Wet 'n Wild: Rainy Days Give Gardeners a Chance to Regroup

The weather channel is predicting five days of rain. My  plants need it. The weeds certainly don’t need any encouragement. But at least when it stops raining, they’ll be taller — hence, easier to get hold of — and the ground will be softer around the roots.

What stays, what goes?  Weeding for a gardener — rooting out the interlopers that stray from our 'garden plan' — is not as simple as it sounds.

Mainly, the problem arises because weeds aren’t the only interlopers popping up out there.  My North Fork garden has been graced over the years with an amazing variety of so-called "wildflowers." I have a very simple rule on the subject of such "volunteers." Wild or tame, if something blooms when and where nothing else does, leave it alone. More exotic and temperamental hybrids certainly are the backbone of most garden plans, but  sometimes the Old Faithfuls become their wilder cousins, intent on survival — no matter what.   

Got a week to think and write about it. Stay tuned ... including for the answers to the fun quiz-let in the blog slideshow.  Half the excitement of wildflowers is figuring out what they are. Very good for our gardener's OCD tendencies.