I'm sorry mother nature isnt treating you all that well but be thankful that you and your family are safe and unharmed.

Ok Steve --Sounds like the story of my spring --re-plant, re-plant, re-plant! Glad to hear that everyone is safe. But we are less than 200 miles south of you and its 90+ degrees and I am at least 10" below normal on rainfall. I save rain water --- and I haven't had the tanks full yet this year and right now --- there isn't a drop!

My asiatic lilies are less than a 1/3 of their normal size -- I guess I should have been watering those but I've been trying to keep the annuals alive!

I've got contacts with 3 florists that want flowers -- I have nothing to sell because so far -- the quality has been lousey. so if you get a nice, easy rain --send it my way!!!

Take care -- FedEX me the rain water.
Cathy

Steve/Cathy - whew what a year! This has been the strangest weather so far in my growing experience. Feb. was in the high 70's and dry after a dry winter, and then in Mid March through last week it's poured! While we may get close to normal for rainfall, its now cold, very windy, and I'm too far behind in planting.

Glad to hear everyone is ok though...keep us posted and take care,
Wendy

Well,

The zinnias will need to be replanted on higher ground this weekend. Most everything looks like it survived, leaves are a liitle thrashed on some things but I think they'll bounce back. I am very happy that we are all alive and well. One fella south of me tried to go across a flooded road and it cost him his life and another woman barely escaped with hers despite not being able to swim. Just south of us they got 6 to 8 inches in one hour and flash floods swelled little creeks to look like the mighty Mississippi.

Cathy, I can't believe you haven't gotten any of this rain, your only a couple hours south of me. I hope you get some NICE rain soon.

Steve

Steve -- this is how weird this weather has been. Yesterday --we had an 80% chance of rain. My mom lives 40 miles from me -- she got 3" in 2 hours. 10 miles from me -- they got over an inch of rain. It thundered for almost 3 hours.

And I got a half of a tenth of an inch!!!! Yes -- I have been crying. In fact, I'm thinking about tears to irrigate!!

Cathy

Cathy,

I'm sorry to hear that the Lords tears have been missing you. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's not farming, it's professional gambling.

Where exactly are you in Iowa? If you can get away for a few hours in the first two weeks of July you should drive to the Hayden Prairie in Iowa for a day. It is a chunk of land that is true native prairie, virtually untouched since the settlers came. They have done an excellent job burning and keeping the invasive weeds out of it. It's about 400 acres and in July it's in its summer splendor and the variety and diversity of flowers and grasses is incredible. I'll be there with my camera the first week of July. It's about 45 minutes North and east of Mason City.

We've got a party for my kids school on Friday with about 200 people coming over to our house, I sure hope the rain comes to you instead of me.

Steve

Altho I am agonizing with each and every one of you who is experiencing weather-related woes (and here in N Central Illinois, we are no different), at least it helps to know that there are still plenty of us who are trying to get things planted.
I thought I might be the only one - and with June about 1/2 over and July just a few wks away, I was really starting to get discouraged!
Our weather has been unseasonably HOT (90's) and with little to no rain. We had to suspend our field planting because the soil was too dry and hot for these young plants to survive. That lost us a couple weeks - at a time when we could ill-afford it! We have since gotten at least one rainstorm that put a little moisture back into the soil, and temps are supposed to drop back into a normal range (70's) beginning tomorrow, so we resumed planting this evening. I feel so overwhelmed with what yet remains to be sown. It is very discouraging until you hear from others
struggling as well. Let us hope that our various weather woes get straightened around real soon! Good luck everyone!

Crowspice --- Where are you at? I have not gotten any rain yet and have started hauling water from town! Sat. we hauled 650 gal. -- not as much as I need but when you realize that it weighes over 2 tons --its as much as the truck can haul.

I too, suspended planting --- I thought I was better off planting perennials but they are struggling like crazy too.

I do feel better as other gardeners have been out and told me that my plants do look good -- but they are all short and really nothing is in bloom.

People ask me when the U-pick will be open -- I say when God lets me. I hope he decides soon.

Cathy

Cathy--I was sure the towering clouds,storm and rain that popped up east of our house on Wednesday was hitting you, and I remember thinking (while hauling hoses up and down the beds) "At least Cathy is getting some rain" Guess it missed you too, eh? I'm getting tired of looking at the radar and thinking--"that can't possibly miss us" and watch it fall apart 10 miles short. We did get a little last night, but not enough to put the hoses away--just enough to rehydrate the mosquitoes! After today the rain chance is zero for a week.
Steve, I'm glad you survived relatively unscathed. I guess that's the good side of little or no rain--We've only been in the basement once this spring/summer.
Here's to bouquets by the 4th of July!

Cathy

Last night I actually got to SMELL the rain in the air, and I swear, we had mist/20 raindrops for SIXTY seconds, instead of the THIRTY seconds one day last week. My husband was making his usual midnight run to Walmart, 5 miles away, and said THEY and the rest of town got BUCKETSFUL! He called to tell me about it! I said, Is that the only reason you called? Dang! LOL. I told him to bring some home!

I think it's been six weeks, maybe more, since our last real rain. I "would have" written down the date of the last rain, but when it's happening, you don't realize that that one was it!

I even ordered more seeds, have a few growing in six packs, but am scared to try seeds direct sown, or move the transplants. Maybe I'll have flowers by Labor Day!

Dang! The Dallas weather guy on the radio JUST said that there are huge Thunderstorms out west of DFW, "but we don't have to worry about those...." I WANT to worry about those storms! I want them here! I might even welcome hail! He did say that there are more "chances" for rain tonight and tomorrow. I've been hearing that "chances" for a LONG time lately!

There are two good things about no rain and temps in the 90's. The weeds don't grow nearly as fast and the fire ants burrow deep in the ground--I could probably go barefoot! All the roadside weeds are brown. For MILES!

We had such a wet spring and even summer last year it's hard to make the transistion back to "normal".

Susi.

Cathy --- I haven't gotten any of it! My rain gauge has a dust ball and dead spider in it! I have been certain that we would get some of it -- I think I live on NOAA now -- watching if any of the clouds will come my way!

Susie --- That smell of rain is sooo wonderful!! I think I remember it!! Currently, I'm trying to figure out how we can pipeline water from Steve!! Every rain storm goes right north of us toward him!! If we can pipeline oil -- we need to be pipelining water!! Cathy and I promise we won't use it all and we will send some to you!

Cathy

Guys..If only I could wring out this sodden mess here and squeeze it over your properties!!! Endless thunder showers, too hard and destructive of course but lots of inches ultimately...The lower part of this property is unmowable and ankle deep in water..Needless to say the black flies and other noshing critters are having a field day..Squish..squish..squish....chomp, chomp,chomp..
I always say, "All I want is Camelot..Gentle, steady rain in the evenings and sun during the day, is that asking too much!? HA! Sending you my moistest best wishes..Randi

Well folks, I can see that everybody has their own kind of weather misery. Cathy, I remember three years ago watching the radar and thinking the same thing, how can every storm fall apart before it gets to me. I would get so excited seeing all those bringht, dangerous colors on the radar heading towards me and then have it totally dissapate before it got to me, that happend for 11 weeks.

Randi, I hear you on the bugs!! Holy cow, the mosquito's are the size of small birds and at dusk my wife and I had to dang near stop them from carrying away our smallest child.

Crowspice, a good friend of mine lives near Peoria and says his yard is completely burned up and he hasn't seen rain for two months.

Susi, be careful what you ask for. Last year I was complaining and said "bring it on" when they predicted severe thunderstorms. I asked for it and I got it, two hail storms.

I have to look at the silver lining, all of my perennial shrubs that I planted are looking absolutley fabulous. We have had 8.5 inches of rain in the last 10 days. We had rain 21 out of 31 days on May, not alot, just enough to screw up all my annual planting plans.

So, take care all, be specific in what you wish for and may God shine on you during the day and sprinkle on you at night.

Steve

...and here I am (she says in a very small voice) getting almost exactly the weather I want right now. Coolish, bits of rain here and there, enough to keep us from getting totally dusty. Not enough to water the crops, but that's okay. Out here and in much of the west, a dry summer is normal, so we all irrigate. I've never gardened in a climate where you have to depend on Mother Nature for water. I can only imagine how frustrating it is, watching your plants shrivel up.

Well, if it were a little warmer, the annuals might get more enthusiastic about blooming someday. But this is a normal June, rainy off and on, highs in the 60's.

Jeanne

And we are getting Jeanne's Rocky Mountain High weather here at sea level,sprinkles off and on and highs in the low 60's. After that 3 day scorcher of 90 degree weather I will take this all summer if I can! Perfect,if humid, weather for working outside. I found out yesterday that the sweat can really roll even at under 70 degrees, as I weeded a row of the Rainbow Garden built on heavy clay soil. Soil is powder dry but the new Roses I ordered from David Austin are doing fabulous! THese were grafted root ones of Brother Cadfael and James Galway. Well, several days more of weeding this always impossible bed so hope the coolth holds! (And yes, I top it with compost every year and it just disappears...but it was terraformed by construction equipment 6 yrs ago and it might take another 10 to tame it!)

Hi Everyone,
Well here in central New Jersey our weather has been no better. We have had for the past 7 days weather in the
90's. Today the heat index is supposed to reach 105. I
am behind also in getting my flowers out to the field. I
don't want to subject the seedlings to this heat. Hopefully
the weatherman is right when he says this is supposed to
break on Thursday. I second the quote that what we do is
professional gambling. It is so frustrating when the weather doesn't cooperate and makes our jobs stressful to
say the least. Good luck with the coming days' weather.

Who knew that so many of us are desperate gardeners?
It always seems greener on the other side of the fence and all that! Here in N. central IL, about 90 mi west of Chicago, we have now thoroughly enjoyed two days of 70ish temps after our long 90 degree spell! We have resumed planting, but predictions are for more 90s next wk - and still no rain - Arghhhhh! That means handwatering row upon row of these young transplants - at least til they get big enough to lay a soaker between rows and mulch. Weeds do NOT stop growing here in the dry spells! Oh My! They are
nearly chest high and need to be cleared so we can plant more crops. One very good thing we did this Spring was to
invest in some rugged groundcover fabric which we laid in the walkways of our straight rows - should last at least 5 yrs and has totally squelched all weeds that would most certainly have grown there otherwise - what a time-saver!
That gives us more time to haul hoses around, I guess!
Just wondering when or if I will ever have a quantity of flowers for markets!!! The mucky-muck prognosticators are saying the midwest will be very hot and dry all summer - but what do they know? Even the local boys with the radar doplars cannot get it right! I just might try washing the car or hanging out some laundry! That oughta bring rain, donchathink?

Crowspice --- You are living my life!!! I have three weddings next weekend --3 florists that want weekly deliveries and my regular U-pick customers and I want to know if I'll ever have flowers. My lilies look awful -- they got hit with a very dry winter and spring and the addition of a hard freeze.

I've been hanging out laundry -- great drying days! My BIL has cut hay. That always brings rain -- no luck,

I'll take anyone's suggestions -- I have gotten a few sprinkles -- had to turn the wipers on in the car for about a mile or so. I have discovered that weeds are really easy to pull when the soil is so dry. I NEVER have these dry conditions.

Good luck to all --
Cathy

Three wedding in one weekend? I would lose my mind. But, nevermind because I think I already have. We've been working in that 90 degree temperature. Then yesterday when we went to market, it was 58 degrees, overcast and windy. At 11:30 it decides to rain. We're not complaining about the rain. But, man was it cold especially after 90 degree temps. And, we still don't quite have enough flowers to cover two Saturday markets. They all have to go to our market that started in May. People are a little ticked because we aren't at the touristy market on Saturdays yet. The don't understand why we don't have flowers because the "reseller" down the way has them. She had some rather odd looking roses yesterday. I have never seen anything quite like them. They looked like red velvet. Actually, they looked fake. I am pretty sure they aren't grown anywhere around here. I am almost certain they are not grown in this country. They were awful. The pathetic part was that some customers actually bought them. I ranted about those things all evening. I am pretty much over it now. This would be the same vendor who last year would send her friends down to buy straight bunches of celosia, Green Mist and/or whatever. She would take the flowers home and blend them in with some of her flowers, and bring them back to the next market. I hope she has other plans for this year because we intend to control some of those purchases. Some people stoop to nothing. And, I lost my faith in mankind for a little bit over it.
Back to weather. It has been so windy here all season. I am certain they have move Michigan to the Rockies. Anyway, that is how we got rain -- We picked more than we could possible sell, drove an hour and a half to market, set up in the wind. The good news is we really didn't have a bad selling day. And, a father-of-the-bride talked to us about coming out to the farm the end of August to pick flowers for his daughter's wedding. Hmmmm. I am the person always screaming, We don't do weddings. We are rethinking this one..........

Flowerfarmer ---- let me explain that one. I am a U-pick farm and no, I don't do wedding bouquets. But I pre-pick flowers for weddings and condition them so they are ready for those that do. Most of the brides are doing their own or they are doing flowers for their wedding receptions. So 3 weddings will be about 20 "jugs" of flowers.

The big problem is the cancer benefit the next day. Last year, we sold 80 buckets of flowers. And the gardens didn't look like they were touched -- there were flowers EVERYWHERE. This year -- I'm getting great publicity for the event -- have it well organized --- but I'm sweating flowers!

Oh Well ---

Cathy

Cathy,
OK. I feel better now that I understand that one. I guess I could/maybe handle that. But, I cannot even think of handling two Saturday markets right now. One has put me over the edge. We have always done two on Saturday. We are a little weak on flowers and help right now. Oh, well...

I might as well join in on this one, just to let you know the weather is just as crazy at this end of the world!
Randi, I thought we were the only ones with black flies, I can definitely sympathize with you. We had 6 days of sun in May, lots of rain and cold weather. The flies are usually out then, but it was too cold for them, so when it warmed up to about 60, they came out with a vengence. I look incredibly stupid when I go out, bug screen jacket, gloves, pant legs tucked into my socks, a real fashion statement to say the least, and of course, I still get bit. We had about 3 days that were scorchers, and I had just finished planting.As if the heat wasn't enough, we had LOTS of wind. My poor annuals have been through the ringer. My celosia, at about 4" high is blooming. That ought to make a nice cut. But I must say that the perennials are big and don't look too bad. My painted daisy that is blooming now is about 4' tall. Now we are back to cold and damp, but not enough rain to soak the ground, just kind of a mist, like fog.(no black flies though) It's better than nothing, but we still have wind, breaking off some of my english wallflower, and some of the iris's. Everything is out of wack this year. Some plants are late, some early, and some of the bugs are real early. We don't usually get cucumber beetle until July, but they're here now, and have wiped out all the melons and are working on the squash. Oh my, farming is not the easiest business to be in, and it's a good darn thing we all like doing this! Good luck to all of you, and may we all get some decent weather real soon.
Cheryl

We have decent weather..it is raining! She said with a smile! Liza

Clink,

We have hay down also - no rain in the forecast. 90's coming back next wk. I think we may as well get used to hauling hoses and sweating buckets. This is gonna be a long, HOT, DRY one! By the way, I am a Kathy also. Lots of Cathy(s) in this forum, I have noticed. Baby Boomers no doubt!