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Rain? What Rain? Desert rodents have always climbed or burrowed under the three-foot fence around my vegetable garden to feed on tomatoes and squash. But this year the rabbits seemed a bit more intelligent than usual and also went under the fence at night because I found them in the garden most mornings. It's been uncomfortably hot and humid so I haven't spent as much time under the ramada as I do in the winter and spring. Since it appears I've abandoned the ramada and hammock the doves, rodents and rabbits took over as they feed on the potted plants, nested and napped in the afternoon shade. Once the humidity retreats and temperatures become a bit more tolerable I'll have to reclaim the ramada as my domain. I've also somewhat abandoned the greenhouse because it wasn't all that pleasant in there with the high humidity and evaporative cooler. The warm, moist conditions made it perfect for the white flies and mealy bugs and one of these days I'm going to have to do a thorough cleaning to salvage the 10 by 12 area for winter use. Many of the projects I planned for July came up short. I have a garden shed that needs a bit more paint, a potting bench that needs to be built, a gate installed and a few other garden related projects to create or finish. With the high temperatures and humidity it's difficult to get too ambitious. It's hard enough to go outside and water the plants every couple of days. The July monsoon wasn't very generous in my neighborhood which received about an inch for all of July. That's not nearly enough rain to help the native plants and my garden. The couple of times I tried to take garden related photographs for this page and the website in general, I failed miserably. I spotted my first long horn beetle in my garden and ran for a camera. It was late evening and hardly enough light to get a good picture. As the camera struggled to focus the insect took flight and that was the last I saw of him. He was a gorgeous creature with incredibly long antenna and a colorful brown and white body. The next time I tried for a photograph was late one afternoon in July when it seemed like a snow storm in my back yard. There were hundreds and hundreds of small, white butterflies all heading in a north easterly direction. I'd never seen that many butterflies in my yard before and although impressive to see in person it didn't show up on film. I had to settle for the picture of a single butterfly that paused a few moments on a red bird of paradise flower.
August will offer more opportunities for rain, more humidity and hot temperatures. Thankfully each passing day will get us closer to fall weather. I plan to do minimal gardening this month and save my energy for the months ahead. The Tucson Gardener |
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