Monday, June 15, 2009

A Daisy If You Do

Canterbury Bells cope with heavy rains.

37. That was the number of undaunted bikers who peddled past me as I ripped away at the weedy mess that some day (soon) will become My New Street Garden.

I avoid working out on that busy street as much as I can. (Hence, the weeds.) When I do work out there, I absentmindedly tally up all the passers by.

In between torrential downpours, I'd scurry outdoors to make a little bit of headway on my great, big, garden project.

Then, I'd scoot back inside when it began to rain. Which it did, several times during the afternoon.

I felt kind of lucky, in comparison to those overly optimistic bikers. They saw rays of sunshine as an end to this misery, not simply an intermission. And, they didn't have a garage to dash into when that intermission was over.

It's not a gentle rain. Thunder, lightning, fierce winds... pretty much all the drama Mother Nature can muster.

She's been raining on us every day, for 2 or 3 weeks, now.

Lawns squish underfoot. Horses stand dejected in their muddy corrals.

Weeds aren't even weeds any more. They're mushrooms!

My water wise perennials are near death. Drowning from the one thing this high plains desert never gets: too much moisture. So, I guess when it comes to environmentally conscious gardening... I'm damned if I do. And, also if I don't. :)

* 'You're A Daisy If You Do' is an old wild west term implying that if you cause trouble, you could get shot, and then you'll be pushing up daisies. Popularized by Val Kilmer in the movie, Tombstone. Which, incidentally, is a great cowboy flick if you're stuck inside on a rainy day.

2 comments:

Granny J said...

Well, you've had moisture from this weird weather we've been having. What we've had down in Central AZ is clouds & coolth. We should be frying, this is June. I guess that for my plants, not much is different -- except that the pansies are not completely gone yet.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Granny!
I didn't realize the rain was missing you. That's too bad. Imagine the wildflowers that would be in bloom in your desert if you were.

You'd have to start up a whole 'nother photo blog! :)