A Little of This, and A Little of That....

I could have named this post the same as the last one...

Summertime Blues.

It's been HOT.

And, DRY.

I'm really hoping this thermometer is not right.

It's pretty close to the one on the other side of the house, though.

The heat, and no rain, is taking a toll on the whole place.

The trees are dropping leaves almost as bad as fall.

Only good thing...less to pick up in fall.

Not much to eat, for these guys. 

Well....except for our landscapes.

Since it's so dry...

...why do I need so much of these?

I don't dare go out without it.

The mosquitoes LOVE me.

It's not all bad, though.

The early morning light still looks good.

Willow enjoys hanging out on the bridge...

as long as the sprinkler's not going.

Sweet Potato loves the heat.

And, so does the Firecracker Fern.

And, some of our recent sunsets, have been very nice.

I was worried about some fungus looking things on this

Golden Barrel Cactus.

It turns out it's new growth!

Yay!

And, this could be good or bad...

Our son-in-law is a safety consultant in the oil and gas industry.

The workers were clearing a site, and plowing up these.

If I read the photo right, they're Sotols of some kind.

He asked if I wanted some.  I said, of course.

So, he's bringing me some.

I hear there are ten..

I need to do some research to see how long they can stay out of the ground.

They live a distance away from us.

So, that's what's going on here.

Trying to keep things alive,

and staying out of the heat.

Tomorrow is supposed to be extra hot.

Then we have a "cold front" coming in.

We could be all the way down to 99!!

Hey...it's all relative.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

The Saga of the Drive Bed...

You've heard the story of the

Drive Bed,

many times.

I did a long history blog about it 

last year.

Well...it changed again.

I thought maybe I could save this big Prickly Pear.

The Cactus Bugs had done a real job on it.

I began trimming back and cleaning up the ruined pads.

That's when I began to see even more of the awful bugs.

Why do all that work, just to have it continue to fall apart?

So, I started hacking it out.

Not an easy job, with such a big mess.

I finally got it hacked down, and the trunk dug up.

I hauled it out and piled it all in the Grove, where it began years ago.

Maybe some of the pads will root, and grow again.

By the way...these can be vicious plants.

Long spines are not the biggest problem.

Those mean little stickers...glochids....are.

They were even in the soil.

They worked their way into my gloves,

and since I sit on my behind, while I garden...

Well...you get the picture.

NO FUN!!

Anyway...here is the new incarnation...

So far, I like it.

These Golden Barrel Cacti needed to have more sun, anyway.

And, the little Bunny Cactus fit in, nicely.

It looks especially nice, in the morning light.

I'm sorry to lose such a beautiful plant.

But, the bugs won this one.

That's the thing about gardening...

it's never DONE.

Hope you're enjoying your ever-changing gardens.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~