After the Rain

Friday night we finally had rain. It has been well over a month and mother nature decided to try and make up the deficit. A torrential downpour of well over an inch that of course flattened the phlox, carnations and bush beans. The power loss just mad things more interesting.

On Saturday it was as if the sky had come alive, I've never seen as many bees, butterflies and moths in the air at one time!

The blossom above was a big shock this morning. A fully double cosmos of burgundy with white splashes! I'll definitely be saving seeds of this one.

We seem to have an explosion of carpenter bees this year, their were hundreds buzzing around yesterday. They look intimidating, but I've never seen an aggressive one.

Above, two blooms from 'Apricot Blush' zinnia.

Above, a bloom of 'Benary's Giant Lime' zinnia.

I discovered the 'Sequoia' bush beans infested with bean beetles! Had to look them up as I've never had them before. I'm now starting a spray regimen with Safer's Soap, it is not fun to try and spray under the leaves of pole beans. I wonder if the extreme heat had something to do with their appearance?

On a more positive note, the first early large tomatoes are starting to blush as well as a pepper.