What Flowers To Plant For HOT DRY Summers

Mostly this is to remind myself what to plant next spring, and what NOT to plant.

Summers in the Ozarks can be brutally hot and dry -- like this summer.

Two weeks ago we had 1/4" of rain, and it had been four weeks before that.

I am not a devotee of watering, so I have to choose plants carefully, especially in containers.

(And I try not to do many containers.)

This is one of a pair of containers that bookend our driveway.

I would like for them to be plush and welcoming,

 but it is tough since they bake in the hot sun all day.

The spikey purple flower was great and I would definitely do it again.

The purple potato vine struggled....

and the groundcover was an epic fail.

I had moved it from a shady planter to here, and it is not a sun worshipper.

Try to remember this next spring!

Here is a success -- mandevilla (but not the vining variety).

It is in the shade of a little tree for a few hours a day and that helps.

I planted lobelia underneath that and in several other places because I love the color --

it does NOT thrive with heat and neglect.  Avoid buying next spring.

I don't know what this pitiful twig of a plant was called.

It was something  different and interesting, with a pink stem and pink balls on the tips.

I did ask the nursery person how it did in heat and drought --

obviously she lied.

Avoid making impulse buys next spring.

What you see here is our old stone birdbath turned planter.

What you don't see -- the celosia that I planted in the center that died many weeks ago.

Say NO to celosia.  

The coleus held up very well for as much sun as it gets.

Black eyed susans that I planted two years ago.  Look great, take no watering.

This pic is to remind me to thin them out and maybe plant something else in the middle next spring.

The day lilies had a great season, even though they look a bit bedraggled now.

Next spring I would maybe take out the center one, and plant something different there.

This is just the first year for these orange coneflowers,

they have received no love.

But they still manage to hang on, a little shade from the basil might have helped.

I don't think I have any standard pink coneflowers here,

so that is something to consider next spring.

And you know what I can always count on?

Lanatana.

Loves the sun.

Loves neglect.

Loves the dry weather.

Now THAT Is A Good Looking Chicken!

 

I was working in the house today when something caught my attention on the front porch.

Our hen Ethel was checking herself out in the mirror I set out.

I am in the process of moving some stuff from our house into the new guest house,

and I set it on the front porch for staging.

We have never once fed them on the front porch,

and I don't know what possessed her to leave the pack and launch out on her own.

I didn't want to disturb her,

so I took all the pics through the window in the front door.

She didn't seem at all disturbed by the image,

just interested.  Most of her "flock" are also Sebright's -- so it probably didn't surprise her.

What a hoot!

The Chooks Love Watermelon!

 

We don't eat watermelon much.  Neither of us really care for it.

But about once a year we buy a chunk of it in the summertime.

All of the seabrights loved it, and Millie the big black hen rejected it.

She is my tomato lover, so I was surprised.  

They will need to wait another year for more.

Morning Glory

 

Can't Stop Antiquing

 

Officially my antiquing business is closed.  Maybe I should call it a soft closure?  Because after 30 years of junking, it is hard to quit cold turkey.

I saw these hanging victorian chandeliers on an on-line auction.  So I made some low-ball bids and managed to get three of them.  Then what?  Too fragile and large to ship on ebay safely.

So I put them on facebook marketplace and sold all three the day after I listed them.  Cha-ching.  But I really AM trying to stop buying for resale.  

Surprise Aquatic Flower

I have mentioned our little 33 gallon pond before.  It was my husband's first covid project.  He bought some aquatic lettuce and one bigger aquatic plant for $5 through facebook marketplace.  We throw out a bunch of the lettuce each week because it multiplies so fast there isn't room to feed the fish.  Instead of one large plant (don't know what it is) we have FIVE now, and have given away one.  Then out of the blue -- yesterday one of the bloomed!!!  What?!!!  So fun.