I spent a solid week of neglecting my plants while trying to get through a rather unpleasant cold, and it shows. I’ll also blame the weather, as we’ve had about 5 weeks without any significant rain. The tomatoes, water guzzlers that they are, most dramatically show the repercussions of dehydration. I also strongly suspect that the squirrels have been stealing the fruits. There will be an empty branch that I could have *sworn* had a tomato the day before, and no sign of fallen bits below. I had been warned that squirrels love tomatoes. So continues the struggle.

The Jacobs Ladder has also severely wilted. Again. I really need to replant these guys into the ground, where they’ll have more access to deep water. I keep hesitating, partially because I’m concerned about it surviving winter; this fear is completely unfounded, as it is a local plant that happily hibernates and revives through its native seasons.

The pepper plant is also a lost cause, and I waited too long to pluck the fruit, which now appears to be rotting on the vine.

Once I was finally healthy, my first step (after watering the porch plants) was to relocate the trumpet flower vines from the walkway handrail to a recently acquired obelisk trellis. It did not go as well as I’d hoped.

These vines are incredibly effective at making themselves immovable, twisting around each other in a wild pattern, and with a fuzzy ‘skin’ that sticks to itself. I salvaged a couple tendrils, but after almost two hours of effort, I had to cut down the rest. The sorrow was mighty. I managed to wrap much of the surviving remains around the base of the obelisk, but success was not remotely at hand, as the obelisk toppled not long after. With the lack of rain, the soil has become incredibly hard, and I was not able to bury the obelisk legs deep enough for it to stand up with stability. I’ll try again either when it rains, or when I have the energy to dig holes.

My renewed health also allowed me to finally start ‘washing’ the powdery mildew off of the squash leaves, with a solution of water, baking soda, and castile soap (NOT detergent soap). I’ll repeat this process at least once a week, and hope that late is better than never.

And either in response to the dryness, or just because the time is right, my potted Sedum is flowering. I had a vague notion that it might, but I was not expecting it at all. They look like cotton candy-infused pom poms, and it was nice that not everything had died while I was mildly incapacitated.