You know it is dry when . . .

. . . the most exciting photo in the garden is of the measurable water in the rain gauge.   My backyard was the grateful recipient of .6 inches of rain yesterday afternoon.  I'm sure I heard all the plants say "aaaaahhhhhhh."

Will it rain in Alabaster this time?

For my backyard, this has been the driest summer in many years.  Only a little over an inch fell in July and I have only recorded a total of .8 inches of rain for the month of August.  The grass has gone dormant; Bob hasn't mowed at all this month.  The trees are dropping leaves, no flowers are blooming, the shrubbery is wilted and faded, not even the hardiest of native plants is thriving.  Although I have tried to water the gardens as much as I am able, there is no replacement for rain.   It is discouraging to walk through the backyard and I can't bring myself to photograph it.

Last weekend, there was rain in the forecast for central Alabama.  Several times throughout the weekend, the skies grew dark and the wind began to blow.  I would run to my computer to check the radar; it rained north of Alabaster, it rained south of Alabaster, it rained east of Alabaster, it rained west of Alabaster, but we didn't receive even a single drop of rain.

Once again, the forecasters are predicting significant chances of rain for central Alabama. I am hoping and praying that this time the rain will fall in my backyard.

Do you know what this is?

If you do,  you are probably of a "certain" age.  I found this one at a yard sale this past Saturday for only $1.   They were selling it cheaply because no one knew what it was or how to use it.

This is a vintage tomato strainer.  I tossed some tomatoes in a pot, boiled them down to a nice mush, and dumped them into the strainer.   After just a few minutes of stirring with the wooden mallet, the tasty pulp was secreted into my cake pan, leaving the skins and seeds behind in the basket.  I have 4 cups of awesome, fresh tomato sauce!

Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways!

On angels' wings

I've learned that there are 1300 species of begonias and 10,000 cultivars!  This means it is going to be impossible to accurately identify the specific one I have growing in my backyard.

I received this plant as a cutting from a friend.  It seems to be a variety of angel wing begonia.  These begonias grow on cane-like stems with wing shaped leaves and pink-to-red drooping blooms.

I've never been very good at growing the more exotic-looking begonias.  I always seem to either drown them or starve them to death.  In all honesty, I was going to throw this one out in despair  . . . until it bloomed.  In spite of its leggy appearance, the blooms delicately suspended between this angel's wings bring joy to my heart.  

I'll keep trying.

The vine that has re-purposed my deck

Garden view of the purple hyacinth bean vine

Planting the purple hyacinth bean vine on a trellis next to the deck seemed like a very good idea at the time.  I usually plant this vine on the chain link fence but I had purchased this cute metal trellis at a yard sale and I thought the hyacinth bean would look pretty growing along the side of our deck . . .  and if you are strolling through the back yard, it would appear that I was successful.  The vine gracefully curls around the trellis and up along the railings of the deck . . .

Deck view of the vine

BUT if you step out onto the deck from my back door, you will encounter an entirely different experience.  The purple hyacinth bean vine has engulfed the railings, the bench, and is at this writing, growing merrily onto the deck furniture.  Who knows how much more of the deck it will invade before the first frost arrives.

Purple hyacinth bean vine blooms

This deck-eating vine is worth it, however.  Butterflies and hummingbirds love these blooms and we now get to enjoy them up close since they are sharing the deck with us (and the vine).   The deep purple seed pods are just as pretty as the blooms, adding fabulous color to the late summer palette.

I may be seriously tempted to make this "mistake" again next year.

Cute, petite and delicious

My good friend, Clark Boyd, grew tomato starts for me this year because I was unable to do so.  He brought me several varieties I have never tried before.  One of the fun aspects of growing tomatoes is the infinite number of varieties to try so this was a terrific new opportunity in my garden.

My favorite has turned out to be the Rutgers tomato.  The tomatoes are on the smaller side, with a squatty, almost pumpkin like shape.  They have a mild flavor and work well for both slicing and cooking. The plants are vigorous producers.

The plant itself is what made it a winner for my garden.   My soil is infected with both early and late blight bacteria which wrecks havoc with the tomato plants.  The goal every year is to get a nice harvest before the blight completely destroys the plants.  The Rutgers tomato plants seem to be resistant to the blight.  While some of my other tomato plants are beginning to succumb to blight, the little Rutg
er tomatoes are still going strong. 

There will be Rutgers in my garden next year!  Thanks, Clark.

Topsy Turvy

Several years ago, a gardening friend introduced me to the wonders of succulent gardening; she brought me five cuttings and turned me loose without telling me what the plants were or how to care for them. 

Caring for them is easy.  They root where I drop them and enjoy a drink of water when I get around to it. 

Finding out what they are has been a different adventure.  When Pam gave me these cuttings they were quite small and she had them planted in groups.   One day, at a nice garden center, I noticed one of my little plants, but at the garden center it was in a pot by itself and five times the size of mine.  I eagerly reached for the identifying stake, thinking that I would finally learn the name of this unique-looking plant.  The stake identified it as "succulent."  I knew that!  Next, I asked the owner of the nursery what it was.  Surely, the person who purchased it would know what he was selling.  He very seriously identified it for me; "it's a succulent."  Sadly, I went home.

When I arrived home, the first thing I did was to pull my "succulent" out of its grouping to a pot that would reflect its growth potential.  Little "succulent" did not disappoint me and soon grew to fill its container.  

The next step in my plan was to repot it into an even larger container so I could discover how large "succulent" could truly grow.  Before I got around to re-potting it, "succulent" started to grow what looked like babies up through its middle.  I tried pinching and rooting them but without success.   While I was distracted (painting my living room) those "babies" bloomed! 

Now, with a plant AND blooms I tried again to find out "succulent's" true name.  It took some serious hunting on the internet but I am proud to announce that "succulent" is in the echeveria family and its common name is "Topsy Turvy."  I'm not sure the name reflects the appearance of my plant but it neatly describes my adventure.

Living with a silver maple

Silver maple silhouette

We purchased our home with a silver maple tree already well-established in our back yard.  Although its canopy is thick and the leaves are stunning in the fall, the silver maple tree has some issues that make getting along in the backyard somewhat challenging.

Silver maples send their major roots along the surface of the soil, making it nearly impossible to safely mow around them.   They also have a thickly matted root system that limits all but the most aggressive cultivation.  I spent the first fifteen years of my relationship with my silver maple in a constant battle.  I kept trying different plants under that tree,  and kept trying to find a way to mow around those big roots.  It did not go well.

Ground cover that works

My next "solution" was to mulch around the tree, using container gardening to provide interest.   The first season was a flaming disaster.   While all my other containers thrived, those that were situated under the silver maple were spindly and puny.   When fall arrived and it was time to clean up the garden I discovered that the silver maple has sent its roots up through the container drain holes and literally filled the pots with tree roots so that the container plants had no soil left.

Successful container gardening

I've learned to live with my difficult shade tree.  There are a few plants that grow well in its shade, vinca major, crocosmia, and silver artemesia are perfectly happy jamming their roots into the mass of silver maple roots.  I've learned to place my containers on old cookie sheets covered with leaves to keep the silver maple roots out of my containers or to use pedestals and raised pots for my container garden.

My relationship with my silver maple tree also reminds me to consider
my relationships with other people.  There are always people in our lives who are lovely and valuable but come with issues and challenges.  It is important to gracefully accept people for who they are and to enjoy them for the good things they bring to our lives, without trying to change or manipulate them into someone who fits our criteria of "perfect."

In the garden, wearing what????

I recently read a newspaper columnist who admitted that she often gardens early in the morning, wearing her pajamas.  Oh no . . . that isn't . . . she shouldn't be . . .
oh dear . . .

The very next morning,  I stepped out on the deck in my pajamas just to check the rain gauge.  That's when I noticed that the fish wanted some kibbles.  The little fish barrel is just a few steps away from the deck so it was OK to feed them before I got dressed.  Then I noticed that the bird feeder was empty.  The bird feeder is very close to the fish barrel so it was no problem to take a few more steps in my pajamas so the birds would have some fresh seed.  By this time, I was far enough into the yard to notice that there were a few red tomatoes in the vegetable garden.  I figured that I better pick them before the birds got to them.   I was no where near the back door while I was picking tomatoes.  By this time, I had been gardening in my pajamas for almost 20 minutes.

So, if you see me out in my garden early in the morning and I am not appropriately dressed, please don't wave or speak, just pretend that you don't know that crazy woman in the garden in her pajamas.