Soggy bottom garden
The Soggy Bottom Boys would feel at home in my garden. After weeks of rain, and with more falling today, the garden is, well, soggy. That’s good news for the new plants I put in last week; I haven’t had to water them once, and here it is, July in Austin. Can you believe it? I can’t.
Won’t you join me on a tour of the Soggy Bottom that is my back garden right now?
Soggy bicolor iris flower. If you look again at the top photo, you’ll see a tall, grassy plant to the right of the purple door ; that’s the African bicolor iris (Dietes (Moraea) bicolor ), which is simply huge. It’s getting ragged, and I’ll need to divide it this fall.
Soggy ‘Little John’ bottlebrush foliage
Soggy cigar plant (Cuphea ignea ) with, if you look closely, soggy ants.
Soggy patio. Would you like to have a seat? Better think twice. The vampires—I mean, the mosquitoes—are voracious.
Soggy new sparkler sedge (Carex phyllocephala ) and an old standby, purple heart
Soggy echinaceas. I leave the blackened seedheads on until late winter for the birds.
Soggy, but happily blooming, ‘Valentine’ rose
Soggy ruellia-haired lady
A flash-flood watch is in effect for central Texas through at least Friday afternoon. More rain is predicted for tonight and tomorrow. Austin is just one big Soggy Bottom this month.
It may be soggy but your pictures are lush! Colors are so vibrant when the skies are gray.
Yes, it is lush out there. The plants are going crazy, except the cacti, which are sulking. —Pam
Oooh… soggy, maybe. Lush and beautiful, definitely! That African bicolor iris is so striking. It’s like a lovely clump of grass with gorgeous flowers as icing on the cake.
Yes, the bicolor iris is a useful and attractive evergreen here. It’s overused by builders and it can get raggedy looking, but for all that I do enjoy this one in my garden. —Pam
I love the fact that I have not run my sprinkler in close to 2 months! The rain delay feature on it is my most valued possession right now.
By the way, where did you get the head sculpture? It is so cool!
The head was a gift, but I think it was purchased at Smith & Hawken. —Pam
I am envisioning your garden as almost a swamp with all that rain. We got three-quarters of an inch of rain here last night, a good start, send more!
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
It would be a swamp if not for a slight but effective slope toward the rear of the lot and a French drain in the front. I’m glad to hear you got some much-needed rain. —Pam
I was just thinking today some rain would be nice to wash the dust off the cobblestone path and polish all the leaves. Everything always looks so nice and clean after a good rain. Of course, when the rain comes, I’ll be all, “This rain is really bringing me down!” Aside from your somewhat flattened rudbeckia, everything in your garden looks nice, as usual.
Thanks, Chuck. No dust here, that’s for sure. Mud, perhaps . . . —Pam
I hope it dries out a little before I get there in a couple weeks.
I hope it dries out for you too, Max, although the rain is keeping temperatures blissfully low. Have you been to Austin before, and is your trip for business or pleasure? —Pam
Please send some of that rain to Alabama! I just discovered your site and am new to blogging. Your photos are wonderful.
Thank you, Phillip. I enjoyed visiting your blog as well and am directing the rain eastward. —Pam
Just send some of that rain directly south to Minnesota! My garden hasn’t had rain for over a month. The good news is that all the mosquitoes have stayed down in Texas. 😉
Your gardens and flowers look beautiful.
South to Minnesota? I’m sending some rain eastward, but I’ll direct some northward for you as well. Are you sure you wouldn’t like a few mosquitoes too? 😉
Thanks for commenting, Tracy. —Pam
Did your camera get wet taking those pictures?
I went out between rain showers and kept everything dry but my feet. —Pam
Only George Clooney could make overalls look sexy. We saw that movie three times – once at the original Alamo Drafthouse – and I’d love to see it again.
My purple coneflowers aren’t too soggy, Pam, but they’re deadheaded. I tried leaving them for the birds… the birds ignored them completely, and I had a thousand coneflower seedling to weed out.
Your garden may be soggy but it’s still lovely!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Yes, he does make those overalls look pretty good. 😉 What a fun movie! —Pam
Sorry that everything is so soggy. But I love seeing photos with raindrops on the flowers and foliage. Thank you for the tour. Think I’ll pass sitting a spell though so I don’t meet up with your vampires.
I don’t actually mind the sogginess. I marvel at it, because this weather pattern is so unusual. But any summer where we’ve had high temps in the 70s and 80s is a summer I can get behind whole-heartedly, even if it does involve a bunch of rain. —Pam
Walking in my neighborhood earlier this week, I noticed that some gardeners had left the purple coneflower blossoms to blacken in their border, and my eye was drawn to how dramatic they look against the sprightly fresh new flowers. And now I see you doing the same thing. I love flowers on the point of decay (or well beyond it!)–too much decay makes everything look unkempt, but in just the right proportions it gives an added something to the garden.
I don’t mind a few blackened coneflower heads. My kids like to scatter the resultant seeds, plus the birds are said to enjoy them as well. I’m glad you agree that they look dramatic and not just dead. 🙂 —Pam
I think I would put on the bug spray and brave the vampires for a margarita on that patio area. So pretty.
Well, thanks, WG! —Pam
The rain makes everything so much more vivid. I love the droplets on the flowers.
You’re right, Pam, I should have been careful what I wished for: I don’t mind a little rain, but I freak out when the temperature gets over 80. Living in California turns you unprintably feeble, weatherwise.
I’ve been to Austin several times, including once in late August when the heat was pretty brutal. The fine local margaritas solved that problem — and I literally CAN’T WAIT to get to the Salt Lick.
I hope you have a great visit, Max. I think you’re guaranteed to if you’re planning on margaritas and BBQ at the Salt Lick (remember, it’s BYOB at the Salt Lick). —Pam