Edmonton has had a lot of rain lately. Not nearly as much as the cities dealing with hurricanes and overflowing rivers, but a daily steady, demoralizing, type of rain for weeks. Actually, it hasn’t rained every day; according to CTV it has rained for 22 out of 37 days and been cloudy for most of the rest. It just feels as though it has been every day.

Now, the grass, flowers, and weeds have grown to dramatic heights. I have been trying since we moved here in 2014 to get flowering shrubs to grow in our front garden. I couldn’t understand what the problem was and last year I used a soil test to try to figure it out. However, when I was done with the test I was no wiser, so I decided there was a curse on our little patch.

This year, for the first time, we have a bloom on one of the peonies and buds on the tiger lilies. Woo Hoo! Flowers are possible after all. The rain may have kept me housebound and dampened the family camping trip, but the plants are very happy. All this time, they just needed more to drink. I know how they feel.

Yesterday, it was delightfully sunny and when I went for a walk I noticed, along the path by the LRT tracks, that the weeds have almost overtaken the planted shrubs. There were literally roses among thorns; well, thistles anyway. Here are some of the plants I saw.