No Rain

I got a Rain Barrel to hopefully help offset the costs of watering my garden this summer. Problem is, we have to actually get SOME rain for it to be of any use. Since the April 27 tornadoes, we've had rain exactly twice. Once on the Monday following, and again about two weeks ago. Hot and dry is the byword around here (if you don't count the ridiculous humidity). Yesterday after work, I spent about an hour watering the front. This morning, due to the fact that I woke up at 4 a.m., I got out and watered the back just after sunrise. I would have felt much better about it if I had been using the water from my rain barrel!!!! But since there has to BE water in the rain barrel for that to work, I had to do it the normal way. Sigh.

I've got a ton of flowers in my yard. I'm very partial to perennials because while they are a larger investment up front, they come back season after season. My garden is a huge mixture of bought plants and passalongs. What I've really noticed this year is that the ones I've bought in years past are struggling much more than the passalong plants. I suppose that years of thriving in someone else's garden and then coming to mine, these plants have grown sturdier and stronger than those newborns at the garden shop.

I've refrained from buying any new plants this year. My concrete planters look kind of sad without their overflowing petuntias. Maybe next year I'll fill them again. But for this year, I decided it just wasn't in the budget. I guess its been a smart move on my part as plants in planters require far more water than those in the ground. Still, I miss them. But at this point, I can't see myself giving in and getting any! The weather is just too hot and dry. They would require watering every day due to the lack of rain.

So for now, I'll get out my hose and water as I go. And hope for rain. Although we aren't expecting any for at least a week. Sigh.