Maybe you've heard that Central Texas is having the worst drought in recorded history. The 110 degree days seem to be behind us, and we've had a couple of tiny rain storms, but the landscape is still parched. The cove we live on is completely dry. The other morning we awoke to discover that the cows that normally graze across the cove had crossed over the now dry basin, somehow climbed up the cliff to our front yard, and mowed down a twelve by ten or so hedge of thornless cactus. I don't blame them. That cactus looked seriously juicy and is probably the greenest thing for miles. When I was growing up farmers used to take a blow torch to the very thorny native cactus during the driest part of the summer, singe off the thorns and let the cows have at it.
The photo is post-cactus binge. That almost bare ground is where the cactus used to stand. The green you see is some Turk's Cap I planted alongside the cactus and which seems to need less water than just about anything else around here. Miraculously, cows do not seem to find it tasty.
I'll bet those cows were happy to have something green for a change, instead of hay. There's grass sprouting all over my place from the recent rain, but it will die if we don't have more rain soon (I'm in Caldwell County). My turk's cap is doing well too -- covered with blooms. The naturalized 4 o'clocks and lantana are also blooming.
ReplyDeleteBarb, my lantana is blooming like crazy too. One thing about this drought is that we can discover which plants are truly drought tolerant. Who knew rosemary and cedar would be less drought tolerant than turk's cap? Not me.
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