The first Wilson’s Yellow daylily opened after the heavy rains. It’s a bright spot of color amid the blues in this partly shady spot.

The other daylilies are starting to bloom too. Here is Best of Friends, a little battered from the storms but still cheerful.

The vitex tree took a pounding from the hail and rain over the weekend, but its flower clusters came through OK. Soon all its branches will be tipped with purple spires.

The vitex’s flower. This tree is also known around here as chaste lilac. It isn’t fragrant like the northern lilac, but it is beautiful in spring bloom.

We received 7 inches of rain between Thursday night and early this Monday morning. That should make a dent in Austin’s prolonged drought. Whether it will be the last significant rain through another long, hot summer is the question we Austin gardeners are wondering.