Arthur and Lady of the Lake

How is that for a romantic title? Tropical storm Arthur brought us much needed rain late June 18th and into the 19th.

We received 1.5 inches per our rain gauge. It has been a brutal late Spring and early Summer. We have been waiting weeks for this rain. Durham is in Exceptional Drought status which is the highest level of severity in North Carolina.

On a bit of a whim and despite the drought I purchased a small rambling David Austin rose named Lady of the Lake. She's been here for about a week. I ordered her from Heirloom Roses in Oregon. Interestingly, Heirloom Roses ships the live plants after defoliating them. The technique works well. The rose has quickly sprouted new leaves and looks very healthy.

 Early this afternoon, June 19th, Ian planted her. We've done all we know to do to give this rose a good start. Fresh rain, a combo of mushroom compost and Black Wonder 5000, Espoma Rose Tone and organic bone meal. We applied a top dressing of mint compost from Heirloom Roses. The final layer was organic mulch from Miracle Gro.

The drought ruined the daylilies. Most did not bloom and those that did had darker small blossoms. They really do need rain to bloom well. I always thought of daylilies as being tough plants, but didn't realize that they would react so poorly to the drought. We haven't had an extreme drought in twenty years. I don't know if we have ever experienced a drought in the Spring. The drought started in late 2025. The cool temperatures earlier in the season helped a lot of the early season bloomers. Of note,the echinaceas in partial shade and abelia bushes are doing quite well.

We are also seeing unusual wild life activity. A neighbor and her dogs were attacked by a fox last week. She is getting rabies shots. Yesterday, another neighbor filmed a snapping turtle swimming in the Ellerbe Creek through our park with a fox carcass. Probably that same fox. I'm surprised the turtle found some water. By the way, we are still waiting for the final test analysis from the state regarding contaminants in the park. I also saw three dead Eastern Bumblebees on the driveway this week. Were they attacked by the aggressive Carpenter bees or was it the drought? Sad all the way around.

We have had owls using our bird bath in June and actually bathing in the pond. I've not seen that behavior until now. A few posts on Nextdoor have showed birds of prey using small bird baths. Water is scarce. This owl decided to hang out on the rose arbor this week. He's hanging out with Puff the Magic weathervane.

Ian took this photo through the glass doors in our garden room. We love to have morning coffee looking into the backyard. 

Given the tough conditions this year, Ian installed soaker hoses this week. We hope that this will keep most plants alive. We are under water restrictions, but hand watering and soakers are allowed. Irrigation systems that spray are not allowed. We were driving through the neighborhood a few days ago and discovered a fabulous front yard flower garden. When I took a closer look, I saw their soaker hoses. I'm really hoping that this will be the answer for us.

This Facebook post from the Museum of Life and Science is a good depiction of the drought. This is their wetland area. The museum is within walking distance from our house. Falls Lake (Raleigh's drinking water) is so low in places that the Friends of Ellerbe Creek went to the dried out parts of the lake bed to pick up trash that had probably been submerged for years. That was a making lemonade out of lemons moment.

Our good friend, Mike walking on the lake bed.

The rain from Arthur has given us all some relief and hope that this drought will lessen. Here's Lady of the Lake today in her new home. Hope springs eternal!