I always loved this little saying from my childhood. My mom would quote it whenever we complained about a rainy day in spring. How true it is! This year we almost broke the local record for the rainiest April in recorded history, but had to settle for second place.

I’ve been on vacation for the past 10 days – camping in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida (Disney! Fun!) More about that later in this post . . .

We didn’t encounter much rain on our vacation. We avoided the tornadoes and devastation that swept through much of the south, but saw plenty of evidence of it as we headed home up I-75 to Cincinnati. My heart goes out to those who lost their homes, friends and/or relatives in those horrible storms. It makes all of my little complaints seem insignificant.

Except for my grass growing to about 8 inches tall, everything looked great upon my return. I was able to get part of the lawn mowed yesterday, but it was slow going. Ideally, it would never get that long. If it does, you must mow very slowly to avoid bogging down the mower. Set the blade as high as possible, and mow in two directions: north-south, then east-west. And never leave clumps of cut grass on the lawn. My lawn is still a bit ragged, but should look better after the next mowing.

As you can see, above, the borders are bursting into bloom. I sneaked out between showers to take the picture, which shows the amazing golden foliage of Tradiscantia ‘Sweet Kate’ and silvery gray Artemisia ludoviciana ‘Valerie Finnis’ in the foreground. The yellow flowers are a rather short bearded iris. These are from a passalong plant that I received from a friend, and in turn, have passed along to several gardening buddies. My mother used to call bearded iris by the cute colloquial name, “flags”. The lavender-blue bulb is Camassia leichtinii ‘Caerulea’. 

I have to say “thank you, thank you, thank you!” to my neighbor Margaret, who took care of my houseplants and tons of seedlings and cuttings and other plants while I was gone. She even unpacked some plant shipments and tended them tenderly until my return. Neighbors like that are one in a million!

As part of my whole thrust towards sustainability and conservation, I’ve been learning to ride a motor scooter. It is a great vehicle for zipping around, getting a whopping 70 miles-per-gallon. I recently got my motorcycle learners permit, and signed up for the Motorcycle Ohio Basic Rider Course, which unfortunately was booked all the way out until July. In the meantime, I’ve been practicing on my own – but appearantly not enough.

I suffered a minor accident on my way to  to visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden, resulting in a few scrapes and bruises, and a broken collar bone. On the first day of vacation! And I never got to see the garden, which I had been looking forward to so much . . .

Now I can’t pick anything up with my left arm, which is strapped to my side. I will be gardening with one hand only for at least the next month. I’ve been absolutely forbidden to use a wheelbarrow. No turning the compost. No digging holes or toting rocks. Planting annuals and vegetables should be o.k. I’ll keep you posted.

I will say that I had a fabulous vacation. I was able to do a lot of things, and my family was amazing at stepping up and helping out. I’m rested and refreshed and ready to tackle the garden, even if only one-handed!

If you have ever had an accident or other problem that caused you to modify your gardening techniques, I’d love to hear about it. Just leave a comment!

Happy Gardening,

Sue

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