Upon returning tonight, I couldn't help but examine the gardens by street light. Oh. Ew. The side yard is a disaster. Tomatoes completely fallen over, herbs dried and crispy, cosmos broken, all things in pots dead or nearly so. Hmm. My attempt to get some neighbors to water was half-hearted. I mean really, ask someone to walk back and forth 80 feet with a schlapping watering can, legs over fences. Even I don't like it.
It isn't the first dead garden I've returned to and it won't be the last. It is sad, but then, I have so little patience for things in pots, anyway. From what I can see tonight, most of what lives in the ground is great -a little maintenance here or there will top things up. It is clear to me that for a garden to do well, the gardener must be present -even when he or she is away. How this presence manifests itself is up to you.