation system can barely hold things together with no rain. I got 1/2 inch last night, and I'm sending my low to push your high out of the way. Fingers crossed and a hug.~~Dee

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  5. No fun dragging hoses. In Dallas at GWA, the was a garden accent in the shape of a grave market that read, He Moved Hoses. LOL

    You purple bench is reason enough not to whine. I love it. I'm with Faire, pass the chocolate. Happy day, friend! H.

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  6. At least you have hoses. We only have one spigot, and 100 ft of hose isn't long enough to reach it all. Plus, we are on a shallow well, so when I really need to water, I can't, because we need every drop for drinking, cooking, & washing. So I water from a rain barrel with a watering can--and only the containers. And yes, I have lost a few shrubs.

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  7. I know it's a drag (I've been suffering along with you; maybe we're under the same high pressure system?). But your lovely photos show just how important it is to get the right plants in the garden.

    When I first moved to this area I was so smitten by the amount of rainfall and the possibilities. So I succumbed to plants like hydrangeas. It's too bad we've been suffering a drought for the last few years! I'm starting to hit myself upside o' the head and going back to my xeriscapic lifestyle.

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  8. I never water my natives--I'm surprised they need it, but then again I don't live in TN! :)

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  9. I'll gladly join you for a little whine, Gail...and yes, chocolate always improves my mood, too:) We set records for high temperatures this past weekend--87 in October?? My poor plants don't know what to make of it all. There's a slight chance for rain on Wednesday, but I think the key word there is "slight." Too bad there weren't rainbarrels all over Nashville back when the floods hit, but even they would have been exhausted by now, I'm sure.

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  10. There's so rumbling around here about dragging garden hoses around too....do pass the chocolate!

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  11. Aww! You deserve to whine, AND have a little chocolate to help you feel better! We're supposed to get some thunderstorms this evening as the cooling front comes through, and I'm starting to try to will it southward for you...

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  12. My friends, It's a puzzle as to what to plant these days~ Even the natives struggle without any rain for two months~Especially, the witch hazels and iteas...Both water lovers. gail

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  13. Your garden is beautiful even without rain. I hate dragging the hose...you'd think by the time I got to my 70's I would learn what to plant but I am mesmerized by all the beautiful things in the Spring and want them in my garden. If it's any consolation...dragging the hose is good exercise. I think I'll rest a while and eat some of that chocolate...Balisha

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  14. Despite the dry spell, all still looks autumn grand, Gail. Our temps too are above normal so will take advantage of this gift to put my garden to bed now instead of waiting til the 30s/40s. We are expecting rain and wishing you a good soaking too.

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  15. One day last week, around eleven in the morning I saw three bees on my asters. I had read your post the day before and decided that since they looked asleep, I would try to touch one. I don't know who moved faster, the bee or me. It was NOT sleeping, but it was soft!

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  16. I share your sentiments. But here, even the ex-asters were starting to droop from dryness, so I had to start watering them. That is a first.

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  17. I hope my new goldenrods perform as well as yours. I managed to source some California native ones this last weekend at a native plant sale. I keep wishing for just a little rain here too, but on the upside, the bees are happy with the sunshine and blooms.

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  18. I am definitely whining about the lack of rain! My asters and goldenrods have all fizzled, and it's technically too warm to be planting bulbs...and it's mid-October!

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  19. I don't suffer quietly, I think you said? I love it. Me either! Pass the chocolate.

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  20. Sometimes it is good to whine, especially if it produces such a lovely collection of photos. I hope you get rain soon, but only what you need, no flooding excess.

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  21. Gorgeous photos and so many bees. Our bees are packing it in for the season. Cool weather and all. I finally have put the hose away. We have been getting rain often. Today it rained quite a bit and yesterday.

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  22. You KNOW how much I feel for you. Your garden is gloriously beautiful despite the drought: your hose dragging is paying off. I hope both of us can stop that tedious process soon!

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  23. I've been there, Gail, and I didn't suffer quietly either. Still, your garden looks beautiful. Here's to rain and chocolate!

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  24. Dear Gail,
    You do know how to whine in style. On the porch ~ with chocolate ~ and a view to that adorable purple bench. Add to that the marvelous combination of insect-haven-goldenrod and those purple-hued asters!... you've got great whine-style.

    Nevertheless... here's to some liquid from heaven ... soon for all of middle TN.
    Meems

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  25. Oh Gail I am sorry you still have not had rain. It's literally a drag having to water.

    Definitely an occasion for chocolate. (extra)

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  26. Hi, Gail;
    I've been pretty cranky about the dry season, as well. I want to be done with watering. That said, your flowers are gorgeous so I'm glad they're still being coddled by their fabulous gardener. :)

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  27. I feel your pain Gail. Let us just skip the whine and pass the beverage"s". Even my wild asters look pitaful this year. Sob...whine...gnashing of the teeth...

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  28. Considering the heat you are suffering the plants you have shown look lovely. I think we always moan about what we have and wish for something different.

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  29. Not much rain here in Illinois, either--and I use watering cans, not a hose (long story), which leads to extreme selectivity in watering. Yet my asters and prairie dropseed grass keep on, keep on.

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  30. Dry or not, it's looking good to me Gail. Those Asters are gorgeous.
    btw, I just noticed your Plato quote at the top right of your sidebar ~ love it!

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  31. Love your purple bench! Matches your asters.

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  32. Going out was the right choice. Your garden looks very soothing.

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  33. A perfect post describing what I had been thinking, too.

    Gorgeous weather, but TOO warm for the season, so hose-dragging was definitely in order, even for tough plants.

    But thankfully we had a inch in the Piedmont through today, even if the mountains are still pretty dry.

    Lisa

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"Insects are the little things that run the world." Dr. E O Wilson