Sunday, July 15, 2012

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day ~ July, 2012

Glads, happily blooming in an old whiskey barrel, on the deck.
As I peck away, on my computer keyboard, I hear the soothing sound of rain drops outside my open window.

Just a sprinkle. This, on the heels of 2 consecutive, afternoon rains has me hopeful the tide has turned.

Clematis drape across the other side of the deck.

By all outward appearances, it has not been a good summer.

Oppressive heat, our western landscape so deadly dry... We went for 37 days without a drop of rain.

And, then. A rash of scary wildfires. Too close for comfort.

The wind carried ash in the breezes and left a reminder of this danger, as a layer of dust in the garden.

Sky Blue Flax, a volunteer wildflower, makes her home in the raised veggie bed.
Been using that as an excuse not to work out there.

The smoke. The heat. The... oh, give me a second and I'll come up with another excuse..

Penstemon, Primrose, & Geraniums
Instead, we've been saddling up the horses and combing the trails in search of wildflowers. (Like that's a cooler past time than pulling weeds in the hot, hot sun? Oh heck no! But, infinitely more enjoyable.)

I've been calling this my non-gardening year.

And, it's all because of.... a brand, spankin' new drip irrigation system!

Every single summer day, schlepping hoses dominated my life. Moving sprinklers, to and fro, caring for my flowers.

This year, I threw in that proverbial towel and automated the joint.

Catmint & Valerian

Oh! Joy! Free Time???

Plentiful designer weeds
I had never tallied up the number of hours I spent watering the gardens until I no longer had to do so.

In fact, I never really minded, since I love putzing with my flowers. But, it's given me the freedom to experiment with all kinds of precious posies I shied away from in previous years.


So, there ya have it. I've been a lazy gardener. And, a lazy garden blogger. Heck, I've been such a slacker I forgot to celebrate my 6th blogoversary (May, 2012.)

But it's been a glorious summer.

Here's hoping you're having a wonderful growing season, too.

Happy Bloom Day, Everyone!

Pay a visit to Carol @ May Dream Gardens to visit more flower lovers for this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day monthly meme.


19 comments:

Lona said...

Well I for one am envious of your watering system.LOL! It is doing its job because your garden looks beautiful in all of this dry and heat. Kate I just adore that Glad. How beautiful. And the Blue Flax is gorgeous.

Rilly said...

our growing season is about 45 days late because of all the rain and cold weather. My clematis has no blooms yet and the begonias are just now blooming. We haven't had the heat the rest of the country is getting and that's fine with me. Your flowers are beautiful as usual.

Gardening in a Sandbox said...

Your watering has paid off. The flowers look lush and healthy. We have been having a heat wave too but it rained all afternoon. Bliss. Valerie

A Garden of Threads said...

Congratulations on the anniversary and the irrigation system, I am envious...the garden looks fabulous. It has also been very dry here, but this afternoon rain has been falling, yah.

Bonnie K said...

Your flowers are beautiful! I'm glad you don't have to spend hours watering.

Alison said...

Happy Bloom Day, Kaye, and congrats on the blogaversary! Your flowers are very pretty. It's great not to have to schlep hoses, isn't it? I'm relieved to hear the wildfires missed you, it has been such a worrisome summer.

growingagardenindavis said...

Wow..that hillside is fantastic! Your blooms look happy as can be...the water system must agree with them.

Anonymous said...

I got cha there when you talk about all the time it takes up. We haul our water right now so we didn't plant a veggie plot, just some flowers and a few potatoes (which the rabbits got to early on). Enjoy your ponies.
peace n abundance,
CheyAnne

Nina Kuriloff said...

Your photographs are very beautiful!

Rose said...

Wow, what a fantastic array of blooms, Kate! You would never know how dry it has been seeing all the color in your garden. I'd say your new drip irrigation system was well worth it! I've been a lazy gardener this summer, too--between 8 AM and 8PM it's just too darned hot outside.

Not having to lug hoses around every day sounds wonderful, but if I forked over the money for an irrigation system, we'd probably have the wettest summer on record instead of the driest:)

Yael at Home Garden Diggers said...

Kate,
Your garden is lovely despite the "slacking". I do so love my drip irrigation (although I am battling leaks and think parts need some work) It really does cut down on the work. Now all I need to do is install a timer.

Yael from Home Garden Diggers

Anonymous said...

in my country, the season is not great for that, so i follow www.sunpreview.com giving 4 seasons forecast. fingers crossed !

Janie said...

An irrigation system is definitely the way to go, especially in a dry year like this one.
Your garden looks great. I depend on the mountain wildflowers for my quota of floral beauty. They never disappoint.

Marguerite said...

Glad to hear the watering system is working out for you. Love the shot of the catmint and valerian. I just planted valerian this year and wasn't sure how the colour would combine with some other plants but now I can visualize it.

Bronson said...

Great pics, those look awesome!

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

We have had a little rain and it has been like manna....

Your garden is absolutely lovely...

Shady Gardener said...

Looks ABSOLUTELY beautiful over your way! :-) Have a wonderful day.

GRACE PETERSON said...

From the looks of those photos, you'd never know it's been a dry summer at your place. Gorgeous! I'm glad you're having fun and I'll keep my fingers crossed that the cool-down heats up.

A1 Chandigarh said...

Your pollinators have done their job! How exciting to have seeds that can be shared with the program! I wish I could get this to flower in my garden.Delhi Flowers