This past summer, 2022, has been an exceptionally hot and dry summer here in western Washington State. People either water their plants and lawns a LOT … or they’ve stopped watering completely. Everyone has been worried about wildfires again in western USA and Canada, but it seems the wildfires are fewer this year. Maybe people are learning to be more careful? So fewer fires are being started by people?
But still, it has been hot and dry here, not caused by wildfires but by climate. It hasn’t been as bad up here as California’s drought, but bad enough for the Pacific Northwest that’s known for its rain, when we aren’t getting rain! Some folks here, even if they don’t water their lawns, they still make sure the trees around their homes get watered (I do that) … trees need water too.
So, those of us who are used to Pacific Northwest weather and that lovely misty moisty dewy type of rain that we have here a lot in the autumn and winter and spring, and that we have here (or have had here) at least occassionally in the summer … we have been loving the sun, but we have been praying for autumn and the autumn rains.
I was at the store the other day buying drought tolerant plants for the sunny, west side of my house. I drove home, parked in the driveway, got out of my big white truck. Right beside my driveway is a “burning bush” (Euonymus alatus), that I keep trimmed to about three feet tall. Well today, as I got out of my truck, I saw that this lovely bush had ONE bright orange/pink autumn leaf on it, announcing the arrival of fall. I almost danced. 🙂
This one brave leaf is the first one to step out and announce itself and announce the arrival of autumn. You can see many of the leaves around this one are changing as well, getting ready to turn the entire bush into a gorgeous feast of reds and pinks and oranges. Sometimes it takes just one to start the process. That’s true with burning bushes, and maybe with humans too, eh? 🙂
And, indeed, I did purchase three drought tolerant plants. A few days later I planted them in front of my house. Here’s a photo of my Black Knight (Caryopteris) plants.
These plants will grow to about three feet tall and three feet in diameter, and fill in that space nicely without over-powering the space. Bees love these plants!! I water the Black Knight plants daily (to help them just this first year), and when I do that, the bees aren’t happy about being interrupted by the water spray … the bees talk to me about my unauthorized interruption of their work, they aren’t happy about the spray of water bouncing the flowers around. A number of them have even flown up and hovered right in front of my face and looked me in the eye, but I whistle and remind the bees that I’m helping the plants and thereby helping them too. They listen and haven’t harmed me. And I listen too and now I water mostly early in the morning or late in the evening when the bees aren’t there.
And then, to top this off … it rained last night and today. Autumn is here … hooray for autumn! 🙂
Rain! Oh that rain felt so good last night and today. I must live somewhere near you Ann, or at least on the west side of the Cascade Mountains. I woke up in the night to hear or maybe just feel the soft sound of rain, delicious rain.
Oh yes, didn’t that rain sound wonderful, and the air felt so good when I got up in the morning and went outside. They say more is coming in a week or so.
I was just typing the same thing. We have been so thirsty. And it rained!
Ha, thirsty is a good word for it … for us and for the plants and animals. More rain please!
Walked over to the fish pond this morning and the little rose bush next to it sparkled with raindrops. Everything felt so fresh and clean without even a hint of smoke in the air! Wonderful!!
It looked and felt so good! 🙂
On the NW Wildfires map they post the cause of each fire. I don’t remember seeing any human caused fires in Washington this summer (that’s not to say that there weren’t any), though several of the fires are still under investigation. We can always hope.
I haven’t checked the map either, Fritizi, that would be a good thing to do. A state park ranger told me that the number of human-caused wildfires is way down from prior years. Still, it’s so dry everywhere that when a natural wildfire happens, it probably spreads faster and is more difficult to contain. Remember Smokey the Bear ads? Do they still have them? “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”
We have burning bushes here too. I always feel sad when I see that first red leaf. I used t put Katie-girl in front of the bush with the one red leaf every fall to commemorate the beginning of fall. I love your new purchases, I think they will be perfect!
Well, yes, in truth that first red leaf is a mixed blessing for me too. Summer is over, camping will soon be done for the year. But rain will soon come. I love your photos of Katie.
Both of have lived all our lives in southwest USA and mostly in locations where there isn’t much difference between seasons, maybe a little but not much. It’s interesting to think about other climates and how they affect animals and plants. We liked that first orange leaf! 🙂
When winters howl with snow and cold and wind and interminable rain, I think about moving to a more “reasonable” climate, probably like where you folks live. But it actually isn’t too bad here in the Pacific Northwest, there’s lots worse winter weather lots of places around North America. And, I like the change of seasons, as you mention … it’s fun to watch the plants change, the birds fly south (or north), the horses grow their winter coats, etc. 🙂
Love your attention to detail and how you spotted that one leaf, and then paid attention to it! Sublime. 🙂
🙂 Thanks.
I have caryopteris too! and the bees here sure love them too. That was a really cute description of your interaction with the bees when you were watering. We really can get along with each other if we just try. Great blog, thank you.
You are welcome! 🙂
How sweet. When we go camping, we love to be out camping, and when we come home, we love being home. Do you too, Ann?
Exactly, Marge, me too. Almost without fail, when I’m out camping, I don’t want to go home! But when I get home, I love being home. I feel so blessed to have two homes … my house and my trailer. I bet you folks do too. Life is great.
We have so many bees, even in October. This time of year, they love the hot lips sage, Russian sage, asters, peony dahlias and hardy fuschias.
I almost bought Russian sage, in fact that’s what I was looking for but none of the nurseries in the area had it in stock as of a few weeks ago. So I “compromised” on Caryopteris (Black Knight) but I love it … and I love that the bees love it … it’s perfect. I don’t know much about bees except that they need help. I have an area around the north side of my home where no one ever sits, so I’ll be/bee planting there as well and will fill in for other seasons of the year. Oh, I love hardy fuschias … sigh, so many wonderful plants. 🙂