It rained just about three inches in the first three days this week. That total is three times the amount of rain we received in the prior three weeks of September. That seems to be our new normal: Rain that rarely makes it through the leaves to the ground and then a sudden catch-up. Not the best pattern for the garden or the gardener.
The big question is how many days can I go without watering again, given that we're going into October with sun and temps in the high 70s° and low 80s°.
I guess all I needed to do to get some rain was to complain in print! The radar pix all seemed to suggest yesterday's projected storm was going to slide by us again. Until it unexpectedly burst on the scene around 3 p.m.
I went down to open the door for Mark who was out running errands and saw this workman who'd been operating a laser transit on our front lawn. He was one of the few who brought his rain jacket to work.
Amazingly the crew worked right through this cloudburst and continued until the second one arrived a while later. They got the road and our neighbor's driveway passable and then called it quits earlier than usual.
I'm thrilled as we got 1.35" of rain which has the garden looking lovely this morning. It's green and cool and calling me out to weed.
Went out late this morning — a little after 7 a.m. — to get some watering started. Since the temp is only supposed to get into the low 80s° today, I thought I would also plant a few things that have been sitting in pots for weeks. Managed to get a Heuchera and an autumn fern in the ground before I had to come in. It's only 10 a.m as I write and the temperature is already at 87°F with humidity in the 70% range.
Despite endless watering the plants in the entire front garden are coated with grit and dust from the street construction. It was lovely having a four-day holiday weekend with no noise or dust. I watered out there in particular hoping to clean the leaves as well as give all those plants a drink.
This is what the deck looked like the last time it rained. It wasn't heavy enough or long enough to get any water through the tree leaves and into the ground. We've had rain forecast for days and days and it just passes us by. We're currently 6 inches below normal.
I know it's summer and supposed to be hot. But I am quickly wiped out with the kind of high temperatures we've been having. I've spent way more time watering than planting, weeding or fine tuning the garden so far. OK, rant over. Maybe today's predicted rain will materialize.
Thanks for all your comments on my recent blog posts. I had my second cataract surgery last week. Everything went well, but I haven't quite got back into my normal routines, including replying to your comments and keeping up with your blogs.
I'm currently doing drops of multiple medicines in each eye four times a day and taping a big plastic patch over my latest eye at night. It seems like when I am not doing that, I'm watering the garden.
We only had 1.26" of rain in May and a mere .35" so far this month. Storms just keep slipping by — which is what I expect will happen with tonight's predicted rain. We've had temps into the 90°s and down into the 40°s in recent days. My Epimediums are getting crispy and my lovely Eucomis froze.
More strangeness in this strange spring. Hosta 'Sagae' (above) has leaves growing adjacent to the flower bud at the top of the stem. Don't think I've ever seen this before. Hosta 'Inniswood' in the background.
Despite the erratic weather the garden is looking quite good. I'm not allowed to lift over 20 pounds or bend my head lower than my heart, which means I can't do much in the garden. Certainly not putting in shrubs and hauling my pair of Haws 2 Imperial gallon watering cans around. Can't wait until I get past those restrictions at the end of this week and can resume normal gardening activities.
I clearly posted too early yesterday as it turned out to be a lovely day. It was cool, cloudy and rainy for much of the day. We got .52" which was enough to make the garden sparkle. The rain, coupled with the recent hot days, has the garden on overdrive. I walked around a number of times just marveling at the beauty.
As much as I like flowers, nothing beats the greens of spring. Up or down there was something lush and fresh to enjoy.
And, yes, there are lots of plants in full bloom like this unknown Peony. Last year I noticed a small stem on a mature species Peony whose leaves were clearly different from the main plant. I separated it and decided to watch it. This spring it shot up with a big bud that is opening into what looks like a gorgeous flower.
In the morning I got together with my garden gal pals to brainstorm some trees and shrubs that one of the members of our little group could add to her garden for winter interest as well as screening views of her neighbor's property. All that garden chat is always a boost.
When I got back home treats had arrived in the mail: The 30th anniversary edition of Gardens Illustrated magazine.
I've been reading this mag since it hit the newsstands. I used to have the first 50 issues. I still have plenty of back issues, but now I only keep the ones that I really want to look at again — and again. This one is the second issue published. Also in the mail. was a box of plants from Odyssey Perennials. Mostly different Primula varieties.
This is Aquilegia viridiflora var. atropurpurea, one of the mail order plants. This is the nursery website photo as the plant is quite small. I'm going to put it with a group of Geranium phaeum whose flowers are deep violet and whose leaves have splashes of the same color. Despite my cranky start to the day, it turned out to be pretty perfect.
Rain was predicted for this past weekend, so I spent last week trying to get as much done in the garden as possible. I was digging, dividing, discarding, moving and planting as much as I could before it got too hot each day to keep working. I managed to get every plant that was a recent purchase or a swap from a friend in the ground by Friday.
Despite the weather forecast — even looking at the map — I was doubtful we'd ever get any rain. It looked like another one of those long narrow storms that was going to slide right by us.
Not this time. It started raining around 9 p.m. Saturday night. It came down just heavy enough to make it to the ground through the foliage on our numerous trees. It was lovely to fall asleep with the windows open listening to the steady beat of rain.
I went out to check the rain gauge Sunday morning to discover we'd received 1.35" of rain in the last twelve hours. I was, of course, thrilled as I don't want to go directly into winter from a dry season like last year.
But that wasn't the last of the wet weather: It was still raining. Sunday afternoon the rain started to come down more heavily. Luckily our basement was still dry when we went to bed, having read about flooding in Chicago from the same storm system. We were trapped in a system that was swirling around us rather than moving away. It was now worrisome falling asleep to another night of rain.
When I got up this morning the temperature was 54°F. It's currently breezy with gray skies but no rain falling. We are in a big break in the storm system, but it looks like we will possibly get more rain at some point today. My gauge this morning showed another 2.10" between Sunday morning and this morning.
I am almost embarrassed to mention this amount of rain knowing how many of you are in the midst of long term drought. But I have to be happy, not just for me but for all my gardening friends and area farmers. It has been hot enough and dry enough that few of us are going to complain about three days of rain.
I've been working non-stop in the garden because the weather has been beautiful. Hot, but not enough to note the actual temperatures in my garden journal. What I am tracking is the rain. Sunday afternoon we had measurable rain for the third time in four days.
Amazingly, our rain total for August — as of yesterday — is a glorious 5.31". I can relax and be pretty confident that all the plants I am adding, moving and dividing will survive. I hate to even mention this wonderful weather knowing what so many of you are experiencing elsewhere. But, in truth, I'm looking forward to another week happily spent outdoors.
I bought this great market basket (note the wooden wheels) in the 1970s when the legendary Dane County Farmers Market began. I lived close enough to the market to walk to it, but far enough that I needed some kind of carryall. It's critical for August produce that weighs more than I can easily carry. These days there are so many excellent farm markets all over town that I haven't been downtown to the big market in years.
You can see what I mean: cantaloupe and 9 ears of corn were the first things I bought. They went on the bottom and I built on that solid base. The bag holds pastries from Madison Sourdough. The thought of those treats gets me up early on Saturday morning.
Yesterday I got to the market when it opened knowing how hot and humid the weather was already. Last night at 7 p.m. the temperature was still 89°F. (31.66°C.) Weather Bug said it felt like 99°F. (37.22°C.) and I wouldn't argue with that. But I can't really complain given the extreme heat so many others are experiencing.
Rain was forecast to begin overnight. Lately it seems like we are often in a gap in storm systems and get little or no rain. Not this time. When I went out around 8 a.m., my rain gauge measured 1.94" (4.92 cm.). We're supposed to get a little more rain today and possibly tomorrow. I was stunned at that number and thrilled.
The temps look cooler for the coming week. So I will be able to weed in prep for our last garden tour on Thursday, even if it's too wet to plant the things that have been waiting for the temps to drop.
After a very dry winter, it rained most of Thursday and right into Friday. Since the ground is still fairly frozen, it was good that it was a gentle rain that caused no problems at our house and garden. As the rain initially started to fall very lightly, it made the dry spots under the furniture look like snowy remnants.
I woke up Saturday morning to discover the rain had turned into snow at some point during the night.
And turned back to rain, filling the garden with spring greens.
Though our few warm days were lovely, I am much happier to be getting some rain as spring is starting.
Glad I put out my rain gauge so I could measure the precipitation in my garden: .87" (2.20 cm.) More rain is forecast midweek.