Heat Wave
We're finally past the big heat wave. Over 100F for two days, preceded by over 80F for a couple of days as well, with it never really cooling off much at night. I was mostly able to get through the first few days, but those 100F days, I was just plain useless. Too hot to even think. I don't have air conditioning, don't have a car to get to air conditioning, and was barely able to take basic care of myself much less anything else. This morning was much nicer and I was still feeling sick from the heat.
I went to water the garden today. I gave up trying to do anything practical yesterday and just dozed through the heat. Consequently, between lack of water and just plain sun beating down on everything, a goodly portion of the garden is dead. I think the plants, at their core, are still alive, but a lot of flowers & foliage burned to a crisp. The fuchsias, my beautiful fuchsias, all of the blooms & buds gone. The bleeding hearts - the flowers were already finished, but the leaves are all crispy now and the goat's beard is shriveled up. The violas might possibly come back, but I'm not holding my breath.
On the other hand, the tomatoes are doing beautifully, and the sunflowers seem much happier. I still don't know for sure what's going on with the pumpkins, but I think if I mostly ignore them, they'll turn out fine. I don't know how the cucumbers & purple beans feel about the heat, except that some of the tangential leaves burned up and dried out. And the flower seeds I put in the drawers sprouted over the weekend. They don't look too toasty, so maybe there's hope for them too.
So now that I'm getting company this week, all the Pretty is gone from the front of the house. At least the veggies aren't dead.
I went to water the garden today. I gave up trying to do anything practical yesterday and just dozed through the heat. Consequently, between lack of water and just plain sun beating down on everything, a goodly portion of the garden is dead. I think the plants, at their core, are still alive, but a lot of flowers & foliage burned to a crisp. The fuchsias, my beautiful fuchsias, all of the blooms & buds gone. The bleeding hearts - the flowers were already finished, but the leaves are all crispy now and the goat's beard is shriveled up. The violas might possibly come back, but I'm not holding my breath.
On the other hand, the tomatoes are doing beautifully, and the sunflowers seem much happier. I still don't know for sure what's going on with the pumpkins, but I think if I mostly ignore them, they'll turn out fine. I don't know how the cucumbers & purple beans feel about the heat, except that some of the tangential leaves burned up and dried out. And the flower seeds I put in the drawers sprouted over the weekend. They don't look too toasty, so maybe there's hope for them too.
So now that I'm getting company this week, all the Pretty is gone from the front of the house. At least the veggies aren't dead.