Look up.

After last year's round of storm and tornado damage, gardeners more comfortable in the shade may find themselves staring up at the clear blue sky. Tree canopies are gone and all those delightful shade plants that once thrived beneath the trees are struggling.

Look down.

Flooding wreaked havoc on many flower beds and borders. Many favorite ornamental plants may been lost or damaged.

For those homeowners who are interested in rebuilding gardens after storm or flood damage, the Green Scene Plant Sale is a good place to start.

This year's 33rd annual sale takes place from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in the Ag Building on the National Cattle Congress grounds. You'll find daylilies, ornamental grasses, perennials galore, vines, ground covers, house plants, small shrubs, alpines, dwarf conifers and domestic wildflowers.

Choose plants that can tolerate wet feet. You'll find some good candidates at the Green Scene sale, including astilbe, campanula,

goatsbeard, Joe Pye weed, cranesbill geranium, daylilies, hostas, miscanthus, maltese cross, meadow rue, cardinal flower, primrose, bee balm, lobelia, ligularia, black-eyed Susan, foxgloves, anemone, some varieties of lungwort and Russian sage.

Flood water brings in all sorts of bacteria, compacts soil and further reduces drainage. Ways to renovate beds include double digging and installing raised beds. For double digging: At one end of the bed, dig a 1-foot-wide, 1-foot-deep trench across the bed's width, placing soil in a wheelbarrow. Work a garden fork into the trench floor to loosen soil. Dig a second trench next to the first; place excavated soil in first trench; loosen soil in second trench. Dig another trench; backfill the second trench with that soil; fork third trench, etc. until done. Fill the last trench with the soil excavated from the first.

Raised beds solve soil compaction problems, improve drainage and air circulation. There's the bonus that the beds are easily accessible, too. Decide on the location and nontoxic material for framing. Fill the raised bed with good-quality soil - not garden soil (too heavy). Add compost or organic matter to the soil.

A third option for a low-lying area in any yard where runoff and drainage is a problem is a rain garden. I'll save that for a future column.

If you've got plant donations to make for the Green Scene plant sale, label and deliver them to the ag building from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Green Scene is a volunteer, nonprofit organization that has contributed more than $500,000 to Black Hawk County for tree plantings and county beautification projects.