Two inches of rain later, I finally had a chance to get back in my garden today. The weeds I tried to pull near the downspout were a little sticky on Friday, but absolutely gummed up today. I never realized just how much clay is in our soil. It was stuck to everything, my gloves, my tools, my jeans, and most of all, the roots of the bindweed and bellflower. I had to crawl into an awkward, tight spot to pull what I needed, and I spent an hour and a half getting it done thoroughly. It was just long enough that when I got up to stretch before digging the hole for the rose, Mr S-P came back from errands and was available to start digging for me. I still had to finesse it and pick out a thousand and one deep weed roots, but he made quick work out of what would have taken me all day.
I hope the two day delay in getting a bareroot rose in the ground wasn't fatal. It was literally just in a loose plastic bag, in a box. No wood shavings or moss to hold moisture on the roots. When I checked on it at the beginning of the all-day storm, it seemed too dry, so I spritzed it with water. Fingers crossed that was the right call.
As we predicted, once the sun came out, we were able to see an explosion of color out front. There is a profusion of purple that just didn't photograph as vividly as it appears in real life. The deep purple columbines were especially lovely, set off by irises, phlox, and candytuft. The lilacs are still going strong. I should pick a few blooms and make a simple syrup out of them again.
Before I turned out the lights last night, a livestream on YouTube caught my eye. A strong line of storms rolled through the part of Oklahoma where I grew up. Devastating tornadoes hit Sulphur (maybe half an hour to the southwest of my hometown), and Holdenville (about the same distance northeast). I heard there was some serious flooding in Ada as well. Colorado may be my forever home now, but I'll never fully stop being an Okie. My heart goes out to everyone back in the old country.
No comments:
Post a Comment