Thursday, July 12, 2012

Pre-Wedding Tune Up - Garden Edition

We are within 70 some days of marrying off our baby.  The plans have been made, deposits have been placed, attire has been purchased.  I am involved in on-going negotiations with the weather gods and goddesses.  TBG and I had the most fun ever tasting desserts, the post for which must wait until after the party so as not to reveal too much too soon.  Everything is in place and all I have to do is wait..... or so I thought until I looked at my containers.

This used to be a geranium.
I don't like their odor but this one had pretty flowers.... for a while. 
This held vinca and the remnant of a Get Well gift's foliage. 
The vinca surrounding the adenium (in its own pot, having its own watering needs) met a tragic end. 
These zinnias which look like daisies have certainly seen better days. 
 Beth Hargrove, of Rillito Nursery, laughed as she saw me coming through the doorway.
She'd posted on Facebook that locally grown hibiscus had been delivered this morning.
To me, it was a siren's call.
Seriously, denizens, who could resist this beauty?
She's called Windy Sun and that's just what we've got here in the desert southwest in the summer.
The monsoon rains blow in every once in a while, accompanied by dry gusty blasts of dust.
I know it's hot everywhere in the USofA these days, and I know that some of you don't have power (though how you are reading this in that event remains a mystery)
but day after day month after month of triple digits does tend to wear at the soul.
So, I bought that one and this one
which has all these wonderful babies just ready to explode
(see arrows below)
and I watered them with Maxsea
 which is specially designed to feed hibiscus and vinca
like these I planted together in the pot that once held my ill-fated magnolia tree, it of the 72-hours-then-keeling-over-in-a-mushy-heap life span once I got it home.
I made sure that the water seeped all the way through to the bottom
and then I was done.

Tomorrow morning I will tackle the pots in the back.
Right now, I can't see through the sweat dripping into my eyes.
Those pots will be in the shade in the morning.
Waiting sounds like a grand idea.


6 comments:

  1. This heat and humidity (with little rain at my house) has me feeling just like your zinnias look. Tucson in July. I'ts not for sissies!

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  2. Whew! When I saw the first pictures I was really worried. That's not the green thumb I believe you to have. Thank goodness for the after pictures.


    Megan xxx

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  3. We, too, have gotten very little rain, Sharon. Worrying is what we do here in the desert southwest, Megan, when planting and maintaining is concerned :)
    a/b

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  4. Will arrive Tucson Sunday for a week. I am not looking forward to it. 109 degrees just seems impossible. The pots look really good. We tried to grow hibiscus in Seattle, they were not happy in the cold and the wet (yes, that's summer). Good luck with the plants.

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  5. I used to keep pots of hibiscus on our deck, but haven't for several years. Since our well water is so acidic, I think it might behoove me to buy a few more! I could just water them without anything fancy...lol

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  6. When I saw the first images I was really concerned. That's not the natural thumbs I believe you to have. Thank benefits for the after images.
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