I can't tell you how much I've loved the rain. This is my favourite time of year I think. Suddenly everything is heavy and green and dark. When the rain falls it just seems to accentuate it. I can almost feel the plants drinking the water and growing, growing. Just a few weeks ago trees were still bare, but suddenly, bam, an explosion. The combination of warmth, light and copious amounts of water is magical.
I know some people don't like the rain. But without it we wouldn't have this amazing greenness everywhere. Our balmy little island needs to be soaked regularly to keep it washed and watered and beautiful.
I trotted down the back lane earlier, avoiding the puddles (mostly) and picked a few sprigs of the white lilac that I knew would be blooming at the end of it. In the garden everything is as pert as can be, even the artichoke cutting that I took for my allotment neighbour that I'd pretty much given up on. Turned out all it needed was to be drenched in rain.
I need to make some time to plant out the things that are crowding my windowsills. In the living room it's all gone a bit feral. The cucumbers are flowering and grabbing onto the courgettes. In the kitchen I have a tray of squashes straining towards the light. I read Alys Fowler's article in the Guardian the other day where she said that they will be slug food, I've planted them too early. Well, not mine specifically, but it did occur to me that mine have done exactly what she warned against. I'm learning all the time, next year I'll sow them later.
The lettuces have already gone the way of the slug. One day they were there, the next day I couldn't even see stumps. In a triumph of hope over experience I have more ready to be planted out. Somehow I usually end up with some salad leaves for most of the summer. At the moment we're having sorrel, which is perennial so it gets off to a better start. It's a great thing to plant so that you have early salad leaves, and it pretty much keeps going all season.
Tomorrow I shall sneak away from my desk (dining table really, but that doesn't sound quite the same) and do a little weeding then sow carrots. Better late than never.
I love the rain too. I love most British weather (wind is the only thing I hate!). You took some lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteWe took a bit of a board and laid it next to the plants the slugs were feasting on, the theory being that they would hide under the board and them you could capture them. We saw evidence that one had been on the board. Then we went hunting under nearby big clumps of earth. We found a slug and a snail! No further evidence of munching but we are on guard. I enjoy the rain too although I have been known to moan about it if it stretches on for 20 days in a row.
ReplyDeleteHappy gardening, CJ! xx
I think your climate must be very similar to Oregon. It's green as heck here. Sorry about the slugs eating all your salad. Dang slimy beasts. It was gorgeous here today! Enjoy your growing things. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteThose lilac blossoms are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteHappy planting.
DK
http://pointylittlesticks.blogspot.com
You know me, hopelessly devoted to rain. :) I love that photo of the squash tendril wrapped around the stem, how cool. It reminds me of a baby's fingers wrapped around mom's pinky.
ReplyDeleteКак прекрасна ваша весна!
ReplyDeleteThe ran has been delightful hasn't it. We have recently transplanted the majority of our fruit trees into the ground from pots. The rain came at he right time - two days of downpour to help them settle in - wonderful! I've rather stupidly sowed my courgette seeds direct in the ground thinking it was a little too late for pots. Can you imagine anything more fresh tasting to a slug!! Hope all is well with you and yours xx
ReplyDeleteYou are so right of course that without the rain our wonderful country would not be the beautiful green that we are renowned for. But whilst I understand that and also love to grow in my garden I have learnt to put up with it rather than embrace it like you do. I will try harder. Take care.
ReplyDeleteEverything is growing like mad now, isn't it? That magic combination of water and warmth. I'm learning all the time with sowing, planting, etc. Gardening is a life-time of learning, I think. Gorgeous while lilac. Our lilac lilac is just starting to flower. Sam x
ReplyDeleteIt does take some restraint not to sow seeds to early. The first sign that we are heading into spring and everything becomes a bit antsy.
ReplyDeleteYou've encapsulated in words exactly how I feel about summer rain. Verdant growth here too and lots of thick, drippy tree leaves xx
ReplyDeleteThis gentle rain is lovely isn't it? Everything smells so fresh. I love the photo of the little tendril curling round. Just off to follow the link to that article - I've a feeling I've peaked too soon with the squash too. I love the idea of a feral living room - ours is just the same at the moment. Happy weeding. xx
ReplyDeleteI love spring and summer showers too. It wakes everything up!
ReplyDeleteA most enjoyable post and lovely pictures. I agree about rain and the time of year. Happy gardening. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteLots of growth here too, my husband is battling with the lawnmower as I type :o) Love the lilac - next door used to have two lilacs and an apple tree with the most amazing blossom that used to hang over our fence, but unfortunately it's been bought by developers who've stripped the whole lot out - hey ho, it looks like I'm going to have to go tree shopping! Have a great weekend CJ. Jxx
ReplyDeleteThe rain has really turned everything lush and green. Thank you for the link to Alys Fowler's article. I fear I have done the same thing and sowed seed to early, but my squash plants have looked a whole lot better since I put them out on the garden table.They have lapped up the rain and sun and are out of the way of slugs hopefully.
ReplyDeletesuggestion - reduce all your eggshells to a coarse almost granular consistency, and sprinkle in the garden beds, takes a while, but slugs and snails hate it, and eventually stop venturing anywhere near !
ReplyDeleteLilacs are mt favorite flower, I adore them but can't grow them here in Florida. My whole harvest consists of two tomatoes, I am not kidding.
ReplyDeleteMeredith
It's going to be a bad slug year. I just know it.
ReplyDeleteI feel it too. They're coming. CJ xx
DeleteYes, it is almost possible to hear all the plants growing! I don't mind the rain unless it is continuous (which it often is here). You know, dogs eat slugs, ours does anyway.. maybe you'll have to get your dog sooner than you thought :-) Happy planting xx
ReplyDeleteWell that is interesting information indeed. I'm taking notes. I would definitely want one of those slug eating dogs. I wonder if I can try it with a few before I buy... CJ xx
Deletemy courgettes were slug food last year..... this year they probably will be too..........
ReplyDeleteWe seem to have dodged the recent rains but yes, it's like the head gardener pressed the button and wham, everything has burst into glorious leaf and blossom (though not so much in our garden). I've read that, due to the milder, wetter winter, this is the year of the Supersized Sleepless Slug. I think you may need a very large dog (and definitely not a cocker spaniel 'cos ours won't even eat cucumber). Now wondering if my go-to kit of oven gloves and kitchen tongs will be enough to deal with the ginormous blighters.
ReplyDeleteI love this time of year so much too CJ. The rain is very welcome and I love the way you described how it's needed by our precious plants and trees.
ReplyDeleteI smiled when Monty Don waxed lyrical about this time of year tonight on Gardeners world. I think he called it the blossomiest time of year . I've just added that word to my dictionary on spell checker.
I do hope you have a great weekend. I have 13 hours at work tomorrow...but I've just had 3 days off so I can't complain, well I could :0)
Jacquie xxx
I love the vibrant green of this time of year so I'll put up with a bit of rain for that! Actually I don't mind rain so much as the wind. I know I'm living in the wrong place for that :-) Good luck in your battle with the slugs xx
ReplyDeleteNot had any rain here to speak of for a while. Your fig is well in front of our fig which is getting acclimatised to life outdoors. I've got some cucumber plants ready for transplanting - they'll be a few weeks before they have any flowers. I can never work out if I'm early or late planting stuff. Our battle with slugs and snails continues!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about rain in May. It's so very refreshing, you can almost hear the plants drinking it. It's downside is of course that it brings out the slugs. I too have windowsills of messy seedlings that I'm too scared to put out yet. They've even started to munch some dahlias in my mini greenhouse. Happy gardening!
ReplyDeleteCathy x
I'm not a fan of the rain, as you know, but I heartily agree that we need it. I can't believe the change in everything in our garden just over a weekend. We went away Friday, came back Sunday, and BAM, everything was twice the size and twice as green! I love this time of year. Full of promise. Happy gardening to you. xx
ReplyDeleteSpring rain is wonderful. I just wrote a post about hedgerows, and how I enjoyed walking yesterday in the drizzle. Everything is so lush and verdant when it's damp. I once saw a vintage cream Rolls Royce parked under the trees by a churchyard. It was in the late spring, and it was raining, and the whole scene seemed like a perfect beginning for a novel.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bit poetic for a Thursday lunchtime, isn't it? I promise I haven't been at the gin!
Good luck with the planting. And I do love sorrel, it makes delicious soup.
S x