Hot Days...

The last few days have been rather hot and windy. The heat makes me absolutely miserable. But despite my misery I've identified some problem pots that are drying out too quickly - tomorrow morning I'll be potting up to (hopefully) eliminate this trend! Even with drought-adapted plants new plantings can be tough to keep up with. However my new water-thrifty irrigation system has helped a lot. This high-tech, intricate system consists of a garden hose which splits off to four little tiny hoses which I move around to water my various shrubs (see, I was being funny about the high-tech part). But this eliminates the running around with one hose thing (especially difficult in the areas the hose didn't reach) and gives my shrubs their infrequent but deep watering recommended by all those fancy garden books with the nice pictures.
And today I procured some very exciting new plants. A trip to Berkeley Horticultural Nursery yielded up Salvia "Paula Flynn", Stachys ciliata "Royal Robe", Salvia officinalis "Purpurascens", and Ocimum sanctum. This last one, known as "Holy Basil" apparently has some very deep human significance and associations in Indian religion. It's a very nice, lightly hairy basil and I look forward to gardening with it. The others except for the third Salvia are also new to me. Their intense flower color is striking - deep purple blue and deep purple maroon, respectively - and seem sure to be hummingbird favorites. Tomorrow is for planting, and watering at dawn!