Another insanely hot day. The mercury topped out at about 98 degrees. I spent a good 90 minutes watering the tomatoes and the flower beds. Late in the day we had some fierce thunderstorms so the plants all got a double dose today. They needed it. The Hydrangeas seem to be faring the worst. They wilt during the day, which is protective, but when they perk up in the evenings, they are looking very singed along the edges of their petals and leaves. The oak leaf hydrangea is the exception. It seems to be thriving. What a fantastic plant! Beautiful in the summer and spectacular red leaves in the fall.
Another area that is struggling in these temperatures is the narrow flower bed outside of our fence. The area is only about 9" wide but we hated to waste it, so we put annuals and perennials in there every summer. Eventually the tomatoes grow over the fence and those pesky Morning Glories fill in the spaces in the middle, so by August it is quite impressive. It does face west, however and there is nothing to shade it from the intense afternoon sun. But we keep it well watered, and everything seems to be holding up, but not exactly filling in. Too much heat stress. Since June was like August, I'm hoping that July will be like June. That would be great.
Penny and I took a walk this afternoon. We wandered down a couple of blocks to see two more urban gardens that are very impressive. The house above is a corner property, very similar to ours. However, they strictly grown perennials. They do a terrific job of keeping everything tamed, even though their garden is quite a few years older than ours. I love their variations in level, color and texture. It is quite a showplace.
This family, a few doors further down, really knows how to make use of every inch of space. They grow a full assortment of flowers, ornamentals and vegetable, much like us, but a lot of their plants are in containers. As you can see, they even use the porch roof!
No comments:
Post a Comment