Unexpected Gifts from the Rain

So after getting almost 9 inches of rain this week, the grass is crazy long, the fences are still drying out, and there are a few less birds visiting the fountain.  This morning I took a Town Lake walk with M and saw remnants of the flooding there: weed-draped benches, beached docks, and long expanses of muddy muck where the trail used to be. When I got home I took the time to walk around the park in my backyard and see how things were drying out.

The okra plants that had fallen/bent way over under the force of the wind and rain had start to grow in an "s" shape back towards the sky.  I found more twine and posts to force them upright. Then I picked a plate of okra.  Those plants are hardy.

The tomato plant is draped way down over the basil and pepper plants. I have a trip to Lowe's planned today to see if I can find some better supports.  For the record, still not cool enough at night for tomatoes, but I'm not giving up early this year.  I'll keep that plant going until the first freeze before I give up!

There were also a few surprises.  This volunteer didn't look like the usual suspects when I saw it on Thursday, so I let it grow.

Turns out it was a rain lilly, and more popped up in the lawn and herb garden within the next couple days.

Funny that they don't crop up from being watered with the sprinkler.  You definitely need a good soaking before they emerge.  Not sure how they propagate but I'll leave them be where I can so that they have a chance to come again after the next big rain.

Moving on. In the back of the yard near the strawberry patch everything looked normal. Then I thought I saw  a pot of gold coins tipped over near the rosemary. Turns out, the jack o'lantern that I'd dumped by the fence to rot last year had a heck of a lot of seeds.

I doubt they'll grow into anything, but I suppose I should still clean them up.  Or maybe see if the squirrels do...
And finally there were these little surprises sprouting up from dried husks of ancient purple alien flowers.

Artichokes back from the dry dust of summer! The one on the top left is really close to the thyme (upper left corner). I hope the thyme learns to grow northwest because it's going to be fighting for sunlight in another couple months if that artichoke continues to grow. The artichoke sprout from the second plant is not looking as strong, but now that I know it's there, I'm going to make sure to water it regularly.  Hopefully these plants don't need 8 inches of water a week to grow, but it's still exciting to see them after months of nothing.