This year, the spring and summer has been very dry with little sustained rain. July is turning out to be one of the driest on record. No wonder the trees everywhere are suffering. The walnut tree planted as part of the Queen’s Jubilee is looking quite stressed for example.
But there is one strange happening. In the fruit orchard, where 24 trees of various varieties were planted some three years ago, about a month ago around six lost most of their leaves. A few green ones hung on. Since then they have been regularly watered, and guess what. They have new leaf buds! Its almost as if they thought spring has come again! Other, more drought tolerant trees only had a few yellow leaves a month ago, and now with the watering the entire tree looks like new, with radiant green leaves.
Sunflowers were planted both in the raised beds and in the adjacent flower meadow. They have germinated in the latter, but without rain will they flower? Certainly the ones planted in the raised beds (from seeds collected last year) are starting to look very nice. No doubt we are due for an impressive display. Lets hope the tinder-dry scrub does not catch fire!