105 degrees today

This is good day to stay inside, off the streets and out of the heat!!
I watered this morning and it was already 87 degrees and officially heading for 105. 
Watering is all one can do when it is like this. And a little extra mulching.
I did respray the pepper spray on the young plants after watering and will watch closely to see if the new shoots get eaten again.  My spray is made from a product similar to Tabasco sauce so it  should be plenty hot.

Oh, and here's a helpful hint HT told me about.  When your spray nozzle won't draw anymore, take the head portion off the little tube and soak it in warm water for an hour or so. Works like a charm.

cone flower transplant update

Now that the temperature is close to 100, a lot of things are beginning to show stress.  The cone flowers I transplanted are/were doing fine.  I have mulched around them and that helps a lot.  Unfortunately, the bunnies love the new growth.  Several plants have been nibbled nearly to the ground.

I checked the Web to see what might repel the little beasties.  There were a lot of suggestions including get a dog or several dogs and cats.  I really don't want to kill them, just want them to leave my flowers alone!!!

I am trying out one suggestion.  This is the instructions someone wrote: 1 Tbsp of Tabasco sauce in a quart of water.
I misted the young plants today, so will see what happens.  I worry, however, that the pepper spray might be a problem for the leaves as the sun is very very hot today.

A new gadget

 Saturday June 23
I have a new gadget. (I love gadgets!!)
I have been trying to pick ripe peaches, standing on a 6 foot step ladder.  Scary to say the least.  Then I decided to check the internet and see if I could find a fruit picker.  I really don't know why I didn't think of it a long time ago.
Our local farm store and both Lowes and Home Depot have them.  The farm store Tractor Supply Company, had the best price.
Life is good!!  I can reach the tallest limb with this thing. Piece of cake!  No more up and down on that ladder and hanging on for dear life to a seriously brittle branch for balance.
Who was it that said "You are never too old to learn"?

We are having peach cobbler for dessert tonight!

Mister setup for another hot summer

The mister arrangement I have now is set up to be more efficient than when I first began.  Through a process of trial and error and an occasional back ache, I decided to have the unsightly little hoses strewn over the path.
This is not aesthetically "pretty" but easier on the back and knees.  Since my garden is for my enjoyment and not to show off to others, it gets more important to fine tune maintenance.

That being said, every year I have to check the mister out put, trim off degraded bits of tubing/hose, locate the reason for water not spraying appropriately.

You get the picture.  A lot of upping and downing and going back and forth to the hose connection to turn off the water while I repair. There fore, all the mister hoses/tubes are connected to one main feeder hose instead of a feeder hose for each garden spot.

The real fun? Getting soaked numerous times while testing.  I am glad my husband isn't a photographer as I can look pretty bedraggled with wet hair and clothes.  It is best to do this on one of those mornings when you don't freeze you tushy off in the chilly air.

June 12,
Today started out as just another cleanup/weed wacking morning.  Not too hot or humid.  By late afternoon, strong winds, brief rain and lots of thunder.
My cone flower transplants are doing well.  I mulched around them to preserve moisture since the days have been in the 90's and sunny.
Found a huge, green horn worm on my small, potted tomato plant.  He managed to strip more than 50% of the green from the poor thing.  I pulled it out and will replace it with more marigolds as they are thriving.
Unfortunately, (since this is my diary) I am feeling every bit of my age.  My sciatic nerve is very annoying this evening.  Due for a visit to the chiropractor tomorrow. I tend to forget I cannot do all the things that need doing in one 3 hour morning anymore.

Cone flower transplants

We have had nice, cool, rainy weather for a few days.  I decided to transplant coneflowers while it was so perfect.  Unfortunately, the heat is back. Tomorrow the temperature will be in the 90's and sunny.  Not good for my babies.  I have to get my misters up and running.  The garden has not needed any extra watering for a good while, but if I am going to save the transplants, they will need help.  I am also going to mulch around them.

newbie at the helm

I have a history of my garden to relate later.  Couldn't resist starting with one of those I Love Lucy events.
We have a very large, messy live oak tree too close to the house.  Don't ask...................I am determined that said tree must come down. 
Needless to say, my choice of how this should be done led to a hysterical and scary few moments.  My husband of 50+ years was in the house, sleeping I suspect.  I decided to climb on the roof of the house using a not so good choice of ladder.  The rungs were too narrow for my Crocks.  I worked for an hour or so and when I was ready to climb down said ladder, I panicked.  There was no way I was backing off the safety of the roof to this narrow thing!
I finally used my loppers to bang on the gutter to, hopefully, arouse said hubby.  After a bit more banging and choice words, (Where are all the neighbors when you need them ) hubby appeared and got a good laugh at my predicament, he held the ladder and received a big hug when I touched tera firma .
Let that be a lesson to any other independent 70+ year old, when climbing to roof top or tree or ladder, CARRY YOUR CELL PHONE!!
C