PIGEON POST

As it had finally stopped raining this morning (a brief respite as I feared) I went out into the garden to see what damage the torrential rain and high wind had done. The problem with having a garden that is in the shade so much of the time is that everything is inclined to lean towards the light and grow much taller than it says in the "text books". Most of the time I can compensate for this by judicious staking but really heavy rain and high winds can take their toll. The annual poppies in the centre are completely flattened... a few days of sun would probably stand them up again but we have more rain and cloudy days forecast.....they are just coming into bud and I'm loathe to cut them back or even rip them out (boo hoo) until they've flowered...sadly I may have to make some kind of drastic decision as they are now smothering the other plants around them......I'll leave them a while and see how I feel by the end of the week.

The garden was littered with rose petals and I had plenty of deadheading to do....I didn't stay out there long though because it was bitterly cold and started to spit with rain....it felt like an Arctic wind was blowing through me. You can see the plants have enjoyed the rain though...the cannas that I left I the ground to overwinter are about 6 inches taller despite the cold weather.

I was pleased to see that the begonia hanging baskets had come through unscathed...they had been blowing about so much yesterday...I could see them through the living room window and had even considered taking them down and putting them in the shed.

As this fellow stayed around long enough for me to fetch my camera I'd better give him a mention too. He stayed watching me the whole time I was in the garden...probably hoping I'd put out more food...which, of course, I did so his patience was rewarded.

Now if you happen to have popped in from warmer climes.....please leave some sunshine in the comment box......feel free to help yourself to some rain in return if you need it.