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 grew up in houses with no AC. Of course, we never had weather as hot as it is now getting. Luckily our house today had AC already in place when we bought it. Before then, I made do with more traditional methods of keeping cool.
I bought this rather large fan when visiting my sister who lived in San Francisco. It didn't fit in my suitcase so it sat on the empty seat next me to me on the plane ride home. Those were the days.
This one is from Africa though I no longer remember which country or tribal group.
This is another large fan but I have the same style and pattern in a small size as well.
Too bad I'm not into the Barbie hoopla as this would be perfect for a pink party.
I have folding paper and fabric fans and tiny Chinese paper fans encased in metal that open up and the metal pieces are a sturdy handle. Fans like these were available everywhere when I first moved to Madison. Over the years I've downsized my collection but I still have enough fans that I've put them out for guests to use at summer parties.
The sky was dark when I began writing with thunder rolling through. But the sun has come out and another chance for rain has passed us by.
. . . and every day.
I saved two fancy-leaved Begonias that I bought last summer indoors over the winter. I ordered some annual Begonias to complement them and potted them all up by the front door. Alas, the bright Begonias in the back pot are not doing much while the ones in the other pot have overtaken the original Begonia.
I added a pot of an unknown Heuchera and a Japanese painted fern to support the big pots. At some point I put a vase of the clippings from my shredded umbrella leaf in the rear and potted up a crown of my favorite fern on its way to a new location.
Before the recent rain, I potted up all my unplanted mail order plants, including Clematis 'Lime Close' and a big Epimedium, as a way to keep track of them and water them more easily. The garden is full of yellow flags marking things that have been newly planted and need water.
Turns out the watering is drawing thirsty critters who are digging the little plants out and flipping their roots up into the air. Luckily I've discovered most of that activity before I'd lost more than one plant.
I put my Cilantro, Basil, Oregano, Parsley and Mint in this wide pot and raised it up so the rabbits couldn't reach things as easily. Everything has been growing like crazy since this photo was taken. Rosemary is planted with the pot of Calla lilies above. Other than the mint, those herbs are all annuals here.
I spent time last week weeding the Carexes that cover the slopes in the back garden and removing a few where a shrub was encroaching on them. I want to replant them elsewhere and so popped them in pots, along with a few Bergenia that a critter flipped out and another mail-order plant awaiting its home.
I decided to plant a few Calla lilies this year as I am always taken with them when I see them as cut flowers. Turns out I like them less as a plant.
I might like the Calla Lilies if they looked more like the photo on the bulb package. And if all of the bulbs had sprouted. Luckily they weren't expensive and growing them was one more garden learning experience.
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.
We woke up Saturday morning to a rain/snow mix and very chilly temps. The on again/off again overnight frosts finally had me covering a few things Saturday and Sunday nights. But mostly I've decided to just let nature take its course. I'll learn which of my early plants can sail through unscathed and which plants are not going to survive the climate changes in my area.
Mostly I cut flowers for bouquets as we were having company for dinner Friday night, friends for a casual Saturday afternoon in front of the fire after they visited Mark's photo show and a few garden gals for cookies and conversation Sunday afternoon.
My daffs, Hellebores and some Fritillaries are the only flowers that are prolific enough that I felt free to cut them. This group is from last Thursday.
I grabbed the first Muscari and a bud from Paeonia mairei for a vase above the kitchen sink. I think the Peony buds may have fatally frozen and are not going to open. I wanted to see if the warmth inside the house would do anything. So far it has not.
A big bunch of Hellebores with an early Trillium sessile in a Richard Jones vase. The painting is by local artist, Chuck Bauer.
More daffs and frits. I love the pale yellow trumpets on these daffodils which fade to creamy white. I just keep adding and subtracting to this vase to keep it fresh as it's right where we sit and read.
Our neighbor's Forsythia often sends a stem or two through the fence — perfect for clipping. The big Fritillaria radeanna have been through a number of frosts and they still look quite good. I will definitely be adding more of them to the garden.
There are a few upcoming frosty overnight lows, but most plants seem to be dealing with the temperature swings. It's only the gardener who's having a hard time. Luckily I can use the rain this week as my excuse for not getting any work done out of doors — other than constantly checking plant progress. The real progress here has been the next phase of the street project.
The street crews are getting a lot of work done. The gas company almost has the new main gas line in place and piles of huge cement rainwater and sanitary sewer pipes were unloaded all along the street the week. I dragged Mark out to photograph me next to a few of them in order to give you a sense of scale. The pair above are sitting on the lawn of the neighbors across the street. I'm standing behind the one below.
It has openings on two sides so it will be interesting to see where it goes.
As you can see the pipes range greatly in size.
This row of pipes are oval rather than round.
I thought it would be consistently warmer by now and thus set up mid-and-late April delivery dates for plants I ordered on line. Two down and another one this weekend. Interestingly Digging Dog Nursery in California sent me an email saying they are moving my shipping date back from April 18 to May 18 because it has been so cold at their nursery.
It rained most of last Sunday (4/16), eventually turning into snow. It was so wet and miserable I decided not to go out and cover any plants — despite the fact that the overnight low was going to be quite low. All week the forecast kept going down.
When we got up Monday mooring it was 27°F and snow covered the garden. We left the house at 6:30 a.m. for Mark's first cataract surgery. Got home around 10 a.m. which is when I took the snowy photos. All the gravel and stones melt the snow quickly.
But the plants were still well covered. Hellebore 'Jade Tiger'
Fritillaria 'Raddeana' on Monday morning.
F. 'Raddeana' at 10 am Tuesday morning. The snow is mostly gone but these flowers are only standing up by virtue of their cages.
Just about complete recovery by 6 p.m.
That's pretty much the case with the plants I was most worried about — like Paeonia 'Nosegay' pictured in the a.m. and p.m. yesterday.
This very early blooming Peony is a second generation cross between P. mlokowitschii and P. tenufolia. I adore it. A 2014 purchase from the late, great Klehm's Song Sparrow Nursery.
I'm hoping everyone stands up straight again and that their buds haven't been fatally frozen. I went back in my records to 2018 and discovered that I'd covered plants to protect them from April frosts a good 4 or 5 times in four out of the five years. With climate change it seems our weather is more unpredictable than ever. I am thus moving toward an attitude where the plants have to survive without me.
As I write this it's 39°F (3.88°C) but feels like 33 °F. (0.55°C) Rain is forecast for 6 out of the next 10 days. I'm good with that; less happy about the overnight lows that are forecast for this coming weekend.
I dashed out around 8 a.m. Sunday morning during a break in the weather to check my rain gauge: .57" overnight. The brief moment of sun didn't last long. The 10 day forecast is mostly rain, snow and freezing overnight low temperatures.
The recent week of heat marked the end my snowdrops, so I picked a bunch to enjoy indoors last Monday.
I took a number of photos from different directions. trying to get the flowers and the details of the cup and saucer. I think the Hellebores are from an early blooming H. niger. The ferns are leftover fronds from last season.
I am interested in trying to draw this grouping. It may not happen but I took the photos so I would have more than my memory to work from.
I put this vase together on Saturday knowing the rain was on its way. The yellow Fritillaria raddeana is half its height. I cut off most of the stem to fit it into this small flower-brick style vase.
I planted a small group of Narcissus 'Arctic Bells' last autumn and am thrilled with their sweet presence. Though many of my Hepaticas have tags, I can usually only identify them once their foliage is up as that is the reason I've purchased many of them.
The big pale daffodils are N. 'Beersheba' and the tiny white stalks are the blooms of native Pachysandra, P. procumbent. They have beautiful foliage but are very slow growers.
The week began with a lovely Easter which we spent quietly at home. Mark is a big fan of carrots so I always buy him a special one for the holiday.
I got up Monday morning and went to the window to determine the source of the strange noise I'd just heard. Turns out the folks behind us were getting a new roof. But then I heard odd noises in the opposite direction.
Madison Gas and Electric company had arrived to begin putting in new gas lines for the street with new connections to all the houses. They'd set barrels along the curb last week in prep for the work, so I don't know why I was surprised to see them.
Due to this work our street is currently only one lane and one direction. When the city crews come in a week to tear up the street for new water and sanitary sewer lines — plus a total redesign to allow space for bikers and pedestrian — the street will be closed to everyone but residents.
The city crews will potentially work 7 days a week until November. Once the project is all done, there will no longer be any on-street parking. This project was not too dusty or noisy but that will not be the case with the larger city project. I think we will be spending a lot of time with our windows closed.
Mark has probably taken thousands of photos of the work this week. I have to admit the process is fascinating and the crews are so polite and friendly.
I tried to do as much garden prep as possible this week, but it was sunny with temperatures in to the 80°s most days and a lot of wind. It was exhausting as the leaves aren't out on the trees yet so there was no shade. We have been under fire warnings all week; a rare occurrence here.
Because of the road work, I went out into the street and dug up the tulips that I had planted in the traffic island. They're potted up and I'm hoping I get some blooms. A big job that was not on my to-do list.
Yesterday Mark had his unexpected project when the neighbors behind us said they'd had compost delivered and it was more than they needed and did we want some. All we had to do was come and get it
Luckily it was a downhill trip from the pile to our garden, so Mark brought three big wheel barrow loads down. We piled it on a work path until I figure out where I want to use it.
This extremely hot and sunny weather has pushed the garden into overdrive. I discovered Fritillaria raddeanea had opened when I walked through the garden yesterday morning. Last year it bloomed on May 6 — a difference to three weeks!
Frost is predicted this weekend. This seems to be our new normal. Extremely hot weather to begin the season followed by typical cold spring temps. But it's a big problem when delicate plants are being pushed so far forward. Viola odorants var. rosea will likely be less bothered by the cold swing than the hot weather. I think I will have to get flat on the ground to get a face-on image of the tiny flowers.