Hail Storm

Memorial Day started beautifully, with a cool, light breeze and soft sunshine. The view sitting on the deck having my coffee was nice.

But in the afternoon we had a storm come through and it brought hard driving hail.

The hailstones weren't big but the force of them hammering the skylights was deafening and a little scary. It almost seemed like the onslaught would break the skylights.

But it passed pretty quickly and left a coating of white ice cubes on the gardens and patio. The rain gauge measured a quarter inch after it melted.

The Bartzella peony's fragile blooms managed to survive. It is the first year it has bloomed so well. Most plants are okay and the trees are fine, but left a lot of torn twigs and leaves all over the ground.

But other things got tattered. 

The bush clematis that I had just moved to the side of the table at the garage door (and just pruned back) got shredded and looks bad now. And the little strawberry in a pot is half destroyed.

Spring is a tough season!