Sunny Days are Here Again

Sunny days are here again
The rain is gone,
The clouds reigned in,
Oh, the flowers are blooming all around
Sunny days are here again.



That is about how I feel after weeks of rain. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. This is the healthiest my gardens have ever been in Utah. I have flowers that plants that are twice the size they were just last year (Miracle Grow every two weeks also helps - don't worry US Federal Trade Commission, I received no compensation from the makers of Miracle Grow to pitch their product. I am furthermore, making NO claims about the effectiveness of Miracle Grow to increase plant growth, bud formation, or flower/leaf size - so Big Brother, if you are reading this hopefully my disclaimers are adequate). Now back to my blogging - I should have Zucchini squash ready to harvest in a week or so, and I already have some good sized tomatoes on the vine. My beans look like they are going to bloom soon. So really all this rain has been good. We had our last big down pour over the weekend with a strong, short-lived thunder cell. I have a bucket on the back patio and it measured over an inch of rain from that one event (it's like living in Oklahoma).

I have all the plants and the water feature for the corner garden so all I need now is to bring in about 6 yards of top soil to build up the garden and side of the patio and I will have my backyard landscaping complete (well, maybe a few more projects like moving some sprinkler heads). I am dreading planting the bigger trees in the garden because I know that once I go down about 6 inches, I hit rocks embedded in clay. I will worry about that when I get there. So far I have managed to get everything in the ground and most of it seems to grow.

I was excited over the weekend to see the lilies starting to bloom. Two summers ago we bought all the lilies that Lowes had on their blowout rack for 50 cents a pot (originally $9 plants). Sherrie put them in large clusters in the ground. They are huge and absolutely covered in buds. They are opening to large intensely orange and pink flowers. The clematis which had made their was to near the top of the trellis over the past few weeks started a second blooming. I love the clematis because of the beautiful exotic flower that it has. It looks like it should grow in a humid rain forest, but thrives in my high elevation, desert backyard. My nasturiums also started to bloom. I remember growing these as a child because they were easy to start from seed. I put some seeds in a planter with a fern. They have a beautiful flower on them also. I couldn't speak about the beautiful flowers blooming without mentioning the dahlia that just started blooming Saturday. I will have to lift the dahlia tubers this fall because the flower on this particular one is quite stunning.

Well, enough about my gardens. I don't imagine that I will have to move soil this week as it is a holiday week for me. I guess I should finish this and do something productive.