Rain!

We had a great soaking rain last night, so I've spent the morning pulling weeds.  By far the easiest way to get rid of these pests is to pull them by hand after a good rain.  Didn't get the mulch down yesterday because of rain and we are expecting more today.  I will hold off on on that chore until the weekend, as they predict we should dry out a bit.  Maybe I'll get the mowing done then, too! 

I always love a good rain at night because all the plants look "perked up" in the morning. It also saves me trying to run around with the hose to baskets and planters that aren't on the irrigation system!  Since everything is happy and watered, I will have a few extra minutes on my hands for other projects.  More about that later... 

A few notes today:  Still have crape myrtles just starting to bloom.  It is surprising how they have bloomed over such a long period this year.  The first blooms appeared in May and here we are in August and they are still opening!  I am really not sure why, other than they each have a slightly different level of sun exposure in their location.  This summer has given us cooler nighttime temperatures (70's - 80's) and they have received a little more rain, too.  In past years, the crape myrtles have all bloomed within weeks of each other.  The largest I have are the white "Natchez" variety and they usually bloom first.  They are followed by the fuchsia "Tonto", "Dallas Red", and last are the "Biloxi", with its delicate, pale pink flowers.  The blooms on these usually last between 30 - 90 days, so there should be flowers until late fall.  Awesome!!

This weekend, we will finish getting the raised beds ready for fall planting.  I have tomatoes ready to transplant and all of the seeds for our fall/winter crops.  I'll update on what and when we are planting, and will provide information about the yield of these late season crops as we go.

Hope you all have a wonderful day in the garden!

Sherri

Glorious blooms of the Dallas Red Crape Myrtle