We finally received actual rain (read: more than a twenty minute spritz) for the first time in a month, and the world smells like pollen. Our "tropical" fruits, hardy kiwi and maypop (passion fruit), have put on feet of new growth as a result and are filling out their support trellis, which is very exciting.
I'm heading out in just a little bit to attend a walk'n'talk at a nearby orchard - our county extension office is hosting the event to discuss some of the climate risk mitigation strategies the orchard has been leveraging for a few years now. This afternoon some folks we know from the library are coming over to harvest flowers to supply an art project for the kids in town.
The elderberries are finally starting to ripen and the beautyberries are starting to fruit. The box huckleberry seems to be very happy this year, I dunno why though. The maypops and creeping cucumbers have finally come out, late as they usually do, and are climbing everything. Unfortunately so are the invasive morning glories that I have to keep rescuing everything else from. The young pricklyash is finally starting to look more like a tree than a rose bush. The ostrich and maidenhair ferns are having their second terrible year in a row, not sure what's going on there. Mayapples are very nearly ripe. Finally, the neighbor and landlord have murdered an even greater chunk of the garden. Nearly a third dead to poison...
Those last two sentences have me clenching my teeth in frustration, but I'm glad you're having success elsewhere in your gardens. I'll be living my huckleberry fantasy vicariously through you - ours are struggling this year because the purple raspberries went hard and shaded them a little too much
Thanks! I hope your huckleberries and raspberries learn to get along, would definitely be nice to have both lol. I try not to think about the dead stuff too much, and just keep rebuilding, but it's hard.