Our recent heatwave was one for the history books. While the temperature in my location topped out at 106F (41C) on the fourth day, the heatwave continued for ten days, which is unusual. Luckily, the remnants of Hurricane Kay moved up the coast as a tropical storm late last week, reaching us late Friday afternoon. It initially looked as though it'd burnt itself out in San Diego but by mid-evening we were getting slow and steady rain. We ended up with 0.60/inch of inch (15.24 mm), which by our standards isn't bad! The off-season rainstorm was especially appreciated given the 15-day ban on outdoor watering we've been operating under since last Tuesday. I saved water in my empty rain tanks before the ban took effect but toting watering cans from place to place in the middle of a heatwave with humidity steadily rising isn't fun. The rain also broke the heat spell, although the combination of temperatures in the mid-80sF (29C) with humidity at 70% and above still isn't pleasant.
While some of my dahlias fried and others stubbornly refuse to bloom, I was surprised that many came through the heatwave battle-weary but mostly intact. Once again, I cut the majority of blooms that were in passable condition (if not necessarily fresh).
![]() |
The first bloom of Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda' is front and center here. It looked better several days ago but, in its faded state, it paired well with the other pinky-lavender dahlia blooms I had on hand. Dahlia 'Lavender Ruffles' is especially bountiful this week.
|
![]() |
A single Dahlia 'Enchantress' and 2 Dahlia 'Karma Prospero' dress up the back view
|
![]() |
Top view
|
![]() |
Clockwise from the upper left: pink and white Cosmos bipinnatus, self-seeded Polygala myrtifolia, Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda', D. 'Enchantress', D. 'Karma Prospero', D. 'Lavender Ruffles', and Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata'
|
Dahlia 'Catching Fire' got a late start but it keeps pumping out at least two pristine blooms a week so I'm serving it up once again.
![]() |
I added a group of other heatwave survivors to support the 2 dahlia stems
|
![]() |
Back view
|
![]() |
Top view
|
![]() |
Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Pelargonium peltatum 'Blizzard White', Dahlia 'Catching Fire', Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus), Osteosperum 'Berry White', and Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Deep Red'
|
Temperatures are expected to trend down slightly over the remainder of the week but it looks as though humidity will remain relatively high. There's still some thunderstorm activity left in the area but little probability that it'll reach us. Nine more days left on the outdoor watering ban!
For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
