July showed up wet and topical here in our part of the Ohio River Valley. Brief but angry thunderstorms. Long, gentle rains. Soakers and Sprinkles. Gully Washers and Frog Stranglers.
And when it’s not raining, it may as well be, thanks to the humidity.
But the garden loves it. The tomato plants are taller than me. The cucumber vines are clambering up their supports like circus monkeys.
The weeds are thrilled, too. A perfectly weeded bed seems to snap back to primordial forest in 24 hours. When I accuse my kids of growing like weeds, this is what I’m talking about.
Now where is that garden hoe? It’s been at least 30 minutes since my last weeding.
How’s summer faring in your neck of the woods?
NestOfSquirrels 
There is nothing like water from the sky. After years of drought, my garden has also become a jungle and it is too hot to do anything about it.
Between the rain and the heat we feel like we’re living in a tropical rainforest 😉
It occasionally rains here in Oregon too, but only from my hose. I’d be very grateful for a few days of real rain. Normally, the rains end around July 4th (it’s kind of a local joke that it always rains on Independence Day), but not so this year. It hasn’t rained in a couple of months. We’re all a bit shell shocked…
Boo to drought! I feel for our fellow gardeners who are suffering from a lack of rain. Not much worse for a garden than not enough liquid sunshine. Hope you get a good soaking rain soon! Cheers, Ben
Thanks! These last couple of days have had much more pleasant temps, and – believe it or not – today it sprinkled!!!! Not enough to make the ground wet, but enough for a few drops on the windshield when I was driving. I was hoping for more, but am grateful for whatever comes down. 🙂
Beautiful pictures. Those roses are absolutely gorgeous
Thank you so much! The June Beetles have been snacking on them and seem to be multiplying quicker than we can pick ’em off.
Yes, beautiful roses! In Maine the weather has been temperate with just the right amount of sun and rain. Can’t complain!
Thanks, Laurie! Glad to hear your garden is getting the all the sun and rain it needs! Cheers, Ben
Thank you for the chuckle. I thought I was the only one weeding every half hour. Glad I’m not alone. 🙂
I know it probably just seems this way, but I swear weeds grow at 3X the rate of whatever plant it shares a bed with. 🙂
I think you’re getting all the rain! (probably shouldn’t have said that) I am having to hand water the delicate stuff and containers almost daily.
There is nothing like rain for growing things – weeds included.
We’re usually hand-watering at this point in the summer too. We feel pretty lucky! (Except for the weeds 😉
The lack of rain hasn’t really stopped the weeds!
I think nothing ever stops weeds 😉 Every gardener needs a nemesis!
I think that was a Star Trek movie! that is where the weeds here came from – outer space superweeds
I bet your weeds are just loving the rain. I seem to have quite an abundance, too.
If a few (okay, a lot) of extra weeds are the price to pay for a happy garden, I’ll take it 😉
Glad your’e enjoying the rain. Weeds seem to pop up as soon as you turn your back, don’t they? I just finished hand-watering this evening. The dark clouds are passing us by and it’s become extremely hot again.
Hoping you get some refreshing rain soon!
wow…!! beautiful scenery and shots….
Thanks so much!
Hardly any rain here, how nice to have the watering done for you. Your roses seem to be enjoying it.
We’re usually hand watering by this point of the summer, so it’s a pleasant change. Hope you get some good rains soon!
Reading your post and catching up on many others while it rains 😉 We’re working on a new landscape project for our shade garden while also adding some new tree specimens to the property. Hardly ever a dull moment at Vanha Talo Suomi!
Glad to hear things are progressing! Can’t wait to see your new projects! Cheers, Ben
Summer has been unusually warm here in Western Washington. Many of my flowers already have the “dry August look” in July. We’re excited that it’s only going to be 76 today–when we hit 90 all of us struggle and complain. 🙂 A little rain would be nice….
Wishing you and your plants soft rains and gentle temps for the rest of July 🙂
we’re having a lot of rain, too and the plants simply love it 🙂 lovely pictures, Ben and i can’t imagine those tall tomato plants. thanks for such a happy post to welcome summer! cheers 🙂
Thanks so much! Now if only the tomatoes would hurry and ripen! 😉
It’s very warm and sunny here in South East England. We turn our backs for five minutes and another crop has bolted! We’ve just lost our broccoli because of the hot weather, but our tomatoes are loving the sunshine and are ripening up nicely! Sounds like your toms are doing well also! 🙂
Sorry to hear the hot weather is wreaking havoc on some of your plants. Our tomato plants are big but have yet to produce much yet…hoping for a bumper crop soon! 😉
I haven’t had to water yet this season except for new seeding and transplants. The accompanying cool weather has been problematic.
Yes, we’re enjoying not dragging around the hoses and watering cans, too! The all the wet is bogging us down a a bit though, and I’m hoping all the damp doesn’t give rise to a host of mildew, fungus and disease.
What a perfect (and poetic) description of this wet, muggy summer, Benjamin. We must be under largely the same weather system. The drainage ditches are sparkly clean from all the scrubbing they’ve gotten lately. It has been too hot (and I’ve been too chigger bitten since the 4th) to stay on top of the Japanese beetles, so our roses are more chewed than your pristine buds (great shot, by the way!). I figure weeds capture carbon as well as any other plant. We get to them as we can. When my partner sees me pulling weeds he reminds me they hold the soil against erosion in these heavy rains. Who can argue with logic like that? Best wishes for a fruitful summer,
WG
I approve of and will hereby adopt the logic of weeds as carbon capturing erosion control! 😉 And our roses are now heartily chewed upon by a hungry army of June bugs that descended on us like a plague. C’est la vie! And best wishes for a fruitful summer to you as well! Cheers, Ben
Cheers 😊
Saving lots of money on water bills this year but hoping it doesn’t get too sticky once the pumpkins are forming (don’t say it out loud–powdery mildew…ick!) Otherwise, no complaints (squirrels). Okay, no non-rodent complaints. 😉
The cheap water bills are nice, but we are also worried about the prospect of mildew, fungus and disease that soggy weather can bring to the garden. Fingers crossed for your pumpkin patch! Cheers, Ben
I switched to a bush variety pumpkin this year. Much easier to contain and (hopefully) better airflow to discourage that mildew. (PS, I never do anything about it. It’s unsightly but as long as it comes late enough, it doesn’t hurt the harvest and who needs more chemicals? Not us! 🙂 )
We’re limited on space so pumpkins usually don’t make an appearance in our garden…we might be tempted to try a bush variety, though. Great idea, thanks!
I’m growing Gold Nugget (Botanical Interests) this year. Starting to bud and the plant is only about a foot and a half tall. Package says up to six fruit (1-3 pounds) per plant. The squirrels might say otherwise, mind. 😉
Fingers crossed and Squirrel-Away Spray applied! 😉
Like your title: that’s long been a favorite song in our house — from Disney’s version of “Winnie the Pooh,” I think.
Our house too! I sing it to my daughter whenever we get a gully washer 🙂
We’ve had a lot of rain in southern Ontario too. Big, blousy, angry ones, steady, determined ones, and the best of all — the farmer’s rain. Gentle, ever so gentle, and lasts hours, ensuring the rain soaks the earth. I’ve been thankful for it – very little watering to do and the garden feels like it’s in Ireland — or maybe Oregon/Seattle.
Sounds lovely! I love the term “farmer’s rain.” Adding that to the ol’ lexicon! 😉
I love the way you describe what’s going on in your garden. 😀 Your roses are beautiful.
Thank you! 🙂
We’re in year four of a drought here in California, so it’s dry, dry, dry. We’re limited to watering two days a week. We had the briefest and rarest of thunder storms last week, just enough to freshen the air. Lovely.
Great photos of your garden.
We’ve been watching the drought out west and feeling sorry for y’all and all the plants suffering through this summer ;-(
Thank you. We have our sites on an El Nino, the ocean warming trend that often portends rain. Fingers crossed. I’ve really missed planting a vegetable garden this year.