Wednesday, May 28, 2014

After the Storms

It's been a crazy weather week here in the Mile High city. We've had tornadoes, hail, flooding, mudslides and lots and LOTS of rain.

Hail and Street Flooding at a Friend's House
Seems I've spent the past week glued to the weather radar, but thankfully the worst of it missed my house.

This song seems to have invaded my internal radio though! There are SOOOO many versions of it, but I think Lady Day did it best...


Thankfully, I had the foresight to harvest and sprinkle a bunch of marigold seeds before the week began, so now they're all sprouting and hopefully I can look forward to some color in the yard this summer!


The dianthus are blooming beautifully


As are the iris and whatever those little white flowers are



I started some cosmos indoors and they're ready for transplanting, so perhaps I can dig up a bit more turf while the ground is nice and soft and get more of the yard converted to xeriscape.

And the grass is actually green! That almost never happens here since I'm, ahem, not terribly good at keeping it watered. I think I see some mowing in my near future! I'm gonna need the power mower for this job though... or perhaps a machete?


I crafted some hail protectors from old hunks of screen for the tomatoes and peppers and they seem to have survived it all quite well. We only got pea and marble sized hail this time... nothing earth shattering - or window shattering as the case may be!


Perhaps I'll plant some cucumbers and zucchini this week, but I'm gonna have to sacrifice the volunteer pumpkins that have sprung up.


I'm looking forward to getting outside and enjoying the sunshine, but I'd better do so quickly because more rain and storms are in the forecast later this week!

How's the weather been in your neck of the woods?

16 comments :

  1. We've had stormy weather also, but they have been quick thunder storms that haven't stayed around long enough for much flooding. All of your plants look like they're thriving despite (because of?) the weather.

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    1. It's rather amazing actually. They're all drinking it in! Makes me feel a bit like an abusive mother or something that I don't water them better!

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  2. Little white flowers - Iberis sempervirens, common name is perennial candytuft. Evergreen leaves = sempervirens. If you happen to think of it, give the plant(s) a haircut after flowering is finished. A light trim once a year will keep it nice and bushy.

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    1. Ooooo... Thank you! They seem to do very well in our climate and with the neglect that they generally receive here. I will try trimming them though. I have a big patch of them in another section of the garden and I want to try digging some up and spreading them around a bit. Any suggestions?

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  3. We had rain all day yesterday, and over the previous night. It's a bit drizzly today, and the garden still has puddles in it. I've therefore not been to dig over any more allotment, but the potatoes I put in a couple of weeks ago are thriving! (Have also planted beans, carrots and beetroot, but have not been to check on them).
    My peas (which are at home) are doing well- there are flowers and at least one pea pod on them! I need to move the improvised climbing,,,thing I made for them though, as some seem to have ignored the support I have cobbled together for them and are trying to attack the tomatoes!

    We've avoided thunderstorms here so far- the river running down the road in your first picture is impressive!

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    1. Wow... puddles in the garden! I don't think I'e ever seen something like that here... at least not between storms!

      My friend's neighborhood got a LOT of rain and hail. CatMan and I went for a bike ride up there a day or two later and there were still piles of hail in shady spots along the creek and you could see where everything had totally washed out. My mom used to call those kind of thunderstorms "frog stranglers!"

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  4. It's been rainy here, with the occasional thunderstorm, but the weather was stellar over the holiday weekend so we can't complain. I was wondering how close the mudslides were to you! Glad you ... ahem ... weathered it well. :)

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    1. Yuk, yuk! :-) The mudslides are all up in the mountains, so not anywhere near me. CatMan actually got obsessed trying to figure out where the big one was and spent several hours on Google Earth finding just the right spot - he's into geology and wanted to see what it looked like before the slide. It was rather impressive!

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  5. Weather has been pleasant here (highs in the 60s and 70s, lots of sunshine) with little rain storms every few days. I really can't complain - I haven't had to water the garden yet!

    Very happy to hear you made it through all your wild weather :)

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    1. That sounds like just about perfect weather! Warm, but not too hot and just enough water to keep everything green!

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  6. Our weather has been unusually nice, and has been getting nicer the past few years. We're technically in a drought, but we get so much rain anyway that it's pleasant for now.

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    1. It seems to be feast or famine where water is concerned here in Colorado. We've had years and years of terrible drought... and then starting last fall it just got crazy! Flooding, rain and lots and LOTS of mountain snowfall. I think the snowpack for the South Platte river basin is at 250% of normal! It's hard to complain about too much water here, but it has bee interesting!

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  7. That first picture with the rain is a trip. So much water -- I doubt we'd see that much in a year in Phoenix. I've been away but the weather here has been surprisingly nice, considering it's their winter, or, late fall, or whatnot, down here. Highs in the fifties or sixties, but sunny.

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    1. That sounds beautiful... and probably much more comfortable than it is in Phoenix about now! :-)

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  8. I'm also stunned by that first picture. We have such low rainfall here in Australia. Our weather has been nice. It's the first day of winter here but it's been unseasonably warm so far through autumn.

    I just love looking at your garden photos. I am right in the opposite lifestyle to yours with stupid busy work hours. I am working towards more garden time in the not-so-distant future...!

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    1. We generally have very low rainfall too... only when it rains, it pours as the saying goes! And I remember those days of crazy busy work hours... so glad to be past that phase of my life! Hang in there... it will get better. :-)

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