The thunder rolls…still

  It’s raining so hard that it appears as a mist between the house and the potager.  Look out down South…the flood waters are a’comin!  After the forceful winds subsided and rains galore yesterday morn took a short break mid-afternoon, I was able to spend a soothing hour pulling tiny, tiny weeds in the potager beds.  It’s amazing how quickly they pop up.  I took a moment to admire the adorable “Penny Peach Jump-Up” violas that have filled in a corner at the entrance.    The Asiatic lilies have really grown in the past couple of days, and the volunteer dill seedlings shade out any weeds.  Later on, a bit of thinning will be required, but for now they can all rub shoulders.  And the cauliflower is loving this cool, wet weather, growing by leaps.    The great bit is that all this rain is preventing the cabbage butterflies from flying around!  One must look for silver linings.  And that’s not yellowing cauliflower leaves at the base of the bottom right plant, but a couple of volunteer lettuce seedlings.  Speaking of lettuce, the “Little Gem” is appearing on the menu almost daily.  We love its crispiness and each miniature romaine head is a perfect single serving.  That’s it along the bottom edge below.  They’ll be harvested   just as the neighboring Swiss Chard needs more room to grow.  The photo above is bed 5 e, which looks very different than it did when last pictured on April 18. That’s the same “Little Gem” lettuce on the far right edge! The “Green Arrow” peas on the fence are 3′ tall now  and beginning to bloom!  What a difference 4 weeks makes!  In two other beds, I “mudded in” a couple of tomato plants (a “Juliet” grape and a “Sun Sugar”) after sliding their trellises easily into the soft, muddy soil.  They may not be happy in these cool, soggy conditions, but they were outgrowing their pots.    The “Defiant” and “Polbig” (shown above) cold-tolerant tomatoes are looking great, don’t mind the chill, and have doubled in size since they were planted last Saturday eve.  I worried about them in the STRONG winds, but they seem fine.

In the Front Garden, there aren’t many flowers now that the tulips and dwarf irises have finished other than these “American” columbine.  They self-seed throughout this garden.  The hummingbirds enjoy it, and I’m glad to have something in bloom there until the irises and lilies open.   The baby “Yellow & Orange” columbines grown from the Plant World Seeds order are growing nicely in the greenhouse, and they will add color next year to the now nearly flowerless Front Island.  It’s always tricky to get that “constant” bloom with perennials.  Normally by now all the annuals have been planted, but not this year!  In the Deck Garden, I give thanks for the “May Queen” shasta daisies who fill in and provide flowers for the eye.    Otherwise, there wouldn’t be much of interest.  With the cool weather, the annuals in their pots awaiting planting are not changing very quickly, or maybe it’s the fact that their fertilizer has been washed away by continual rains.  I’m sure they are all more than eager to get planted, but it seems only a few manage to get into the ground between storms.  At least we haven’t had hail (YET!?!) so I’m counting my blessings….  Hope there’s more growing where you are!