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The Garden Party

After eight years of drought------

16 years ago

It rains almost every day. Just got back from Denver, went there so see a hand specialist and won't bore you with the details but even the sagebrush in northeastern Colorado was a beautiful green and the grass while quite sparse was green and growing, We have had more moisture in the first six months of this year than we normally have in two years. It rains almost every day and I can't keep up with mowing the lawn. It feels so good just to go out and stand barefoot in the lush grass and get completely soaked by the wonderful rain.

Son was able to get his planting done in the few dry spells we have had and the corn is up and looks great. Normally he would have had to irrigate at least once by now and with the price of diesel fuel it cost hundreds with every pivot. The last time we talked he was waiting to put in about 300 more acres of soybeans but I expect he either got them planted or gave up by now.

Leone and I have been working at our local museum and as usual have had many very interesting and a few rather odd visitors. With the U.S. dollar value quite low, we have had a great many European visitors most speak English but last week I had 3 people from Bulgaria, one of them thought she was speaking English but it was so garbled I really couldn't understand anything. We finally resorted to a lot of hand gestures and drawing pictures on paper I can't even decipher their names anyway before they left we were all laughing and they bought a lot of tee shirts as souvenirs to take home. I have to admire someone tthat isn't afraid to travel like that knowing full well that very few people will be able to verbally communicate with you. When Leone and I traveled anywhere in Europe we could always find people who could speak English we tried to talk to them in their own language and they seemed to appreciate our trying but they would usually switch to English. Spanish is now required in our local grade school and I wish more languages were offered. Sorry, hadn't intended to make this book length.

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Comments (3)

Josh
16 years ago
That rain sounds marvelous..we've had mostly thunder and very little actual rain. After cleaning out the birdbaths I turn the sprinkler on the area to refill baths and allow the birds to enjoy the shower for 15 minutes or so. That little patch of lawn surronding the baths is lovely...everywhere else parched and dusty. The only other watering is my hundreds of containers and among them I see toads and Anoles just hanging around. When I return inside I can see the birds and chipmunks and squirrels coming for fresh water. I've got my own little oasis going here but I do wish it would rain.

Hope you got some hopeful news from the doc, Gandle. Enjoyed hearing about your foreign visitors. The world is getting smaller ...just think how strange it is to imagine someone from Bulgaria 50 years ago visiting your state. Would you as a child have imagined such visitors as you looked at your world globe? Gives one hope. josh
lilod
16 years ago
Barefoot on the green grass! There is nothing better, is there?
Being in California, we have the drought season every year, between late April and late October, and the first rain is the sweetest music there ever is.
We call it our two seasons: Mud and Dust
Or, if you like: Flood and Fire
It may be pretty serious this year, the rainfall was 25% short of normal...the cities are beginning to ration - or restrict - water use
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After eight lilies in trouble?
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Comments (1)
Usually, when potted lilies are either too wet or too dry, the leaves will turn yellow and fall quite rapidly. After Eights seem to be real sensitive about being too wet(for me anyway). I would suggest putting the plant in a semi shaded spot where it is a little cooler and keep it just barely moist. With lilies, being a little drier is always better than being too wet. Keep the stem and leaves just as they are and then plant it out in the garden this fall. Since this lily was 'forced' to flower early in a nursery greenhouse, some loss of leaves after flowering is not all that unusual. while the plant adjusts to the outside world. It won't grow anymore new leaves from the main stem(s) this year, but don't be surprised if you see new little baby plants come up--After Eights multiple pretty fast!
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Eight years in the making...
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Comments (14)
Thank you all! Can't wait to see what the other plants have in store. I have a cutting of one that I planted in the garden at my old house that has a bushing habit (had multiple growth points from very early on and has four growth points around the flower bud), it has a bud on it but I fear it won't make it in time for the season change.
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Eight years later ... Desert Four O'clock
Q
Comments (5)
Hi Jali! SO good to see you back around here! Wherever you were for 18 months, I hope it went well! Sounds like a LONG time to be out of Colorado! Are you back at the same place? I just drove right by your neck of the woods a couple weeks ago! Would still like to come out that way to see "your" Cedar Breaks sometime! Remember that conversation---a very long time ago! Your Mirabilis look wonderful! I never got any put in! Don't have enough room or sun in the backyard and never got rid of the rock mulch in the front yard! They're still on a Some Day list! Are you going to be able to have some tomatoes this year? Hope you'll come join us around here when you have time! Welcome back to high, dry Colorado, Skybird
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Grandma is eighty-eight years ! A Funny
Q
Comments (4)
Sort of glad that she didn't stick around till the walkers arrived at her car. o j
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andie_rathbone
16 years ago
The rain turned itself off here about two weeks ago & although it's been raining somewhere around us just about every day, we haven't got a drop. However, after the past three years, it's good to see the lake levels up again & appreciate how much the flowers are enjoying all the moisture.

Believe it or not, we get a lot of foreign tourists here too & now with the dollar in the toilet as far as the exchange rate with the Euro & the British pound goes, we're seeing a lot more of them. The Germans seem to be especially intrepid about renting a car & getting off the beaten path. I'm a docent at the Rose garden here & we've taken several groups of Europeans around this spring & early summer. Some of them speak English better than others, but I can certainly say that they all speak English better than I could speak French, German or Italian.

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