Hydrangea paniculata Pinky Winky™ (which so far isn't pink in my garden) with dependable Phlox paniculata behind.
Dear Carol, Mary Ann and all of our dear friends,
We’ve hit those days of summer which separate true gardeners from those who only visit the greenhouse mid-April, buy forty flats of annuals and then leave them out in the sun to die. Although I profess to being a gardener, right now, I want to bury my head in the red sand.
The garden may look pretty in pictures, but at the moment, I hate it.
Oklahoma had a lot of rain in spring and early summer. The heavens kept pouring down the wet stuff which sounds good and makes for a green state, but my garden isn’t set up for all this moisture. I’ve fought red spider mites, mildew, blackspot and hoards of grasshoppers already, and there’s a month to go before temperatures even think of cooling down.
Because of all the rain, my xeric plants freaked out, and many of them died while the roses and other plants became accustomed to regular showers. So, I lost all of my lavender, both ‘Munstead’ and ‘Grosso’, which were once large and beautiful. Plus, the sedums which border many of the beds are thin and scraggly because they are waterlogged.
Now, it’s the end of July, and we’ve hit the days which try gardeners’ souls. Other than a bit of spitting here and there yesterday, Oklahoma has gone completely dry with temperatures in the high 90s and low 100s for days on end. With the exception of a bit of rebloom and H. ‘Autumn Minaret’, the daylilies are done. Their ugly gray/brown scapes sit high above the foliage accusing me of neglect because I haven’t cut them back. I returned from Buffalo to a garden both past its peak and looking peaked. Last week, I worked everyday pulling weeds (mostly weedy grasses), and the ground seemed drier than normal, but I didn’t put two and two together until the well suddenly didn’t have pressure last Friday.
R. 'Carefree Beauty
We called the well guys, and they came and said the irrigation had a leak. Well problems are similar to computer ones. The hardware guys blame the software, and the software folks say you need more RAM.
Bill spent the entire weekend tracking down said leak and fixing it (three times). Every time the pressure went down in the pressure tank and the well pump kicked on, the irrigation main would bust open. Finally, Bill got it to hold. Blue skies began to smile, gentle clouds passed by, and angels began to sing.
My dear Bill. I'm lucky he loves my gardens.
This morning, as I explored the south side nurseries while I waited for ASW to finish strength training, all was good in my world until I got a call from Bear that we had no water.
I came home, turned the switches for the irrigation, and found no pressure in the pressure tank. Normally, I’m not the one checking on all this, but Bill is in Texas making money. Nothing helped, not even when I turned the breakers to the well on and off. I called the well company, and very nice Craig suggested I try these same things. He was surprised when I told him it was already done and still no water.
It’s good to have a man who’s handy around the house. It’s even better when he teaches you a thing or two.
So, here I sit with new annuals to put in the bare spaces of my earth and no water.
At least the air conditioner works.
Oh, and other fronts, the butterflies still provide great entertainment when it’s cool enough to sit in the shade and watch them flit to and fro.
Til next week.
Hello, Dee, I so dread our well running dry that I am very frugal with water. However, my rain barrels were empty for weeks with our drought. It makes me wonder how the early settlers ever survived. At least we can escape to the AC. I hope by now your pump is fixed. Pam x
Pam, you’ll be glad to know the well is fixed. It didn’t run dry, but there was an electrical problem. I don’t think our well will ever run dry. We’re in a great aquifer, and it is very deep.~~Dee
I can so relate to this post, even though I’m in the Pacific NW. You’ve given me the strength to go on deadheading rhodies, digging up blackberry crowns, weeding (crown vetch will ruin me yet), and beating back decades of ivy growth.
Love your perspective from the plains! I’ll be back!
ALP, thanks so much for stopping by.~~Dee
My dear, You’ve described almost exactly how badly the weather and nature have treated my garden…Too much rain then drought…bringing on a host of nasty bugs! So sorry you lost plants~and that the well was out~Autumn can’t arrive soon enough, in the meantime we garden with more time indoors to cool off~Bill is the real deal ! xxgail
Gail, the garden suffers when we go out of town, but often duty calls. I hope your garden is feeling your loving touch soon.~~Dee
Although we are in the country we have city water as several of us put together a small water company and got lines laid to us (at a nice little sum of money)but I feel your pain as I grew up with a water well and remember those “break downs”. When I see your pictures it makes me want to break out more sod for beds but then mother nature sends me a week of 100+ heat with blast furnace winds and I remember that we don’t live in a “garden Zone”. Love your post.
Beaverbelle, That’s how we paved our roads. It’s a good way to get more water. Here, the local water isn’t as good as the well water. Fortunately, the well is all fixed again.~~Dee
It’s called Murphy’s Law. Garden’s revolt when you go away for a day, wells act up when hubby’s are away making money. I hope your water problems are solved soon!
Your pink rose, Carefree Beauty is lovely.
Jenny, they do seem to fall apart when we’re away. It’s because we can’t catch the little things.~~Dee
Ouch on the well. There has been so much oil well drilling around my parent’s place that their well is almost dry. No plants that require extra water can survive there.
As for rain, we are on a fishing trip and it is pouring outside. Hope it is raining at home, the cracks are big enough to break a chichen’s neck there.
Good luck with the well and the garden.
Hi Stephanie, the well is all fixed, and we again have good fresh spring water. Thank goodness. I hope your get some rain.~~Dee
The water troubles sound tricky. Hope you get it all sorted out soon. We know we won’t get relief from the heat until October here in Austin, so at this time of year I usually hole up inside and let the garden fend for itself. It always works out OK, and by fall we’ll be loving the garden again. Hang in there!
Pam, all part of living in the country I guess. Home ownership too. 🙂 True, we get relief mid-September. The heat makes one want to read books about living in a cooler land far, far away. Oh, and swimming pools. I put in a few annuals, and they are looking good.~~Dee
We had about 6 inches more rain than usual in my part of Nebraska, and now, the heat, too. I’m sorry you are having well problems. I messed up today, and forgot to turn the sprinkler in the veggie garden off as soon as I should have. You’d think with all the rain the veggie gardens would be doing well, but we had a late spring, and I was late getting things in. The rabbits have eaten a lot of things to the ground. I’m not even going to try to grow veggies next year, until we get some rabbit fencing in. (I had to add, “next year” because I planted some things hoping for a fall crop today.)
Hi Sue, I hope your garden trials and tribulations get easier too. It was a very weird year, and yes, you need fencing of some sort to keep out the pesky rabbits.~~Dee
I hate that you’re having troubles but I feel so much better now about not knowing what in the world to do with my stuff…all leggy and dead/dying.
This is my first foray back into gardening after a long hiatus and I was really thinking, “Geez, have I lost my touch? Am I really failing this miserably?” but since you’ve described my garden and we all know you to be an expert, I feel measurably better.
I will salvage what I can – and be surprised at what comes back next year! 🙂
Good luck on the well…
Hi Carrie, I’m glad I helped you. Yes, it’s the extreme water we received. You haven’t lost your touch. Thanks for stopping by.~~Dee
This is the time of year where prairie gardeners earn their stripes! Now, if we could just get you a working water system. Hang in there. I know exactly what you mean about things getting too much rain this spring and now nothing when it’s sooo hot. Enjoy the butterflies and way to go troubleshooting your water system before calling the pros. Good luck.
GSS, I think we’ve finally solved the water problems. Just part of owning a country home I suppose. Thanks so much for all your kind words.~~Dee
Thank God for AC. What would we do without it. I hope that by now your well problems are fixed. What a pain. These moder conveniences are marvelous when they work. I hope it cools off for you soon. We too are having that horrid heat and humidity now. UGH… Yep, my soul is tired.
Lisa, I think we would all sit on the porch and have siestas maybe. Hang in there, cooler temps will come soon.~~Dee
You are right about this being the time of year where the divide gets wider. I to have been spending every waking moment out there weeding and cutting out things that are not happy with July.
I sit here commenting while thunder plays with my heart strings. Will it really rain? Who knows. I hope some comes your way soon.
Jim, yes, it’s been a tough summer. We are all earning our stripes. I hope you get rain soon. BTW, that board with the living wall was amazing on your blog.~~Dee
Ouch, Dee. We grew up with a well (in “rural” CT), and I remember well the limitations of it, but I don’t think we had any problems like what you’re experiencing now. We have to filter our city water to drink it, but in the 12 years we’ve lived here, we’ve never been without running water.
Hey Heather, my problems are atypical for sure.~~Dee