However... I should have known things weren't going to go well with them when I started to install the first group. The soil had become rock hard in the area that I was going to plant. I didn't have time to go get a tiller and work the soil, so I just started planting.
By the end of the 300+ zinnias I had a large bleeding blister on my right palm, another on my left thumb, and a third on my right index finger. It was 90 degrees, I was thirsty, I was tired, my knees hurt... They were done, I watered them in... I decided I should set the irrigation to come on every day for the next several since it was suppose to be in the 90's over Memorial Day and into the next week. I felt proud I got it done and thought ahead of the heat with extra watering.
Fast forward to Tuesday morning... I got out of my truck and walked over to the zinnias... burnt to a crisp. And the ground around the zinnias was bone dry. I walked over to the perennial beds... bone dry and new perennial plantings were drooping, others browning. I quickly walked to a series of four identical beds filled with annuals... also dry (but miraculously still looking ok).
I ran down to the irrigation controls... It was set correctly. I tried to turn it on manually... nothing happened. Then a little red light caught my eye... Beside it read "Rain Sensor." WHAT??? RAIN??? It hadn't rained a drop, but the crazy sensor had decided it had. This meant that the sensor did an override and told the irrigation system NOT to turn on.
I shut off the sensor and manually turned on the irrigation system... I drenched all of the beds, hoping I could save the dying the plants... especially the zinnias I worked so hard on just a few days before.
Well... most of the zinnias could not be saved, but I did see positive results within a couple of days of about 1/4th of the zinnias.
And then...
The rabbits hit.
I knew rabbits liked zinnias, but... really???
So, most of the remaining zinnias became snacks for the rabbits in the neighborhood.
What to do... What to do...
So, on Tuesday of this week I spent a few hours removing 300+ mostly dead and/or decapitated zinnias and installed 180 penta 'butterfly lavender shades' ... Not exactly what I was planning... and definitely not the color I was wanting to display along the road of this home. I was able to save about 15 of the zinnias and transplant them into the perennial beds.
Also... before I planted the pentas, I worked the soil very well :-) Amazing how easily they were to plant compared to the zinnias :-)
All is well... Thank God for "Plan B."
