so dry already, plus planted hydrangea and viburnum

For the last two days, when I've been outside in the evening, it has been SO dry. The tomatoes have all needed to be watered and today I saw 'Teller Red' hydrangea being wilty. I have watered portions of my yard both nights. The weather report had called for rain today, but it never showed up. Currently the forcast is for rain all weekend and right now that would be very welcome. I feel like I am back in last July already, with the heat and the drought and everything needing to be watered all the time.

The baby tomato plants continue their outside time and that seems to be going well. Right now they aren't putting out much in the way of new growth, but they also aren't getting a lot of sun. This weekend I'm going to try to leave them out in the sun longer, if we have any sun. Last night, I started another cup of the 'Ananas Noir' tomato seeds as I have yet to get a sprout. I'm not sure if they were quite ready to be started outside, so I brought those trays in a few days ago. I'm either going to have very few or a bumper crop as I've started almost 20 seeds.

Last night after yoga I came home and finally planted the viburnum. Last fall we set in in the spot where the yew had died and it has lived there ever since. I could never figure out where I was going with it and my mom said that it belonged on that corner and it does look good, so I've sacrificed matching for flowers on one side. I hope it will do well. The rootball was a little on the dry side when I planted it, so I tried to really soak the rootball while watering yesterday and today. The actual digging in was really easy as the yew had been there, so I didn't dig a very big hole, in part due to the lilies and heucheras planted around it. The soil seems to be great, so I'm hoping the roots will grow well. It was very root bound as well, so I was pretty aggressive about loosening up the roots. I'll keep my fingers crossed...


This evening, with no rain, I decided to finally plant the Forever and Ever Double Pink hydrangea I had bought at Lowes. The original ideas was to plant it in the front side yard where I ended up planting another Endless Summer. I decided against that plan, as I don't know how this plant will perform and I figured ES was a sure thing. After that decision was made, I waffled for a while on where to put the plant, then finally decided I would plant it between the 'Flying Dragon' and the Rose of Sharon, next to the annual bed. 'Masja' is in pretty much the same position on the other side of the annual bed and Rose of Sharon, so I figured this would balance well and my neighbor's chestnut tree should provide enough shade. The space I planted it in isn't big, but this plant is not supposed to get that big either, so I'm hoping it will work.

Another great ranunculus shot:


'Delta Fire' pansies still blooming: