Dirt, as always, you gave me the giggles!
The annual rainfall amount here is about 23 inches, which is pretty good! There are lots of farms here, and the majority of them are dry farms that have no irrigation, and you can't do that without a decent amount of rain. It's also not really arid, especially compared to Utah. I do not miss the cracking skin that I had while living there! The humidity tonight is 47%, which isn't bad, but it's not dry. I have never seen puddles out there where the rocks are, but I do get them in the yard.
My property kind of contradicts itself. Some of it is so rocky that it's nearly impossible to get a shovel in the ground, and then there are three large fields and one small field that I could easily grow crops in. In fact, we did plant one of them as a pheasant food and habitat plot, and I don't think Mark even hit a rock while plowing it. The other fields are the same. The dirt in the yard is all clay, so it's probably all clay out in the fields. I've never dug a hole out there to look at it, so I'm just assuming that it's clay. I also don't want to dig any of it up!
Actually, my biggest worry about digging holes around here is having a deer break a leg while running and not seeing it. That worries me. If I dig in the yard, the dogs take it as a challenge and try to prove that they can dig deeper and fling the dirt farther. Then I worry about me breaking a leg by falling in the hole.
So, clay. I kind of hate the stuff, but I know it's actually good stuff. I just hate digging in it. I do have nice flower gardens in the yard, and all of my daylilies are super happy here, but getting them all planted wasn't much fun! I honestly never considered it for a rock garden either. I haven't gotten to the crevis part of the project yet, but I'll take your advice and dig some up for that. At least it has a glue like quality to it, so it should stick where I put it!
I did fill some "pots" in the rocks with the mix that cwalke suggested, and after a few days, nothing has died, so that's looking promising! I noticed today that I've got some sedum missing, but the semps were all home when I went out there, and they are looking happy enough. I also transplanted a Lewisia out there, and I hope it survives because I've had it stuck in a horrible planter for the last 3 years. I can't believe it didn't die in that thing, and it is in much better conditions now.
Before I forget, I need to mention that I'm not a purist when it comes to rock gardens! Whatever works is what I'm going with. It's not reserved for alpine plants! This is my rock garden, and I get to make my own rules, right?
I knew that iris preferred good drainage, but I didn't realize how much they really like it until I moved them out to that area. I watered them in when I planted them, and gave them a little bit more that first summer, but only once, and I've never watered them again. When we moved in, there was a huge clump of them laying on top of some rocks, and they were blooming, so that's what gave me the idea to move them to that area. Those are the dark purple iris in the picture. They weren't even in dirt on that rock pile, and they were blooming! That's my kind of plant! The previous owners moved out at the end of February, so I know for sure they weren't tossed out there that year while in bloom. I've actually lost several of them in the flower bed around the house due to very poor drainage, thanks to the clay. I knew nothing about iris when I planted them there, so it's my fault. I added a lot of little pebbles and some course sand to that area last month, and it's draining so much better now.
I think with the candytuft, I have been tossing the seeds out where the drainage wasn't nearly good enough. They want it dry from everything I've read, so I'm going to sprinkle some seeds around on the ground out there around the iris and hope for the best. I've tossed at least 5 million wildflower seeds around the property, and the only thing I've had any luck with is poppies, cornflower, and a few Love in a Mist. Even at that, I have to search to find just one growing out in the fields. I've still got 5 million seeds left, so I'll keep trying!
Oh, and I've had great luck with another plant that I can never remember the name of! The pheasant crop field has tons of it growing. It's blue, and it's Lewis' something or other. Lewis' Blue Flax. I can never remember the name of that plant! I almost live on the Lewis & Clark trail, as they came down the river that I live above, and camped in this area a few days, so I enjoy growing plants that they put a name on.
I also understand that many plants prefer good drainage. I just need to find ones that require it, so that they'll have a better chance of surviving. I just don't have the time or the energy to be out there watering anything after they get established. I barely have the time and energy to take care of the plants in the yard. Anything outside the fence is basically on its own, and this area is outside the fence!
