How the garden coped with the rain

Surveying the garden after the rain, there was bit of a mess but no real damage.......
There were even some nice surprises.

At least something good came of all the rain we've had. Our Stenocarpus sinuatus (Firewheel tree) is covered in blooms for the first time. It's a subtropical rainforest tree so native to this general area but obviously likes more water than we have been giving it. We don't water any of our trees in the rainforest area . They were chosen because they are indigenous to our region and so I believe they should be able to cope with whatever comes along. To look spectacular though, maybe they do need some help occasionally.

The flowers look like spokes of a wheel - hence its common name.

When we installed drainage near the back patio we covered the area with a "dry creek bed" of pebbles and stones. During the downpour it was far from dry but the drainage worked well and the water flowed away quickly. - decorative AND practical.

Getting rid of excess water was the priority.
Throughout last weekend we had to keep syphoning water out of the pool. If it over-flows it makes a terrible mess. With the volume of rain we had this was a frequent task for a couple of days.

 When the rain ceased the pool looked fine, but...

 we currently have a green pool.

With chemical balance of the pool altered with all the rainwater algae doesn't take long to grow. A trip to the pool shop will fix it easily.

 

 

The chickens haven't grown webbed feet quite yet but they probably wish they could. Their pen is soggy and there's no point letting them out because the rest of the yard is no better.

During the rain, the older ladies spent most of their time in the coup and the younger ones were outside in the rain. We thought maybe the young ones were just stupid, but when we went to check on them we discovered a crabby old chook standing guard to stop the younger girls entering. Chickens can be nasty to each other sometimes.

 

In general, though, the new girls are settling in well. They tend to stick together (safety in numbers) and the older chooks ignore them most of the time.

 

The poor sunflowers toppled over, but the passionfruit vine is loving the extra moisture.

 The corn fell over as well with the wind and rain.

We'll pick any ripe cobs then pull the rest out. The chickens may benefit from this bounty if there is enough.

 

The beehive gingers, in fact all of our gingers, love extra moisture.

 

You will note there are no dogs in any of these photos. Missy has decided that until the ground dries out she'll leave the exploring to us and only go outside for the bare essentials.

Smart dog.