i don't think it's gone four days without rain since last sept
Posted on 06/16/2019 11:44:52 AM PDT by dayglored
I live in rural Upstate NY, in a field in the woods on a hill in the Finger Lakes. Mrs. Dayglored and I have a large garden (flowers and ornamentals, not produce) that in most years is gorgeous this time of year with blossoms all over. (Lots of weeds to remove too, of course.)
This year, all the #&!@* RAIN that started early and continues through today has wreaked havoc on it!
Especially weird is the HOUSEPLANTS dying after moving outdoors -- what's up with that??? We're nowhere near big city pollution, the temperature hasn't been all that bad. I figure it MUST be something to do with all the RAIN.
Thanks in advance for insight, consolation, whatever...
PINGING the Garden Thread Folks.... Thanks in advance if you can ping the List.
And thanks for the wonderful Weekly Garden Thread yesterday — heartening to see somebody is doing well! :-)
Weather patterns. In 2002 we had a drought, and then we had a fairly good Summers with pretty normal rainfall and last summer rained a lot and this summer it rained and we now have a dry spell and now it’s heating back up.
I live in Tidewater Virginia. So it’s actually heating back up right now it cooled off for a couple of weeks and I looked at the windy app and looked at the air currents and it’s just stuff coming up from the Gulf or predominant Highs coming down from the north and it is just weather patterns.
You don’t have good drainage. Must be very clay-heavy soil. You need to lighten it up by tilling in humus like peat moss and such, make it a nice loamy soil. It’s been raining cats and dogs down here in Queens, but I never have water puddling in my garden because I amended the soil before planting anything. Now it’s light and loamy, and I have gorgeous plants and flowers to prove it.
Most plants don’t like their roots to stay saturated. Mix in some more sand in your soil so it will drain better.
Yep I agree. It’s poor drainage. Have the soil tested. If it’s raised bass, drill holes in the side to let water drain out
It reminds me of the beginning of the "little ice age", which started with an ugly cold wet spring, and famine resulting from the crop failure.
i don't think it's gone four days without rain since last sept
Same in Cincinnati...and the deer eating weeds, flowers, and scrapping new weeds seeds everywhere just makes it worse.
I had a fallow garden this year except strawberries...funny thing is I left them unprotected from deer or any mammals...no one ate them but me! Crazy.
In Western MA, the front lawn has been growing like a weed. Well, the weeds are growing. The grass seed was washed away.
But the reservoirs are full, so that’s good.
1. Root rot. from to much water as you say. Kratky method of planting so much easier for potted plants. Many variations of this.
2. The weeds are the wide or narrow leaf? and visa versa of your plants? if they're the opposite there could be run off of poisons.
3. Bugs attack specific types of plants.
A picture of a wilting leaves speaks a thousand words.
But mainly though it's the houseplants that freaked me out by dying. They're not in the field soil -- they're just in their regular pots they've always been in.
natural selection. the heartier Weeds will conquer your garden!!!!!
I live in the Finger Lakes too. While it is abnormal to a degree, it is not unusual and not the first time I have seen this sort of weather.
We get hot dry summers like two years ago when my lawn was simply burnt to a crisp and did, in fact, die because I cut it too short one weekend and it didn’t rain again until labor day.
I recall fishing on Lime Lake in early August of 1976 and seeing a few snow flurries with temps in the mid 40’s.
These are component parts of the averages. Some high, some low, and it all evens out over time.
Toss in the towel on your garden for this year and better luck next year.
Sorry to hear about your poor plants.
I wish I could offer some positive advice.
About your house plants dying, I think all that rain is a shock to them. If you still have any left alive, I would suggest taking them back inside until after the strong rains stop.
But I hope your other plants will make it through and recover, once the rain stops.
You obviously need the government to step in with a solution.
First step is grants to local universities to study the problem. We also need diversity consultants to verify that the university study is poperly representatives of the population and of those who are concerned. We also need a study on how many of the flowers you are growing are native and how many are invaders from Europe.
It is OK to genetically alter humans. But we need to verify that none of your flowers were genetically altered.
We also need a joint task force of the Agriculture Department, the EPA and the Bureau of Native American Affairs to study how we can work together for environmental sustainability.
And all that before we get to climate change. Obviously the failure of Republicans to spend more money, and to be more concerned, about climate change is at the root of the answer to your question.
That^^^^
You're roughly in the Ithaca area, do I remember right? Are we cursed or something?
I'm referring to the weather here, not to the local City of Evil :-)
Wow, a perfect setup for water rationing. Or so say our liberal politicians out here in California. Got a drought? Water rationing! Got flooding? More water rationing!
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