The rain got close to record breaking in June, but there was still plenty of sun to mostly make up for it, so the plants did okay. By late July, however, the plants started to show signs of over-watering. This was hard to deal with since I couldn't do much besides start covering beds and I still didn't think I needed to quite yet. Boy, do I have a lot left to learn.
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| Same petunias planted on the same day in the same pots. The ones on the left have been hanging under the awning of the house, getting just enough water. The ones on the right have received most of the downpour and instead of the dead heads drying up and falling off, they got mushy and hung on, leading to a gross looking basket. |
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| My trellis branching out. At least the trellis can handle the rain. |
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| The lavender was apparently VERY sensitive to over-watering. It started to die and later on pretty much gave up. I should have harvested it at this time in late July. Damn. |
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| The zucchini and squash produced really fast. Was this a result of a lot of rain? I know they love a lot of water because their fruit is so damn watery, but would a super wet season mean more fruit, faster? Either way, I kept loosing zucchini to the cycle of life. They'd sprout, grow and rot before I could even pick them and give away to some sucker I stopped on the street. I didn't actually do that but I did give away pounds and pounds of zucchini to neighbors and co-workers. |
The rain was the biggest challenge of this growing season. If I could do it again, I'd cover plants from the rain, harvest other plants sooner and leave some plants right where they were. This season taught me that I have SO much more to learn about growing plants in Alaska, especially in our changing climate. Fall time should be interesting.
