Do you know any rain chants???

Hot, dry weather loving Daylily by gazing ball

The smell of rain is in the air...as it has been frequently, I can only hope that we will actually get some this time. We have had exactly 3/4 of an inch of rain since the beginning of May! There is an 80% chance that we will get some today according to our meteorologist on the news last night. An 80% chance is pretty good, but we have seen it rain a half mile down the road from us in both directions and remained dry here.

Plants that are established aren't the problem, as I try to maintain a lot of plants that can tolerate the hot dryness. It is all of the new things, the seedlings and little plants that I winter sowed. I hate to water! I hate dragging hoses around everywhere and I hate coiling them back up even more (ask my husband-he's always asking me if I'm done with the hoses).

I have lost a lot of plants so far this dry spring, but thank goodness for the mass amounts I started with, I still have lots to look forward to.

Dry weather isn't the only problem, with the grasses and wild areas so dry and crispy, all the woodland creatures are looking for nourishment elsewhere-mainly in my gardens! I am down to two sunflower plants, and one of those is partially eaten. Baptisia and Four O'Clocks seem to be a favorite of smaller creatures, but luckily many of those are hanging in there.

Groundhog looking for food. Our younger son saw one when we first moved in, and that city slicker thought they were beavers!

I do have Jackmanii blooming, just starting. It is going to be really beautiful in the next couple of days, especially if we really do get rain today. HF Young has grown 3/4 of the way up the rustic arch I put up last year and reloaded with blooms. It too is going to be gorgeous.

Isn't this Jackmanii beautiful?

Annabelle Hydrangeas are starting to bloom. I am not a white flower kinda gal, but these are nice because many of the surrounding plants aren't quite at their bloom times yet. A flower is a flower!

Annabelle Hydrangea

Scabiosa that I dug up from my MIL house last year is getting ready to open. I love this beautiful purple flower and (like always) can't wait to see how big and thick it will be next year.

Scabiosa soon to bloom

I finally got around to putting out one of the signs that I made over the winter. It took quite a few pounds from the hammer to get it into the hard, dry ground. Notice, I really do have weeds there, lol!!


I took the blade off of my son's broken fan before tossing into the trash and made this little windmill out of it. It adds a lot of flash out there when it gets spinning away.
Veronica Incanata is blooming. I got this pretty plant in a trade this spring and it is doing well! I of course like that the flower is purple the best!

Veronica Incanata

Yucca and ditch lilies are looking quite spectacular together down at the spillway. I never got a chance to see them bloom last year. I really like the brightness of them together. They are putting on quite a show!

Yucca and Daylily