HOW DO DROUGHTS END? CHEERS!

Here's the gauge at 3.7" (9.4cm) and it kept raining! By nightfall, it was at 4.0" (10cm) for the day!

That's more rain in one day than all the rain of all the summer months combined!

The Wall of Water started in west Texas last night and slowly swept across the state all night long. By morning another stream of rainstorms had started in Houston as we waited for the main event. Both systems converged here and it never

stopped raining the entire day. Even far South Texas got a nice dose of thunderstorms. Thanks be to God.

Maybe the pattern is shifting.

It had been so long since I'd heard thunder in the morning that my wife and I were both puzzled by the noise. We thought one of our neighbors had dropped a big box.

Perhaps trees will be saved all across our state and hope is on the rise.

David/

HEN HAPPENINGS: CHICK RESCUE & OUR NEW PECKING ORDER

My friend at school popped her head inside my door and asked if I wanted a chicken? A chicken?
Yes. Her daughter had rescued a stray chicken from certain death by her cat. It was cute, but she couldn't keep it. The only other option was a coworker who said she'd take it home and fatten it up before cooking it.
I said yes.
Her name is Mary Marco Marie de la Boca de Gato and she was someone's pet.

She has that classic Spanish name because she actually reminds me of a baby Caracara or Majestic Mexican Eagle.

(Source: Wikipedia)

                                   Of course the odds of finding a baby Caracara roaming the neighborhood is

just a bit remote.

The first night it looked more like a baby black vulture. But there again, I don't

think black vulture babies are all that common for your cat to find.

Mary Marco Marie is very tame and loving but was not well taken care of.

It was probably just fed bread. Already, after just 4 days on a good diet of high protein chick feed, the 'vulture' skin is growing tiny feathers. The other stiff, ragged feathers will also recover.

She'll also gain weight.

She looks very small and young, but she acts much older than her appearance.

She's got a great, loving personality and of course, she IS a chicken.

I 'Caracara' a lot for her.
And who knows, maybe someday with care she'll soar all the way across the garden!

That's it for this episode of Hen Happenings.

Hope to post 'Rainfall Happenings' soon, but that's not likely.

The cold front was a flop and we're back to dry and hot weather. Ugh!

David/ :-)

I'M NOW A MEMBER OF THE LONE STAR CHAPTER OF GARDENERS WHO JUMP FOR JOY TO GET .32" OF RAIN

                                             I was so excited I put this image on my header!

The black bamboo glistens in the rare rainfall. The tenacity of bamboo has gained my respect

during this drought. As a member of the grass family, it has both a shallow and deep set of roots

that can cope with extremes. It's one of the few tropicals that look good right now.

I'm not feeling bad about this runoff. Every drop ran along our foundation and soaked in in minutes. Many Houston

homes have cracked foundations since this drought has dried out the soil unevenly.

The chickens were thrilled to see rain since the bugs get active and provide a snack.

This Arrowhead groundcover (Syngonium podophyllum) is another plant that somehow endures

extreme conditions and utilizes every drop of rain. It comes back from hard freezes if covered with a leaf mulch.

I could show you all the dead plants from the drought, but instead I'll show you this remarkable

Spearmint plant that continues to amaze me. Its buddies are all in pots that...yes...have

been watered weekly in order to survive.

May we all get rain soon!

Thanks for stopping by.

David/ :-)



THE PAST & THE FUTURE: A HOUSTON GARDEN WITH UVALDE RAINFALL

Uvalde, Texas is a nice town waaay on the other side of San Antonio. It gets half the rain we do...about 24 inches a year. We get 48 to 50 inches on average.  But not this year.  We've had half the expected rain.
Tonight, our best chance of rain in 93 days just flew by and we are now looking at another week until we get rain.
I've really tried to grow (lean, mean and green) drought tolerant tropicals these past five years in preparation for drier times. But to ask any tree or bush to go 93 days without a good rain is asking too much.  I have to have a different mindset and think of a garden in Uvalde, Texas. What would they grow?  My agaves and yuccas are nice. The palms are all drought tolerant species. The bromeliads are also okay.  We shall see what lives and what dies as I spot water until the next chance for rain.  I can only remember the horrible summers of 1998 and 1999 as a baseline for this experience.
   Droughts are like a noose that slowly tightens around each tree and each bush. When you finally realize how awful it all is, your plants are mostly dead. We are behind 14  rains now (a half inch of rain each time).
I know we shall get rain again.....someday.

A garden in Castroville, Texas. The open space between the plants will take less water. It's not a Houston, Texas look, is it? Will our Houston azaleas and magnolia trees be the next to die out? Will this be the future?

A Japanese garden with half the rain of Houston.  You don't have to water gravel  (as much).

Will this become a typical Houston lawn? It's not at all a bad prospect, as long as a lot of people start having gravel front yards so there's some continuity.  I wonder if this will happen.

(photo from Fredericksburg, Texas)

I already grow most of these plants so I'm half way there. This is in Castroville, Texas in a much drier climate than Houston.

Sorry I'm so pessimistic tonight. It's hard to watch rainfall pass you by week after week after week.

It's  hard to pour a bucket of water on a bush and know you'll have to do it all over again in a couple of days.

David/