Rain - at last!

[AnneMarriott]

 

Not the promised deluge, alas, but enough to clear the air and moisten the tinder-dry ground.  First since May and very welcome.  More please!

[Fiz]

We have had several downpours since the initial tentative large drops of thunder rain. It’s much cooler too and I’m so happy for my plants. Our clematis jackmanii was going to flower again before all the scorching sun and heat but it wilted badly. I’m hoping it will now be all right.

[JohnS]

In Cumbria we've had a week of much more temperate weather, more cloud cover and even some bits and pieces of rain so the lawn (largely moss) is already greening up.   Last night's thunder didn't bring downpours locally but we now seem set for decent rain for a few days but I expect the hosepipe ban will still go ahead on 5 August.  Do hope Fiz's clematis flowers.  I'm afraid a number of plants were really badly hit by Storm Hector and they haven't recovered from the wind battering - I'll need to see what happens next spring.

[Fiz]

Thanks, John. It was a second flowering but it was only replanted a couple of months ago and I was really excited. I’m sad like that. 😂

[JohnS]

Nothing to be sad about Fiz.  There's much pleasure to be had from looking after the plants - my wife was punctilious in giving the orchids their weekly bath and I'm pleased to say they're still all surviving.

 

Not so much second flowering but second broods - the last few days I've seen lots of baby goldfinches, sparrows and chaffinches lined up on the fence needing their parents for the bird feeders. 

[Beryl H]

My garden is full of pale young sparrows, they seem to have formed groups and yesterday I counted at least 20 at the same time (very difficult as they move so quickly) one poor little thing has no tail feathers but he is very agile. There are also parent sparrows feeding babies. It rained and thundered last night but today has been fine again although windy, hoping for more rain as the ground is still rock hard and cracked.

 

[Vonrothbart]

I'm sure it will bounce back Fiz, Jackmanii is a tough nut, even in droughts like the one we've had. We have half a dozen clematis plants, and there's only one of them that seems to have struggled a bit this summer. Strangely though, it's next to a water feature, and gets watered regularly by the overspill when the birds come for a bath. (Maybe too much) Speaking of clematis, we have a couple of the Boulevard type, waiting to be planted. They only grow to about 4ft, but flower continuous from May until late September, so looking forward to seeing them grow.

[Lisa O`Brien]

It was throwing it down here, and I had to go out clothes shopping for a job I start on Monday. Needed a white blouse ( when I had my interview, unbeknown to both me and the manager, there was a small hole in the back of the blouse I wore), new shoes and tights. Up and down Hill Street, and I was thoroughly soaked. Back home now cuddling Biscuit, my last surviving cat .( Her kitten Pumpkin, who was two, was hit by a car and killed on Thursday). 

[Fiz]

I’m so sorry to hear about poor little Pumpkin. Good luck with the new job!

[Legseleven]

Lisa, I’m so sorry about Pumpkin 😔 Wishing you all the very best in your new job! X

[Jan McNulty]

Lisa, I'm so very, very sorry about Pumpkin. 

 

Best wishes for the new job, Jxx

[Anon2]

Lisa I’m so sorry to hear about Pumpkin. 

What good news about your new job. Well done xx

 

Not as much rain as we’d hoped for either. The farmers were frantically havesting to get the wheat in before the storms and crop that is still left in the fields is standing so didn’t get flattened. Storm meant we missed the blood moon though, did anyone see it? 

[alison]

Now, this is just the sort of rain we need: prolonged and steady, so it can actually make its way into the ground without eroding the soil.

 

Now, where on earth are my waterproof shoes?