Middle of Summer Chores

Now that the annuals, save the geraniums are all finished, things have wound down to the middle of summer chores. Keeping the perennial starts watered is number one followed closely by keeping the bedded perennials watered. We can get some hot days and its surprising how fast a gallon plant can dry out.

And it’s not just from evaporation. Plants breath, that is take in atmospheric gas, separate it into what they need and don’t need, then utilize what they do need and give off waste gas. This is one of those things I learned in high school biology. You know one of those things I would never use in real life?

Strange enough plants have tiny openings on the under sides of their leaves where they breath.
The point is when the plants give off gas they also give off moisture. Not exactly like humans or other animals but it’s the same idea. And this contributes to how fast a plant dries out. And conversely how much and how often we have to water.

Many of the hosta are blooming, primarily those in the shady garden. Those in pots are not blooming but they do look nice. We had a problem with snails in the hosta just as we had them in the lettuce. Coffee grounds seemed to work for the lettuce and so we are trying that on the hosta as well.
But that’s a topic for another day.