Day Lilly After Rain

By now if you can't tell that I really like my day lilies then you haven't been paying any attention.  These flowers are short lived but have a lot of color.  One of the benefits is that, as long as the conditions are favorable for it, they will keep putt on flowers.

This year the temperatures have been significantly lower than average and thus the blooming time has extended all month.  Of course if you keep them watered well they can go even longer.

I should be able to cross them soon when I get more blooms at a time.  The plants make pods with round black seeds, a dozen or more at a time.  I crossed the lily I use for my avatar myself.  Unfortunately I planted it on the north side of the house and it got very little sun.  It died back and didn't return.

I now have 4 places I'm growing lilies and keeping a good eye on them.  I don't plan to have that happen again.  They also like being dug up and replanted.  The one on the front right of the house in the front planter was not really dug and divided like the rest of them have been and it shows.  It's put on some flowers but not like the rest.  Come fall I'll dig him up, divide, and replant more spaced out, probably 4-5 dimes the space.   Thinking doing the same around the tree and putting lilies there too.  I should have more than enough by then.

Planning on getting a greenhouse soon too.  Not sure how soon, maybe next year even, but sooner than I thought.  I was looking at 6-7 years out.  Rushing a plan is never a good idea.  See how things are working and plan accordingly.  You can always revise a plan whereas revising a yard is a lot more difficult.

Texas Spring Weather

We just moved and already our area has been declared a disaster area.  How is that fair?  Of course this is at a time when hundreds of thousands lost power due to the storms across several areas.

Today it's raining but not like it was a few days ago.  Driving to work there are several areas that have downed fences and walls.  Some areas where people had lost control of their vehicle and left tire tracks in the dirt on the sides of roads.  Overall a real mess.  We were under a flood warning and so I stayed off of the roads until it cleared.  

That morning was trash day and we had such winds that trash was everywhere in the neighborhood.  One neighbor's tree was blown over.  We all have newly planted trees as of a few months ago and so blowing over really isn't a surprise.  Our tree doesn't have enough limbs on it to have caught the wind well enough to blow over.  And we were worried it wasn't filling in very fast...

A friend texted a meme about Texas weather trying to kill you and how people who move here are often surprised about this.  We do get heat, tornadoes, floods, and ice so I guess that isn't too far off.  All of these have had a toll.  But those few days when the weather is nice....

Fortunately the lakes like the rain and so that's a plus.  It also washed down our roads from all of the construction grit.  Sometimes there's a bright side but not always.

Rainy Season

 

Every year we can't wait for the rain to stop so we can go outside and enjoy nature.  I mean, who wants to slog through mud on trails or have to carry an umbrella while walking around a park?

Then the heat comes and we wonder, for some reason, why we wanted the rain to go away.  Now it's too hot to go walking around the park for more than ten minutes.  Unless of course you go late in the evening.  And even then it might not be comfortable.

So now that the rain is back and temperatures are cooling, we are once again stuck inside until it at least abates for a little while.  Of course with the ground so dry you also have the problem that the ground can't soak up the water.  You know how you pour water on peat pellets and the water just rolls off and beads?  That's what the ground is like in the beginning of the rainy season, it all just runs off.  That's where you get a higher chance of flooding since more water than usual runs off of the ground.  Also what makes irrigating commercial property so important.  It helps prevent worse flooding down the line.

Spring Algae

This is nothing compared with what I've seen elsewhere but yes, I've got algae growing in a pot.  At first I wan't sure what it was but green and somewhat slimy balls growing on stuff didn't take long to figure out.

This is due in part to the new potting material I'm using, easily grown on by the stuff, and the amount of rain we've been getting.  As noted in a recent post there's plenty of that going on.  I have been watering this pot a bit though between showers but the pot drains pretty good still.  Lots of holes in the bottom drilled out by me.  Not instantaneous but enough that you can tell it's draining within a few minutes.

This amount of algae fortunately isn't a problem.  It's barely even noticeable unless you are looking at the plants and even then I mistook it for fertilizer balls.  You know, the kind you usually find in potting soil in the first place.  If nothing else I'm sure the plants aren't drying out.

Spring Rains

 

The Spring rains are here and keeping everything nice and wet.  Even with this downpour, not much hits the plants on the patio so I STILL have to water even on a day like today.  Saved up gallon jugs though so I can more easily water the plants instead of having to go glass by glass like I started the year out.

The cacao tree though is more spoiled and still enjoys spring water from the bottle.  I tried to give it plain tap water and I really don't think it liked it.  Now it has some new growth again and I'm not nearly so worried about it.  At first I thought it might just be the transplant shock from being repotted but that was more a guess and a wait and see situation.

One of our friends was telling us she moved to a place with a stream nearby.  I'm guessing it's better than this one.  It's kind of a stream but it only has water when it rains.  Still I think this would be considered a riparian wetland.  It only takes a little water and a few of the right organisms to thrive there to classify.

Rain Barrels

There's been a lot of talk about rain barrels and what is and what isn't a good idea for them.
Most of what I read these days seems to be about how to make them atractive in your yard.  If you are so worried about how it looks that you never get around to actually getting any then you've already missed the point.
Personally I think if you have the chance to get rain barrels then you can worry about where to put them and how to decorate them later.  Right now the rainy season is starting and it's the perfect time to figure out placement of the barrels and of the collection point.  If you have rain gutters then using an existing down spout is perfect.  If there isn't a convenient one then you might have to divert the gutters elsewhere.  At my house there is a definite collection point that I can't move since it captures over half of the water that hits my roof and currently doesn't have a gutter.  It's nearly in the middle of my back yard but that's just where it has to be since moving it down near the fence would block the entry to the yard off from the side of the house.
I have obtained three 55 gallon plastic drums that can be connected, and were last year before cleaning the yard for the winter, by hoses.  It will be nice this summer when we need a constant source of water to keep things alive and don't want to run up the water bill or waste city water.  The garden will need much more than that really, last year about 500 gallons a month were used (about 16 gallons a day for all of the planting beds) and didn't keep up with the heat as well as I would have liked, but at least it helps.
If you need barrels you can get them at many stores these days or if you are cheap then you can contact car washes and usually get the old wax and soap barrels for free.  This method is not very reliable though and often takes a long time.  This is probably what I will do though for another 5-8 barrels rather than paying several hundred dollars for them.
On top of that I really need a consistant regimine of ice watering. This not only keeps water coming but cools the ground so there is less evaporation.  The coller ground also helps keep things lilke lettuce from bolting too soon.

Steady Rain

We planted some new plants early this week and just in time it seems for a nice steady rain to help them take root.
Among the new arrivals are four lavender plants so we can hopefully get a bigger crop this summer and fall of flowers to make spindles and other lavender crafts from.  We also got some parsley, basil, two kinds of thyme, dill and sage.
We purchased some flowers and a climbing jasmine that aren't in the ground yet but they'll get there.  In the mean time they're all out enjoying the showers.

Mushrooms

When I think of mushrooms I usually think of a pizza topping.  For the longest time I didn't realize I had been eating them in my chinese food for years, they just didn't look like pizza toppings.

My yard doesn't usually get mushrooms popping up but my yard is usually really dry and mushrooms like a good bit of moisture to grow.  By the time it rains here it's also gotten colder.  If it gets too cold mushrooms don't like that either.  In southeast Texas in the piney woods area the moisture is much better mushroom growing.  the rains are more frequent and the temperatures usually milder.  Of course there are those people who water their yards so much that it seems like a nice long rain has occurred. In that case you can spot the occasional mushroom sprouting up here and there right in the middle of an otherwise well kept yard.

Frost on the Windshield

Extreme weather really is a problem here. We don't get the coldest winters but we get them cold enough, and unfortunately not consistantly cold, that it keeps most produce from growing quite right.
Head south and you have the humidity and the gulf keeping things in check. Go north and you have winters that stay cold and don't jump to the mid eighties all of the sudden convincing your broccoli and lettuce to bolt. Head east even and you start to hit a little more humidity. By the time you reach Louisiana green is a major color in the landscape.
Couple that with the grey blotch you can see in images from space, the grand mass of concrete which keeps this area nearly 5 degrees hotter than surrounding areas and there goes your moisture.
I was watching the weather a few weeks ago when we were supposed to have rain and you could see the clouds and rain part in the middle as it reached the metroplex. There was so little humidity and so much heat that it absorbed the clouds before they could do much of anything.
Yet here I am still. What can I say, I live really close to work.

More Rain Please

Although we've gotten more rain this month than the last few put together, we're still really low in the ponds and the ground as you can see is still cracked and dry. The ground can swell and shrink by inches depending on the amount of rain. This can really do a number on developments when calculating dirt work but more important is the effects of mosquitos while out trying to garden. With water so low it makes a great breeding ground for these blood suckers. It also doesn't help out on the soccer fields. Not like I play soccer but there's lots of people out at the park who do.

Rain Warning

With all this rain there is a warning. I know we've been waiting for a good shower for months now but of course when it rains it.... If you don't know the rest then ask your parents who may well go on a long description of what it is and what it meant in the good old days when they were your age.
Anyway, the danger we now face instead of scorching heat of an oven is drowning plants, especially for container plants. I have a few in actual cups with no drainage. Now I've poked holes in the bottom and they're all good but in the past I've forgotten and killed many a plant including an apple tree while I was away camping. Fortunately it didn't rain where I was. That would have been miserable.
This is also the time to check existing drainage and fix any problems in the yard or garden. Standing water can cause root rot and breeds mosquitos.
Remember to keep well and dry off once you're done. A cup of tea would be nice afterwards too.

Plenty of Rain

It rained for many hours between last night around 8:00 and didn't let up until after noon today. This has filled my rain barrels to capacity except for one which wasn't on the loop properly. I've fixed this problem since and they're evened out now at about 70% capacity.

The remaining tomato plants are shown here. The left one is a new tomato plant that somehow decided that now was a good time to grow while the right shows two already growing tomato plants that are putting out new leaves and with time should give some good fall tomatoes.

The onion patch has a single onion left wanting to put out greens but the green onion up front have grown all through the summer. I keep cutting off parts to use for dinner. There's a smaller one in the round planter that seems to need more light. Kind of a runt.

Tripple Digits

It seems the temperature isn't going to be letting up any time soon which means it's time to really start icing things down. This isn't going to help the tomatoes produce better but it will keep them alive through the heat. Fall tomatoes are better anyway, or so I keep hearing. Personally I can't tell the difference.
The rain barrels in the back will really help too. I can soak some areas and not have the water bill feel it as much. The fig tree has decided that it's been getting enough water and has some ripe figs on it for once in the summer. Usually all it has around this time are little dry knobs where a fig should be.

Summer Heat

The heat has been a bit hot recently and has made it hard to get any of my potted plants to produce anything. The large rain water reserves at the community gardens had a problem and started filling from the city backup line which made them overflow. They got the water turned off but a good bit of water had already escaped.
Just the other day I figured our yard had gotten plenty of rain but alas the rain stopped a block short. My yard was still bone dry when I pulled into the driveway.

10% Chance of Flooding and Monsoons

I looked just yesterday and the forcast was a 10% chance of rain. This morning I checked with someone who's iphone said it would only be partly cloudy the rest of the day.
When five-o-clock rolled around there was a sudden loud clap of thunder and the sky got realy dark. It poured for nearly an hour making streams of water flowing in the streets.
At what point did 10% turn into a monsoon?
The up side is that I don't have to water the plants today. The cantaloupe really likes the rain water better anyway.
The down side is that it's now too wet to mow the rest of the yard.

Beet Seedlings

I wasn't sure how successful harvesting beet seeds would be but I didn't feel like harvesting all of them and scattered some of them back on the dirt the beet they came from had been.
There are now probably over a hundred little beet sprouts springing up all over the pot. I guess they are pretty fertile. If my neighbor wants any I'll transplant some of them for him or maybe just plant some seeds in his garden. They seem to like growing.
I wasn't sure the beets were making seeds at first since the seeds look so strange, kind of like a spiky pepper corn.
The rest of the garden is still loving the rain and fruit is popping up all over the place. I just hope it keeps up.

Rain, rain, rain, rain ...

After watering my gardens twice a day, for I don't know how long now, the rain has finally come to give me a break. All of the plants seem to love it too as they are springing to full attention and plumping as only a rain can make them do.
I can only hope my fig tree is taking in enough to make the second wave of figs ripen and get fat and juicy. So far the figs that are ripening, if you can call it that, are dry and shriveled looking.
The cucumbers were already forming fruit and should keep going well.
Unfortunately my wife can't pick flowers in this weather since it makes picked flowers mold which is not the scent you want in a sachet or bowl of potpourri.
I need to get my citrus plants out while it's raining so they can get used to the outside before too long. The kaffir lime is already sitting out front and has done well and the lemon tree out back has a ton of new branches growing. Still no sign of fruit though. Maybe next year.
There is a decent chance all week for rain. I guess I'll just wait and see what ripens.

Upcoming Rain

The rain is comming for the next few days which means I will need to go clean the gutters from all of the pecan droppings and sweep the drive and walks so they won't make matted depris piles. I all goes well then my garden should start producing and I can stop spending so much at the store.
I think everyone would like it if they could just go outside and eat whatever was growing. This would eliminate having to go the store, search for ingredients, stand in line and end up paying way too much for something that really doesn't taste very good. I know, put that way it the grocery store doesn't sound very good. I wonder what food would taste like if they grew stuff without trying to mass produce it. Wait, I know this one. Good!

Still waiting for seeds from:
Lettuce, Beets, and Cilantro

They should all be ready in the next week or so.

Strawberries and Cream

Strawberries are one of the tastiest things, aside from banannas of course, that you can put on something, like angelfood cake, waffles, fork. Unfortunately the stores still can't come close to the flavor of home grown. I know, it has to do with picking them so they are still good a week later when you actually buy the thing but there has to be a better way.
When we get back I'll have to go to the store and get some cream to whip up since our strawberries will be ripe and hopefully not eaten by birds or squirrels or whatever else might want to wanter into the yard and devour them.
I thought about netting them or putting them under glass but I have no netting or glass structure that would work so all I can do is hope and see what happens. Same goes with the beets. They have flowered to some degree but I don't know if they are being polinated or not or if the flower stalks will produce seeds. They seem to be very reactive to not getting enough water, flopping over and all. I guess I'll know soon enough.

Garded Update

Planted gerbera daisies Thursday and they seem to be acclimating well. They are hanging out near the other daisies, dianthus, and snap dragons. The cilantro is shading them all well from the soon to be hot mid to late mid day sun.
The cilantro has taken over areas where we really didn't expect to see them but in the end it's probably a good thing.
The lemon grass hasn't been planted anywhere yet but we're still thinking of somewhere it would go well and that cats won't trample it.
We aslo cleaned out the bricks in the south end of the back flower bed. The ants living there didn't like it much but I think I killed their queen and their entire way of life shattered. I haven't seen any for some days now.
It finally rained last evening/this morning. It was much needed and will keep everything growing well. I just hope the rain keeps up while we're on our cruise.