I was awoken at 3.30 this morning by the sound of thunder rumbling angrily; followed half an hour later by the sound of sweet rain which must have lasted a couple of hours – wonderful!
This is the first rain in a month in the garden; surrounding areas, even close by have had the odd shower, here nothing – this was good pouring rain that soaked the earth, as I said wonderful!
As you will see from the images of the slope taken at 13.00 today some plants were in desperately in need of this rain, for some it may even be too late.
Usual view with Perovskia and Fennel, both still flowering well
2 steps down from the above
Buddleia ‘Silver Anniversary’ doesn’t mind the drought, this was moved here from the large island
Weigela – scorched by the hot wind, the rain today may save it
Looking down from the top, hedge side
Looking across the slope from the hedge side
Thursday is GBFD, I hope you have some beautiful foliage to share, not like the burnt offerings above; I must share the plants that shine in the drought, that sparkle in the sun, those that give form to the garden in late August. To join just leave your link with a comment, I love seeing what is shining out in other gardens.
Is autumn making itself felt where you garden? Are end of summer storms refreshing your plants?
I admire your perseverance so much Christina – not an easy climate to create a garden in, but it is lovely with all those grasses, and now the seed heads coming too. Autumn is definitely on the way here – some leaves are hinting at orange and the nights are quite cool. We had some downpours yesterday and overnight too, but I think a few plants will have to be moved or even go completely as they haven’t looked good all summer. Hope your weigela survives!
Thanks for your good wishes Cathy; and yes sometimes I do think it is hard but there are compensations in the form of so many good vegetables. Our weather seems similar at the moment. As to the Weigela, it isn’t a favourite plant its flowers are pretty for a couple of weeks and that’s it really, the foliage isn’t great even when it isn’t wind scorched! It will have to take its chance.
It can be so satisfying to hear the rain when it hasn’t come for a while. Your slope looks good even without water–credit your gardening savvy for using the right plants.
Thanks Susie, I try!
Rain sounds so good after the heat to a gardener. We could do with some rain too.
The temperatures are 10° C lower than a week ago; so still very pleasantly warm but not drainingly hot., and the rain, wonderful.
Wonderful to read that you finally received some rain! 🙂 That perovskia and fennel just keep blooming…they’re fabulous!
I don’t remember the fennel flowering for so long in other years, I should collect some more to dry.
Good to hear of your rain and I do hope it will save those plants. We are dry but all the rain in previous months will keep everything going in our clay soil.
Yes, clay is great at maintaining water in the soil, my soil is lovely to work but drains straight away.
A good soaking rain that is long delayed can be very sweet – glad it finally came your way. Didn’t realize butterfly bush was so drought tolerant. I hope your Weigela bounces back!
Butterfly bushes are very drought tolerant. I have B. alternifolia and that is also doing very well even in its first year.
No rain in a month? Reminds me of the drought we had all last year. We’ve been blessed with plenty of rain and cooler temperatures. Now corn growers need two weeks above 95 for maximum yield on the crop and no such forecast in sight.
Sweetie, don’t mean to be a buzz kill but I don’t believe there’s a chance in h*ll that weigelia is coming back???
It looked the same last year, after 3 months without rain and it still flowered this year! But it can die, weigela are only interesting for 2 weeks a year, that’s not enough!
August can be a harsh month in the garden. I hope the much needed rain revives your plants that desperately needed it.
Thanks Karen, as long as there is more soon, they’ll be OK
Thanks Karen, the autumn rains or better still August storms always give new life to the garden.
We have a reputation as a rainy spot, but have only seen a random few drops since mid-June. It feels a bit silly to be longing for rain, but so we are.
I understand completely about longing for rain, that surprised me too after moving to Italy from the UK.
I am a novice gardener and should have started before my 50s to learn and I soak it all in… Michelle
I don’t think its unusual for women to start gardening in their fifties when they have a bit more time. Blogging is a great way to learn.
My goal is to have a wildlife and pollinator friendly garden… it is a work in progress…
Mine is hopefully that already; I never use pesticides and most of the plants attract pollinators. An entomologist found more species of bees than he had ever found together just around the lavender, which is why even if I replace the hedges I will plant more on the slope where it can grow into large mounds without spoiling the design. Not being too tidy is a great way to begin, let seedheads stay until the last possible moment, leave places for insects to overwinter, don’t mind the first aphids of the year they will encourage benificial insects to breed in your garden. Check which plants butterflies need for nectar and for their caterpillars to feed on and make sure you have both in the garden.
Thank you…I have to resist my neatness gene. I was able to find monarch butterfly eggs to raise the last 2 years and then none this year. Not one on any of my milkweed plants. We have an addiction to pesticides here and we are paying for it dearly…Michelle
Once you biuld up a balance in the garden, you really don’t need pesticides, believe me; it isn’t that you won’t have pests but they will control themselves and won’t cause you problems. Christina