On 8/8/2015 11:59 AM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

Good idea Derald. Before the new subdivision went in we had plenty of
bumblebees but they seldom worked the tomatoes as long as the salvia was
blooming. That one plant seemed to be their favorite. Honey bees and
native bees such as mason and carpenter bees, plus the native wasps,
seemed to like the tomatoes better. Either that or they went to the
tomatoes because they were afraid of the large bumbles.
I haven't noticed bumblers showing any particular interest in
tomatoes, either, but Florida's bumblebees aren't the same as those
introduced to Terrakiwi. In USA, real "bumble bees" are members of the
Bombus genus. Here is survey of those most commonly found in my neck
of the woods:
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bees/bumble_bees.htm.
Endemic but not necessarily native, IIRC.
Your bumbles are different then ours. Here's some images and info on
"city bees."
http://citybugs.tamu.edu/factsheets/...stinging/bees/
This time of year, the locals are making the most of "partridge
pea", a large stand of which, very close to the garden, I
encourage—which simply means I mow around it, ha!
http://uswildflowers.com/images/full/dsc_7294-chamaecrista.jpg
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=chfa2


Hot and dry here, we're in a drought again. The raised beds need
watering daily so we do it in late evening with the soaker hoses. I'm
still working on the design for a pvc soaker system, will probably put
it in when cooler weather comes in, if it comes in at all.
We seem to be in the normal summertime weather pattern for the
peninsula. After and extended period of cloudy rainy weather, which was
not at all kind to much of the garden, we had four consecutive sunny,
rain-free days but that streak was broken in the wee hours of this
morning (Sat, 8 Aug) by a thunderstorm that has turned into an all day
sucker.
After a few years' hiatus, I began rejuvenating nine raised beds in
2009. After a bad experience with those soaker hoses fabricated from
recycled tires, purchased relatively low-priced (black PVC) dripline
with half gallon/hr emitters on six-inch centers and couldn't be better
pleased (so far). Regret not having done so from jump. A four-gang
header on a simple hose-end timer makes applying measured amounts
absolute zydeco ("snap bean" easy).
I'm looking at the same sort of system. I just need to break my wife of
hand watering every thing in sight. Heat index today is supposed to be
109F, I believe it is here. As a diabetic, heart disease, old geezer, I
stay out of the heat as much as possible so it's either get up early or
do gardening at night.

Some of our neighbors aren't even watering their lawns or plantings and
their property is brown now. I don't think the dead looking hedges and
live oak trees are going to come back even if we get rain.
In a relatively new "house hammock"? If the oaks were transplanted
within the past ten years or so, I'd guess there's not much hope if
leaves are brown. Shallow rooted and slow growing, oaks as landscape
standards often need supplemental water for a few years.
Yeah, this subdivision was started in either 2005 or 2006, two inches of
sand on top of five feet of clay. We took our live oak out and planted a
pear tree. Our street is a north/south wind tunnel so we had to stake
it. Had a crew dig a four foot deep hole seven feet across and then put
in amended soil and goodies, tree is doing well but a thirty knot wind
damned near blew it over before we staked it. I'm sure the live oaks are
dead that haven't been watered. I'm sort of worried about the neighbor,
may go over and ring his door bell. We haven't seen any sort of movement
next door in a few weeks. He may be gone somewhere and he just may be
hiding from the heat. Don't know him well enough to go visit but might
make a "curiosity" call.