Tell the Truth Tuesday (Late Edition): Summer Stress

Even during a relatively mild summer, as this one's been thus far, our Mediterranean climate puts a good deal of stress on garden plants.  We had a touch of rain in May, late in the season by our standards, but we've been dry since.  While the monsoonal rains in the desert areas to the east occasionally drift into our area, all we've had is Mother Nature's spit this year, providing enough dampness to dirty a car sitting in the driveway but not enough to register as rain.  In all likelihood, dry conditions will continue unabated until at least November.  Dryness, combined with temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90sF can suck the life out of plants that appreciate more hospitable environments, even with regular irrigation.

One area in particular screams "help!" every time I walk through my back garden.

This photo shows the area in question in mid-June (on the right side of flagstone path)

And this is the area as it appears now

Even though last year's rainfall was abysmal, the area didn't look half this bad in July 2018.  In fact, my mid-July 2018 Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day shots show that Achillea 'Moonshine' was still blooming well at that time.  In contrast, by mid-July this year everything in this area looked like it'd been run over by a bulldozer.  The area's collapse seemed relatively sudden, although admittedly my attention was focused less on the garden and more on remodel-related chaos at that time.  My first guess was that critters of some sort staged a mighty battle in this bed.  Our security cameras provided no clues to either support or refute that theory.  I also wondered if I relied more on hand irrigation last year than I did this year, or if gophers or other tunneling creatures damaged plants from under the ground.  I've no record tracking my hand-watering efforts, although I know I undertook emergency watering in early July 2018 when our temperature hit 110F.  As to gophers, I couldn't find any evidence of their presence on the surface.

This area, like the rest of the border is covered by an automated irrigation system.  I deep-watered it manually about 10 days ago, which gave it something of a boost, rewarding me with a few Amaryllis belladonna blooms.

In any case, I'm thinking this area needs an overhaul once cooler weather returns.*  At present, it's occupied by the following plants:

• Achillea 'Moonshine'
• Erigeron glaucus
• Gazanias (self-sown)
• Geranium 'Tiny Monster'
• Narcissus 'White Lion' (currently dormant)
• Scilla peruviana (currently dormant)

I'm considering introducing one or another shrub here that might be tough enough to handle summer conditions - and critters - in stride.

Another Echium webbii is one possibility but this one next to the fountain got bigger than its projected 3x3 foot profile, which I think would be a problem in the bed on the other side of the path 

Lupinus propinquus (syn. Lupinus arboreus) is another prospect.  This is one I had in my garden in 2016.  (The baby Echium webbii that replaced it can be seen nearby on its left, showing that I didn't have any understanding of how big the latter plant would eventually get.)  The Lupinus spread out more than up so it might be fine across the way next to the Achillea.  I loved it but it succumbed rather quickly to webworms in the fall of 2016 so I'd have to watch out for those.

In the short-term, I may plant up 2-3 pots and stick them in the afflicted area.  Or plant heat-tolerant annuals.  Or simply clean out the dead plant material, lay down compost, and wait out the summer.  I'm open to any and all suggestions for short- or long-term solutions to make this area less ugly.

Tell the Truth Tuesday is hosted on a periodic basis by Alison at Bonney Lassie to keep things real by sharing the less-than-perfect aspects of our gardens.


*Recent weather forecasts suggest that the North Pacific "Blob" has returned, which could lead to higher than average temperatures this fall.  Other reports suggest the possibility of a delayed rainy season.


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party