Outdoors Column | Les Winkeler: Pros and cons of all the rain - The Southern
With the pandemic keeping me close to home, my chronic complaining has become laser focused.
Despite the almost total isolation, I believe 99.9 percent of Southern Illinoisans would agree with me: Enough with the rain already.
For the past 10 days, it’s not a matter of if it will rain, but when. Our kayaks are poised at our garage door. If the rain persists, we’ll simply push them out the door and shoot downstream to downtown Harrisburg.
It’s been so wet, it’s hard to enjoy the outdoors. The few breaks in the rain leave only enough time to mow the lawn. This year mowing has been akin to painting San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. By the time you finish, it’s time to start over.
On the other hand, the consistent rain has transformed our backyard into the botanical paradise we pictured in our minds while planting flowers last spring.
Normally at this time of year the flowers would be showing the strain of unrelenting sun and drinks of water doled out by hoses and sprinklers. Not so this year.
The lantana plants are full of blooms, the leaves are soft, green and succulent. The mandevilla plants, which in a normal year would harbor a few blooms tucked in select shady areas are full of full, pink, luscious blooms. What’s more, there are dozens of buds ready to pop open at any moment.
The blooms are so plentiful we’ve shut down several of our hummingbird feeders this summer. The hummers feed daily on the lantana blooms just outside the back door.
We overhauled a small rose garden this spring. (In the interest of full disclosure, my wife did all the work. My contribution was offering total emotional support.) The small circular plot is now an island of yellow/brown daisies in a sea of lush green grass.
And, with temperatures moderating significantly this week, it has been a joy to walk through the yard and enjoy the colors. It’s so relaxing I’m tempted to put the blood pressure medicine on the shelf.
But, the main attraction this year is something new – sunflowers.
We’re not talking about ordinary sunflowers here. They’re huge. Sequoia sunflowers. (Technically, they’re giant gray-striped sunflowers). If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear these things had been planted prior to European settlement.
If our neighbors don’t like them … well that’s tough. The sunflowers tower over the backyard privacy fence.
This is our first experience with sunflowers. Although, that’s not exactly true. This is our first experience with sunflowers that actually grew and flowered. It’s been something of a shock.
I photographed some of the massive blooms earlier this week. The size of the stalks stunned me. I’m not sure how we’ll deal with them later this summer.
They’re so big I’ll probably have to invest in a new chain saw. I’m afraid hitching them to my car and pulling them out would result in dislocated bumpers, not to mention uprooted water and sewer lines.
But, they are beautiful.
There were about 10 stalks in full bloom earlier this week. Walking in the backyard was like standing on the surface of a science fiction movie planet that has 10 suns.
Some of the blooms have already turned downward and seeds are maturing. That is the next step. I cannot wait to see the birds that gather to feed on the sunflower’s bounty.
Writing this has proven cathartic. Given what it has done to my backyard, I’m good with the rain.
LES WINKELER is the outdoors writer for The Southern. Contact him at les@winkelerswingsandwildlife.com or on Twitter @LesWinkeler.
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
2020-08-08 23:01:00Z
https://thesouthern.com/outdoors/outdoors-column-les-winkeler-pros-and-cons-of-all-the-rain/article_cd39bedf-578b-5259-b8e6-764482c73b58.html
CBMijQFodHRwczovL3RoZXNvdXRoZXJuLmNvbS9vdXRkb29ycy9vdXRkb29ycy1jb2x1bW4tbGVzLXdpbmtlbGVyLXByb3MtYW5kLWNvbnMtb2YtYWxsLXRoZS1yYWluL2FydGljbGVfY2QzOWJlZGYtNTc4Yi01MjU5LWI4ZTYtNzY0NDgyYzczYjU4Lmh0bWzSAQA
les
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Outdoors Column | Les Winkeler: Pros and cons of all the rain - The Southern"
Post a Comment