Monday, July 11, 2016

Mid-Summer Garden

Even though the temperatures are usually scorching, I enjoy summertime in my garden.  During the spring I'm doing a lot of winter clean-up, pruning, planting, and seeding. That's a lot of hours worked with little visible results.  But by mid-summer everything is growing and my maintenance mainly involves pruning roses, some weeding, and keeping up with the watering.  These are tasks that I can easily get done in the cool mornings before heading to work!

My summer garden is full of blooms and color!  Bees, butterflies, and dragonflies are everywhere, there is plenty for them to feed on.  The hummingbirds zip all over the place and the sparrows, doves, and finches find a cool drink in the water fountain or bird baths. All that work done in the spring has been rewarded!  I love to sit out in the yard, in the early morning, and watch all the activity. I've said it before, but I am easily entertained, and enjoying my garden is one of my favorite pastimes.

The zinnias are putting on quite the show this year!

 

I have a small patch of milkweed, soon it will be blooming.  I've seen some monarch butterflies but no eggs or caterpillars yet!

 
The flower heads on the sunflowers are just starting to form.


Bees are so endangered, I'm happy to provide a nice environment for them!
 
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 12, 2016 at 12:29 AM

    You do know that CA is in a drought, especially in the central valley?

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    1. JulieJuly 12, 2016 at 3:21 AM

      A drought? When did that happen? Of course I know the situation we have in the central valley. We have very strict water restrictions in our city, which we abide by. Not to mention the fact that we are on a water meter so we try to keep our bill to a minimum to stay within our budget. The water shortage doesn't mean we have to have mundane green shrubs, a yard of cactus, or let things die. I've spent a lot of time researching drought-tolerant plants and have attended local gardening seminars on how to garden in a drought. My plantings have evolved to be more drought-tolerant, many are found on this list: http://www.evergreennursery.com/drought-tolerant-plants. My husband has numerous hours in designing and installing a drip water system. If you'll notice in the pictures, the ground around the plants is dry, we direct the water to the plant. The plants in the pictures get morning sun, in the heat of the day they are in the shade, so the ground doesn't dry out as bad. The bulk of my potted plants (all 8 of them) are succulents or Mediterranean (arid) plants, very tolerable for our drought environment. The zinnia planter is so closely planted that the sun doesn't reach the dirt, I'm only watering that once a week. We have a small lawn area and we raised the lawn mower blade so it's not mowed as short, which helps to retain the water. Inside, we have low-flow toilets, recirculating water system, we only run the dishwasher when full and the washer when we have a full load. I think we are doing our part to conserve!

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