This is the worst year I've had since I started gardening (in the present era) in 2004. I had two feet of rain between spring thaw (mid April) to normal planting time (May 10-15). That is normally the amount of rain I get in a two-year period. I never could get my garden properly tilled, so I finally just raked the clods into elevated rows, and dropped seed down between the clods. Got some really crappy germination as you can imagine. I did not even bother to plant lettuce and spinach, as it was too late and warm. Finally finished planting my tomatoes June 24, about a month and a half later than I should have. It then stopped raining, and got hot. It has been over 100F almost every day, all summer, since I started planting in June, with hot winds. Just the last several days, the temps. have dropped into the mid 90's. Feels like fall! And, it is cooling off at night. Corn was looking good until about 10 days ago, when we had another 1.6"of rain, along with 70mph wind from every direction. That laid down most of my corn stalks, and braided them all together so that it looked like a lawn out there. I was too disgusted to stand it back up, so I wrote it off. Surprisingly, most of it has curved back upward, and I have even harvested some since then. My late season corn looks like it could produce pretty well, but, due to the heat, it is ripening early, and the ears will be smaller than they should be. Peppers are looking pretty good, and could have a near normal crop of sweet peppers. Tomatoes? At best, they will be very late, with sparse production. Too hot most of the summer so set on any tomatoes. And, the late season beefsteaks won't produce anything ripe until they are too late into the fall to taste good. About the best I can do with them is collect some seed. I have about 30 new varieties out there that I need to gather seed from.

lol@ brooke - you're right :) I'm just overly eager! At least my orchids know it's spring - they're sending out new growths...which reminds me that I need to rig up some sort of automatic watering system for the summer out-doors since I won't be living at home with the chids...I'm thinking some sort of drip hose on a timer, hung up on the fence where the orchids are would work. K - sorry to hear about the snow - I'm looking forward to your sanguinaria pictures though if you take any!

That is actually a completely normal weather pattern for almost anywhere. The germination process requires relatively prolonged warm periods, which is an adaptation to protect against early germination during brief warm spells. And, even if there is an unusually long warm period that causes many seeds to germinate, there will be some seeds that are even more resistant to the normal stimuli and will not have begun to develop. Those will survive a late cold snap, so you will have sprouts. The percentage of germination may vary, depending on how widely the timing of temps and moisture swing compared to the "average." But, nature has evolved to endure and survive exactly the fluctuations you are seeing. No need to worry. Martha

Yes, When its hot they can take almost all the water you can give them but if its cold and wet they will rot!!! You mentioned that they were in your garden in pots. I would pull the pots under the eaves of your house in the warmest spot possible. Don't water anymore until the weather warms and the soil dries out. If you are REALLY worried and its really wet and cold you might even pull them out of their pots and replace the soil with dry stuff. I love growing these plants too. Last year I tried to get mine out early to maximize the growing season and I lost several to rot. Remember once the warm weather hits these things will grow very fast. Patience. :) SAm