{"id":630,"date":"2015-08-19T05:19:11","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T05:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenescapades.com\/blog\/?p=630"},"modified":"2015-08-19T05:19:11","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T05:19:11","slug":"real-rain-fires-and-a-favorite-impatiens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gardenescapades.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/19\/real-rain-fires-and-a-favorite-impatiens\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Rain, Fires and a Favorite Impatiens"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>Like washing the car, sometimes watering the garden will bring rain!\n

We had a series of thunderstorms last week right after I watered the entire\u00a0yard\u00a0and some real rain finally fell in our neighborhood for the first time all summer.\u00a0 It was enough to keep me from having to water the pots for a few days!\u00a0 You could smell the relief from all the thirsty plants and animals.<\/p>\n

The bad news was that the lightning in the storms started fires near Chelan and other places in the state.<\/p>\n

While that certainly isn\u2019t humorous, we had a funny moment here in our garden with some fire.\u00a0 Leon had been deeply offended by a grass sprout in the front garden that had the nerve to grow big and go to seed where he couldn\u2019t help but notice it from\u00a0the front window.\u00a0 He determined the easiest way to rid the world of this vile invader was to light it with a torch.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t realize just how very dry the yard was.\u00a0 The grass burned, alright, but so did much of the bearded iris bed that surrounded it and some branches of the rose bush and other nearby plants!\u00a0 Luckily, with the hose handy, he controlled the flames before any serious harm occurred and he wasn\u2019t arrested for violating the burn ban!<\/p>\n

The humorous part to me is that this turned out to be a great way to clear grass out of an iris bed, always a tedious task!\u00a0 My brother and I laid down a thick layer of bark, not\u00a0knowing if the iris would survive.\u00a0 Because these iris never bloom, anyway, it\u00a0would have been no\u00a0great loss.\u00a0 But the beauty of rhizomes is that they are survivors and the iris are up through the bark now and growing great guns!\u00a0 So, while I don\u2019t recommend a fire during a drought, I will explore this as an option in wetter years with some controlled burning.\u00a0 My hope is that the fire also cured the rhizomes enough to help them bloom next year\u2013wouldn\u2019t that be crazy?<\/p>\n

$\"DSC04738\"$ <\/a>My favorite impatiens is blooming in the greenhouse right now.\u00a0 This is Impatiens flanaganae, a rare tuberous variety from Strange Wonderful Things<\/a> in California.<\/p>\n

$\"DSC04742\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

$\"DSC04740\"$ <\/a> $\"DSC04739\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The flowers of this plant feature a brilliant combination of color and form\u2013exotic, graceful and plenty big enough to get noticed.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t had a lot of time for the garden, but here are a few pics of seedlings:<\/p>\n

$\"DSC04737\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Here is another picture of the delicate Geranium bohemicum\u2013I like the lighting here.\u00a0 These small flowers may never put on a huge show, but combined with the lovely foliage, they promise to bring charm to the garden.<\/p>\n

$\"DSC04735\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Few people would likely grow Kenilworth Ivy from seed, but I love this plant and so I am starting some to plant around in the greenhouse and patio pots.\u00a0 You can see the effective foliage here and the sweet, expressive little flowers peaking out.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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