Our water tank has a little red ball poking out of the top. It should be on a long stick as the internal part is floating on the surface of the water letting us know just how much we have left. But it seems to be constantly positioned on a short stick as we ride the rest of this season of little rain. I crunched the numbers at the beginning of the month from my weather station. In March we had a whopping 52mm of rain, of that 27mm fell in one day and 12mm fell in an hour, so you can see from that it has been a little dry here, with no real expectation of it changing in this mild autumn and so I’m holding out for winter rains to well and truly fill the tank.
It might not seem like it is connected, but we went to visit the fabulous Ayrlie Gardens on the weekend. I’ve been there before, you can check out that visit >HERE<. But this time I went for a plant sale with a group of friends. While it is great visiting gardens with Hubby the Un-Gardener who would much rather be at a boat show, to visit gardens with friends who actually like gardens is so much better. We discussed the possibility of buying this plant for a corner of someone’s garden over the possibility of that. We ummed and erred over the merits of one variety over another and even had a lively chat over which shade of bromeliad would go better – the pinky green or the greeny pink. To a non-gardener the finer points of conversations like that would be lost. But it wasn’t lost on me. They went with the greeny pink.
But the interesting thing is the garden is situated on the opposite coast from us. About an hour away on the East Coast. As we drove across the country from our slightly cloudy but definitely dry place, the conditions deteriorated, and our garden visit was very soggy indeed. It didn’t bother us in the slightest. Rain is something to dance in, and what better place to do that but in a garden!
I was quite restrained in my purchases, not saying there wasn’t the temptation, but I have learnt from experience, if there is no hole ready and waiting – plants die. I did buy a French Tarragon as it was on my ‘keep a look out for’ list and I was delighted to finally find one. More often that not I come across Russian Tarragon which grows easily from seed, but the superior French variety comes from cuttings. So, I was happy. Hubby the Un-Gardener did join our group of gardeners on this visit and developed a sudden interest in air plants – Tillandsia. So, I suggested he start small with just a few and then if he doesn’t kill them…. I’m hoping this isn’t the beginning of an Un-Gardener encroachment. But I only have myself to blame, I’ve been dragging him to gardens for ages so it only seems logical that something should stick at some stage.
So, after a fun day out, we headed home, slightly soggy but grateful for a time spent in an inspiring garden with inspiring friends that help to enflame my garden passions leaving me in anticipation for the next time we get together in this way. But on the drive home, the weather seemed to reverse itself and went from the almost torrential to showers, then to drizzle and dried to nothing at all. We didn’t get a single drop at home and our little red ball was sitting exactly where we left it, minus the amount used for a load of laundry in the washing machine.
Come again soon – maybe we will get a spot of rain…
Sarah the Gardener : o)
Hopefully you have some rain now! We have had torrential downpours all day, and it looked like most of the west coast was also cloaked in a rain belt on the weather map, hopefully some came your way! Gardens in the rain are the best place to be (if one is suitably clothed for it), I love the smell of wet earth 🙂
We got some rain, enough to take the pressure off, but not as much as we would have liked. The clouds seem to pass right over us and dump their load further in land. : o)
How odd that the opposite coast is within driving distance. It took me a minute to figure that one out.
At the narrowest point it is 12kms. When I was younger lads would take you on romantic dates where you would watch the sunset on one coast, then go clubbing all night and then watch the sun rise on the other side! : o)
Young ladies should not be out all night! Goodness!
I have seen the sun rise over the marshes of the San Francisco Bay, but it is not the same as seeing it rise over an eastern coast. That would be weird. Everyone knows that the sun only goes down into the ocean.