So Thankful for 1/2" of Rain!!

I cannot water everything, all the time!  However, about once-a-week I make the rounds, over a two-day period, of watering everything I can for 45-minutes to 1 hour.

Nothing.  I repeat, Nothing.  Nothing compares to rain water.  The very composition of rainfall is so much different from that of tap water.  And nothing does a plant as much good as rainfall.

Even in drought conditions... and even if it totals only 1/2." 

We are truly grateful.


Real clouds - what's left after the rain.  :-)

Sad viburnum... evidence of extremely dry conditions.  And, no.  I cannot water everything!

 It did love today's rainfall.  A drop on a leaf.  It may be too late for these berries, but hopefully not for the bush!

 This is one Happy Heuchera! 

Tomorrow this Rhododendron will look Much Happier!  (And I even watered it 3 days ago.)

SG

We Received 3/4" Rain Last Night!

 

It makes a person SOOOOO happy!

The * rain barrels * are again full!

I hope it happens again soon.

Thanks for the prayers.

Thank you  LORD!!

Amen!

:-)

Rain Dance!

We received 1 1/2" of rain yesterday!!  Friends in town reported only one inch.

The photos below show the best "panoramic" view I could get of the front just before it came to town.  I was parked at a restaurant near the new Goodwill store...

As a result, my three water barrels are full! :-)

 This is the best I could do to show you WATER!

:-)

Happy Shady G!

Violets and Tricyrtis - Oh, My!

Our Garden Tour was rained out today . . .

We'll try again.

Hardy Little Miss Susan Scare-the-Birds was out there in the elements. Believe me, I tried to offer retirement, but she thought that with a little new makeup, a new dress and shirt, she could make another "go at it!" So there she is, out there in the storm.

Do you see the river that flows through raised beds and especially through the Woodland Walk?

Can you imagine I was at loose ends?
Can you imagine I was feeling a little melancholy?

But guess what! I was able to give a mini-tour to a special guest!
Let me explain . . .

Two years ago, before he stopped blogging, I visited "Iowa Boy," who gave me a wonderful tour of his gardens. He was very generous and shared a few plants. When I found I was going to be on this year's Garden Tour, I wrote and asked if he and his wife would like to visit. At the time, he didn't think he'd be able to make the trip. However, there was a break in the weather (meaning the sun "came out" for about two hours before it rained again). And guess who rang the doorbell?

Yep! "Iowa Boy!" Mr. Shady enjoyed visiting a bit about prairies. But I was very happy to let him wander around through the gardens about which you read. :-)

Again, he shared a couple of plants with me:

Tricyrtis formosa 'Autumn Glow'

and a Korean Violet 'Syletta'

This is an unnamed violet he shared with me in 2008.
Do you see its first offspring?

Believe it or not, I was able to share a couple of my plants with him! He took home a baby Dwarf Aruncus - Goatsbeard and a Dwarf Astilbe 'Pumila.' :-)

This improved my outlook considerably and Made My Day! I know of the superstition that says you're not to thank a person for the gift of plants. So, I'll just say "Thanks!" to Iowa Boy for his visit and his generous nature.



We'll try having that Garden tour next Sunday, June 20. I hope it works out!! After all, the sun still shines - above the clouds! ;-)

Have a great week!

It's Bloom Day and ...

... it's Raining.

It rained a Lot yesterday,
again last night and, so far,
all day today!

It's been dependable, steady, and fairly gentle.
Enjoy the sound.
:-)



But it is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day,
brainchild of Carol of May Dreams Gardens!
And I couldn't miss the opportunity to participate.
Why don't you visit to see who else has posted?
And make sure you post sometime, too.

First of all, indoors...
(Is this #4 or #5 for these to bloom since coming indoors last October??)
The kalanchoe has never stopped blooming!
Cute unnamed violet beginning to bloom again.

The violet below USED to be what I named 'S. Blushing Raspberry Icee'
(click here to see photo of what she looked like
when I purchased her!)
Oh, well! Perhaps that's what happens when one takes credit
for something one didn't do! ;-)


Now, let's unfold that umbrella, cover the camera and head outdoors!

* In the Sunny Corner Bed *

Mother's Day Gifts for Grandma (me)
from my two visiting grandchildren!
Thanks L and A!
I love you, too! :-)

Last year's new coreopsis 'Nana'
Light yellow iris are standing despite the rain...

* In front of the house *
Dianthus

Sweet Woodruff and soon-to-be blooming sedum
* In the Raised Bed Gardens *
The chives are beginning to blossom.

Hurrah for Alliums!

We began our Alphabet Garden over Mother's Day!
(check out the sign!)
'Blue Spectacle' tulips planted last fall

Obedient Plant 'Vivid' is NOT obedient!
(Too late did I find out that the White Flowering variety IS!)
Want some?

* In the Backyard *
Heucherella 'Quicksilver'
Not really blooming, but it's getting ready! :-)
As is this astilbe... just getting ready!

I know, I know...
I have a love/hate relationship with ajuga (bugle weed).
The plant fulfills a purpose. If it gets "out of hand," you can
share it, dig it out of unwanted places,
or chop the runners so it can't spread.

I enjoyed the tour, as I haven't been able to be outdoors all week!! The reason??

I'm recovering from a heavy dose of the flu. "The family that cares, shares." Normally that's a good thing! ha! However... the flu... Now, that's a 'Shady' subject!!

Rain, rain, rain! WOW!

Wednesday morning we woke up to 1.3" in the rain gauge. Yesterday (Thursday) there was 1.9" in the rain gauge (yes, I'm emptying it every morning!). This morning (Friday) there was 3.6" in the gauge. And we hadn't been experiencing a dry spell.

Pretty crazy.

There had been a LOT of runoff...

My neighbors and I hit the ground running early this morning!
Water has a way of intruding where it hasn't been invited.
They had need of a wet vac, towels, and fans.

Later, we checked out waterways, drainage and the roadway. (The latter needed
a little "recompositioning."

Next, I picked up sticks and hickory nuts that had fallen all over the yard.
Three loads to the ravine! ;-)

I found this little guy in the front yard -
a Fall Webworm larva.
Click on his name for information about him.
Actually, he'd been abandoned after I'd picked up his home
and many, many of his siblings, and deposited them in my wheelbarrow.
After being reunited, they all received a free ride to the ravine.
But... there are always treasures!

Such as the following fungi.
(Note the blades of grass... these are very small specimen.)

This little stink horn had obviously had it.
He had fallen over; looking pretty gruesome to boot.
All in a morning's work.

Rain!

Entry updated 7/23/07
Rain! We received 1.8" of rain late afternoon/early evening yesterday. Yippee - except that it POURED and from uphill neighbors and the upslope of the front of our own yard, run-off happened! Ran a river... right through the SW part of the yard! And it happened again this past week... 2" through the night and early morning.

We received another .7" this morning. And it looks like there will be rain again tonight! (And it happened again... 2" through the night and early morning.) Both nights' downpours were preceeded by high winds, and hail the first night (not always a good sign).

I have a goal of eventually creating a "dry bed" on the south side of our house... which would facilitate the run-off, and look very nice at other times. At least everything looks wonderful out there. And I've been able to discontinue watering for a few days.

Here's a photo of my "Madonna" day lily being nibbled by a kinda-cute little green insect. I was just told that it's a katydid nymph. He's down in the center. Click on the photo if you want to get closer. A tribe of these fellows, all of different sizes, made themselves at home on another bloom, practically denuding the petals of their color. (See the tiny spot where this fellow has been working?)
This is a Blackberry Lily. I first noticed it blooming yesterday. Out back, in the shade . . . hmmm, where's my lemonaide?

Just a Quick Note

Just a few views of tonight's short-lived downpour. We received .3" last night and another .1" just now. The pan in the second photo hasn't been emptied for two days... nearly full again. The third picture was taken from the bedroom window, looking towards the raised beds (and my compost pile). Note the running "river."

It was a beautiful day, all day, and I was able to mow the lawn(!). It really needed it! I raked the front yard and emptied three, full, five-gallon buckets of grass clippings in the compost pile. If you look closely, you can see the grass in the compost pile! Now the grass can grow again! The forecast for the week is... more rain.

I can't really complain. It doesn't help, anyway. But, the good thing is... I haven't watered a single hanging pot for many days! Everything looks Really Good. And flowers are beginning to bloom like crazy!

A thought . . . I wonder if Oregon and Washington states are receiving their normal rainfall. Or, have we gotten theirs, somehow?

(And it's begun to rain again...)

Your Soggy Shady Gardener

My It's Been Rainy!

On Friday (June 1) we had 2 1/2" of rain by noon! It was an amazing downpour. There were a couple of sharp lightning cracks, but that was about it. The mailman told me there was more rain and severe weather forecast for later in the day. That wasn't the best news I'd heard that morning. (This is generally where I get the weather forecast... from husband, neighbors and the mailman! ha.)

Flowerbeds, lawns, and everything outdoors were already "soggy." There's no sense in trying to garden at this point, but things are most definitely lovely and lush. Here are some photos. This is the front of the house. It does get some sunshine.
At left is the hanging basket of impatiens. NOTE the Giant Swallowtail that's been settling down during the past couple of weeks.
On the right is the front "sunny" bed, looking towards the house. Red husker penstemon, daylilies, cat mint, one lone yellow iris, a hanging dianthus, and some little blue allium behind the hanging basket.

And here's a close-up of a very wet daylily saying, "What happened?"
Last night, from 6:30+ was June's "First Friday Art Walk." Store owners, craftspeople, artists, organizers, (click here)Musicians, food vendors, etc. had put much effort into this month's extravaganza entitled, "All Things Italian." The weather cooperated beautifully. Not a drop of rain. Hardly a cloud in the sky. It was a lot of fun and very well attended.

There was another 1/2" in the rain gauge this morning, which I left in the gauge, from last night's rain. I took a few short treks across the squishy front yard today. The squirrels continue to drop small clusters of leaves as they attempt to make their nests in the branches. Oak leaves are hard on the grass, so I try to keep them picked up and in the compost pile.

Today (Saturday) began high school graduation parties. The day was "balmy" - a relief!

However, tonight as I began to write, it began to rain again. It really poured for awhile. I don't know what it's doing right now (it's raining) there are so many trees. Moving leaves often sound like rain...

Well, I guess it's time to check the rain gauge again. (9:30 P.M. - the total was 1.6" for the day.)

Your Damp Shady Gardener!