It Rained

Storm Clouds Gathering

Finally after weeks of 3 digit heat, we got rain, a lot of rain with more on the way. Here on the flat land,  the ground is just soaking it up, thirsty from weeks and weeks of no moisture. Here in farm country, the corn has been saved. The spring snow pack was far below normal, which determines how much irrigation water the farmers get. So this rain saved crops. At the Garden Spot, it loosened up the soil, so we weeded. We can irrigate by running the sprinklers, but it's just not the same as Mother Nature's concoction. In the burn areas, however, predictions of mudslides have come true. While the heavy rain put out what hot spots that remained, there is not any vegetation to retain the water, so mud slides. More rain is due tonight and then a return to hot.

We are busy getting ready for the annual Nicks Family Picnic that we have each year, so there is lots of cleaning going on--in and out. It always takes a party to get me motivated to get the house really cleaned. Is it the same at your house? I want everything perfect. So Saturday's project was to mulch the pine trees at the entrance. A pretty big job.

Before: a healthy crop of weeds getting a good start.

13 sq. yards of mulch. Dust and all.

Bring in the Toy. Any excuse to get this big boy out, but gotta admit that I am glad I let the Head Gardener buy his toy.

After: A lot of scooping, racking and spreading. Weeds covered. Mulch spread. Head gardener worn out.

New Blooms in the garden

The day lilies are beginning their show. They are a hearty bunch, but even the prolonged head stifled them. I love this second one with the tinge of pink around the edges. Even prettier with rain drops.

Crocosmia bejeweled with raindrop diamonds. Another fav. I love the red hot pow that it brings to the garden. Red is sometimes a hard color to find in the garden other than beautiful red roses, but this spot of red on long spikes with iris like leaves makes its presence in the garden well know. And a bonus--the tiger swallowtail butterfly last year seemed to enjoy it. 

Daisies and rain, a perfect combination.

Sidalcea. Not at all a good picture, but this is a hollyhock with tiny delicate pink flowers that look like their big sister. It is new to the garden and I love it. I planted it in the courtyard where it gets morning shade and hot, hot afternoon heat. It will tolerate full sun. The branch off to the right is broken off either from too much rain or too much dog traffic.

 

(I need to take a better photo of it.) Called "Party Girl Hollyhock", it a prairie mallow that will grow 36 inches high, so it will fill in nicely.

Planted next to the pom pom razzmatazz  echinacea, this monarda is a must have because of its hardiness and ability to fill in a spot, not to mention its unusual bloom. This is its second year.

Have I said I love pink flowers? This Razzmatazz cone flower is just pink-lucious.

Echinops has seeded and spread itself liberally about the garden. I'll be chopping some out because it is taking over its  part of the garden, but the spheres of blue spikes are just too intriguing, adding interesting texture to the garden scape,  and the bees love it

As a child of the '70s (actually I was quite grown up), who didn't like the yellow daisy? This one is new to the garden. Both of my banana yellow daisies didn't make it through the winter. 

So if we thought the spring flowers of May were fabulous, July in the garden is a good month, too. I didn't get all the seeds planted that I had wanted to, so sunflowers will be scarce, probably just those that will come up volunteer. I planted a few zinnias, including my lime green ones which went at the end of the row in the vegetable garden. They are coming along. Weakly. The star gazer lilies will be a big disappointment as will the Asian lily. Too hot? Too much water? Not enough water? Wrong food?

Its a busy week getting ready for the picnic. I cleaned today. Tomorrow I'll finish up the photo album. Wednesday I'll shop for groceries. Thursday I'll get stuff out. Friday I'll bake. Set up tents and so on.

Hope you have a great week. Enjoy your garden.