What the Hail?

Sunday evening we were treated to the wrath of Mother Nature in the form of a hail storm. The stones ranged in size from the relatively harmless pebbles in the photo to a fair number that were an inch in diameter. As far as the gardens go, the tomatoes were heavily damaged, though I will prune out what is shredded and see what we get. I'll harvest that last few green beans but the cucumber plant is a goner and the yellow zucchini and summer squash are likely too damaged to produce any more fruit. I likely lost one plant in the rock garden in the front yard, a lupine that I will trim back and water and see if it survives. The deck pots all look a little sad but with a little tlc may bounce back. In other parts of the yard, the salvia and Russian sage and yarrow look great or just mildly the worse for wear. I put in a dozen blanket flower plants today alongside the yarrow I planted a couple of weeks ago, they will form the border between the grassy area and the wilds of the backyard to the fence. In that area I hope to have a field of marigolds that with any luck will naturalize to fill the space. I started with five clearance plants that I have already pulled dried flower heads from and collected the seeds. The next big project I want to get done this summer is seed in the lawn. Serious weed clearing is necessary, which I will accomplish over the next couple of weeks a little at a time as my hands will tolerate. Approximately nine square yards of space is what I'm willing to devote water and upkeep to. But I do crave a barefoot-worthy bit of lawn. In other storm related news, it seems that the roof of my car being pummeled by hail stones is what was needed to make the dome light start working again. It's a mystery. Or a miracle. Maybe both.