We’ve had days of rain, this past week. I measured 5 inches of water in one of my garden buckets this afternoon, after emptying it Thursday. I made friends with the rain last year about this time (Day 157: Make Friends with the Rain) so we are good! However, I have missed being out in my garden, puttering around.
This afternoon, there was a respite from the rain. The sun broke through the clouds and the temps climbed into the low 80’s, which meant I donned my gardening clothes and headed outdoors, ready to walk the garden paths and inspect for damage.
The only casualty I found, due to the heavy rain, was that my Fireworks seedlings washed out of their metal bucket. They were only about half an inch tall, and the excessive water was too much for them. I cooed to these little green babies, scooping them off the damp ground and returning them to their bucket, which was a muddy mess. I suspect I’ll be ordering more seeds.
With so much water soaking the ground, I had concerns for some of the other plants. Thankfully, the perennials are well established, with deep roots, and they appeared to be fine, stretching up toward the sun, soaking up the rays as much as I was. Garden toads hopped away as I stepped onto the mulched beds. I welcome these little allies to my paradise.
I took the opportunity to study a couple of plants that have been growing in the southern border. I normally recognize weeds easily. But these two plants have given me pause. I didn’t want to pull up a returning perennial so I’ve let them grow. Today, I called it for one of the plants. Green and lush, it has reached a height of about three feet, without any signs of flowers or buds. I declared it a weed and removed it.
The second plant is even taller, with small white flower buds on it. It might be a Missouri wildflower, or it just might be a plant I tucked into the ground last year and it’s grown so much bigger than it did last summer, that I don’t recognize it. I have a great mobile app called LikeThat Garden. When you take a picture of a flower, tree or plant it analyzes the picture and within seconds, identifies it. I’ve used the app when I see a flower or plant I like and don’t know what it is. With the buds still closed, the app couldn’t identify this leafy plant yet. But it tried. The app suggested it might be Cannabis! Uh, no, I’m sure it is not! I got a laugh out of it though. And the plant got a reprieve. I’ll let it open its buds and see what it is.
I enjoyed sitting in the sunshine, after my stroll through the garden. I thought about removing that weed. I respect all living things. A part of me hates to pull up any green plant from the ground. However, the weed would affect the flowering plants around it, taking vital nutrients from the plants that I want in the garden.
I mused that I am much the same. I can tolerate a variety of energy around me. However, I am learning to limit contact with negative, damaging energy. Someone who sees life as out to get her and lives as a victim, or a situation that brings chaos and strife, pull vital nourishing energy from me. I want to help others who are willing to grow and “bloom”. I’ll walk alongside anyone for a time. And, I realize there are some who don’t want help, don’t want to shift, grow or learn. It’s not my role to prune them away. It’s my role to limit my contact and live in such a way that they either want to know more….or want to go down another path, away from me. I want to grow and bloom and stretch toward the sun, my roots deep within fertile soil.
I love my times of work and reflection in the garden. Peace dwells there as surely as the Lamb’s Ear, Clematis and Coreopsis, the butterflies, lady bugs and toads. The rain moved back in this evening. I accept it. It doesn’t do any good to do otherwise! The showers will stay until they move on, no matter how many times I sing, ‘Rain, rain, go away…’. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “The best thing one can do when it’s raining….is let it rain.” I am letting it rain.
