Welcome home. That's the message I got from the garden when we got back from vacation last week. We were only gone five days, but what a change five summer days can make.
When we'd left, the peonies had given up and hardly any other blooms were in action. But a burst of heat and some (more) rainfall have opened up the clematis buds and yielded a riot of delphinium, astilbe, coneflower and malva. The pea plants have gone from mere stubs to vines serious about business. And what had been teensy would-be tomatoes are nice dark green hopefuls.
The watering system we'd rigged up in our absence mostly worked, except one plant that a kind neighbor took pity on, so we didn't come back to dead plants. We put pots inside the raised beds so they'd get the benefit of the timed water lines, which looks funny, but it's effective.
Really, nothing makes me value the garden more than coming home to it after time away. Except did I mention what the weeds did in five days? Eeek.
What have these prolific rains wrought in your garden? And what's your strategy for getting your garden through vacation?
