dead in the dry of summer

It's raining today - not the gloomy month-in-a-day storm predicted by my phlegmatic driving instructor, but still, enough to make being outside cold, damp and disagreeable. But it doesn't seem to be enough to water the plants. I did a quick circuit, head thick with grumbles as I got rained upon and most of the pots are still bone dry, sullen, sulking. The snails were all perked up, and swarming out to feed on anything stressed. That's everything, then.

Later I'll probably face the indignity of having to water in the rain. But before then, a roll-call of this year's dead in the dry. Ave et Vale, bold pot-dwellers. We shall not see your like again:





The chrysanthemums (top left) live in the bright shed, for reasons of stability of environment and slug protection. But they need a lot of water, especially on hot days. More than I remembered to give them, anyway. That fern was waiting for a bigger, cooler pot to come free - for too long. It has since shown a tiny sprig of green, so may yet recover. Petunia Blackcurrant Ripple was struggling in a small pot (like those two ex alpines in the middle) but the actual death happened when slugs stripped the stem. The two shrubs at the bottom have gone to emergency measures - the spindle is now in the flower bed (and probably still water stressed) and the Daphne has a saucer.

Hope springs eternal.