Last week’s hail storm was a mess. I was at work when it happened, and totally bummed to see the damage to the garden. Annoyed, I left the garden alone for an entire week after it was hit with tennis ball sized hail. I was interested to see what plants would and would not make a recovery.
Surprisingly, while some plants were totally destroyed, other kept on growing as if nothing had even happened. The ‘Christmas Pole’ lima beans were one such plant that didn’t even care about the storm damage. If anything, the lima beans look stronger than ever! We’re still playing the waiting game, however. I know lima beans are long season crops, but I haven’t seen a single pod start to develop. At least the plants look healthy!
I’m also really happy with the ‘Torch’ tithonia. I’ve mentioned how much I love tithonia before, but I can’t seem to say it enough. Not only are the plants well over 6 ft tall, but they handled the wind and rain without much trouble at all. A couple of plants fell down, but most of them are still blooming profusely. Butterflies and hummingbirds are always in a frenzy to feed from the flowers. Ugh, I love tithonia so much.
Years ago when I moved into my house (and before I started gardening), these things would bloom every year. I had no idea what they were until an older lady told me that they were belladonna naked lady lilies. I know absolutely nothing about them, but the blooms are so gorgeous when they’re at their peak. Such a lovely pink color!
Sadly, most things in the yard have fallen to the ground. This is especially the case when it comes to the large amaranth planting. Basically, once those big flower plumes develop, the plant gets really top-heavy. Though the hail storm was extreme, it seems that even heavy rains can really make these start to droop. It’s a shame. The amaranth this year were easily reaching heights of over 9 ft. Maybe, eventually, I’ll consider staking the plants during planting to try to prevent this.
That’s it! The next time you see the garden, there’s a good chance things will look a lot different! Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you’re having a great day!
When our plants get hit by hail early in the season, they seem to come back even stronger. But later in the season they don’t make it – then i cry (LOL) all the work shot right when its time to reap the harvest of all our work.
Oh I love your belladonna lady lilies!!! I LOOOVE pink flowers and these are gorgeous!