Raindrops on roses

Rain is not one of my favourite things, but after the unseasonal dearth of it lately, its hard to resent. Though I've luxuriated in all this sunshine, it's been hard to ignore the drought warnings that have appeared. It's April! Drought? Here, now? Bonkers.

No-one could deny the smell of happy relieved plants when the heavens opened yesterday.

Trembling pearls of water caught in the curves of my aquilegia, soon to roll off.

Raindrops on roses. (Don't it give you that Maria feeling..?) Rain really freshens the colours of the leaves. I love their softly winestained edges.

The first buds on these freesias have only just burst into bloom. They were all I could smell out there!

I've lost more plants to the sun than I should have since living here. Going away without arranging a waterer or just being lazily forgetful over consecutive scorching days, I've felt horribly guilty discovering them wilting, parched and sometimes unrescuable.

I've been careful to water religiously through the recent dry spell, and have also been adding water retention granules into pots old and new as a backup. Pots are very vulnerable, they don't have the option of plunging their roots deeper to quench their thirst. I've trapped them 3 floors up and have a responsibility to keep them alive. Even when it does rain, some plants by walls miss out due to angle issues... I must be vigilant!

I remember my geography teacher talking about the drought of 1976, and how her father had collected the family's bathwater for weeks to keep his garden alive. We should all do that. There's so much waste. It'll be a serious jug relay though!

I feel sad for people with bigger gardens than mine for whom this hosepipe ban will spell disaster. (I will think of them happily whenever it rains!) At the same time I understand that all resources are finite and we need to be more mindful of this. There's some really useful advice on the RHS website about dealing with drought.

And check out the amazing dry garden at Hyde Hall - apparently they don't water it at all!