Finally rain

I watch my online radar as summer storms brew, then split to bypass the garden by the tiniest fraction. I can hear the rumble of thunder, but if there’s any rain, it’s a few drops, enough to tease but barely enough to keep the dust down. All the worse, acquaintances remark that they’re being deluged.

While a few plants in the two rock gardens have perished, most likely due to stress from heat and humidity, almost all are thriving in the gravel soil mix. Several plants that have struggled annually in soil are thriving in the gravel with no supplemental watering.

Summer’s dryness in this garden has gone on far too long, so I must celebrate the storm that passed through last night. I don’t know the rain total, but one thunderstorm after another hit us, enough to top off the level of a few of the garden’s ponds. Plants are looking good despite the prolonged dry spell, so I don’t expect to see much change. Certainly, they’ll be happier with more moisture.

I have no clue where Euphorbia Snow on the Mountain can be fit into the garden, but I’ll work it in somewhere. An hour after our Monticello visit it was hit by a storm that came close, but missed our garden, again.

I am not one to plant many annuals, but a weekend visit to Jefferson’s Monticello has convinced me to start a few from seed in early spring. I consider this, of course, knowing my miserable track record in seed starting. The small, unheated greenhouse is ideal for starting seeds in late winter, but I must change my ways and remember to water. I’ll be semi-retiring at the end of the year, so having enough time will not be an acceptable excuse.

I’ve never worried much about colors clashing, so that makes it much simpler to work this garishly colorful Amaranth into the garden. It’s probably a bit much to group the euphorbia and amaranth.

If our weather pattern changes so that rainfall becomes more frequent, I have a bunch of plans for the garden. All are relatively small in scale. Of course, there’s not much space for anything larger. I think I’ve settled on a spot for another redbud. ‘Carolina Sweetheart’ (below) should fit nicely along the forest’s edge in the rear garden. I’ll trim a few overhanging maple branches, and it’s likely I’ll have to chop out a few roots, but the redbud will be a good thirty feet from the maple so this should work out so that there’s just enough afternoon sun.