Phew!

We've been struggling with water issues lately.  The development we live in has assigned watering days and our duly designated day had notably featured such low water pressure that our sprinkler system was not functioning well, if at all.

This is not new to our area and there are folks here who simply let their lawns go unwatered in the summertime, resulting in a predictably sere look.  After we'd taken our grassy lawn out however, we'd gone to the trouble to fill the spaces with natives and close neighbors that would hopefully support a variety of bugs, birds and other critters.  So we weren't really OK with the idea of watching it all die off, even seasonally.

And yes, the natives do tolerate the heat and low water pretty well but there aren't many of them that tolerate heat and NO water, which is what the end of July through mid August had on offer.

Until last night that is.  Last night we got a little over an inch of rain at long last.  Every square foot of our property was well watered for the first time in weeks.  It reminded me of how difficult it is and always has been to farm or ranch or even garden in Central Texas, if rain is all you have to count on for watering.  Maybe it's just me but I honestly thought I heard our Meyer lemons giggling quietly this morning, giddy with relief.

A final note, apropos of nothing else?

This is why I keep garlic chives (Allium tuberosum) in several spots in my garden beds.  Not because they tolerate the heat (though they do), not because I use them in cooking (which I don't often enough), but rather because they do this on occasion:

Something about the abundance of delicate white blossoms leaves me a little weak in the knees.  I'm guessing I'll try to have some of these on hand anywhere I garden from here on out.