Soggy

 Rain every day.........almost every night...........everything is completely saturated................I think I'm mildewing sitting here. 

Yesterday the sun did shine for a few inspired moments before it decided to go away again for good.  There was a storm eight miles away from us that dumped 2.5" of rain in less than an hour, causing major flooding.  Last night there were several more storms, nothing strong, but the rain amounts are staggering in some places.  We lucked out with 'only' a half inch.  Our entire county was under a flash flood warning all last night and today doesn't look much better, with a 40% rain forecast.  Yesterday's forecast was only for 20%...so hold on to your life jackets, you may need them!

The only flowers in the yard safe from really high water are the ones in the tall plant stand!

I'm getting tired of trying to weed or deadhead or do much of anything else outside, it's just too wet.   I never thought I'd say that--especially after the last six summers in a row where when we would get rain, it would be barely enough to settle the dust and then weeks would go by with nary a drop.  Then I spent my days hauling hoses from one location to another, watering by hand.  This year, the hoses are neglected in coils by the barn.  So, ok, that's one perk of this relentless rain.

 There are a few lilies to come yet which is a good thing, because it seems as if everything bloomed all at once which will leave us with a lot of summer with nothing left to look forward to. ( Remember I said I like flowers in bud almost more than full bloom?)

We are lucky here, because our soil is very sandy and drains well, at least in most parts of the yard (the vegetable garden is not in a good drainage area).  There is a five foot deep tree spade hole left from when we had the last tree moved out by the veggie garden.

There isn't anything around this hole to give it any perspective, but the water is over 4' deep and it's not going anywhere; the soil is completely saturated.  Less than a foot away is the veggie garden which has this much water underneath it.  No wonder it's giving up!

I'm ashamed to post this picture, but here is what the tomatoes look like now, after almost a foot of rain in a few weeks.  They were grown from seed and doing so well at first.  We didn't spray this area and the mosquitoes are unbelievable too, coming in droves whenever I pause to take a picture.

There is one tomato still clinging to life---I hope it survives.  Oh, well, on to prettier sights:

We were given a gift certificate to a local gardening store and this aluminum eagle caught my attention so here he is, perched on the east berm overlooking the quarry pond.  I hope he can fend off the herons when they come in to harvest our frogs and fish.

The rudbeckias are doing very well but then they are planted in nearly pure sand here, behind the quarry.

Even the 'Pixie Meadowbrite' echinacea is looking pretty good despite liking much drier conditions.

So dark out today, taking these pictures I felt as if it were dusk instead of early morning.  It hasn't rained yet, but it will.

The hydrangeas are taking the dampness hard too, though they are still doing their best to bloom.

Dawn Redwood in the rain.

Despite everything, the lilies are still going strong, and they smell heavenly.

The drain holes in this flower pot were plugged a few days ago and the plants looked awful.  After fixing the problem, they are rewarding me nicely.

Daylily 'Spider Man'

I had to cut the picture session short due to................you guessed it.........Rain. 

Until tomorrow, Karen