I have sort of the same thing. My tents are black shade cloth.

That would really make my HOA stroke out!

At least it is colorful.
You should see mine.
I had a metal arbor but no top. I went to the awning shop. They wanted $320. to make me one. I went to the local fabric shop. They had some awning canvas that had been $12. a yard for $2. a yard. There was only one bolt with enough and it is bright yellow, orange, and white.
I am a pastel girl, but I am living with it.

Btw, that is gorgeous even with the sheet tent. I'm going to start overwintering a bouganvilla. The color is just too great to pass up.

Looks pretty good even with the tent! Has anyone ever told you that you ties a sheet off very neatly? :-) Everything looks so lovely...it really does!

Thanks y'all. You gave me some giggles.

I'll say this: the yard wouldn't look like nuttin' without the bougainvilleas. They are easy to grow in pots, easy to store in winter. Just tie up the branches, put in the garage, maybe give them a little light and fresh air on warm days, keep the soil from drying out completely and that's it. It will loose most of its leaves, but leafs out quickly when taken outside in spring and is blooming in no time at all it seems. I have nine plants of about five different colors.

I'm really glad we put in plugs of Floratam St. Augustine last year. It has spread really fast and is supposed to be as drought and sun tolerant as Burmuda. With it and the organic feeding I learned from Lou on this forum it has stayed nice with once a week watering. It wilts a little before the week is up, but doesn't die.

And since I got so many suggestions for a spreading tree --just kidding -- I went out and bought a Flame mimosa. "Flame" is a darker pink selection. I know lots of people say minosas reseed for them, but I never have had a problem with it. My flower beds are so heavily mulched hardly anything comes up in them. And if the 50 year old Arizona ash in the back yard decides to croak at least I'll have something else started.

Kathy, I had to laugh when reading your remark. Does your HMO rule what you can do in the back yard also? I have a couple of resale shops watching for more beach umbrellas which would look a little better. The lady at Cherokee Junk Shop in Lakehills lent me two of her own. How nice is that?

Soxxx, good deal finding the striped canvas at a bargain price! You can stand anything for a couple of months if it saves the life of the plants.

How about the long range weather predictions? Anybody got a crystal ball? LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: Flame mimosa ...

Wow- I put my bougainvilleas in the ground they are flowering again this year- but nothing like yours! I have one in a pot right now. I think I am going to bring that particular one in and see what it does.

As far as trees, we have a property that had 0 a year ago. I planted about 20 the first month we moved - They are all doing alright, but not large enough for shade anywhere yet.
I do have 2 that are in the willow family, they are not weeping though. I planted one on the east side and one on the west. The one on the east has grown, but not filling out as much- the one on the west, is sheltered some from the wind- by the shed, and it has doubled in size. It is not real pretty. But I am trying to up the shade areas in the yard.

flowerlover, I'm in the same boat. A new neighborhood with no trees in the front. I thankfully am butted up to an old neighborhood with a tree line on both sides of the fence. (In our cojoined easement). They are too far away to give much shade for the house until 4pm but atleast it keeps it from looking totally barren. I've planted at least 20 trees and keep willing them to grow faster. So far that has been unsuccessful. Watch any member of the Salix family of willows weeping or not. I had a mature willow at one of my previous homes. It invaded the irrigation system, the sewer system and was thinking about checking out the plumbing too.
Good thing that flame mimosa is resistant to GOLD down to zone 6! lol~

I talk to all of them constantly, my trees that is, and I have several that are 4 ft or 5 ft tall, but not a lot of branches- the pomegranate is pretty full, however he is about 2.5 ft- The willows are planted out in the middle of nothing- so nothing to hurt. We have 20 acres. 2 for the house area, with not one tree on it when we moved in- the field has a few mesquite and other things I do not want, prickly pear- lol anyone need cactus?

The sheet is color coordinated with the rose??? or what ever flower to the right is. I like the table the bougainvillea is sitting on.
As far as a tree in concerned, by the time it is big enough the drought may be over. You could try a vitex or the old fashioned mimosa. Both are relatively fast growers and let in some light. I have roses under a red-bud and they do well. Sweet Acacia may be another one to check out.

Novascapes, of course the sheets are color coordinated with the color of the flowers! ;-)

Actually I never even noticed that. It was just any old sheet that I could get my hands on. The color on the right happens to be a bourgainvillia that starts out white and turns pinkish lavender, one of my favorites.

Hopefully the severe heat and drought will be over by the time the tree is large enough to give some protection. But who knows -- is the question in the title of this post. Besides that I wanted another tree anyway.

Thanks for the great suggestions of all those excellent trees. We planted a Flame mimosa today. And guess what -- the tree to shade the roses has a shade. How crazy is that?

We attached a beach umbrella to a bamboo pole to give the tree a chance to harden off before being exposed to the full brunt of the sun. It was pretty much in the shade at the nursery and I'm not taking any chances with it burning up.

There are several mimosa trees in our neighborhood. There is a very large and beautiful one on my block that is NEVER watered -- ever! And amazingly it's doing fine. The former owners had a nice yard and brought in lots of topsoil for the grass and plants, but the new owners have been here six or seven years and never water anything.

Here's our tree ...

Bob dug a huge hole down past bone dry caliche and bedrock while working under the shade of a beach umbrella. Now there's an idea to use for gardening in the sun. It made a big difference. Anyway enough top soil has been brought in to support the tree as the roots extend out.

Novascapes, it looks like you are new to the forum. WELCOME!

roselee
I see someone doing the nekkid turtle rain dance in that last pic of your yard.

Yes I am new to the boards. Thanks for the welcome. I have been reading posts on here for quite some time because of need to know. I have years of experience. Which translates to having done way to many things wrong. So I come here mostly to learn. I will contribute when I can. But please I beg all to correct me when ever you find me wrong.
I love the umbrellas in the yard. They add interest and color. May even work for preventing some early frost damage and ad color into the fall and winter.
Looking at your yard I can just envision you sitting amongst the plants enjoying the butterflies and humming birds.

Roselee, I would really like to know what fertilizer you use on your bougainvilleas, they always look soo good. I even prefer them to your beautiful sheets, umbrellas, and tents!

Novascapes, welcome, and there is never a wrong answer to gardening. What works for some may not work for all. That's why it's so enjoyable, you don't have to follow an exact formula, personal preferences and individuality make a garden your own. All comments are welcome.
Jim

Soxxxx, I'm thinking David is too old and stiff to do the right moves to bring on rain, and he's even got a yard full of real nekkid turtles to dance with!

Novascapes, speaking of mistakes in gardening -- for the very first time I clicked on the subject by that title that's at the top of the opening page of the Texas Forum. It was a long post about the funny gardening mistakes the contributers have made. A very fun read that made me feel okay about the many of my own :-) As you say we learn by our mistakes.

Jim, I fertilize the heck out of the bougainvilleas. In the spring I put a big fertilizer pellet down the side the pot. From time to time I sprinkle in Osmocote. Other times, maybe every three or four weeks I use a heaping tablespoon of Miracle Grow powder in each pot which I water in. They are repotted about every three years with Miracle Grow potting soil. Most of them are so old there isn't much in the pot except roots, but I scape out what soil I can from between the roots and stuff in the fresh soil. The pots are 2 to 3 1/2 gal. size (guessing here) and all have one or two inch saucers to help hold some water to soak in. In high summer they need to be watered at least every day and a half or they wilt. Occasionally the soil drys out so much I have to lay the water hose in them at a slow drip to rehydrate it. This is often the case in the spring after sitting inside all winter and getting an occasionally watering. It's all so routine with me that it doesn't seem like too much trouble at all for what they offer -- full color all summr long. Oh, and when I take them out of the overwintering house in spring I cut the stems back by one third to half.

I'm new to posting here. Also here to learn. I read the container forum, Texas, and the antique rose forum. I used to just lurk here when I had a house with several acres out in the country. DH insisted on selling and moving into an apartment with a 4 x 14 foot covered patio with eastern exposure and 4-5 hours of morning sun. There is also a covered porch in front with western exposure and afternoon sun. So I went with him because I like being married. I am starting over in a very limited way. I really like bouganvillas. I have a friend that has a bright pink one in a pot on her front porch here in Austin. My Florida grandmother had one covering the whole side of her house. I love the ones pictured. Your yard is beautiful, shade and all. I have ordered a couple of shade tolerant roses suitable for containers from ARE and plan to plant only things that are drought tolerant, use Al's 5:1:1 soil mix, and a modified version of a wick watering system involving 2 inch pipe to minimize water needs. Every day I find containers and dead plants and even a watering can out by the dumpster which I rescue to clean and recycle.

Roselee, glad to see that 'Floratam' grass is working well for you. I had to put up "tents" on my Japanese maple and azaleas. This weather is ridiculous. Interestingly gardenias aren't too bothered by it as long as they are established and watered weekly. I planted a new gardenia plant in the late spring and it fizzled out very fast while I was gone for a few days during hot weather. :(

It looks like we will get significant cool down on Wednesday and begin gradual cool down from there on. Chances for rain appear to be on the rise but who knows?

Love the umbrellas!!!! If it werern't so darn windy here I'd think about putting up some for looks! I depend on the pergola for shading my plants. Now if I could get ahold of a greenhouse with heat, I'd be in business.

While walking around the yard I spotted one tree I should have listed. The desert willow. It gives filtered sunlight and grows fairly fast. Butterflies, bees, and humming birds love it. It blooms most all summer.

What about Redbud? It doesn't seem to cast heavy shade???

Novascapes and Lou, thanks for the suggestions of trees that won't cast a heavy shade.

As for the weather Patty sent a couple of sites with long range weather outlooks. If they are correct it's going to be drier than 'normal' but not too bad:

http://www.longrangeweather.com/Weather-Forecasts.htm

http://www.longrangeweather.com/Long-Range-Monthly-Weather-Forecasts.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: Click on US and then the state and city ...

I wish I could believe long-range forecasts. I really do! But I'll enjoy the cooler temps this week and try not to even hope for any rain anytime soon.

well according to the long range predictions next summer may be a little wetter in July and Aug- okay...... only 11 more months and counting. haha

Re weather forecasts, this is the story of my life.

http://www.amcgltd.com/archives/weather_radar.png

Of course, this summer, we've hardly even seen any of that red or orange stuff, even approaching.

More fires in Texas...it just makes me sick! And the water company for our area sent out a letter saying that we are now under Stage 3 water restrictions due to a failing RO system for this area. So only bad news.