Spiral Vision, Part Deux

My next project management class starts in about two weeks so I'm trying to get in as much blogging and blog viewing as possible while I can.

I haven't done an update on my dry riverbed rock and thyme spiral since the first post in April. So it might be about time or thyme as the case may be. I was uncertain how to water the thyme in the spiral. A consideration, I probably should have made prior to planting it or digging the dry river bed.

So after a long discussion with the owner (I think) at the drip irrigation store. I laid a drip line along the length of spiral and started hand digging a the tiniest trench of all time for the half inch line. I added drip emitters along the length of the line near the thyme plants. The recent rains have eroded where I dug the drip line in, but here's to hoping that the thyme will cover it eventually. 

It looks like the thyme is doing its job and covering the line in some places, but I'm reevaluating how I'm irrigating because I found some emitters that I like better. I need to clean up some of the rocks that have become dislodged, but I'm pleased with the growth of the thyme over the last year. 

Some photos of the thyme from this Spring in different light. I think I made the right choice with the pink chintz. The growth habit is low, tight and spreads widely. And who knows, I might have a pink thyme spiral next year.

I'm also joining the post of the month club for August. Stop by Happy Homemaker UK if you want to join. Thanks for hosting Laura! 

Aster is so sad

My dog, Aster is so sad because there wasn't much happening in the front yard. All the wine cups shriveled up because it's been so hot and dry. I didn't deadhead my roses, so they weren't ever blooming this summer. And the whole middle section seems to be devoid of plants. I removed some Spanish lavender last year that had become unruly. As it turns out, it was a foundation plant that kept the middle from looking barren. I have been taking a project management class this summer and it has consumed the time I would ordinarily spend gardening. Alas, the garden was calling, but I had a busy signal.

New Mexico has a "monsoon" season that begins in July and can last to mid-September. I always want to put monsoon in quotation marks when it's in reference to New Mexico. The meteorological term seems ironic when applied to this landlocked state.  Nonetheless, about a month ago the monsoonal rains started. I would be out and about in a downpour, but find that it had missed my neighborhood completely when I arrived home. But the last few weeks have been rainy and wet. My summer class finished and I could answer the call of the garden.

Santa Fe Greenhouses had a BOGO (buy one, get one free) sale this weekend. My supervisor, Kim and I made a stop there for our lunch break last Friday. I recklessly bought twelve plants. Twelve plants are a lot of plants for me and would have been an extravagance if they were full price. In previous summers, sometimes Kim and I would pool our purchases to get the 10% discount for buying 10 or more plants of the same size.  I had intended only to purchase some agastache "Blue Blazes" and some lemon yellow Maximilian sunflowers. But then I saw some "White Swan" echinacea, flax, and dwarf asters ( that somehow made its way to the checkout counter. I think I'm trying to make up for being unable to garden most of the summer. What do you think? 

Sunflowers at the Dog Park

I spend many an evening at the dog park with my dog, Aster. It has many amenities and I call it the country club dog park. It's completely fenced in, so I don't have to worry about Aster running off. The sunsets are amazing and last year there were some terraced flower beds put in. In two of the beds, the Maximilian sunflowers are starting to bloom and the sky had begun to darken at dusk.

Aster's other favorite place is my friend Susan's, where her pal, Guinness lives. The allium is growing in Susan's garden

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday, Painted Sky