After the rain

A storm blew in  yesterday. It was totally unexpected and very welcome. All morning, dark grey clouds trailed across the sky. Occasionally, it sprinkled a little. Then, in the late afternoon, a big mass of clouds moved in. We could see them coming in over the sea and the low-lying areas. Slowly, at first and then faster, until it hit us here, on our little hill-top town. And it rained. And it poured. And it even hailed. Thunder growled and lightning flashed. It was amazing and exhilarating. It washed away all the dust, cobwebs and debris leaving everything fresh, clean and sparkling. Sometimes all it takes is some rain for the world to feel like it has been born anew. My plants loved it and I did too. It would be lovely if we could have a storm like that every other week - but that would be hoping for too much.

I am starting to become slightly obsessed with plants and gardens. Even though our patch of soil is fairly small, as most of our backyard is tiled, I could spend hours just taking photos of the flowers. Although I am trying to find plants that are drought resistant, I love the few rose bushes that we have and my two hydrangeas. It's a chore to keep them alive in summer and, when we get heatwaves (which usually happens every few days in summer), I will think about them while I'm still at the office, hoping I won't find them completely lifeless by the time I get home. Most of our flowering plants peak in  June and won't flower again until the end of September when the weather finally cools down to bearable levels again. By mid-June I'll already be looking forward to that time.

I'm keeping it short today and hope you enjoy the flowers. Any gardening tips are welcome. I don't have green fingers, unfortunately.

But before I go, since I'm speaking about gardens, you have to see Elizabeth's enchanted garden here and Cindy's equally beautiful one here.