September Tour 2020

[@Flower_hoarder]

🌿🌻🌿STILL BEAUTIFUL ‼️

[@GetGardening]

Thank you! 🤗

[@rv5723]

Love the Lady of Shallot rose, and knowing that you cut them to take to mom and grandma's house tells me that you are a wonderful human being as well as an excellent gardener! P. S. the plants that do not survive sadden me as well, but it creates room to plant more and possibly try new ones!

[@GetGardening]

Thank you so much, that is so sweet of you to say! I agree so much about a death being a place for something new in the garden!

[@flowerfairy1950]

Droughts are difficult to handle or read. It is nice to see "real" gardening and I think a lot of things will survive. Piet Oudolf is an advocate of brown in the garden (going to seed etc). A lot going on in your Garden to be glad about.

[@GetGardening]

Yes I completely agree! what a lovely comment to read!

[@blackstar8620]

My garden looks the same😅 we had a drought in southern Ontario Canada too. Still enjoy your tours ✌️

[@GetGardening]

Thank you so much, the drought did take it's toll!

[@HappinessandSweetTea]

I’m so glad you shared this! It was a real scorcher here in North Texas this summer even with my sprinkler system and supplemental watering. I understand what you’re going through. I’m so happy the weather is changing. I’ve been out cutting back & removing what didn’t make it. I think we’re all ready for a new season and a new year. A do-over of sorts.🙂

[@GetGardening]

I completely agree! Ready for this year to end!

[@Jartopia]

I know you said it's a gardening failure, but i want you to know it's still a beautiful garden!

[@GetGardening]

Yes! It's not truly a failure, I am happy with how it lives

[@margesiedlecki917]

I love the color of the mums that you got from Mom! Absolutely gorgeous!! 🧡🧡🧡

[@GetGardening]

I completely agree Marge, thank you!

[@judithjohnson2111]

Your gardens are beautiful. They just look thirsty. You'll most likely be pleasantly surprised next spring💥🌺🍁

[@GetGardening]

Thank you Judith!

[@bolawhaley3725]

Hi Casey your walkway garden tour from June 2019 inspired me to create my own. You garden is beautiful and very encouraging of you to show the trials of gardening. Keep doing what you do, I only see success, sending you love from zone 6b!

[@GetGardening]

Bola Whaley Thank you so much for writing this! It’s very touching, I hope you enjoy your walkway garden as much as I do mine!

[@truthofthematter9409]

Oh my goodness that Rose!!!!!! What an absolutely gorgeous plant!. Awww... I'm so sorry, I can hear the regret and sadness in your voice over the loss of some of your plants. I do the same. I helped a friend clean out his over ridden by weeds yard! Right in the middle there was a big leaf hydrangea. They were going to burn it! I of course dug it up and brought it home. It's a bit weepy atm but am hoping it lives

[@GetGardening]

Thank you so much, I'm sad it's not at it's best, however not horribly sad, it is what it is! I'm glad you saved the hydrangea, I hope it lives!

[@drenewt]

I think it’s beautiful! Thanks for your honesty! That’s just how some years go!

[@GetGardening]

It really is! Thank you so much for watching, and for such a nice comment!

[@bloomsflowerslovers4080]

Same here but I keep watering love mums flowers

[@GetGardening]

me too!

[@ixcuinaserpent]

I have kill some many plants omg , 😂 I just got the most beautiful Anenome full of buds , plant it the beautiful thing and somehow she went in shock and die. Ouch 😓 ! Yes it happens , it even happens to MontyDon , garden answers, Y garden . Don’t worry and keep it going you garden will recoup next year ! And it will be amazing ! Saludos !!

[@GetGardening]

Thank you for sharing! Yes, I will always keep gardening on! And cheers to Monty Don!

[@bloomsflowerslovers4080]

Wow so beautiful garden always

[@GetGardening]

So nice of you!!!

[@janetleeharrison]

It looks like a typical autumn garden to me. Wouldn't have known you had a drought if you hadn't said something. Here in N. Florida we have had too much rain. This year everything turned to mush or had disease, plus bumper crops of spider mites...at least they enjoyed my garden, LOL. The dahlia & mums are winners - wow! Hope you have clones rooted of that rose. If something happened to it we would all be sad. Hugs!

[@GetGardening]

Usually my September garden is a tad more in bloom, but I am okay with how it looks! I agree that those plants are winners, I have many clones of the mum!

[@ilyxr]

Gardening just aint easy no matter where you are. Droughts are incredibly hard to read, especially if you're reaching a point in which you need plants to start shutting down for autumn frosts. We had a horrendous drought last year that lasted...I swear...2 months in the hottest days of summer (not a single drop of water for 60+ days). The ground dried out so much it prematurely bronzed yarrows..even catmints couldn't handle it. I had hoses going but could never run them long enough to actually penetrate deep enough to keep the ground from desiccating...the mulch dried up and became hydrophobic. It all went wrong. However, as much of a gut punch that was (in a nightmare of a year at large) it did teach me the importance of deep watering and how we humans are at the mercy of the sky. If we don't get rain - and not just a passing summer storm, but **days** of slowly falling water, our ground will dry out and any surface roots will dry up with it. Foundation plants that haven't had a chance to set deep roots will have no other option but to try and survive by shedding everything to conserve what water they still have in the hopes that the drought will break. That is what has happened to those yews and explains why they went brown almost instantly. At some point, the plant went into crisis mode and had attempted to drop anything that leaked water. Having had 2 good years of growth, it probably had enough sugar to make this life-saving attempt. The bad news is that...evergreens are not deciduous and having done this, the plant may take a long time to recover to a shape that you want (If it can recover to any decent shape at all). Evergreens only grow out and once you have years of lamination on the branches, the nodes don't bud again. When the drought was getting into its 5th week, I finally gave up and bought watering bags for my trees and shrubs. There was no way I could get 15 gallons to slowly percolate into the ground without standing there with a hose and at this point I couldn't send my young trees into drought stress before potentially damaging frosts. I surrendered. I lost the gardening season of 2020 (though July still looked decent) and was in damage control until the temps finally broke in September. Now, I don't expect I'll need those bags again until we hit another La Nina weather pattern, but I'm glad I got them in case I need to do emergency watering. Point is, you learn by doing and even if you've been gardening for decades you can get blindsided by a freak event that is bigger than you and that tests your methods or design. In any other year, being stingy with water would have strengthened those root systems and forced those shrubs to harden off nicely, but 2020 was different across the board. You didn't fail, you were given a new challenge and an opportunity to tweak your methodology. Appreciate you showing the uglier side of gardening - I think it's equally important to acknowledge that nature can be a cruel beast sometimes. These bad years make the good years all the more sweeter though.

[@GetGardening]

Thanks so much for such a thoughtful comment Mike! I completely agree with so much that you said. I am definitely learning how to handle droughts better. I typically believe that you have to be cruel to be kind. I don't believe in doting on plants, however, this drought was perhaps too cruel for too long. Even though it was a tough year there were still so many beautiful moments in the garden. Hope you're doing well and will join me in the new year to see how the garden fairs in 2021!

[@kathyryan4153]

Your evergreens need a shot of miracid and some water...it is worth a try to save them...what zone r u in?...use dish water if you have to in order to save some plants or shower water...TFS

[@GetGardening]

Thank you Kathy! I will definitely try to save them!

[@SCHappily]

Kathy I've never heard of dish water or miracid. Thank you!

[@Veronica-je9qj]

Live and learn. I feel a bit bad for yew...… :)

[@GetGardening]

haha nice one!

[@NessaT419]

I throw my mums out every year. I had no idea they were perennials!

[@GetGardening]

Some that are purchased in stores are annuals, however mums tend to be perennial.