I feel like I'm living along the Gulf Coast again with the weather these days. Day after day, with temperatures in the 90s and high humidity. However, there are a couple of differences. Here, it cools off at night into the 70s. There, it rarely got below 80 at night, and no nighttime cooling made the days even worse. However, when we lived in New Orleans and Houston, we often had afternoon thunderstorms, unlike the rainless days that have been all too common here.
We have been watering using water from the basement dehumidifier and water from the rain barrel, which is getting low again. Most things are surviving, even if they aren't thriving. Here are some things I saw during a walk around the yard last night.
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| Hosta. This hosta looks great. Others close by are brown and stunted. |
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| The mum has had another flush of blooms. It seems not to mind the hot, dry weather. |
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| Butterfly bush. The bush itself is messy, but the blooms are pretty. |
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| The fig tree is growing out instead of up this year. |
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| The hydrangea blooms are fading, and Oh, No! I saw my first Japanese beetle. |
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| Day lily. |
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| Sunpatiens. A newer variety of impatiens that does well in sun or shade. So far, these are doing well, although they droop during the heat of the day. |
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| I moved the coneflowers from another bed to see if they would do better here. Whatever eats the petals as soon as they bloom followed them here. |
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| I moved the Black-eyed Susan to the same bed. We'll see if the same thing eats its blooms. |
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| Above is the native Black-eyed Susan and these are cultivars of the native. |
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| The first tomatoes are starting to turn. Yay! |
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| Most of the grass looks like this. However, in the shady spots, it needs to be cut. |
Well, that's it for this walk.
Until next time...
I hope you get some rain soon. Evidently when we were gone the temps topped 100+ and we had zero rain. We had set the sprinkler system to run every third day which at least kept our grass from burning up. We did lose a couple of potted plants, but such is life.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to keep flowers in pots alive as they require more frequent watering. I have had some that needed to be watered 2x/day. They didn't last the whole summer because I didn't always water as often as I should have.
DeleteYour garden is still flowering and I'm sure the lawn will perk up when the weather cools down a bit and you get some rain. Thank you for the tour of your garden; as you know, I love to see what's growing in other people's gardens. :)
ReplyDeleteWe have a mutual interest society in each others gardens. Because we live in different climates, it's interesting to see what's growing on different sides of the country.
DeleteI've never heard of sunpatiens. I seem to end up living in shady areas, so the traditional impatiens work best for me, but it's nice to know there are options.
ReplyDeleteI would dislike your weather. We keep having odd weather shifts--it will be downright chilly, followed by hot and humid weather. Hard to keep up with how to dress.
Wishing you a nice steady rainfall! And no more Japanese beetles. I squashed my first one last week.
I think sunpatients are fairly new. I really meant to get vinca for that spot, but I picked up the wrong thing. So, I'm especially glad they're doing well. I don't like our weather, either. This is weather we usually get for a couple of weeks in August. It started early this year.
DeleteYour mums are impressive! Mine don't have any flowers right now.
ReplyDeleteMums usually don't bloom until fall. I'm not sure why this one is blooming now.
DeleteI love my butterfly bush and so do the butterflies, bees and birds. So much so I am propagating new ones from cutting off some twigs and sticking them in soil. Several are adequately rooted now, but its too hot to transplant currently.
ReplyDeleteWe got our bush from my sister. It was a volunteer at her house. Hers was always covered with butterflies and yours sounds similar. We don't get as much action here, but the blooms are pretty and we are always hopeful. Butterfly bush is considered an invasive species in some areas because the native plants can't compete with it and it takes over. So far, the spot in our yard is under control.
DeleteLooks like your flowers are holding up well! We've had some SUPER hot and humid days here. Everything looks so crispy! We need some rain so bad. And yes, the grass looks exactly like that in my yard. Stay cool!
ReplyDeleteI didn't take pictures of the brown, dying ones. :) We've been doing some watering, so that is helping.
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