The Daily Bucket is a place where we post and exchange our observations about what is happening in the natural world in our neighborhood. Each note about the bugs, buds, and birds around us is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns of nature that are quietly unwinding around us. |
Late in July I published a diary about the effects of the severe drought on my landscaping here in eastern Iowa. I had gone weeks without mowing the lawn.
This never happened to me before. I am happy to report my lawn seems to be doing much better, as are several other parts of the yard.
Join me below l'orange fa la la.
First stop is the lawn. It is no longer tinder dry and brown. There are some patches that will fill in next year with spring rains. I have seeded those areas. Next year we might have abundant rains. I could be mowing more than normal. That's how averages work out?
In July, this rose bush was half as tall and had about a dozen blooms. It looked pretty sad. Now, it is loaded with blooms.
The barberry bushes were waiting patiently during the drought. They didn't appear to suffer. As soon as it rained and cooled off, they shot out new growth. We like their color. It matches some of the stones in the front wall of the house. Note the Obama 2012 sign.
Another rose sits around the corner. It never looks pretty as a bush. But the flowers are dainty and fragrant. It has bloomed abundantly.
We have a pair of small terraces as our garden plots on the south side of the house. We have some tomatoes, pole beans, rhubarb, peppers some years, and always basil. The tomatoes were a disappointment. I watered regularly. The cherry tomatoes were small like marbles. The regulars were tiny and few. They tasted good.
The basil was in the direct and hot sun during the drought. It didn't seem to care at all. We harvested a good crop of it for making pesto. Recipe here. I cut it back to about 4" and assumed it would dry up and die. I didn't even water it. A couple of weeks later it rained. New growth showed up. Now, it is ready to harvest again. Hardy stuff. It is native to the tropical Old World parts of central Africa and Southeast Asia.
As for the pole beans, they were a disappointment, too. They grew well up the poles. They were leafy and looked healthy. I watered often. They even bloomed some. But, during the drought they wouldn't put out any beans. Things have changed since the drought broke. There are beans all over.
What lessons have I learned? It appears that plants suffering from excessive heat and drought are very adept at conserving energy by not producing their fruit. I hope we don't have a recurrence of drought next summer. It was depressing and oppressive.
What is remarkable for you in your part of the world? Where are you? What is it like? Is there anything you want to share? We would all like to hear about it.