Hi LC Grace,

Sorry you had such a bad time with the drought. Things kind of went downhill in my yard too. It's hard to stay motivated when it's too hot to move and you see all your efforts go down the tube, but this year may be entirely different. NEVER GIVE UP! Amending the soil will help, as will deep, infrequent waterings to encourage the root systems to go deeper. Are you putting in raised beds for veggies? If so, I'd invest in a drip system or soaker hoses as well. They do a better job of watering - less evaporation and no problems with fungus due to water sitting on leaves.

Your foxgloves will be lovely in bloom this summer, I'm sure! Then they'll throw out new seeds which will bloom in two years. I'd get more seeds sown this year if I were you - then you'd have blooms next year from this years' sowing and after that they should establish themselves. I say should, because I've had a hard time getting them established in my yard yet my non-gardening neighbor has a beautiful stand of foxgloves in her back yard without any effort at all! Every year I mutter bad words under my breath when I see her foxgloves in bloom...

Take care, and you're still welcome to stop by any time!

Hi guys!
I'm also thinking spring already.... and I can't even remember all the bad things that happened last year. Drought? Did we even have one? I think I already managed to completely forget about the dead plants and dried up grass.

I have a drip system for my pots and last year put one on my tomatoes. It's awesome, The pots are always bursting with flowers and the tomatoes did exceptionally well even with the horrible soil prep. It's the steady water that does the trick. Let me know if you want any ideas for a system. Mine was easy and the most expensive part was the timer which I think I paid $25 for (and later found the same one for $14 at ALDIS (?!))

If I didn't have the system my pots would all be dead by the 1st of July. I'm a bad waterer.