I feel like I've been on a roller coaster....and have had too many obligations in the last few months. Yesterday was the last on the list...the Flower Show. I'm looking forward to spending some time in our garden this week. It's going to be really hot, but I can't wait to get out there, and know I don't have to be anywhere else. This is the first year I haven't had our back gate open during the day, so the neighbors could wander in. The backyard looks awful. I'm embarassed to let anyone see it. Too many pots and too many plants. Maybe by Friday I can open the gate again...

I must be in the right spot.....;cause I , too, have been doing too much the past few months AND have too many pots/plants that need attention
It's comforting to know there is similar "life" out there!

My friend Sheila was saying something like that too...that now, we will have time to do things around the place...but I was thinking that then there's the heat, the sun and skeeters that are problems. I have to wear a hat and have both very strong repellent and sun block on to be outside and can't tolerate much heat anyway at my age. But at least I have less potted plants outside to care for. Quite a few native plants I gave to the NPSOT S.A. booth at Festival of Flowers weekend before last so they could raise funds.

I think I have too many smaller potted plants I'm either going to combine in bigger pots, or just plant in the ground, somewhere--- sometimes I can't decide Where to plant something so it stays in a pot too long; then there are those that Might freeze that I have to take in (like Plumeria). I don't know... maybe I'm just a disorganized gardener... then there are the kids (3 teenagers right now at home--- all boys!) And my grown daughter in Austin is getting married in the Fall... and you did mention Heat and skeeters, plus our Humidity has been high lately. I will persevere... I Am Woman, I am a Gardener!!

I'm in to cool off..so ck'ing to see what's going on. I have to say, in spite of the heat, I have had a very good day! Moving pots, making a give-away pile for the neighbors, and just stopping to smell what's left of the roses!
Glad I'm not the only one who feels overwhelmed by obligations at times.

Petalpants, I think you nailed it for me...I read your post about combining plants in pots...and that's on the list for tomorrow! Great idea. I try not to do that because of flower shows, as usually the judges prefer single plants. But now that that's over, I think I'll make some coooool pots and baskets, combining things. As for plumerias...I planted some of my taller ones in ground, and will dig 'em up in the fall and store them in the garage w/bare roots. We get a lot of wind up on this hill and plumerias have a better chance of standing upright in ground, than in pots.

I can now let someone in the back gate/side yard.....they just can't go around the house to the backyard yet....
Baby steps...

I had a brutal fight with my Georgetown Tea rose today, and it is tempting me to dispose of it. It is not a tea rose by any means and is at least 10' x 10' x 8' tall. I worked my way behind and through it to open greenhouse windows. I pruned one side of it way back last year and gave up on the other side because of extreme heat. Now it shows no sign that it was ever pruned. If it weren't for the gorgeous roses and its reblooming habit, it would have tasted Brush-B-Gone already. If anyone wants a really huge rose bush with ATTITUDE, come dig it up! I even have a little tractor with a backhoe that I will loan you.

Oh you know you love that rose bush! It's just being a rascal. I took some cuttings of the few roses I haven't yet killed when I trimmed them up, and put them in a plastic bag with a little soil. Most all of them rooted sitting in the kitchen window. I was really pleased with myself....but realized I didn't want anymore roses...couldn't find anymore who wanted them...and wound up planting them in 4" containers, where they died a slow death from lack of care.

"Just being a rascal" is what we say of the youngest cat that will grow up and calm down eventually if we or the older cats don't do him in. This rosebush has a hardened attitude. My elderly mother loves bouquets of its roses, so you are right, I won't kill it. On purpose.

Well good, I can sleep well tonight!
Someone once called the Master Gardener desk and asked if one of us could come and trim her out of control Mermaid Rose bush for her. Aside from that not being what MGs are supposed to do...I remembered that Mermaid was like a thorny torture chamber...and promptly declined, suggesting she find a landscape company.

'Mermaid' is described as having "interesting" thorns. I killed that one, though it took repeated tries, and have no remorse about it. None.

That's funny! I thought Mermaid was sooo pretty until I saw it up close....all those thorns. yikes!

I'm having another delightful day of sweating.....wait, that's glowing....in the garden moving pots. We're expecting thunderstorms tonite and tomorrow, so I'm trying to get all the big ones anchored so they don't blow over. I'm still battling spider mites on brugmansias. Hoping the heavy rain will drown the little buggers. finding plants i thought had frozen coming up. Afraid the summer heat will get them before they can re-establish themselves.

'Mermaid's' thorns are shaped like fish hooks. Ours put out lots of 30' canes which ran along the ground among the tamer roses as well as on the fence. Even after we dug up the original plant after a few years of being mutilated anytime we went near it, new sprouts came up from the roots all over the bed for several years.

It's not quite so hot today, but the humidity feels high. I am continuing to water the yard hoping to "cause" a good soaking rain. Our neighbor at the ranch said his place got 2.8" last Tuesday. We thought 1.5" fell at our place, but our larger hay field is right across from the neighbor's house, so perhaps we were luckier than we thought. We always want more rain, however, and we had just a light shower here in town that day.

Note to self....never let anyone talk me into a Mermaid Rose!

I'm just in to get cool and get more water. I ''hooped"' the back bed this past winter. 'Saved all my brugs from freezing. Unfortunately it saved all the shrimp plant too. It has grown like weeds...at least 3 ft tall in the beds and flopping over everything. I took some clippers to it and chopped it down to about 6''. Made a big difference in the way the fenceline looks too.... a little tamer. I have a few more days of cleaning up, but the backyard is starting to look better. I can walk on the paths without jumping pots. The back patio is clean and clear of little pots of this and that. Still have to find a place for the hibiscus to get some good sunlight. And then I can sit out there and swat mosquitoes in the 100+ heat!!!!

We really need more rain here. The last big storm...we got so very little. 3/10" so far this time, hoping the REAL rain is coming soon!

I have been trimming back the salvias and other plants that are in the way of the automatic sprinklers. One zone wasn't working and I had to pay $$$ for "SprinklerMan" to find the valve box. Over the years, I have expanded so many beds, the sprinklers don't reach all the areas. Yes...I need rain!

I remember a thread about sprinklers having to be reconfigured. A few people wrote that they attached drip systems to the where the sprinkler head were. One sprinkler served quite a few driplines.
We have a sprinkler system that has all the pipes and sprinkler heads, but I have to attach the hose to the end of it. (we're on a limestone bed) Works great. Last year we had to raise the heads because the plants had grown and were impeding the sprinklers.

I wish I could enjoy summer more. But at my age (I'm only in my 60's, mind you), the heat and humidity is just so hard to bear. Last summer, they had to check me for heart problems after palpitations and weakness got too bad. I'm happy my heart was fine, but often I really don't feel good after being outside in the heat...even when it was only in the upper 80's. What a dilemma, wanting to be outside more, but knowing it's not good for me.

That is frustrating.

I finally bought Gatorade to hydrate with during the hottest part of the day. I do seem to feel less drained when I finally quit, but it is getting harder this year....and I'm 63. Don't remember being so washed out last year, even tho it was really hot and dry. Maybe it's the humidity....or my body telling me to try crocheting instead of heavy lifting!

60 here......several years ago....about this time of year....(when the Gulf was usually flat and outstandingly clean & oil free)....I was pitching some hay bales during midday and suffered heat prostration....just shy of heat stroke. Ever since...I become quickly drained when it's this hot. Fortunately....I'm able to do several hours of gardening before 11:30am and retire for the day....(I work at night)

I'm convinced that the increase of UV .....since the years of my youth...(along with everything else on the "who-knows-where-it-ends" list of "Environmentally Devastating Plundering Endeavors")........affects us more than we know.