After a few days of rain, I can finally plant the veggies!! 
We had a grand total of 1.75 inches of rain last week, and I can't be more thankful!
I'm planning to remove the fencing from the veggie garden, and reusing it in a section of the living fence garden to keep Jerkwaad's dog out. The fencing is only 2 ft tall, and I'm hoping that Jerkwaad's dog will not jump over it. 
I've been having issues with a clematis in the SE corner of the kennel. Up until last year, it was thriving, but last year it was dead as a doornail! (or so it seemed) This year, it started growing beautifully again, but then suddenly it "died". I think that Jerkwaad's dog has been peeing on it!! 
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Yesterday was very hot, near 90 degrees 
but I was determined to prep the veggie garden for planting, so I moved all 15 potted daylilies (from last year) out of the veggie garden, over to the general location of their permanent home. One more daylily, 'War Horse', was actually growing in the soil of the veggie garden, and I transplanted it to it's permanent home. I then got rid of the small weeds and raked compost in to the soil of the veggie garden. In the early evening, I watered it (along with all the backyard gardens) so the veggie garden is now all prepped and ready for laying landscape fabric and planting!! My work times and break times were taken in equal measure. 15 minutes on, and 15 minutes off, give or take. 
During my breaks, I drank a lot of water, for a grand total of 72oz. when I finished outside, so I got through it all, in the heat and humidity very well!
The next task, after trimming the front shrubs, will be to till the new garden up and mix in compost with the tiller, in preparation for planting the potted daylilies, along with various other specimens for a mixed living fence. The arbor is still in need of leveling, so we'll have to squeeze that in as well. Then my annual musical daylily task is in store to get some specimens in more sunny locations, and finally mulch, mulch, mulch! Sparky will help with that. He actually enjoys mulching (as long as his allergies cooperate 
) He learned to mulch when he was working in maintenance at Walsh College, so he's pretty good. 
Today's weather:
83/51
We might finally get some rain!! Showers and thunderstorms likely. The chances will increase to 80% around 2pm. W winds around 7 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. New rainfall amounts around 3/8 of an inch. We need the rain badly. We've been in a Spring drought. 
The skies will clear away overnight tonight, for a sunny day on Thursday, then more rain expected on Friday and Saturday....subject to change without notice.
So, over last weekend I had planted the begonias in to my self-watering hanging pots, and do you think I could find the hangers for them?? The stinking things are lost!! 
They are four point hangers, so I got on Amazon and found chain replacements!! I also treated myself to a solar birdbath fountain with color change LED lights from Amazon. 
I'd been wanting one for a couple years, now, and finally I'll have one! Both items will deliver Thursday, and I'm so excited to get the fountain!! I will be stopping at Lowe's to get a matching hanging pot to transfer the trailing strawberries in to. I need to get them out of that awful slitted pot they came in. 
So I'll probably do that today after my Chiropractor appointment, since it will be raining. I can pot them up on the porch, along with fixing the post of the wind spinner. The lower half busted, and I found a replacement on Amazon.
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Today, I finally got around to cleaning up the DL's in the old tree garden, and I tilled up the soil in there too, so irrigation will soak in to the soil ILO running off the hardened clay. I then fertilized the daylilies in the old tree garden and in the two newer gardens. I watered all the back yard gardens in the morning and again in the early evening, along with the front and side gardens.
I did find a scape on 'One Night Pollination', and another scape on 'Helix'!!
We didn't get the arbor leveled up today, like I had hoped, bc Sparky had enough of being outside with his allergies for one day. I don't blame him, really. 
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85/65
Overcast. W winds around 9mph.
This morning, I watered everything in the back yard again, with the addition of the living fence plantings. They're drought tolerant, but a good watering sure can't hurt! I just watered the front and side gardens.
I'm so glad we have clouds today! Less water evaporation, during the day.
Today, I've been working on transplanting the begonias into self watering hanging pots bc the pots they came in are designed with slits up the sides and all around! The same with the hanging strawberry basket! When I first get annual baskets, I put a water tray under them until I can transplant them, but it didn't work well this year bc there are no holes in the very bottom of them!
Check it...
Who in their right mind thought these things to be a good idea, especially for plants that need evenly moist soil, like begonias??!
Anyway, I also have 6 lavender, 3 lantana, 2 coreopsis, and 6 calladium to plant. Not to mention the veggies! Lots to do!!
I picked up compost for the veggie garden, and I was hoping to plant the veggies today, but Sparky's allergies are insane. He has a terrible sinus headache, and his face is swollen. He already pushed through it all to cut the grass today, and he sneezed like crazy during and afterwards. He has been having sneezing fits all week. He seems a little better after his shower, so I'm hoping he'll help me level the arbor after supper. I picked up the no dig posts, for the gate that will be installed at the arbor. Can't wait to get that all together!! If I can dig some out, I'll put up temporary fencing beside the arbor. I think I have some laying around somewhere in the garage. 
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Today was supposed to be 88. This afternoon, in peak heat, my app said it was 86 degrees but my thermometer in the shade said 95! I'm sure that the city micro climate has a great deal to do with being so much hotter than a weather station located at an airport in a rural setting, but sheesh!!
Of course Sparky and I were out there in that heat today. 
He was doing the heavy work, shoveling dirt in to the old tree garden. It seems I didn't do much except place straggler DL markers where they belong and making sure that the DL names and locations in my layout drawing all match where I actually planted them last year. 
I had a bad past two days, so getting outside didn't happen.
We've been in the upper 80's all week, and I didn't think to ask DD#2 or Sparky to water the veggies, annuals, and perennials that I haven't planted yet, so they were very stressed today. I watered them immediately when I got outside, then I watered them again around 5:00pm, including all the gardens. The gardens were so dry that the clay soil had cracks on the surface. I got the 'Strawberry Sundae' hydrangea from Jackson and Perkins today! Nice specimen. Finally, I refreshed the birdbaths. Somehow I feel like I got nothing accomplished. Well, I did save some botanical lives.... that's something! 😂😂😂
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