A New Mantra

I apologize. It seems this summer's endless watering has sucked the life out of me. As some may know, my plants had been sequestered in kiddie pools under some market umbrellas for our trip earlier this month. Well, they are still there. I haven't the heart to bring the poor babies back out into the constant baking sunshine just yet.

Some are thriving, really thriving.

And then there is my poor hibiscus. First I should ask, is it just me, or were there no hibiscus being sold this summer? Is it my location in Fort Worth? It is one of my favorite summertime flowers and since I lost all (like a dozen) during the Frozen in FW fiasco I was really looking forward to replacements. My inventory currently consists of two, but I really don't think this one counts.

'Cause if I put it in a pretty collage it won't look so bad?

Yes, I have used the water hose to blast them, organic washes, chemical sprays, even a systemic (which is not recommended for potted plants). The only time it has looked good this summer is just after a sprinkle of rain. So that was twice. Maybe next year.

I sat down this morning with a new will to get back into blogging and get some gardening encouragement/reinforcement from the blogging world. Surprisingly the inspiration I received from the blogging world today was not the plant material.

CreeksideRummager has some new ducks, Carol at SilverSprings has this really cool rock (possibly, tufa), then a visit to a new to me blogger on Blotanical, Linniew at "Women Who Run With Delpheniums" has this posting "Concrete Doesn't Wilt". Linniew, you see, has "Flora" in her garden.

Plants may come and go, but my mantra for today is "Concrete Doesn't Wilt".