We had a bit of a storm yesterday. It was quite breezy and a bit rainy. It was only a bit of a storm, it was not enough of a storm to warrant a name apparently, but it was stormy nonetheless. I had a look to see how storms qualify for a name. The website I found said that they get a name if they require an amber warning or above. We did have an amber warning for wind yesterday but not for rain so that is probably why it was nameless...... the storm with no name........
As gardeners a summer storm can mean a lot of garden damage. The trees in full leaf can be caught by the wind and the stress on the branches can be more than if it was winter and the wind can just sail through. Whilst I listen to the wind and worry about the tiles staying on the roof, I nearly worry as much about what is happening out in the garden.
My main concern yesterday was this tree in the front garden. It is a laburnum tree that is strangled by ivy (I have a major ivy problem in this part of the garden) and it has been slowly collapsing over the last couple of weeks. It is beyond my abilities to deal with it and so I am going to get someone in to remove it properly and safely.
Elsewhere in the garden there is not much significant damage. Most plants are quite 'whippy' so will bend with the wind and then spring back; it always makes me think of when I was a child at infant school we had a teacher who read Aesop's Fables to us and one that I always remember in stormy weather is 'The Oak and the Reed'.
There are a lot of apples stripped from the trees, it is a sort of 'self-pruning' moment, as it frees up more space for the remaining apples to develop.
I checked that the singular quince, the sole survivor this year, was still clinging on. Thankfully it is.
Then I walked around the corner to the Courtyard Garden and, oh calamity, the Dombeya rotundifolia was down. This is a beloved plant, from day one it has taken up a lot of my attention. In reality, this is version two of this plant as the original did not make it through its first winter. Thankfully I had taken a contingency cutting and so it lived on.
The Dombeya had landed on the aeoniums. One was pushed over,
one was rather squidged. A small concern in reality, it will bounce back.
The Dombeya has put out its first bud in recent weeks and I have been watching it closely. I righted the pot and thankfully the bud is still intact and starting to flower. This was a relief.
It was hardly the most dramatic storm we have had, it was certainly not the most destructive for which I am very grateful. It passed over the garden lightly and even though the tree in the front garden is down this opens an opportunity for more light and a new development, so now it is watch this space.
