Tag Archives: Rain

Sunny Sunday

Sunny with a caveat.

We had two-and-a-half inches of rain last night–more rain than we needed, and now my yard is once again a swamp.

To make matters worse, Word Press is doing funny things today, so I’m not sure how this post will turn out. But.

Here’s a fern baby from my Japanese painted fern. It was a single frond when I moved it from the north side, and seems to be doing well. The full-sized ferns I transplanted died the day after being moved–upsetting because they were a few years old and very beautiful. I’ll be happy if this one survives, which it seems to be doing.

Well, I have a lot more to say, but Word Press just isn’t working for me. I keep getting a “Recover Web Site” message and I’m not sure why. Does anyone out there in Word Press land know?

Yet Another Stormy Sunday

Another unnecessary inch of rain overnight. The grass is spring green and growing faster than we can mow. But the trees know it’s almost autumn, dropping leaves like crazy.

Out of the house most of the day to hear Madeline sing the blues at One Block South. Boy howdy, that girl can wail.

Tomorrow is Monday and back to the grind of cleaning up veg and flower beds, along with final preparations for #PitchWars on Tuesday. Or maybe it’s Wednesday. I should check.

A happy new week to you all.

Partly Cloudy Sunday

Early Sunday morning. Found this leaf in the yard and asked, “Is it fall?”

Well no, technically not. Fall is arriving in approximately thirty-four days. It’s still summer, still August, and supposed to be still hot. But it’s not. We’ve had storms every night of the past three, and mornings have been cloudy and cool.

Once the sun burns through the clouds, though, it’s summer again, hot and steamy. So while fall garden clean-up has started, I work only early and retreat to air-conditioned comfort in the afternoon.

Those readers who follow my Monday gardening posts will be saddened to know that I do indeed have both bag worms and cottonwood borers. I’ll be posting the “fix” on Monday, weather permitting. And if the weather is bad, the blog will be delayed.

Meanwhile, I’m enjoying this foretaste of my favorite season and sitting on my hands to avoid pulling out the Halloween decorations. Hope it doesn’t turn unseasonably warm in September.


Stormy Sunday

The storm started last night and continued this morning. Wind and three inches of rain–so far. Thunder and lightning. A good morning to drink coffee and watch everything turn intense green.

Luckily, I walked out to see the damage and we had some.

One of the apple trees fell over in last night’s wind and the stake holding it broke off. Fixed with a new stake.

My tub pond overflowed, which didn’t seem to hurt the irises much. The waterlily is sporting new leaves, too.

But poor Ms. Wilmot’s ghost is drowning. Maybe with some dry weather and sun, she’ll survive. Fingers crossed.

The rain has to stop sometime. Right?

Gardening Doldrums

Tomorrow is the first day of summer. From now until August 2, gardening is all about weeding and watering.

We’ll have to see about watering, which may not be necessary this year. We’re already a foot above average for rainfall, and the forecast calls for more rain. Or at least more thunderstorms. Frankly, I’d be happy not to haul hose around the yard.

But the weeding has already started. There’s no keeping up with it. I finish one bed, move onto the next, and by the time that one’s done, I have to go back and weed all over again in the first. A bit like revising and editing. Never really done.

This is also the start of lily and daylily season. I’ve added photos of today’s blooms, including one of my favorites. I found this bicolored lily several years ago at Flower Farm. It’s done very well, although this year is being crowded out by an inappropriately planted sedum Brilliant. I can see I’ll be moving things around this Fall.

I planted most of the daylilies about four years ago, although I’ve added new plants here and there every year since. Back then, I carefully labeled each one, only to discover the permanent ink was not quite permanent. One of these days I’ll go back through my orders and try to match up names to plants. Not today.

Cloudy Sunday

Another cloudy Sunday, but will it rain? We’ve already had more than five unnecessary inches of rain this week. The backyard is squishy and marshy and full of puddles. We can’t mow.

The flowers love it. The veg do not. I doubt I’ll get a single decent tomato this season, and pill bugs–Armadillium vulgare? I’m not a bug person, so I’m never sure of proper names–have infested my lettuce.

Meanwhile, here is a photo of an old cottonwood tree stump that Jim believes will turn back into a tree. The interesting part is the nest I found while trying to cut back the suckers. Since we have broken robins’ eggs all over the yard, I suspect baby robins lived there for a time.

Here’s to another possibly wet Sunday. Wishing each of you a good week to come.

Dreary Sunday

Another cold, wet Sunday with an inch of rain over the last 24 hours, and up to five inches expected through Wednesday. The flowers are loving it, but the warm-weather veggies–not so much.

I gifted tomato plants this spring, and one recipient complained that hers weren’t growing. They will, I told her, when it warms up. But so far, warming up hasn’t happened.

My tomatoes planted in raised beds look water-logged and scraggly. I have a micro-climate near the house where I planted tomatoes in pots. They’re doing well–less water, more heat.

Even so, summer is on its way and soon I’ll have more tomatoes than I can possibly use. It’ll be time to pull out the canning supplies.

Eggplant Worries

I’ve been waiting–and waiting and waiting–for the weather to warm up enough to put my Ophelia Eggplants in the ground. It’s been cold and wet, too chilly for Ophelia’s.

Deciding to wait till Mother’s Day to plant turned out to be easier than I thought. But today is the day after Mother’s Day, and it was in the 40’s when I got out of bed this morning. Still too cold.

Nothing for it, though. The plant roots are growing out the bottom of the pots. They’ve already been transplanted once. They are huge.

So this morning, I brought them out to the shaded, wind-protected area near my acer Bloodgood. Hopefully, they’ll harden-off without problem and I can plant them Thursday or Friday.

Any eggplant aficionados out there? Send advice.