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As I write this column I can hear the rain falling — again. Blame me. No, don’t blame me. There’s no way my adding a second rain barrel would be the reason it’s rained so much during this summer. Besides, I wasn’t the only one to take advantage of the region’s deal this past spring. Thousands of others did too.

I’ve had an old oak barrel for years, but it never came close to supplying all the water I needed, especially during the last few years when it was particularly dry or the rains were infrequent.

I mounted the new barrel on a low platform behind the beautybush where it would be out of sight as long as there are leaves on the bush. By installing a Y fitting on the down pipe from the eaves trough, I can switch between filling the barrel or flooding the front steps.

It works wonderfully, except I’ve barely needed the extra water this summer. I know that will change, if not next summer, the summer after. Weather is like that. There’ll be more long dry spells and more watering bans, even though some gardeners may have considered switching from drought loving plants to bog dwellers. But as wet as it has seemed, the downpours have been spotty this summer, with total rainfall actually below normal. It just happened to be spaced out well enough to keep gardens lush and green. Although the last few summers have been drier than normal, long-term averages show Southern Ontario to be a reasonably damp part of the country.

Because there’s no reliable way to predict the weather beyond lunchtime, every growing season is a gamble. There’s no sure way of knowing in spring what plants are going to perform the best come mid summer. Generally, a good mix of plants is the best solution for season long colour. If your garden is extremely dry because it’s built on a pile of sand or it happens to be located on a flood plain and resembles a Louisiana swamp most of the time, then you will be able to plant appropriately. Other than that, the average garden will have areas that are wetter or drier, but overall it will be subject to the vagaries of weather, making plant selection the usual gamble.

Some years a particular perennial will do terrifically, while the following year it will have you wondering why you ever planted it — that’s if it even survives the winter. A plant that’s supposed to be drought tolerant isn’t going to feel like putting on a Canadian Idol winning performance if it’s had to spend the winter soaking its feet in cold, icy water.

This doesn’t necessarily mean plants that are supposed to tolerate dry conditions won’t do okay if rainfall is excessive. It all comes back to the soil being well drained. A problem that can occur is lack of nourishment. Too much rain and nutrients leach from the soil. This is a problem with container plants. Over watering, whether from rainfall or hand watering may not in itself distress a plant, but when the plant’s food supply is being flushed out faster than it’s replenished, the plant will let you know either by wilting or by flashing yellow leaves at you. Wilting occurs, of course, when a plant is desperate for a drink, and if it happens later in the day, that’s usually the reason, but if leaves are drooping first thing in the morning, it’s more than likely from too much water.

This can happen in the flowerbed too. Geraniums love the sun and heat, and the ones I have in planters are doing just fine, despite the clouds and rain, but the one I planted in a poorly drained corner of a front flowerbed looks awful. It’s in a spot that in a typical summer should have been just right moisture-wise, but too many days of rain has left it waterlogged. By the time I realized what was happening, the damage was done. It may recover, but I’m afraid I’m going to be humming a few bars of Amazing Grace.

This is typical of many garden problems, particularly with annuals. By the time you notice a problem, especially one related to watering or feeding, the damage is done. If it happens early, there’s time to do something about it and the plant will recover.

It’s easy to blame extremes of weather for garden problems, but identifying the true cause can be difficult, partly because plants can’t talk and also because they have a limited range of expressions.

Yellow leaves can be a sign of over watering, but it can also be due to under watering, over feeding or under feeding, too much sun or too much shade, one of a hundred different diseases, or merely the indiscriminate disregard of a solitary cat.

It’s easy to say be diligent, but it isn’t possible to stand over every single plant to monitor day to day progress, feeding them at regular intervals, and constantly checking moisture levels. Most plants are reasonably tolerant of benign neglect, but too long at the extreme end of their required conditions and they’ll sulk. Since the challenge is to have a garden full of colour for as long as possible, the solution is to plant a wider range of plants. Wet summer or dry summer, something will always be happy.

Overall, this has been a good summer in my garden, and the rain has indeed been welcome. It hasn’t been the best for picnics and festivals, but my garden philosophy is captured in a song by Canadian folkie, Valdy — “Been around for eighty summers, some were winners and some were bummers — I loved them all.”