Summer 2011 Record Heat

The Summer of 2011

Record Heat and Record Drought

The vagaries of the weather defy the staunchest of gardeners.  We had just over 15 inches of rain in March and April.  We went with no measurable rain from May 15 to August 13. 

David and I were vacationing in much cooler and wetter NM and CO when the kids sent pictures of an inch of rain in the gauge.  You know it’s an event when the kids send you a picture! No rain since though.

What a lovely view... thunderclouds - we missed it.  (You can see the demarcation between where we water and where we don’t.  The green around the house is watering, the green to the left (south) is a natural green berm running through our yard keeping green due to underground seepage from the neighbor’s pond.)

Sherman, Texas recorded the most days over 100 degrees ever breaking the 1956 record and the State of Texas lack of rain broke a 1924 drought record.

The forecast image has been relentless 100 degrees plus since May, 98 will feel down right cool.

The yard struggles.  We are in survival mode.

Trees are losing leaves due to a lack of water.

We let the garden go in early July.  Even with supplemental watering it was too scorching hot to produce and the rabbits were decimating what was green.  You know it’s dry when the marigolds die.

The marigolds and zinnias held their own in the flowering beds and looked presentable for the 4^th of July.    We had a wonderful family reunion, with almost 70 folks (all mostly related) wandering the lane that busy weekend.  The hammock in a lush green oasis was a favorite for young and old.

Despite the heat we’ve continued work on the yard.  We’ve set the last of the flagstone in place to finish off the steps.  When it DOES cool off we will level them up and brush the gravel into place.

The turkeys, birds and hummingbirds have found our wildlife preserve.  They are all frequent visitors.  The birds will squawk at us if the feeders are empty.  We enjoy our mini nature preserve.  Today we have 6 hummingbirds vying for dominance over one feeder, so I moved one from under the cover of the trees out in the opening.  We sat on the porch this morning (David had a 2.5 hour conference call) and watched the birds flit and fight.

The drought tolerant stand outs are

·          The Texas Rock Rose

·          Crape Myrtles

·          Turk’s Cap

·          Flaming Acanthus

·          Portulaca  (moss rose or purslane) in baskets

·          Ice Plant in a pot

·          The asparagus fern in a pot

·          The rosemary in a pot

We were away for 2 weeks on vacation and the death toll welcomed us home so the flowering plants are pulled or cut away. Despite all the grass is surviving and the trees close to the house due to the extra water. We are looking forward to Fall and cooler days.