168E - So get used to it!

 By the end of last week and the beginning of this one, it rained so much and so hard, that the ducks were literally floating through my street. Enjoying themselves, I could tell!The water had nowhere to go, so remained on the grass along the road, just like it does during the winter.

The raised bed

   And not just in the street; I noticed several flooded back gardens, and the foot and cyclepaths were flooded as well.

   The council had raised up the plantbed a few years ago, so the Salvias and Nepeta there kept their feet dry at least. As soon as the rain stops, it is humming with bees.

  

   There are two things you can do against all that water: raising the beds yearly, or learn to live with it. I see the picknick benches on that grass, which has turned into a natural wadi, being either moved by one neighbour, or removed altogether by the other. 

   Wadi (a word from Arabic) is short for Water Drainage and Infiltration in Dutch; it catches rainwater and filters it, before that water sinks into the soil. The soil then stores it for dry times. I am a pragmatist; I'll learn to live with it.

My balconygarden is wet constantly

In my garden I look very carefully at which plants don't mind getting showered all the time, but don't mind baking in the sun either.

That is why I pulled out half of my Lavender, the English kind, this week. Dead as Dodoes. I noticed they had hardly grown a root system during the past three years. The strange thing is, that my other kind, which I planted at the same day, are absolutely fine!

The butterfly Lavender has no problems

Another plant that is enjoying themselves in Hunky Dory, is the Valerian.

It started two years ago with two spontaneously growing white ones. Then last year I had red ones as well, and not just two, but dozens. This year both kinds have self-seeded all over the garden. It took some effort to find out what the plants were, but I sussed it out. It is the Valeriana rubra. They are quite happy with their feet in the water of the frog pond, but also in the summer concrete of my beds. And it's a cheerful plant, beloved by butterflies, so very welcome.

Valeriana rubra

Another plant that doesn't mind any kind of weather is the Solidago. They also arrived uninvited, and how! If I would let it, it will take over my entire garden, I'm sure. So this I pull out wherever it is in my way, or bullying other plants. If you don't feel like gardening, get one Solidago and within one season you'll have a waving sea of yellow. Good for pollinators, not sure about the neighbours.

Canna with Solidago behind it in '23

   My determination app also helped me with that nice plant my neighbour gave me: the Tragopogon porrifolius. It is in bloom now. The photo is in the Extra photos of this week.

   Right. Let's finish on a positive about our weather: so far, I have not needed to water my balcony garden once in 2024.(I did, however, have to remember to empty the decorative outer pots each day)

   I hope you'll have a lovely weekend, in Trinidad-Tobago as well (hi there, Nikesha!).