Parched

In 2005 I blogged about the "World's most expensive tree", which I had pampered with an automatic watering system to save it from the regular summer droughts in Wimberley. Although this 2005 photo shows it to be a lot smaller than it is now, at least it was GREEN, even as the grass and weeds around it were brown from drought.

Last year about this time I blogged about our unusually wet summer of 2007, when EVERYTHING was green. The weeds pictured around our water storage tank got nearly as big as the tank! And all the plants got a bit spoiled with all that rain, setting them up for the perfect storm (or lack-of-storm) that 2008 has bestowed upon them.

So this year, our precious live oak tree is more than a bit stressed, as the many yellow and brown leaves in this recent photo show. I've since put it in the intensive care ward, and am pleased to report that it seems to be surviving... for another year, at least. The tree experiment is yet another great example that Mother Nature is not to be messed with. And certainly not to be outsmarted. Sooner or later, I won't be there to rescue it, and if this tree can't survive on it's own then it will become the world's most expensive DEAD tree.