after the rain

I always expect the heavy rains to come in spring, but they really hit us at the beginning of summer. So in between bouts of lightning storms and half-day downpours, I survey the garden. Everything's growing like crazy, so once it dries out a bit I'll have tons of weeding to do. This is what's going on now in that strip I've been trying to settle with, between the side of the house and driveway.

The Marigolds I planted from seed are coming up

and in other parts of the garden as well, where they'll serve some protection from pests (I hope).

The ones I transplanted in are already forming buds. I hope they grow a bit larger!

The Sunflowers I moved in, only one has taken off and grown a lot

Another died, and the rest are middling-small size still.

What's growing mostly, here is- Purslane! You can see it in all the pictures, carpeting the ground in teeny plants. I should never have encouraged it if I didn't want it to be the feature here. Really, I like the Purslane when it gets nice and bushy, and it seems to like the spot. Problem is, it doesn't start coming back until June. So all spring it's either bare ground or weeds. I'm beginning to think I should dig up my Marigolds and move them into the veggie garden, and let the Purslane take over for the season. I need to find a plant that will fill the space in spring, then die out when the purslane comes in. Maybe I should plant some crocus there? but I think there'd still be a gap of dead space...

On another note, the Daylily patch I made at the bottom of this space, is looking beautiful. Blooms on tall stalks all over the place. Here's a few views of it

and a closeup.

And they're still doing a very good job of keeping water out of my mudroom, no matter how hard it rains!