Good morning, and welcome to this month’s edition of Frankenoid’s Day Off. I don’t know if this is so much of Saturday Morning Garden Blogging as much as it might be a Saturday Morning Ain’t Gardening Much Blog.
Weather has not been a gardener’s friend here in Northeast Ohio this year. I know it’s nothing compared to what some folks have been going through in terms of severe weather. Those folks certainly have my sympathies.
Nevertheless, this spring’s gardening activities seem to be limited to damage control, and this summer in the garden might be the real “recovery summer.” Heh.
The yard spent the majority of April and May submerged. It finally dried out enough last weekend to get out into the perennial beds to work on them and see how things are doing.
Some plants are lost. Rosemary, a poppy plant, thyme and some lilies and other bulbs succumbed. It also seems that the annual seeds would ordinarily have sprouted from last year’s plants got washed away. Only a few calendula and alyssum plants have appeared. Salvia, nicotiana and celosia are nowhere to be seen.
Some plants are barely clinging to life. I’ve taken cuttings from the catmint and lavender in case they don’t make it. Not much I can do about the one remaining poppy, though.
The tree peony and three of the clematis are suffering or stunted, as are the daylilies and balloon flowers. Even the hydrangea and lilac both have little, stunted leaves. One poor peony is only 18 inches tall and has no buds. It was such a large, beautiful bush at this time last year with such stunning watermelon red flowers. I hope it bounces back next year. Then maybe I can figure out a way to photograph it without the intense color getting distorted.
The wet weather also took its toll on critters. It seems that the worms and slugs drowned. There are so few worms in the soil that the robins have been eating seed out of the bird feeder for weeks now. And I have yet to see a single bee.
Meanwhile, however, some plants weathered the weather just fine.
And some plants are actually thriving on the extra moisture, like those in the areas that normally would qualify as dry shade.
Of course, the water loving variegated willow loved the extra water best; it pretty much doubled in size.
That’s what’s going on around here. What’s happening in your gardens?