10 Inches of Rain this Month

tree dying from too much rain

The drought is officially over in Oklahoma, Texas and surrounding states that have suffered for the past few years with heat and dry soil. All of us lost plants, trees and hope for a while but this month's problem is different: So much rain that the ground and plants can't handle it.

We are losing a couple of young fruit trees because their roots cannot get enough oxygen - the water cannot flow away fast enough.

Also with the rain, we are having cool temperatures so the kale, peas, parsley, fennel and green beans are enjoying themselves. The tomatoes, basil, sunflowers and other heat loving plants, not so much.

Clematis - no sun

The Clematis vines are not getting enough sun to produce a full set of blossoms. This is about one-fourth their usual early summer show.

Arun flower bud

Many of the perennial seedlings I put out over the month have  just sat there; others have died. No sun, cool temperatures, sopping wet soil all have combined to slow them down to a crawl.


In the shade garden, the Arum flower is full-size but the ground has been so wet for such a long time that it fell over and had to be staked - first time in 5 years.

Another issue you may be having also, is that without sun, pollinators are not out in the abundance we are accustomed to. They need warm, sunny days to

Grapes on the vine

come out and do the jobs we rely on them for. The grape vines are making fruit but look how skimpy the clusters are without pollinators.
On sunny days, you can hear the bees buzzing around the vines. One thse 50 to 65 degree, cloudy and rainy days not much is happening.

One thing gardeners know is that we take the good with the bad each year. So, this year we'll take the bumper crops of lettuce and cool season crops and celebrate what we have.