Good morning, and let's get ready to Rapture! Welcome to Saturday Morning Garden Blogging.
Denver has had really, really weird weather for Denver. After a glorious beginning of the planting season Mother's Day weekend, we went into wet.
And cold.
Now, we haven't gotten down to freezing — despite the weather girl's scaremongering of temperatures "hovering around freezing" when they were actually 5° beyond that — but it has been cold for mid-May. Especially when combined with high humidity — day after day of humidity ranging 70% to 98%, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s is not what we are used to.
And it has rained every day since May 11 — and has made up our rain deficit for the year. We've gotten more moisture in the last two weeks than the entire year, well over 4" for the month.
I always thought the world would end in hellfire — not drippiness.
…but the constant rain has played hell with the tree peony. This is the second year where we've been hit with rain right as the tree peony buds have opened, turning the promise of hugely gorgeous blossoms into wet toilet paper.
Sigh.
Meanwhile, my planting has been on hold. I still have some cauliflower that needs to be planted in the front beds and the veggie patch — my purple Graffiti cauliflower seeds arrived late, so they were started later than the rest. Plus I want to direct seed some Kossack Kohlrabi, to spread out the kohlrabi season.
I did — fortunately — put wall o' waters around the peppers, eggplants and tomatoes I planted out in the heat of Mother's Day weekend. The sustained cold we've had could have really set them back. However, I also want to put wall o' waters out for planting the cucurbits: the zucchetta, melon and cucumber seedlings that survived my forgetting to water them one day (damn) are putting out their true leaves.
I was going to plant sweet corn this year, but I think I've changed my mind (unless I change it again); instead, I'm going to put in more melon plants and up my chances of success.
With the weather being what it has been for the last two weeks I'm really behind. I still need to finish cleaning off the front porch and putting the begonias in their planters; get the fuchsias; clean out the shady corner.
So I'm taking the next week off of work so I can putter at my leisure. The weather is supposed to warm up some today, although more cold and rain is forecast for mid-week.
This much sustained dampness in Denver? Maybe it's the first stage of hell freezing over.
That's what's happening here. What's going on in you garden.
P.S. -- Knew I'd forget something. Miep has started a new group, Seed Sharers.