Never Thought I'd be Writing about this Subject in July

I've already written a post on that "cold day in July, " a subject I didn't dream I would this normally hot month. Yesterday marked the coolest July 8 in 118 years.

Now comes another subject I didn't think I'd be writing about : Rain. My rain chain has really gotten a workout this year.

We normally have 36 inches of rainfall in Chicago per year. As of July we've had 26 inches or 3/4th of the total. August is usually the rainiest month ( yes, even more than April ) so we are probably going to set another record.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Rain is a very precious commodity and its abundance has caused some extremely early flowering of my Clara Curtis Mum and I now see buds on my Rose of Sharon, which usually don't appear until the first or second week of August.

With the exception of annuals and newly planted perennials I've hardly watered the garden at all this season.