Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Hermine

In the last 24 hours, here at Draco, we have had 14.7 inches of rain fall. It actually fell in about 18 hours as it has not been raining for a few hours now. I thought I had better walk around the gardens and check out the damage if any. I didn't expect much but better check any way.

It was obvious the 4 O'clocks in the front yard/new bed, didn't fare so well. They had been beat down badly but their neighbors, the big Petunias, looked perky. Lyn and I had decided to take out the yard and make a big flower bed in the hottest part of the summer so I decided to put something in that I knew would fill in quickly. They didn't disappoint but they sure look bad right now.


I walked around the house, noting all the places I would have to move gravel around in the pathways to cover the ground up. Bonnie was leading the way as she always does. She thinks I am incapable of going anywhere on my own. Good dog, Bonnie. You might note that she is looking back to see what is taking me so long. I'm coming, I'm coming!

Looking down the pond, every thing looks OK. In the back ground I can see the dead leaves on the roses by the fence. This rain has saved them.


The front ponds and the plants around them look good. I was worried about the shrimp plants getting crushed by the heavy rain fall as they are so thick leafed, but they look great.


Coming to the Red Bud that I grew from seed, I can see that the big perrenials that grow along the fence for a visual boundary are not too bad. The Skeleton Leaf Daisy and the Snow Cloud Artemisia are laying over a little but the big native Lantana and the two different Flame Acanthus are just fine. I really need to cut that one limb on the Red Bud so people don't have to duck to get by it, but I ain't gonna. Have I mentioned how much of a wuss I am about pruning?

Taking a left I looked back up the big pond and things appeared OK. I looked down and noticed only a sprig of Silver Ponyfoot left out of the mass that had been there. This is where the pond over flows and I never thought about the shallow rooted Ponyfoot getting washed away. The Chile Pequin Peppers were fine and the Duelbergs, Henry and Anna, were good. Looking at the pond again I could see that the water was up to the big stone slab bridge that crosses in the middle of the pond.
Got to stop and ogle the beauty Berries. They just look so good right now.

I come upon the raised beds and notice the Cosmos has been pushed down by the rain. Even though I know you shouldn't, I plant my sweet peppers in this same bed every year. It's shallow dirt in this bed and the peppers are really the only thing that does well in it. I mean, except for the Cosmos. It comes up in this bed every year and in the walk ways as well. It is some kind of strange Cosmos that I originally got the seed for from some old lady I met in a nursery. It gets over five foot tall in a good year and doesn't bloom until the last of September or in early October. It really puts out the seed too.
Things in the back seemed fine.
The two little ponds under the gutter spouts were OK. A couple of the little gold fish did wash out but Lyn was able to scoop them up and get them back in .
Another new bed that we have been working on lost some dirt from all the water running across it. The Potato Vine looks good. It has certainly faired better than the the two chartruese green ones that a rabbit ate. The Hoja Santa and the Mountain Sage look quite perky, better than they have all summer.

The pear tree lost some fruit but there is still plenty left. It's almost pear eating time.
The Ocatillo only had about five leaves on it a few days ago. Now look at it. I've had this little guy for about five years now and it has hardly grown an inch and has never bloomed but I like it any way. You can bet those rain water tanks in the back ground are full, 24,000 gallons worth.

Going back around the raised beds I notice the Indian Mallow is squashed pretty badly. I don't think it is too bad though. It will come..............what is that? Right there, across the walk from the Powis Castle. What is that shiny thing? Oh no, it can't be. It is, it is, it's Ol' Charley, my catfish. He must have washed out of the pond during the night and lay there until he died.
I put him in the big pond when he was only four inches long. I wanted him to eat the baby gold fish so we wouldn't have to give them away every year. He did too but he has been getting lazy this last year and we have a lot to give away again. He would eat out of my hand, he really liked me and Lyn. He was more affectionate than a cat. I really liked that catfish and it was almost time to eat him, dammit. I guess the rain did strike us a severe blow. Say good bye to Charley, Lyn. He was a really good catfish and I just know he would have been excellent dipped in a mustard sauce and rolled in corn meal.



15 comments:

Linda/patchwork said...

Sorry about Charley.
But, glad you didn't have anymore damage.

14 inches...wow!! We had almost 9 inches, here in Wimberley. That was enough.

Good riddance to Hermine.

Suzie / Viva Verde said...

oh no, poor Charley :( I was reading through thinking, 'well, heck they made out just fine', but then you saved the worst for last.

my condolences.

The guy I bought my 7ft tall ocotillo from thought it might be dead so I got a sweet deal. I wasn't expecting it to leaf out until spring, if at all, but all this rain must have triggered them!

Tabor said...

Having lost Koi that we named when a pump failed I think I can understand your grief. Egad. No rain and then she drenches. We are still in our 7 week drought here.

TexasDeb said...

Awww - sorry about Charley. But thank you for identifying the strange Cosmos for me. I had several pop up - don't know where they came from because I didn't put out any seed for a giant late blooming variety and I'd pulled 2-3 of them up already. I have one left and will now let it bloom (hopefully!) and go to seed and see if I can't get some growing where I want the height and the late fall color. Heck, at least I can TRY.

We had between 8-10 inches here in Rollingwood and other than a few tropical salvias that got blown/rained over to the point of breaking I think we are fine garden wise.

Fun tour - hope you won't wait for another storm to take us round about!

Rock rose said...

Poor old Charlie- However, it looks as though things survived pretty well despite the torrents of rain. So much rain came down off our hill that it really made a mess of our dry creek at the front. All the gravel and underlying granite were washed into the large stones. Same happened at the back.Mucho work of the grunt kind. As if I don't have enough.

ConsciousGardener said...

Pansy pruner? Really? But you'll eat your pet Charley...hmmmm, I do recall being chastised for threatening to eat my bunnies! And they are no WAY as affectionate as my cats! You crazy ole' flip-flopper! hehe! Nice post Bob, you need to stop by for a brewsky...I gots another project for ya, and...you need to let me pay you!

mamaholt said...

Poor Charley...he'd rather off himself than get eaten by his Daddy. Clever feller.
I really, really wanna see your yard.

scottweberpdx said...

Oh no...that's so sad about the fish! :-(

Anonymous said...

Hermine dumped 10" here in Richardson in the north Texas area. Karl gave a lot less, but still a wild ride. My Snow on the Prairie have really suffered all the wind whippings.

Nice walk story! But, soory baout Charley....

S in the Dallas area.

Caroline said...

Oh, my goodness. What a rollercoaster of a post. Flood damage, beautiful beautyberries, yummy pears then poor ol' Charley.

katina said...

Reminds me of when Homer accidentally cooked his pet lobster in a hot bath and insisted on eating him because "that's what pinchy would have wanted"

Meredith said...

Poor Charley. It sounds like he lived the good life for awhile, though. Maybe he was tired of hearing you talk about how tasty he looked and took the quick way out? By the way, my husband and I are lazy pruners, too -- we make people walk around our trees or have to duck, too.

Now, Bob -- did you intentionally ignore my e-mail I sent you weeks ago?

Bob said...

Hey Meredith, I don't think I got one from you but Hotmail was down a while back for several days. Try it again and I promise I'll respond.

Pam/Digging said...

Perhaps Charley opted for suicide over the skillet? I don't know that I could eat one I'd made a pet of, but ordinarily I do quite enjoy a catfish fillet myself. With hush puppies, yum.

I agree with Michele. When are you gonna host a Go-Go so we can come see your place? It looks so interesting.

Cat said...

Bob, it was nice to meet you today! I agree with Pam and Michele and would love to see your garden in person!

So sorry to hear about Charley.