Usually by this late in the season I only water my plants selectively, but not this year. In a few days we would’ve hit 7 weeks without rain. Well, it rained twice in that time, but the first time didn’t even register on the rain gauge, and the second time brought us an insulting .08 inches. I was really starting to worry about some of the trees in our yard and around the neighborhood. They are already under enough stress from the gypsy moths, and some of them were starting to look droopy and jettison their leaves early.
The only time I regret growing so many flowers is when we have dry spells or a drought. Even with the help of soaker hoses, I have trouble keeping up. The next water bill is going to an eye-opener.
I thumbed my nose at yesterday’s forecast of “scattered showers” since we’d heard that one before, but even the weather service was caught off guard when our “showers” turned into a major rain event. The skies opened up and it rained and rained for hours. At one point we were even under a flood advisory. The official measurement at the airport on the east side of Madison registered 3.40 inches which clobbered the one-day rain record for September. We did not receive that much rain on the west side, but 2.5 inches will certainly do the trick.
It was the perfect remedy for a long, dry spell. The flowers and trees should be able to recover before our first hard freeze which I fear is right around the corner.