An ordinary person might wonder why anyone would plant when it’s been over 90 degrees for, like, forever, and, in fact, this is the way I lose the most plants every year. Planting in the summer. And then, f.t.w. Forgetting to water.
I used to make little flags out of bamboo skewers and duct tape, to help me remember to water. Of course, I had to remember to look for the flags in the first place, while I was wandering around the garden with the watering can.
Believe it or not, there are people who look down their noses at the idea of duct tape in the garden. This year I’m trying a more elegant flag: old, shredded Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags on bamboo stakes.
the miserable gardener 
Hey Bob, you can buy about a thousand engineering flags for about a $buck. And they come in a rainbow of colors…you know, blue for Monday, green for Tuesday…etc.
Thought about it, but the noise from all that plastic flapping in the wind would be deafening.
Bob
That is a great idea, even here where it rains…a lot.
The trouble here, aside from forgetting entirely, is difference moisture absorption ability between nursery root ball and garden “soil”. I had some success with washing off all the nursery soil and then planting bare root, but what I really need is a staff of waterers. Or to buy fewer plants. Horrors.
I read with interest about how you wash off the planting mix.
It seems to make a difference. I think there are any number of, say, blue spruces, planted around here that I could just pull right up out of the ground even after three or four years. More important than removing the root ball soil, though, is freeing the roots before planting. The Rare Find Nursery website has some fairly startling suggestions on how to plant rhododendrons, etc. http://www.rarefindnursery.com/index.cfm/action/howtoplant.htm scroll down to “Loosen the Roots”.
I will read up on that. Thank you!!
Sure. Excellent nursery, by the way.