Rain

It had to happen eventually. The rain started about 4:30pm. A few pops of lightning were followed by rolling thunder. The raindrops were huge at first. Within a minute, the concrete was a half inch of water. It continued for a couple of hours, light showers alternating with heavy downpours. The weather station claims almost 1" of rain fell. A light drizzle passed by again overnight. More storms expected this evening and much of next week.

On Friday morning, I spent some more time in the garden planting out rooted cuttings of Black Knight butterfly bush. I took the cuttings from the one I gave Robert more than a month ago. The roots were long, white and healthy. The cuttings surely enjoyed the moisture. I planted 12 of these around the backyard and in the Neighbor's corner. One way or another, I will have that chainlink fence blocked from my view within a couple years. Good thing, too. I have plans for the patio thanks to a picture I saw in a book last week at work. It's not going to be too grand, but it will be a nice place to have a martini after work in the evenings once the mosquitoes have gone to bed. A small stainless steel grill will be included, as will some sort of sitting accoutrements. I've already picked out the location. The invasive plants will be removed this fall.



Not much is happening in the garden these days. It just keeps doing what it does. Flowers open, seeds form, plants die, and new ones spring up to take their places. More notes are being made as time progresses. Joe Pye Weed is just starting to bloom. Rooted cuttings were planted out on Friday too. I guess they were done last year when I finally got around to planting them. I thought they had died. They were just resting.



I've eaten a few Black Krim tomatoes this week. I've saved seeds already. I really like the flavor, even if the skins were a little tough. I'm thinking the lack of rain made them that way. The Romas rotted again. I won't be growing those next year.



A single clematis bloom was open this morning on the perennial bed trellis. The spring flush was beautiful. Perhaps the showers last week and the ones yesterday gave it a push.



It's 81 degrees and partly cloudy. Everything looks refreshed. Roses have been pruned and will be sending out new growth for the fall spectacular. My vacation begins tomorrow.