After the Rain

It was a dark and stormy night. Really? Night is dark? No wonder that sentence has been voted among the worst opening lines ever for a book.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Yes, it did storm last night, and the evening before that and the afternoon before that. It stormed to the tune of 3-1/2 inches of rain.

Let's go see how my garden fared, shall we?

My azaleas are blooming.

I just love this lichen. Can you tell?

Another azalea is blooming.

The Canada Red Chokeberries are beginning to turn purple.



The Little Kim Lilac is putting on a fine display.




While a Columbine nods nearby.





My Spiderwort, or Tradescantia virginiana L.

Oh goody, the Foxglove (Digitalis) that I planted last spring are blooming this year. Just remember, the heart medicine Digitalin is made from Digitalis, so no part of this plant should ever be ingested. Even a small bite can prove to be fatal.

This Rhododedron is just beginning to bloom.

While its neighbor is already in full bloom.

The Baptisia australis, or False Indigo, is just beginning to bloom.

Up on my deck, the Provence Lavender is coming into flower.

Well, what do we have here? This, uh, interesting specimen is a fungus known as Mutinus elegans, or the Devil's Dipstick. As might be obvious, this is a phallic fungus. While you ponder that bit of information, I'll just say that I was glad that I can't really smell anything right now because this fungus is in the stink horn family.

Really, right there where just anybody can see it!