Monday, August 6, 2012

Damp Surprises

Yes my friends, we got some measurable rain. Yipeeee.... When I first looked at the rain gauge I thought it said 3 inches. The red indicator is up there by the three but it was only 2 3/4". I am not complaining though. I would have been dancing in the streets for a quarter inch at this point.
The plants are responding like they are thrilled for a second chance.  The Climbing Hydrangea was dieing from the top down even though I was keeping it watered.  
Happily it is putting on some new growth. I just hope we continue to get enough rain to sustain that new growth.
I have our first mushrooms of the summer to report. This one popped up near the compost pile right where the grass has all died. Crabgrass doesn't count. The only good thing about crabgrass is that it doesn't take much water to make it green. 
This is some sort of shaggy mushroom. Don't worry I wouldn't begin to eat this thing. I don't eat wild mushrooms because I would forever be worrying about whether they were poisonous or not. It is beautiful in a sculptural way. 
This is another mushroom. Much shorter. Odd that they came in onesies. 
The staghorn fern is making babies.  
I have had this fern for years and it hasn't done much but grow a little larger. I set it outside every summer. This is where our little tree frog likes to reside. One of these days I will get brave enough to cut one of the babies off and mount it to a board as it probably should be grown. I have watched "how tos" on youtube. It looks like a simple project but I am a little intimidated about cutting into it. 
The Staghorn is also making it's spores. I have never seen this before. Maybe it was the stress of the summer? Maybe I watered more regularly due to the heat and drought??  
Another surprise was that the night blooming cactus bloomed again. Missed this one too even though it was higher on the plant than the first one. It seems to be blooming in onsies too. I have looked for other buds on the plant but can't see any. One of these days I will get some pictures of it blooming again. 
This orchid 'P. Long Pride Green Pixie' is blooming again. This is a first for me. I have never had an orchid rebloom. I am just thrilled that it is adding a bloom almost daily and it has a few more buds to go. 
Not only this one above but another one, 'P. I-Hsin Amy', has a couple of buds on it. I am feeling so successful despite the drought. 
Have you had any surprises in the garden this summer?


28 comments:

  1. Rain! Happy wetness, Lisa. You've waited a long time. But how quickly your plants recover, with just a little moisture. Here's to more. Soon.

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  2. Isn't the transformation amazing? Everything changes over night. I hope we get a little rainfall from here on out.

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  3. Oh I am blown away by that one tall lone mushroom! Never have I seen the likes of that! What treasures you find in your beautiful surroundings there!
    That last photo looked a tiny bit like a fig. LOL

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  4. Dear Lisa,
    RAIN! Wonderful life sustaining rain!
    I am hopeful we too will get rain again....
    The mushrooms really responded to your rains too. Finding joy during the drought has been my mission every day....
    Being gardeners means we carry hope in our back pockets! I love seeing how your gardens drank up the rain.
    The heat returns for us and the drought continues. I am napping in the afternoons!
    Sherry, who is begging for rain

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  5. I have that same rain gauge, and I have the exact same pictures --- when we finally got almost two inches yesterday I photographed the tube of water just as you did! Isn't it wonderful?

    I'm so glad you got the much needed rain. And your plants must be ecstatic. Everything looks so refreshed after two inches of rain (or more, you lucky gardener!)

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  6. Isn't it amazing what real rain can do? Your rain gauge is just like ours!

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  7. I am dancing with you Lisa. Congrats on the rain, I hope this means even more shall fall on the interior of this marvelous country.

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  8. We've had 90+ degree days continually since May it seems. Our utility company sent us a letter warning us about our "unusually large upcoming water bill!" LOL! At least the water police have not come to the door yet! I was bound and determined to keep my little garden alive. I lost a few things, but all in all it's OK.

    I babied a Phalaenopsis (Nobby's Amy) for two or more years trying to get it to bloom again before I finally had a funeral for it over the trash can...lol. I'm impressed Lisa!

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  9. I love mushrooms...your shaggy one is pretty!!! Very white, eh??? I am out of town right now...going home tomorrow...heard it is raining every day back home...so all my plants should still be living!!! Yeah! You have had some good surprises happening in your garden...always so much fun. That is the most fun with a garden, don't you think???

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  10. I'm so happy for your rain, Lisa! Every time there's a chance here, I check out the radar map. Saturday night I saw a few light green masses close to our area, but a huge mass over your area, so I knew you must have gotten a real rain. We got less than an inch, but I appreciated every drop of it!

    Those mushrooms are pretty cool, but I wouldn't try eating one either:)

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  11. I love taking pictures of mushrooms, they are a lot of fun to see...and I don't eat them either. Might draw one for my next color pencil work.
    My Epiphyllum oxypetalum, night bloomer, just bloomed with two blooms. Missed an earlier one this summer. Love the fragrance of its bloom.

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  12. So glad you had some rain!
    Amazing how the plants do their best to live.

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  13. haha No garden to have surprises in. I live vicariously through yours! I want to see the little tree frog. We don't have them here. The orchids are divine. So happy for your rain. That's quite a bit. oxoxo Terah

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  14. That's wonderful, Lisa. Rain is precious. Right now we are in the Red Flag stage of August. That one tall mushroom! Holy cow.

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  15. My goodness Lisa you have some very interesting plants ! The spores from the fern .. isn't it their way to multiply ? My ferns develop spores on the undersides to do that .. I used to think it was some kind of disease LOL .. I am a dummy at times .. Love the mushroom pictures .. I had a few funny ones too ... and we are also getting rain so that is wonderful .. funny how small things in life make such a difference in how we feel ?
    Joy

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  16. Very cool about the rain! Great images.

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  17. It's a miracle, isn't it. Like those desserts that turn green and flowery when the rains come.

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  18. I missed this post for some reason. To busy out in our garden or critter sitting. We have the ducks in our yard for the week and having a ball with them. The make great fertilizer. :)) They are huge now. Love that mushroom. The tall one. So glad you got some rain. hope its still raining. we are now at 96 degrees in the day time. Good ole August. :))

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  19. I love your mushrooms. Isn't it amazing how they just suddenly appear. We have some that look like orange velvet pennies. I thought they were fallen flower petals when I first saw them!

    And your Begonias are stunning. I think they are one of my favorite house plants. I have had three of them for the last couple of years and they really make a statement in the winter.

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  20. Hi Lisa ~~ Thank you for peeking in on my '(Don't) or Throw(ing) Out the Baby with the Bath Water' poem. I believe that a lot of people are not familiar with that saying. It is always a bad thing happening when one is told that, either in advice or admonishment.

    We have mushrooms that pop out in the back yard because of too much rain or too much watering. In the rainy season I gathered them so as to not let the dogs think the pieces mulched by the mowers were candy.
    ..

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  21. So happy to hear you got some rain. Let's see, surprises? Hmmmm....every day is a surprise. LOL

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  22. Lisa, I thought I'd commented on this before. If so, I'm so sorry. I love your garden surprises. Mine hasn't had a lot of surprises this year. We are still recovering from last summer I think. However, I've noticed the weeds are doing fine. Yes, that would be my surprise. The weeds are horrendous in this second year of drought.~~Dee

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  23. Congratulations on getting that orchid to rebloom. I haven't had any luck with mine. We're had a similar amount of new growth after some rain here, dying plants that suddenly decided to get a little green. Their roots must be in good shape which is good to know.

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  24. 7I saw your post on Fairegarden about the fairy crosses. I have been collecting them also in North Carolina and I am facinated by them. Do you have any photos you have shared?

    I also have some mushroom photos on my blog.

    Smiles, cyndi

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  25. ynaticihLisa, hopefully we will get some rain from Isaac, but not too much at one time!

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  26. I actually found a staghorn fern at WalMart the other day - I've always wanted one! Glad to hear what they're likely to do, it's all new to me. Great mushroom you have there, too!

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  27. I somehow missed this post and it seems as if I am just a month behind your thinking. Don't you just love mushrooms?

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  28. Hello again, Lisa!

    Delighted to see you got some much need rain – I wonder how your garden is fairing now. I’m guessing you’ve been out walking and enjoying bird watching over the summer.

    My surprise this summer was closely following an osprey family with my MIL. What fun it was (finally posted my Osprey chat). Can’t remember if you have said before or not – do you get Ospreys with you?

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