Sooo... I spent the day out working in the garden yesterday. The xeriscape was looking quite lovely with everything blooming, and I was gonna take some pictures for y'all. Unfortunately I didn't quite get around to it, and then at about 11pm this happened:
It went on like that for about 20 minutes. Oy Vay!
Well, at least the hail house got another testing. I daresay it fared a bit better this time around:
I still need to extend the hardware cloth down the north side (on the left) because the hail keeps coming under it. But inside their little wall-o-waters, the tomato plants fared just fine.
The container plants which were out in the open took it a bit worse, as a few leaves got damaged, but their little covers protected them pretty well.
I'm thinkin' I'm gonna move them under the hail house, even if it will be a bit crowded.
I can't even bear to post any pictures of my poor little xeriscape. The dianthus, iris and salvia were blooming so nicely. Sigh.
I can't even bear to post any pictures of my poor little xeriscape. The dianthus, iris and salvia were blooming so nicely. Sigh.
Holy Moly! That's 2 major hailstorms and it's not even mid-June yet! Hail season is usually in July around here. Hmmm...
Anyhow, I should be grateful. Here's what the neighbors a mile down the road were dealing with:
Seriously, the storm apparently stalled about a mile from my house, and one little area about a block square just got hammered with several feet of the stuff!
Pretty incredible. This photo from the air shows how it just nailed one tiny area.
And then there are the folks up north of Denver...
And then there are the folks up north of Denver...
Yup... those are hail stones, not snowballs!
And I haven't even mentioned the tornadoes...
And I haven't even mentioned the tornadoes...
Anyhow, remember my picture of the flooded swim beach at Chatfield Reservoir?
Well... here's the same spot about a week later:
I tried to take it from about the same spot, but I couldn't quite get close enough.
Seriously, weather gods... what have we done to offend you?
Wait... don't answer that!
I know, I know... weather is not climate, and you can't blame any one storm on global warming. Somehow, I don't think it helps though.
I dunno folks, I'm startin' to think it may be a while before things are back to "normal" around here...
In the meantime... I think I'll be adding some more hardware cloth to the old hail house and calling the insurance adjuster to look at the roof.
So tell me about your spring... There must be nice weather somewhere!
Well... here's the same spot about a week later:
I tried to take it from about the same spot, but I couldn't quite get close enough.
Seriously, weather gods... what have we done to offend you?
Wait... don't answer that!
I know, I know... weather is not climate, and you can't blame any one storm on global warming. Somehow, I don't think it helps though.
I dunno folks, I'm startin' to think it may be a while before things are back to "normal" around here...
In the meantime... I think I'll be adding some more hardware cloth to the old hail house and calling the insurance adjuster to look at the roof.
So tell me about your spring... There must be nice weather somewhere!
It looks as if we are having our third sunny day in a row in the UK Midlands. Sadly, three sunny days is usually our quota for summer!
ReplyDeleteOK... there's some perspective! We average over 300 days of sunshine here in Denver - part of why I love it so!
DeleteIt's winter here in Queensland and it was a beeeauutiful day. But we have had our weather events here in the past. No hail though. However when I lived in the northern suburbs of the states capital Brisbane we used to get hail now and again. Nothing like your photos though. Whoa.
ReplyDeleteThe photos of the people shoveling out are pretty incredible aren't they?
DeleteI've never seen that much hail! Crazy!!! Hope your weather evens out soon. We are having a gorgeous day here in west MI.
ReplyDeleteWell... I've crafted a plan to cover the open west end of the hail house - we'll see how it goes. I'm so glad somebody has gorgeous weather!
DeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteHere in Austin, TX we have not had any crazy weather in several days!
You were due for a break, I think! :-)
DeleteI have never seen that much hail either. I think you need a new name for your blog--EcoCatHailLady. A little wordy, but oh, so appropriate.
ReplyDeleteHa! Hail to the CatLady! Or something like that... :-)
DeletePurrfect!
DeleteYoiks! Even when it hails here, it is only for a couple minutes. I'm going to stop complaining about our weather (this month). It has been too hot or too cold here. The too hot is very unusual, the too cold, not so much. Today, however, was perfect. I'm going to try to find a way to post your hail pictures to facebook. People need to know!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure somebody has posted the ones of the neighborhood with feet of hail - those were news photos, not mine. It's rather incredible though, isn't it?
DeleteA hail house, that is a great idea. I am glad your tomatoes survived.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I know the hail house seems a bit like overkill, but it's making gardening fun again! :-)
DeleteWe've had crazy weather here in Houston too. No snow, but storms, hail, and (as you probably already know!) crazy flooding! But now it's settled, and we have the beautiful summer sunshine. Hopefully it's spreading up your way!
ReplyDeleteBethany @ Online Therapy and Coaching
http://onlinetherapyandcoaching.org
I'm so glad things are drying out there. Some of the photos I saw on the news looked frightening. Interstate highways turned into rivers and the like! Here's hoping sunshine finds us soon!
DeleteThat's crazy! It's June I can't believe Denver is still dealing with snow. Please don't send it my way we are finally having some nice weather. We have been experiencing thunder storms more nights than not but at least during the day it's sunny and warm, 80s warm. It looks like you are having a bit of everything, hail, snow and flooding. The only thing you aren't having is nice weather.
ReplyDeleteLove how you've renamed your hoop house the hail house. You may need to enclose the whole thing, with doors to enter and exit if your hail keeps up. More like a green house.
I'm sending you positive thoughts for some nice weather to come your way very soon.
Thanks for the positive thoughts... and that wasn't snow, that was several feet of hail! Unbelievable!
DeleteMy project for the week is to craft some sort of doorway for the hoop house so I can enclose the open end. I'm sorta laughing at myself, because with all the money I've sunk into the hail house, I could have purchased a truckload of heirloom tomatoes! But you know me... not one to give up! :-)
I missed that all together. I thought you had the hail and those shoveling out their walks and cars had snow. That's an awful huge amount of hail. I've lived through earthquakes, tornadoes, winter storms that would shock those who don't get snow but never, never have we had a hail storm like what you get.
DeleteI was doing the math and figured the amount I'm spending on plantings I could have stocked my entire freezer and pantry for a year with organic food so I know what you mean. That's just not how I am, It would be so boring to simply buy my food when I could spend hours in the garden. :-)
Well, you can be forgiven for being confused - it sure looks like snow! And I wasn't terribly clear looking back on my post, oh well. Hoping for a sunny day tomorrow though - CatMan and I rode the other day and only had to spend about 20 minutes under a port-a-potty shed hiding from a storm! Someday we'll get our weather back! :-)
DeleteOMG! Where we are, "stalled" storms happen a lot. It is amazing that just a few miles away, the weather is so much different. I didn't realize what kind of hail y'all got. Wow!
ReplyDeleteI'm sooo grateful that it didn't stall over my house! Seriously, I've never seen that much hail either! :-)
DeleteThat is some crazy ass hail. Mother Nature is drunk.
ReplyDeleteDrunk as a skunk! :-)
DeleteAmazing! I've never seen hail like that in rea life. I think I would quit gardening for good if that happened regularly. As it is I gave up tomatos because I hate watering daily in July.
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess this is my attempt to make gardening fun instead of stressful. I'm really hoping that the combination of the hail house and the drip irrigation system can swing the stress/fun meter to the fun side.
DeleteThose hail stones!!!! I really can't believe no one got killed, though I'm glad for it of course. Seriously, getting one of those in the head?!
ReplyDeleteMaria
I know... it's pretty incredible. Hail that size is not unheard of here, but thankfully it doesn't happy very often!
DeleteWow, I hadn't seen those photos of the giant hail stones. I guess it could always be worse, right? I hope all of your plants survive, and I always enjoy your garden updates. (I'm pining for a hail house like yours!) xo
ReplyDeleteWell, Hail House 2.0 is complete - I've added some extra hardware cloth. I sorta think I'm crazy, I mean for the amount of money I've spent on this thing I could have purchased several CSA shares - but you know... it's the principle of the thing!
DeleteWell, our weather is not as showy and impressive as your hail storms and floods. And we are no longer in spring here. Low 70's at night and low 90's in the afternoon with occasional pop-up thunderstorms (but little rain) and lots of sticky humidity - or as we like to call it "air you can wear." Yes, it's summertime in Georgia. Your hail house sounds like a good project. I'm all for making gardening more fun!
ReplyDeleteOy! I seriously don't know how you people handle that humidity. It's usually very dry here, but lately we've had our share of wet air and it's downright oppressive! You have my sympathies!
DeleteHere's how I handle the humidity: I think of places that are getting hammered with hailstones the size of baseballs, and then I go get another glass of ice tea :)
DeleteHa! Iced tea solves so many problems, doesn't it? :-)
DeleteYour right about that! And as far as humidity goes, we occasionally have a break in the weather when we get blessed with low humidity and it always feels so great! I feel sure I could get used to it as an all-the-time thing.
DeleteYou wouldn't believe the number of people around here who complain incessantly about the weather. Right now we are in a period of flux...cool enough for a sweater one day, hot enough to be bitchy the next. But we don't get many storms, or hail like the stuff you posted. We don't get tornadoes, or hurricane's or earthquakes. The most exciting thing is a thunderstorm that takes down tree branches. Even our winters are tame comparatively. I love weather! It fascinates me. I did a blog post about storms. We are waiting for some nasty weather courtesy of Bill...I say bring it. Give people something to complain about. Sorry about your tender plants Cat.
ReplyDeleteI love weather too. In my next life I think I'm gonna be a meteorologist. !
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