I'm prepared for rain each and every day through Friday. I'll probably get it. It rained (only know because I was outside) about 9 pm last night, after a bright sunny day, but there were wispy clouds overhead and darn if one wasn't urinating lightly when I took the dogs out. Based on the very light cloud cover, I was rather shocked, but yep, a good heavy mist was coming down.

I'm going to a plant sale this morning, I've been good and NOT went to two the past two weekends, but this one is on my radar and will probably be the only one of the spring, so...let only a few things jump into my cart. Exotic offerings like rare natives that I've never seen (and that's something since I do natives and get out in countryside a lot), and venus fly traps from a university student lay before me, deciduous native azaleas and rhodos (well native to Tennesee at least..if not Arkansas...close enough). That's tempting as my pinxterbloom azalea bought last year is fragrancing the back yard right now. It might need a cousin to keep it company, right?

Moni, I wish there were two or three of you as well.

dbarron, The rain, whether coming in heavy or light amounts, is getting so old.

If you went to the plant sale, let us know what treasures you found.

From looking at the 7-day QPF this evening, it looks like the heavier rainfall totals are shifting south and east. While I don't wish flooding on anybody, it would be a relief if the heavier rain misses us again this week.

As we were driving home from the Spring Fling today, we had a 20% chance of rain and a slight chance of severe weather. Thankfully, at least so far tonight, the rain and severe stuff all has missed us. We ought to have a sunny day or two before the rain comes back.

Next week's rain is here, lol. It just couldn't wait to get started on us. It arrived with a lot of loud thunder and bright lightning around 3:30 a.m. that sent the dogs scurrying for their favorite storm hiding places. I don't know how much rain we received since it still is too dark out to see the rain gauge from inside, but any rain at all probably is more than we need on the heavily saturated soil. I hope the early arrival of the rain only 3.5 hours after the new week began is not a bad omen.

Well, it's been sunny here so far...I suspect that to change today due to Dawn's report above. I didn't find what was on my wishlist really (too early they said for hibiscus to be saleable), but I did get four plants anyway. (Mountain mint: pycnanthemum tenuifolium, american bellfower: campanula americana, wild hyacinth: camassia scilloides, and another sundew: drosera capensis)

My wistlist was groundnut, obedient plant, redroot, hibiscus lasiocarpus, and white trout lily). I guess I'll email that lady and ask if she could bring me some to next weeks farmer's market or something. I'll probably go with the obedient plant and hibiscus, having changed my mind on others for now. I had thought of another venus fly trap, but I should wait to make sure I can over winter these guys...I want to think I'm much better now and I can do it..but the proof is what my existing one looks like next spring.

It is just too wet here to do anything garden wise except clean up. Some of my tomatoes are already starting to turn yellow and more rain is coming, maybe a lot.

I was talking to my neighbor yesterday and he said that he had 350 plants me may lose if we get the three inches that may fall. I was afraid he might lose his tomatoes. Last year he planted on a hill side and had erosion problems. This year he planted his tomatoes at the bottom of the hill in slow draining soil. He said he was going to plant his tomatoes a foot deep, that is hard to do here. If you are going to bury a lot of your plant in this soil it works much better if you lay the plant down in the furrow. He ask me to plow furrows as deep as I could, and I gave him over a half mile of too deep furrows to play in. My neighbor grew up in eastern Arkansas in flat deep bottom sandy land, you just cant farm it like this shallow, rocky slow draining clay.

dbarron, It sounds like you can grow many interesting plants there.

I'm still dreading this week's rain. I don't think the big huge rainstorms can miss us forever.

Larry, I am sorry your area still is so wet. Ours is almost as bad. Wet clay is so unforgiving. If I didn't have raised beds, I've have no garden plants surviving at this point, unless I had planted rice. My tomato plants that are planted at grade level have yellowing leaves as well---I know they are drowning. The ones in raised beds are in better shape, but they won't be if the rain keeps coming.

At least twice before, we have had a monthly rainfall total of 24+" and twice before, or maybe three times before, we have had a one-day total of 12+", and all that has occurred either in April or May. I think the most recent 24" May rainfall was in 2015, and it flooded the basement of our county courthouse, which was built in 1907-1910 and previously (but no longer, I think) had records storage in the basement---because I guess no one ever thought it would flood. Those were some pretty bad times for a gardener, but this nearly non-stop rain that now is in its 7th or 8th month is even worse. I'd like to be happy that our once-dry pond is full again, but that's hardly an achievement for it considering our entire property has been pond-like for months now. Crawdads are reappearing, likely chased out of the river bottoms by too much water flowing down the Red River. We have beavers on the creek again, a sporadic occurrence that happens only in the wettest years. The dogs can hear the beavers (I cannot) working down around the creek and bark at them. All. day. long. Our dogs are not barkers in general unless there is something around like coyotes, squirrels or, apparently, beavers around annoying them.

Other than the drowning plants in the garden, it is extremely hard to keep up with all the mowing when it constantly is too wet to mow and everything is growing like weeds---especially the weeds. I'd love one warm, sunny week with absolutely no rain, but I bet that doesn't happen until at least June. As long as El Nino persists, we're likely to continue to see above-average rainfall.

Dawn

Dawn, when you get your wish, we'll be wishing for rain :)