Survival of the Fittest

Ah Kansas, where the wind never stops blowing, or so it seems. We've had nearly two months of tripple digit temps with only a handful of mild days. And rain...well we did get a few drops here and there.

We have not been watering our flowers because of a city water shortage, but we have been watering our trees simply because we have more invested in them. Sixteen years of coaxing, watering, trimming these trees and now we are finally seeing some results.

So what can survive weeks and weeks without water? Well let's first take a look at what DIDN'T survive:


Our lawn--brown and crunchy.


I found this little nest under a pine tree. The heat wasn't the cause of it's demise but the never-ending wind was.


Believe it or not, even these weeds did not survive. But they do like to attack me with little stickers when I walk by. That's my compost bin in the metal trash can and it's doing quite nicely. It has that rich earthy odor and I can't wait to use it this fall.


One of our beautiful maples. In autumn this tree had the most gorgeous orange color.


And it's twin also bit the dust. I'm pretty bummed about this. They took so long to get this big.


And the jury is out on whether these next few will survive. Crossing my fingers on this River Birch. It has a few green leaves and we continue to water it, but it really looks bad.


Shasta Dasies that barely flowered, and are now wilted. I hope they come back next year because I love these little guys!


Stella de Oro lilies with no flowers at all. I'm hoping these come back too.


Our sweet little Ginko tree. I love how her curvy leaves flutter in the wind. She's a slow grower and I'd hate to see her go. This is her good side. I'm sure she would want it that way.



And just what you've been waiting for, with baited breath, I'm sure: What can survive in weeks of tripple digit temps with no water?

These little flowers came up from seed with no coaxing or watering at all. They're a bit of brightness in anotherwise sad garden.


Out of four mums this one is the only one that survived. It's flowers are very small, and there's only a few


I'm sure you're not surprised that these weeds are green and growing. But you might be surprised that we haven't done anything about them.


Most every farmer that planted corn lost their crop due to the heat and lack of rain. But across the road from our home is a nice green field of soybeans. Go Beans!


A transplant from another field--not sure what it is.


Another transplant which looks a bit like milo. It's getting cozy with the brown weeds.


Miss Maggie has survived, but just barely. And we do give her water and shade.


Sedum purpureum, or Live Forever as my mom used to call it. Aptly named, wouldn't you say?



We have 25 living trees plus a row of pine trees in the back. It takes all day running two hoses at a trickle to water all of them. We never water our lawn because we think it's a waste of water, and we have three acres which is impossible to keep watered anyway. We have let Mother Nature take it's course for 16 years, but we will be burning it this fall and re-seeding--hopefully.

So what is or isn't surviving in your yard?