Normally, I don't mind rain that much, but these weeks of heavy rain every day, inch upon soaking inch? They grate on your nerves.
Many of the little pots of seedlings (out on the covered patio) were floundering, so I've had to rearrange them (mostly by taking the pots out of their trays to allow better drainage). The kiddie pool full of repotted daylilies didn't seem like such a great idea, any more, so Monday morning I moved them out again. They're clustered around the protection of the large pink loropetalum.
- - - - - - -
Monday morning, while looking out the window over the kitchen sink, I spied something red moving rhythmically over by the fire pit. Binoculars revealed a woodpecker, picking at the ground. (There's a lot of decaying wood in that area. Probably a veritable buffet for an insect-eating bird.) It was a pileated woodpecker-- the kind with the cool red crest. We saw him again in the same spot, this morning. No photos, I'm afraid. (Too far away for the regular lens, and by the time I get the super-zoom lens, he's gone.)
Less exotic birds-- doves, mockingbirds-- have been making their presence known, lately, too. I've been seeing a blue jay, and cardinals visit fairly often. There's a tiny brown bird that I think may have been nesting in one of the pots on the patio. I might have inadvertently frightened it away to another spot, though. Donald put out the hummingbird feeder on Sunday, but with all the rain, it might be diluted, now... Then there was just a glimpse of a bluish bird, but I didn't see it well enough to identify it. We need to put up a platform-style feeder. We keep meaning to, but never get around to it.
Blue jay gathering nest-building material:
- - - - - - -
The Joseph's Coat roses are soggy and drooping:
The Knock Out roses look pathetic. The weight of the rain has some branches bowed down to the ground.
The younger, smaller yellow KO roses are faring better, as they don't yet have any long, heavy branches to droop. (I'll probably cut back most of the roses, this winter... or fall.)
The old-fashioned climber is still blooming. I was feeling a little resentful that the rain was ruining its bloom time, this year, but there are still plenty of closed buds. Maybe next week will be better.
The newly opened roses look as fresh as ever.
Spider on a birch leaf:
Heavenly bamboo (nandina):
Moss (down in the wettest, shadiest part of the yard):
A soggy morning in the garden:
The vegetables remain standing. Dare we hope that the aluminum collars are working?!
Let's close with a rose... and wishes for sunnier days to come. Please note that they should be pleasantly cool sunnier days, not the type of steamy, muggy, humid sunnier days that drive you back indoors after a few miserable, sticky minutes. (Yeah, right! Like that's gonna happen!)
