Three inches of rain

That's what some reports are saying fell during the wee hours of the morning. I don't know for sure, but the yard looks pretty beat up. The basement water feature is larger. I need to pick up a box fan today. I'll be pushing water towards the drain in the floor all morning.

In the garden, plants have flopped all over the place.





The tomatoes should have been staked a week ago. I'll be doing that as soon as the ground dries out enough to hold a stake. Each plant will be tied to a stake. It's too late to try any other method. I just hope I don't break them. I need to prune suckers too.



The gully refilled last night. From the looks of it, it overflowed.



The pussywillow cuttings I stuck into the moist soil this spring seem to enjoy the extra moisture.



Same with the cannas.



And the elephant ears are finally coming up.



Some rudbeckia made it without flopping.



Including a new brown/orange variety.



And I have squash blooms. There's one on just about all the plants. The sun is trying to poke through the clouds now, so hopefully the bees will come out to play.



It's 72 degrees. 80% chance of rain this afternoon with more thunderstorms likely. I guess there's no drought after all.

Feeling Good.

Reds.

Time marches on, and soon you realize it marches across your face. The sun turns my face red on hot days whether in the garden or at the store where I rarely find myself inside out of the heat and humidity. The reds are also starting to appear in the garden.

Another poppy bloom, same plant as yesterday.



Red spider zinnias. I was so disappointed by the less than impressive size of these flowers last year. When I ordered seeds, I expected huge swaths of large red daisy-like zinnias. The flowers are about the size of a dime. Later, they'll be the size of a quarter. They look good in mass plantings, and I allowed them to reseed last year scattering seeds here and there. So far, they've only come up where the original planting was.



Lilies. I don't know the variety. I planted them last spring where they grew to about 6" tall and did nothing else. This year, they shot out of the ground with vigor and are just starting to open. If you look closely, you can see a Rudbeckia bloom about to unfurl.



Gerbera Daisy. Only one of the two reds have returned. Several of the white are blooming along the back of the house. This is surprising since Gerbers aren't exactly fond of the cold weather we had in January, nor do they like wet feet in winter. But a few managed to survive. The purple violas behind the gerbers are going to seed. I had planned to collect a few and scatter them around, but I missed my opportunity. This fall, I'll just have to move plants like I did yesterday.



Over the past 2 days, we've received more than 2" of rain. More possible today. The potager is taking a liking to this new kind of weather. Water from the garden hose keeps things alive during dry spells, but real growth happens when it rains. The row on the left were the last ones planted out. They share the same first name as me and John Wayne.



The beans, squash, okra, cucumbers, and nasturtiums in the upper bed are growing too. It will warm up later this week. I expect to have squash in 4-6 weeks.



Finally, the fourth attempt at growing Oakleaf Hydrangeas has begun. The root of the mangled plant has put out new growth. My cuttings don't seem to be doing much. It's only been two weeks. There is still hope.



It's 57 degrees, cool and cloudy. Today I've got to work on the AC unit. A cheap part needs to be located and replaced. I'll do that after I've had another cup of coffee. I had hoped to mow the yard, but the hateful lawnmower detests wet grass. I'd probably slip and lose a foot anyway. It's best to just leave it alone until it dries out a bit.

The Potager.

It's been slow going in the potager beds without much rain. The top dressing of horse manure and pine shavings dries out quickly. I'm watering nearly every day just to keep the soil below moist. A good hard rain is in order. Still, things are growing. Even the okra has germinated.

Most of the beans are up. I replanted one teepee this morning with asparagus beans. The flat Italian beans did not come up. I blame the squirrels.



Squash.



Cucumbers.



I planted nasturtiums throughout this bed to protect against squash bugs. Along the front edge, I've got dwarf red ones. They should trail over the front once they get going. Along the back with the cucumbers, I have a vine variety. They will grow up the same trellis as the cucumbers to a height of around 6'.



In the three lower beds, 53 tomato plants have survived. One just shriveled up and died. I think I'll have plenty.

Black Krim



Green Zebra



It's 64 degrees and sunny. I've given everything a good deep drink of water from the hose. The high today should reach the 90s again. The chance of rain for Saturday has been removed. We are now under a fire watch as humidity levels will begin to fall overnight.

On the windowsill in the kitchen, the first roots have appeared on my variegated hydrangea cuttings. I'm rooting them in water. The cloner needs to be cleaned soon. None of the camellia cuttings made it. A few salvia have rooted. All three butterfly bush cuttings survived. I'll be taking a look at the rest of the cuttings soon to decide if they just need more time or should be culled.

9:48am - It's 73 degrees. I sowed a few more seeds today, trying to clean out the seed box. Coleus has finally been sowed. They should germinate quickly with the heat. In the garden, a few new things have appeared.

Buds on achillea that were wintersown in 2008/9.



Clearance purchased Tennessee Coneflowers. Planted last fall in the crape myrtle bed.



Wintersown in 2008/9, White Swan has a bloom and many buds.



Clematis Etoile Violette





Off to work in an hour.

The tomatoes are in.

48 plants went into the lower potager beds this afternoon. Here's Granny Cantrell.



The peonies are about to pop. These will be red. I also have pink.



The orange rose is ready to bloom. Yes, I have aphids. No, I don't spray. The ladybugs are here. I might hose them off with a jet of water at some point.



The 6th Street fig is doing well.



All that's left besides a container of hosta, 4 6-packs of impatiens, and some tree/shrub varieties still in the shade. I even planted out some Cornus florida today. 54 of these containers hold sunflowers for the upper meadow and butterfly slope between the potager beds. Others have 6-packs of pineapple sage, petunias, and celosia. I'm hoping to get them all planted by the end of the week. The long boxes in the front are my window box planters. I put them inside the wood boxes I built last year. I'm waiting to make sure I have plenty of growth before moving them to their permanent location.



The rain tonight will probably stay north of us. It's 72 degrees and clear. Great day.

Oh yeah, it rained.

I wasn't here to enjoy it, but the storms over Charlotte were loud enough to wake me up last night. I was visiting. When I arrived back home this morning, the 3/4" of rain we received had sent everything into overdrive. There's a lot of new things popping up now that the ground is wet again. The gully has a lot of surprises.

Tomatoes and castor beans.



Squash? Or cucumber?



Of course there's datura.



And pokeweed.



Mimosa tree seedlings are all over the place. I'll let a few grow. They can get out of hand with the reseeding.



In the garden, Pride of Barbados survived being planted out weeks ago and receiving very little water. It should take off now.



Petunia seedlings. That must have been one virile specimen.



Cucumbers and beans are up in the potager.





I'm finally going to plant out some tomatoes. More showers in the forecast this coming week.



Near the basement door, the fragrant bed is germinating great. Four O'clocks, datura, and what I hope are nicotiana seedlings have grown since yesterday. They like the rain and the horse poo.



I'm starting to be very happy with this corner of the perennial bed. Last year it was a mess of struggling plants. It's a dry semi-shady corner with very acidic soil from years of oak leaves. I spread wood ashes all winter and transplanted a few shade tolerant perennials this spring. It's filling in nicely.



It's 72 degrees and windy. More rain possible this afternoon and evening. I'm going to plant out a few things today, at a very leisurely pace. No reason to rush.

His mama named him Tommy

The folks just called him 'Yellow'.
-Kenny Rogers

I've got two kinds of yellow roses. Sunny Knockout opened its first bloom yesterday. It's funny. I never even noticed the bud. I think the fading daffodils had me confused.



Golden Showers on the perennial arbor is budding. This is a reblooming climber.



The last "last" daffodil has opened. I think. Maybe there will be another later blooming variety after this one. These came from the mixed bags I planted in the fall. Ignore the weeds. They'll be gone soon.



The last daffodil, the one that bloomed before the last yellow one has a touch of yellow in the center. Both of these have multiple blooms per stem.



The Amur Honeysuckle also contains yellow. It's not much, but the fragrance is lovely.



This bearded iris came from my sister's house last spring. I had to clear a bed of them when I planted her round flower bed. I remember them all being brown. I don't have a very good memory, obviously.



Out near the street, this has appeared. I'm not sure what it is. I know I planted a rooted weigela in that area. I don't remember anything being this color. I like surprises.



The latest columbine bloom has a hint of yellow with blue streaks.



Speaking of blue, Blue Girl hybrid tea rose is budding.



Lagerfeld is finally open and looks as it should, a pale lavender with a delicious fragrance.



Soon, the pink rose I moved from the woodsy area last spring to the perennial bed arbor, then the front porch, and finally to the swing out back, is about to bloom. I hope this year to have it identified. There will be lots of blooms. It's covered in buds.



After work yesterday, I repotted most of the tomatoes into individual containers. They're still tiny. I gave them a very weak dose of transplant solution. I also stuck cuttings of euphorbia in the cloner. I'm hoping they take root. My seeds didn't germinate.





Poncirus trifolata, or Hardy Orange, has germinated well. I'll be planting these out in the gully to discourage the neighborhood kids that have twice decided to play hide and seek on my property at night. The 1-2" thorns are deadly.



It's 45 degrees. The high today should reach the mid 70s. Still no rain to speak of. Maybe Tuesday.