Early morning watering

Dragging the heavy (albeit shiny and new) hose reel around is work! It's worse than hauling your luggage through three plane changes, because luggage is rarely wet and muddy.

Lucky for me, Matt is out hauling the hose reel around and watering right now. And Arum and Leanne also watered the Mariposa Center Garden yesterday.

Contrary to popular belief, watering on a hot, sunny day doesn't burn leaves. I've been out there gaily splashing about on the most roasting day and never had an issue. And think about it: if it did burn leaves, all sorts of plants in many areas of the world would shrivel up and die anytime there was rain during the day.

That said, water does evaporate much faster on a hot or windy day (and as you locals will know, we haven't had a hot day in weeks. Pah.) so in the interests of water conservation, it's best to water in the early morning or at night, and use a system that delivers water to the roots (drip, a wand) versus sprinklers, if you can.

Pic above: Rudbeckia hirta