After the storm
A week ago we had 20 minutes of rain and wind that was almost of Biblical proportions. I exaggerate, of course, but for a short time it was mildly terrifying as the sky went black, gutters overflowed and hail battered the garden, making holes in leaves, clattered against the windows and even scraped the shade paint off the greenhouse. Hedges were bent double in gusts of wind and canna leaves were shredded and those pots and trays that should have been put away after their contents were planted out were shoved into hedges.
The water butt overflowed like a ‘jet’ and the drive, which is stone chippings and not tarmac, became a stream.
But, as is the way with these summer storms, an hour later the sun comes out and all is calm and you wonder why you (and the cat) cowered in the house in fear of your life.
And so the garden is recovered, though there are the telltale rips in large leaves as a reminder.
There are flashes of colour in the lemon meringue garden, though it was only when I took this photo that I noticed I had missed one of the lupins when I deadheaded them!
The bed of hostas and hemerocallis is looking good, and it seems that the later buds are not so affected by the gall midge that caused me so much disquiet last month.
In the polytunnel the sweetcorn is growing well (I grow a second batch outside for a later crop) and the vines are carrying a good crop this year.
And this summer I stood the two tender jasmine in the polytunnel and they are enjoying the warmth and humidity. Jasminum sambac is growing slowly but producing a few flowers. They are ‘extra’ large and rather fasciated, with hundreds of petals but last for more than a week and have that heady perfume of jasmine tea – not overly strong but rich and satisfying.
Earlier in the year I mentioned the ‘new’ potentilla ‘Mango Tango’, when it was first opening its flowers. It has enjoyed the good soil soaking and is growing strongly and flowering well. It is looking to be a good shrub with a slightly different twist on the more common kinds.
And ‘Citrus Tart’, which has the novelty of semi-double flowers, is flowering. I am not sure if it will start later than the others in future years – it was only planted in spring – but it has only been in bloom for a week. The flowers are not larger than the usual but the extra few petals do make the flowers ’rounder’ and fuller and the colour is crisp and, if it proves vigorous, will be very welcome.
The Biking Gardener 
Goodness, I am glad we do not get weather like that. Did you see the hail in Colorado in the news?
I did! I do keep a watch on your weather and you have had it bad in so many places this year. It is comparatively moderate here
Oh, that is not our weather. Colorado is a long way from here. Our weather was about as weird, but by other means. We had the worst frost since 1990 and the worst flooding since 1982, both within the same winter. Then, spring and summer were weirdly mild. It got to 90 degrees for the first time on Saturday! Tropical plants that need warmth to grow are stagnating. Lily of the Nile is not even showing color yet, and tomorrow is Independence Day!
I knew that you had had some strange weather. It is weird that it is so cool there this spring. Even I have got some agapanthus just coming into bloom! Even the wide-leaved kinds, which got caught by late spring frost have flowers coming along, though they are later than the deciduous kinds.
We’ve had plenty of rain but nothing so dramatic!
Our weather is becoming all or nothing these days too…
It does seem to be more extreme here and gets stuck in a rut
Glad to hear you survived the deluge! I like those two potentillas – there’s a wild potentilla here that’s a perennial, not a shrub, so I imagine these shrubs might survive.
There are wild potentillas here including some that grow in bogs and another that grows in dry, stony soil. The shrubby species are all tough and ‘fruticosa’ is native to Canada so should do OK with you I guess. There is lots of shrub breeding happening there and i am not sure where these are bred.