Every day in my morning emails I get a weather report, with the next 7 day forecast. It is getting depressing to read, since every one is the same, with temperatures in the mid to upper 90's and just a small percentage for rain. I am ready for brisk, cool fall weather, with bright blue clear skies and low humidity. Wishful thinking right now. I drive by all the garden centers with their showcased mums and Halloween decor, but I am still stuck in summer. I spent half a day outside--can you guess which half? I was out early trying to beat the heat. It really wasn't unbearable until about 11. I got the yard edged, pulled more weeds, deadheaded, blew leaves and clippings off the sidewalks, and of course, watered. I am fortunate to have an efficient and working in-ground sprinkler system for the bulk of the yard,
but that doesn't cover pots. I feel like a garden hose should be a new appendage, since a day doesn't go by that I am not watering the containers on the deck, but the plants are thriving.
My summer annuals and tropical flowers
are going strong with lots of color.
I need to renovate the vegetable garden, but I can't imagine how often I would have to water to get things established, so I am holding off a bit. I am still getting peppers and unbelievably my Swiss chard has endured from a last fall planting,
and I have tons of basil.
I was out weeding and looked up and saw a bunch of ripe figs.
I thought my fig season was over. I think the birds and squirrels thought so too, because none had been touched. I harvested quite a few, and see more coming on.
I adore the 'Jubilation' gardenia. It is blooming for the 3rd or 4th time.
The flowers may not be as large as they were earlier in the season, but there are plenty of them, with more buds to follow. I clip a few flowers to enjoy the fragrance indoors too. This gardenia is in full afternoon sun and is thriving. One tough plant. I also still have flowers on the buddlea,
abelia, althea along with Encore azaleas. My summer hydranages are playing out and I need to clip some of the spent blooms.
I have a love/hate relationship with garlic chives.
I love garlic, and clip the chives for cooking, but this is one plant that can't stay where it is planted. It is blooming like crazy right now and the pollinators adore it. The plants are practically buzzing with activity.
If you look closely, there are small green seeds following these blooms. Once those seeds mature and turn black, they begin to fall and I do believe every seed germinates. I started with one plant probably 15 years ago, and in spite of weeding, mowing and weed-eating, I have hundreds of them. I did leave some of them for flowers so the bees are happy, but soon they will get mowed down before the seeds mature.
It is miserably hot and dry right now, and many gardeners want to throw in the towel and quit, but now is not the time to do that. Spring blooming plants are setting or have set flower buds. I looked at my deciduous azalea, camellias, and tulip magnolia, and flower buds are set, with more to come.
If your plants get too stressed now, they won't bloom as well next year, so bite the bullet and water. There has to be a break in the weather soon, doesn't there?!