Rain Rain, Go away

For the last couple of hours we have had glorious sunshine with towering clouds building in all directions. I think we must have been in the middle of one of those low pressure swirls again. I've been out in the garden cutting back some of the lush growth in certain corners and deadheading roses to encourage second flush. While cutting back some soggy ground cover geranium disturbed one of my frogs. Who needs a pond when the garden is a soggy slug filled jungle.)

Still pouring in soggy Cheshire. The brook at the end of the garden is a raging torrent all the time this so-called summer.

I have been drenched three times today! Every time I get to the garden gate, the trees empty themselves over me as though someone was waiting with a bucket. The heating is on, I've made some soup, and put my dressing gown on as my clothes were dripping when I came in. Roll on tomorrow for more of them same

Yes, those darn trees do that, don't they when?
Every time I go down the garden path to the car at the bottom of the drive I have to walk under a plum tree and a flowering cherry - and they both dump their rain collection on me, every time!

I realised today I don't mind the rain too much because we've had lots of really hot and sunny spells in between. It would be different of course if we'd had the extremes and floods or if it rained for a whole holiday with kids. Because this current weather has been so prolonged, I've also got the clothing sorted with all over waterproofs and footwear for all day rain & walking with easy dry trousers and sandals when it goes from hot & sunny to wet and back again.

At our monthly Fair Trade cafe today bought a Traidcraft greeting card with these words.
'He fills the Sky with Clouds and sends Rain to the Earth so that the hills will be green with grass' Psalm 147 v.8
over a beautiful picture of clouds,fields and wild flowers.

a gentle reminder to me when I moan about the rain.

i am so fed of constant rain. Nothing in the garden is growing. I've tried to be optimistic but last Sunday it rained so torrentially that I gave up and cursed, it seems to have worked, it hasn't rained since

Plant growth is usually high in places with high rainfall. This is why Ireland is so green and why lush forest grows in the tropics (in spite of low soil fertility). We get high rainfall in west Scotland where I live and my work is cut out to keep pace with the growth in my garden. I wonder if other factors are affecting your garden and slowing growth, pinkscorpio?

Well there is photosynthesis...
I notice that the things that are native europeans grow happily in a wet Uk summer, but several of our tender summer plants come from places like mexico and s. africa where levels of sunlight higher. Things like cosmos and dahlias. These sub tropicals are not happy when skies are grey and rainfall high.

Ah yes, of course! Never thought of that. But what should one expect when taking plants out of their native environment? Always tricky.