New Blooms and Veggies

I bought this The President Clematis from the Natural Gardener in the spring of this year, and it was green and covered with large purple blooms. I planted it in an eastern exposure where it gets full morning sun, and the top part of the plant gets midday and afternoon sun as well. There are garden sage plants at the foot of the plant to help shade the roots also. Several weeks after I planted it, the weather turned very hot and dry and all of the blooms fell off and the foliage started to turn a bit brown. No new growth was evident at all, until last week. There are now several new branches putting out leaves and setting flower buds. I am so pleased. I put this plant at the front entrance to the house hoping that it would be worthy of being showcased.

Hello Dolly

I’m sitting in my office watching Ron watering the vegetable garden wondering if we are going to get any rain from Dolly up here in Austin. I was hoping for an inch or so at least, but the local forecast at noon wasn’t very reassuring at all. Oh well….I guess that’s why Ron is out there watering.

We have been installing drip irrigation systems in all of the vegetable and courtyard beds, and we have laid soaker hoses in the in-ground planting areas. I have also been applying an inch of compost and a couple of inches of native Texas mulch to all of the beds. These are the best insurance against the relentless heat and dry conditions that have become the norm around here this summer.