We've been given another gift of rain this week. Tied up in a lovely wet bow, our gardens are drinking it in, happy to have the thirst-quenching relief from our frightening drought.
We're not out of the woods yet in Central Texas -- we're still in an official drought. But our fall and winter rains have reduced the severity of the drought. It has been down-graded from the most critical level of last summer -- exceptional -- to moderate. (There are five levels outlined by the U.S. Drought Monitor - from abnormally dry to exceptional.)
A brief bout of garbanzo bean-sized hail at our house yesterday gave me quite a scare -- I was cringing for the daffodils, blue bonnets and vegetables. But they've all weathered the storm and are doing fine. They are a little droopy today, but not damaged. (I realized after tweeting that yesterday that only a gardener would describe the hail as garbanzo-bean sized, since it was bigger than pea-sized. It only occurred to me later that non-gardeners might have called it marble-sized!)
The mountain laurels are in full bloom here, and the row along the driveway is looking green and juicy with all the rain. And I can't seem to get enough of their wonderful grape-like aroma, which conjures up summer Kool-aid memories for me.
My rain barrels are all full -- which is great -- but it's still raining. I wish I had more of them, but we're talking about getting a rainwater collection system. Maybe that needs to move up on my to-do list for next week so we don't miss any more of this precious spring rain.
Are you enjoying some rejuvenating rain in your garden today?Labels: bulbs, drought, rain, Texas Mountain Laurel
