It rained.

About 1.5" in less than an hour.



At 6am, it was quiet and muggy. By 6:30, all hell had broken loose. There are trees down in the neighborhood. Most of my pineapple sage is in the backyard now. The wind ripped it apart. The thundercloud Plum in the perennial bed has a significant lean to it. All my castor beans are laying on the ground. Nearly all my plants have broken pieces and bits laying all over. Hasn't mother nature ever heard of moderation?









The worst part, about 1/2" down, the soil is still dry. Too much, too fast and little soaked in.



This used to be corn.







10:59am - I went out and pulled the cosmos and zinnias in the direct sown bed I created this spring. I planted bush beans and tossed more cosmos seed from the plants I pulled out. Not sure there'll be enough time to flower this late in the season, but I should be able to harvest the beans. 7-14 days for germination, 54 days to harvest. That puts me in mid-September having fresh beans for dinner. I also scattered pole beans around the cucumber trellis. They've got a 75 day harvest time, so that might be pushing it too far. We'll see.

The hairy balls plant (Gomphocarpus) is still there. I left it and the wintersown butterfly bush. They were getting smothered by the flowers.

70 degrees, mid 90% humidity. Light rain.

The Potager

Beans (blue lake pole and "butter"), cucumbers, silver queen sweet corn, lima beans, millet, castor beans, okra, and gourds were planted out today. Everything got a good soaking. It's 85 and very sunny.

Updates

The wintersown petunias are blooming today. They were sown in February in the hoophouse and potted into single cups in March. They went in and out of the basement during really cold spells. They're quite nice. Collected from a light pink trailing petunia, they came out a different color. I'm happy with it.





I got the cucumber trellis up yesterday and a teepee for the running peas. I also added a cheap water sprinkler for later once I've planted all my beans, corn, squash, and cukes.



The rear beds - all white.







The "hot" cherry tomato bed with red spider zinnias, sunflowers, and red bee balm. I need some orange for this bed.



A direct sown bed of marigolds, cosmos, and zinnias has lots of sprouts. I hope it attracts bees and pollinators for my garden.



Another iris has opened.



The weigeila is in full bloom.



Something is giving me fits with the peonies. Several have dead stalks.



The lavender crape myrtle is leafing out. Nothing yet on the root cuttings I made this winter.



The front beds are slowly getting planted. Hot, dry, and very poor soil makes these hard to plant. Lantana and grasses for now.





The Golden Jubilee Hyssop loved the pinching I did last week.



Visitors.



And finally, Sunday's picture.