I used up the last drop of genuine rainwater yesterday, keeping the Coconut Daisies alive. Each rain forecast now gets more distant or less bountiful.
When summer is upon us, I connect more hoses to spigots with some plastic tubing. My cousin, who owns a plumbing business, would be impressed...perhaps.
Yesterday I filled a large garbage barrel up to the brim, only to see it leak completely dry. I demoted the barrel to garage duty.
A newer barrel is now full of water, waiting 24 hours to de-chlorinate. That is the secret few gardeners share and even fewer implement. Plants do not like chlorine, and that is the purifying element in our drinking water.
My mother aged her plant water in the classroom at Garfield Grade School (now a condo unit - no joking). The other teachers wanted to know why her flowers were spectacular and theirs were not impressive. She confessed to having a green thumb, but told me the secret.
When I get plants in the mail, from roses down to daisies, I soak them in rainwater. Roses can tolerate weeks of water in the root area. Other plants wake up in a few hours and can drown overnight. I have seen many "dead" plants wake up in a few hours, so I learned not to soak them too long.
Currently I am giving special water treatment to roses, Coconut Daisies, plus a new Hibiscus.
Many plants seem to disappear one year and come back the next. I have given up on new Joe Pye and Bee Balm plants, only to see them dominate the next year. It may be the rabbits or squirrels chewing them down to the roots but not yanking them out of the soil. A little potted plant can be pulled out completely, and I have seen the results.
