Garden woes

It has been hot and I haven't been tending to my garden like I should.  When my family stopped by the garden yesterday to water and check for cucumbers, we found some damage had been done.  The sunflowers had been blown down by the wind and the squash trellis had taken a beating from the blustery weather. 

I was so sad to see my garden in such a state.  I've really been struggling with it.  The seasons are so different here.  I planted things way too late because I didn't know any better.  Therefore I have unintentionally cut my growing season significantly. 

Now we are in summer.  I was surprised by the early end to the rainy season and did not water accordingly (actually at all) last week.  Now my plants are paying dearly. 

When we saw the sunflowers down with their root balls in tact, we took the time to dig deeper and replant them.  Then we really soaked the dirt. 

I returned today, having learned my lesson of neglect in this 33°C (91°F) heat.  The sunflowers were still standing, but the two biggest stocks were clearly not going to make it.  I cut off the salvageable blooms and brought them home to enjoy as long as I can. 

About an hour after putting the flowers in water, my husband gasped in the kitchen.  He was preparing himself a cup of tea and commented "I didn't expect to find you here!"  Since no one else was in the kitchen, our son and I came to inquire.  Resting on his favorite tea mug was a praying mantis.  It was small, but still very interesting.

I'm not used to seeing praying mantis.  I've never seen one in western Washington, although they do live there.  My son collected the praying mantis in his bug catcher and will take it to school with him tomorrow before releasing it in the school yard.

I looked it up online and praying mantis eat every 1 to 4 days, so a 14 hour captivity shouldn't bother it too much.