Several weeks ago I dug up a rose bush and planted a mess of petunias in the flower bed. It was a ton of work, and it jacked up my body for a couple days. At the same time, I also planted some marigolds.
In the three weeks since planting, it’s been the petunias I’ve been most pleased with. They’re coming along nicely after a few days of 40-mph wind, which I thought was sure to kill them before they even had a chance to grow. I’ve figured out not to water petunias too much. I’ve learned not to water at night. As for the marigolds, I’m merely guessing at the moment — but they seem to want more water.
Well ‘more water’ is what they got in Oklahoma the past two days. Upwards of 3-4 inches worth.
It’s been so much rain that I figured my petunias would drown. It was in that moment of near-grief for all the work I put into the planting that I realized petunias, over the course of world history, have probably evolved to survive rain.
This article on heavy rain fall and gardens explains more:
Heavy rain damage on plants may leave them looking like they’ve been flattened to within an inch of their lives, but if you take a closer look at stems and branches, you’ll notice something amazing — most of those rain damaged parts are bent, not broken. Your plants may look terrible, but their flexibility saved them from a monstrous rain storm. If instead they remained rigid in the face of such an intense beating, their tissues would have broken or cracked, causing important transportation pathways to be severed.
Read more at Gardening Know How: Torrential Rains And Plants: What To Do If Rain Is Knocking Down Plants https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/environmental/rain-knocking-down-plants.htm
