Thursday, June 15, 2006

Drought In Alabama

The pond is down a foot and I've stopped feeding the fish so they will stay deep. There is always plenty to eat this time of year in the form of insects and vegetation. Once we get some decent rains and the pond goes back up I will begin their feeding schedule.

Speaking of which, I sure wish we had gotten the rain the East coast did with Alberto. Db is buying more hay for me use on the plants and raised beds so I don't have to water as often as I am. The heat is eating up the mulch material at an alarming rate. I am going to lay down old magazines and newspapers before I put the hay down to help conserve moisture even more after I give everything a good, long, drink.

The Agave pups I planted are doing great. They, being succulents do not mind the drought at all and in fact are relishing the hot sun. Too bad my tropical plants are not that happy. Even the banana plants are not happy that are planted out in open sun. The ozone layer has been so destroyed that even sun-loving plants can be burned by afternoon sun so I am setting up temporary shade structures on the south/west sides of the most vulnerable. This winter I will move them all to semi-shade.

The paper wasps are happily building nests in every nook and crany on the back porch but they leave me alone and I leave them alone. They are good for catching bugs as well as pollination of certain plants so we have learned to live together quite happily over the years. It astounds people that I live so closely with all of nature, but that is the Native American in me, I guess.

I had the grandkids plant some Zinnia's in pots before they left for FL to visit their grandfather and they will be so excited to see them up and growing. They love gardening as does their mama and that makes me very happy. They will all be coming back in on Monday for another week here before they move into their new home in N.GA and my daughter starts college to finish up her nursing degree.

Well, db and I are going grocery shopping tonight and he should be home from the shop any minute so I will stop here for now...later gator!

2 comments:

Michelle said...

Drought here in GA, as well. I don't think much of my new plantings will make it through this summer; though I am always surprised with their ability to survive!

madison said...

Hi Deb,
This is Glover.I love your blog and the pics are so cool.:) How is your day today?