After most of the garden died under the withering heat and sun our first summer, I decided to change things up and try other plants that might be a better fit. This time I would arm myself with more knowledge before I brought things home from the local nurseries. At least I would know that the plants were rated for our climate zone, and I'd pick up some that would offer a little shade to others in the garden. The handful of stragglers that survived the first summer would be rescued and relocated.
Apparent Success
Southern grasses, large herbs, and bi-annual dianthus, to name a few, went in and splashed the yard with color. Larger, zone-appropriate cacti thrived in the same beds that had done in the smaller, more tender ones before. The fuchsia were rescued - I don't know how any made it, but a few survived in a tiny patch of shade provided by the shed - and more were bought in to brighten up our bare porch.
Still, there were more lessons to learn. About half of my new plants were lost from this group, again at the height of summer heat. I finally realized what a challenge we faced. One flowering plant was extremely invasive. Another was supposed to re-seed but did so only slightly; a lot of work to keep it going annually. Yet one more took so much watering that I knew it would not make the grade.
There were also a couple of scary visits to the vet's office, first when one dog inhaled a seed from a large grass plant. The seed was barbed, slipped deeply into his nasal passage, and thus was nearly impossible to dislodge - the sneezing it caused soon turned into blood running from his nose. The other dog got a hold of some of the flowering plants, ate them, and became violently ill. New lessons: check the ASPCA site for plants that are safe for pets! Back to square one ...
RIP - Sweet But Tender, Toxic, or Invasive Lovelies
And, then, I found daylilies! They can survive the blast furnace of our yard. And, they are easy to hybridize. Thus, a new hobby has taken hold ....
