Happy Wednesday! It's a short week so we're already almost to the long weekend. Can't wait!
I snapped a few photos of my garden this morning since we're between rain showers right now. We've been getting an awful lot of rain this past week. The garden is loving it, for now.
This is
coreopsis Sunray. I grew this from seed a couple years back from a gardening friend. This will bloom non-stop from late June until fall for me, with deadheading. You will be hard to find a longer-blooming perennial than coreopsis! Best of all, she's drought tolerant once she's established.
Another golden beauty this morning. This is
gaillardia Arizona Sun, also grown from seed. This started off as a tiny plant that I wasn't sure would make it another year. And now she covers a three-foot wide area of my garden, spilling over and in-between daylilies, asiatic lilies, strawberries, and others. Such a happy plant and the bees and butterflies just adore her. She is also drought-tolerant, although lately that hasn't been a problem for us. The red center becomes more pronounced as the season progresses.
I find it best to prepare for the future in my gardens. With the predictions of global warming and a drying trend for my region, I've been trying to pack my garden with drought-tolerant beauties. This helps me conserve water now, which not only saves me money on my water bill, but helps lessen my
water footprint.
I'm a big proponent for
responsible gardening. This means, not only planting a garden to attract wildlife and help counteract urban sprawl; but more importantly, being mindful of what goes into your garden and how it affects the environment. Too many people plant gardens and then spend the rest of the season watering them non-stop, even right after it rains. Or worse yet, pumping chemical after chemical into the soil to kill one type of insect or promote healthy foliage. There are so many wonderful, environmentally-safe,
organic products out there. I think more people need to be educated about this!
So, you might hear me talk about this from time to time when I share my garden photos. I hope those of you who garden will consider switching to more environmentally safe practices; and I hope those of you that don't garden will be inspired to start!