And then the rain came

Finally the rain came, and the garden breathed a sigh of relief.

Or maybe that was just me? After months of no proper rain we had 36 mm the other night. The garden felt so much fresher the day after and the herbaceous perennials in the borders that had started to wilt, perked up.

 

We don’t have a drought tolerant garden, as such, but a lot of the plants that we grow will cope with little or no water for long periods. This has more to do with the plants that we enjoy to grow, rather than trying to create a “drought tolerant garden”. This because most years there is more rain than sun and the plants requiring sun and good drainage will rot.

We also made it the rule when we started the garden that it should never be watered, something which is usually no problem, untill this year. This has ment that the garden hasn’t looked too bad. But also as we garden on silty soil, which has the capacity to draw water from deep in the ground, even the grass has stayed green.

The high temperatures has ment that the tomatoes I had to plant in the vegetable garden has done really well. They were ment for the new greenhouse, but seeing that it isn’t up yet, into the vegetable garden they went. We enjoy growing several different varieties which we can create colourful salads with, and colourful photos.

Another crop that seems to be doing really well are the pumpkins. For the first time we might actually get Turk’s Turban pumpkins as well as a range of other edible and ornamental pumpkins. Off course we had a plan to have even more varieties, but some of them didn’t get planted as early as they should, so it’s doubtful that the tiny plants will be able to give any fruit, but we probably have six weeks or so until the first nightly frost, so fingers crossed.

As well as pumpkins, the courgettes are doing exceptionally well. They usually crop well every year, even when we don’t have a very good summer, but this year they have got going earlier than usual We are going to have a bumper crop on all four of our plants, so the hunt for good courgette recipes have started. (Four? Why on earth would you have four courgette plants you might ask. If I only I knew…)

The exotic garden should have thrived in the hot weather, but the lack of water has ment that it’s not growing as well as it should. It’s divided into two main beds, and the one closest to the house, and also the side that gets more shade, has grown the best. The cannas have done exceptionally well. Especially Canna ‘Musifolia’ and Canna x ehemanii which is putting out flower spike after flower spike. The cannas does not overwinter with us, so they have to be moved indoors before the first frost.

The hot weather has also ment that we are having masses of thrips. These tiny pests live on flowers and completely destroy them. We’ve had this problem before also, and it sorted itself out after the rain and cooler temperatures started again. Or maybe it was the natural predators that finally built up large enough numbers? If you haven’t seen thrips damage before, have a look at the photo under.

And just to end on a positive note. The Zonartic Pelargoniums are doing really well in this weather. This is ‘Lovely Wera’