Rain! Glorious Rain!

The weather man has been teasing us with the chance of rain, to the point where we had given up believing that it was possible.


So when I woke this morning, I mistakenly assumed the sound I heard was the air conditioner running.  It wasn't until I head the rumble of thunder that I realized that was RAIN I heard, falling on the roof, and running down the downspouts!


So what does a rain-starved gardener do when it rains?  She runs out into the garden, barefoot in her pajamas, and starts snapping photos!

 I don't have a macro lens, so I wasn't able to get a super close up shot of a raindrop, and this photo of raindrops on the star jasmine is as close as I could get.  I like the effect.

At the end of a long, hot summer, the Rose of Sharon, here surrounded by milkweed, is putting on another show of blooms.  

The vitex is still blooming too. The Sam Houston peach (front left) and the River Birch (front right) are hanging in and hopefully will show some more growth in the spring.

Look at this!  The rain barrel had been completely empty and after one little rain shower - it's FULL!!


Now if Eric and I can only be sure to turn the spigot completely OFF when we use it next, it won't empty overnight again.

Looking closely at the Southern Wax Myrtle, I noticed it was covered in berries.  No wonder it's such a favorite with the birds!


Speaking of birds - most of the hummingbirds have moved on, but I noticed there was one still around and I put up a fresh feeder.   This morning I saw two out there, playing in the rain and enjoying the feeder.  

I'll miss them when they too move on.


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Time Lapse Star Gazer and other Rainy Day Garden Pleasures

 As I was sitting on the patio on Saturday, having morning coffee and wiping the steam from my glasses, I noticed something pink to the side of the grape vine.

I tiptoed across the wet grass and noticed that the small Stargazer Lily, tucked in between the grapevine and the Vitex tree, was beginning to bloom.

I checked on it throughout the day and each time, it's lovely bloom was open a little more. Not great photos, I'm afraid, because the camera lens kept steaming up like my glasses!

This Phillipine Lily looks like it's about to bloom too.

The milkweed are "sans aphids" - perhaps the rain washed them off?

I'm not sure if it's still officially Pollinator Week, but this guy was hard at work on the Rose of Sharon.

This Penta is enjoying the rain... it's neighbor is too far gone to notice...

I hope the swallowtail caterpillar enjoyed it.

I gave the Buddlea a hair cut a week or two back and it's putting out some fresh blooms, which the bees are loving.

OK Mother Nature - the rain barrel is full, you can turn off the waterworks now.

There was lots of bird activity in the garden too, and I managed to get some photos which I'll share in my next blog post.


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Star Scentless Jasmine and Other Garden Wonders

I apologize for not being very active this week.  I have a part time job on a large equestrian website in addition to my daytime job and this past weekend was a big one for us - the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event.  I didn't actually get to go to Lexington for the event (darn it!!), but I was posting reports and photos online most of the weekend.  And when I wasn't posting to our website, I was either out gardening or over at the barn, seeing my own horses.  It was too nice at the weekend to spend any more time than necessary indoors, so I didn't do any blogging.

But hopefully things can calm down a bit now and I can find time for gardening and blogging, as well as visiting all of your blogs, which I'm sure will inspire me to garden even more!

On to my blog for today: My husband is originally from California.  I think I've mentioned before that he's a self-confessed non-gardener, but he has made two specific plant choices in our garden.  One is a grapevine - and it's a table grape, not a wine grape, so there won't be a Wilson Winery (this year, at least).  The other plant he selected was a Star Jasmine, which he used to have on the patio of his townhome in California.

We installed some lattice on the fence for it, close to the patio so that we could enjoy its scent while we sat out there.  It grew very well, quickly covering the lattice and it's covered in blooms.

There's just one problem.... it has absolutely NO SCENT!

Now understandably, we were both disappointed and my husband toyed with the idea of ripping it out of the ground. But instead we opted to purchase another one (preferably already in bloom so we can be sure it has a scent) and plant it next to our Star Scentless. as we call it.

Even before it was in the ground, it filled the whole area with the most wonderful scent! (Perhaps the Star Scentless will take the hint!)

We still need to put a lattice up for it, but in the meantime, it's happily twining around the canes in its pot, so it will be okay till the weekend.

On to other garden wonders.  At the beginning of March I planted some lilium bulbs in the back border -- Dolly Madisons and Stargazers. 

While most of them seem to be taking their time and are just now appearing above ground, one of the Dolly Madisons is blooming already!

I'm not sure if the daylilies that I planted the same weekend will bloom this year, but the one I planted last year are starting to bud.  Finally, I may be able to identify the varieties!

 

When I posted a photo of our new rain barrel last week, someone mentioned we may have to raise it up and, sure enough, we did have to.  With it sitting directly on the paving stones, it was impossible to attach a hose to the spigot at the bottom.  

Since our builder had kindly left us with a pile of leftover bricks in the garage, we were able to use a double layer of brick to raise the barrel up enough to allow the hose to be hooked up easily.  It works like a charm.  I can use the hose to water plants on the patio directly, or I can use it to fill up my watering can to water plants in the hangers, or in the far reaches of the garden.

I've already got quite a bit of use out of it, watering-in new plants at the weekend, in between posting photos and stories from the Rolex.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.