As I grew up in the US, we children would often chant, “Rain, rain go away; come again some other day!”  After several days of all-day rain here in Yorkshire that keeps temperatures at an almost winter, I’ve had enough rain for now.  It’s common for people to pray for rain but less so to pray for it to stop.  That’s what I’m doing, praying for it to stop but only for a couple of days. But maybe we need to store it up for when it’s dry, one might think.  Last summer certainly was dry—sunny, with almost no rain; it was lovely for outside activities but not good for the garden. My husband and I had to form our own “bucket brigade” to water the containers, even the beds, since we don’t have an outdoor hose bib. Yes rain is good, needed. And yes, it is England. However, the weather watchers warn Yorkshire of flooding—the ground and the waterways apparently can’t hold much more.  Nor can the garden.  The soil is getting waterlogged.

I keep reading that we should save rainwater in the garden for dry times but by the time the ground and the soil in my pots dries out enough to need more, the rainwater in my bucket (pictured above—yes, I poured rainwater from other parts of the garden into it) will have diminished through evaporation.  I suppose a rain butt (I’d never heard of one before I came to UK) would minimize evaporation but as a sojourner here, I’m reluctant to invest in the huge things.

Meanwhile, my mangetout peas,”eat it all,” in English (snow peas in the US), seem to be quite happy with the cool, wet weather and have outgrown their pea brush reaching almost to my

chin.  I’ve heard that lupins are “thirsty plants” so mine seem to be happy to have the rain make its way between their outspread leaves. I enjoy seeing raindrops stand on the lupin leaves, glistening in whatever light there is, like jewels. Lupins (spelled lupines in U.S.) were on my list of “musts” to grow as they’re in the same family as my home state wildflower.