I was going to write a post a few days ago about some of the interesting insects I've seen around the yard. But that would give you a false impression that we've been having a nice fall here. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I captured photos of the insects during one of the rare breaks in all this rain. The little packages above contain some bulbs I bought at a sale about an hour east of here. They've been waiting for the ground to dry out.
The ground is super-saturated. I have to wear rubber boots to walk across the grass to the bird feeder. The rain comes down so hard that it overflows the gutter, as seen above.
Believe it or not, there are some oak trees that really aren't that great to have in your backyard. That's because they tend to shed limbs, as seen here. This is from a 3.5 story high Willow Oak, Quercus phellos. This limb was downed by some high winds during one of our storms. But the tree will also lose limbs just from too much rain. They can get soggy and then break from the weight. That's been happening all over the neighborhood. Although an important acorn crop for wildlife, I don't recommend it in your backyard.
Lucky for me it just barely missed the plants in one of my boxes.
My Mexican Salvia, Salvia leucantha, was almost flattened by the wind. And because it hasn't had a chance to dry out, it continues to lean over. I'm afraid it might not recover but I've got my fingers crossed. The forecast is for thunderstorms all week. ARG!
UPDATE: Yesterday the weatherman in the nearby big town said we'd had rain for 22 of the last 32 days for a total of 21 inches. No wonder I'm getting so sick of this!
It's soggy here in Austin too, which is still remarkable to me after our long, dry summer. It's keeping me from gardening projects, but I can't rue the rain since we need it so badly. I'm sure that's not the case for you, so I hope you dry out soon.
ReplyDeleteJean, I hope you'll join in this week with a National Parks post. I'd love to see where you've been.
We're in the same boat in Mississippi, and tired of it as well.
ReplyDeleteIt will have to dry out sooner or later. Sooner for your sake I hope.
ReplyDeleteIt's been the grayest, coldest, wettest October in my southern living memory! Almost all my plants are listing from being pelted with heavy rains. It's hard to explain to others that the skies open up and the rain is turned on full force. This too must pass. gail
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy but the rain photos look cozy to me. Not too crazy about the fallen oak branches or over flowing gutters though. And I'm glad the branch didn't damage your bird feeder. At least you don't have snow on your pumpkins like we do:)
ReplyDeleteI'll take some off your hands. It has been very hot and dry on the island.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty funny, I was waiting to finally get some rain so I can stick in the bulbs. Now it's rained but I'm going away for the weekend, and I'm really worried the clay will have turned to concrete again by the time I return... Not so easy, that bulb planting, no matter where you are.
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