The heatwave we feared was coming hit Southern California with a vengeance the middle of last week and still hasn't let go. On Thursday, temperatures along my part of the coast climbed above 102 (39C) and on Friday they peaked at 108F (42C) with nighttime temperatures stuck in the upper 80sF (30-31C). We hovered just below 100F on Saturday, giving me hope the trend would continue downward, only to climb back up to 104F (40C) yesterday. I've cut a lot of flowers since the heatwave began, most of which went into the compost bin. However, I was able to cobble together two arrangements yesterday.
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| Living up to its name, Dahlia 'Catching Fire' produced a bounty of new blooms seemingly overnight |
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| Back view: the first of the white Amaryllis belladonna also made an appearance in my back garden border just as the pink form hustled to exit |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Amaryllis belladonna, Dahlia 'Catching Fire', Clematis terniflora, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', and Leucadendron salignum 'Blush' |
I made use of three dahlia varieties for my second arrangement.
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| As there was little value in letting them burn, I cut flowers of the 3 dahlia varieties with peachy tones: 'Fairway Spur', 'Creme de Cognac', and 'Labyrinth'. 'Labyrinth' deserves to star in an arrangement of its own, as it was eclipsed by the others here, but hopefully there will be enough blooms to put that together once the heatwave has passed. |
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| I fleshed out the back view with Rudbeckias and Zinnias |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Creme de Cognac', D. 'Fairway Spur', D. 'Labyrinth', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Rudbeckia hirta 'Sahara', and Zinnia elegans 'Golden Hour' |
As there was little reason to hold off on cutting flowers once the heatwave started last week, I pulled together a couple of vases mid-week too, both of which I'm still enjoying (with a few tweaks).
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| An unexpected bloom from a bearded Iris prompted me to act - there was no way the flowers on that stem would last a day in 100F+ heat. Two views of the vase are shown above. Clockwise from the middle row, the contents included: Achillea ptarmica, Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda', Eustoma grandiflorum, Iris 'Autumn Circus', Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', and Symphyotrichum chilense. |
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| The sky-high blooms of both Dahlia 'La Luna' and 'Summer's End' were already taking nose dives in the heat last Wednesday so I cut them to fill another vase. Clockwise from the middle left are: Dahlia 'Summer's End', 'D. La Luna', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', yellow Rudbeckia 'Sahara', and Tanacetum parthenium. |
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| The Iris had withered by Sunday morning so I pulled it and moved the vase to the kitchen counter. The second arrangement remains on the kitchen island but I've traded out the 'La Luna' Dahlias shown here for fresh blooms yesterday. |
We're hoping the heatwave will break by the middle of this week. While late summer heatwaves are common here, even along the coast, they don't generally last this long. The fact that temperatures remain high overnight worsens the impact on plants. I haven't ventured down our back slope since Thursday but I expect that I'll find every lemon on the tree there has withered or fallen to the ground, which is its usual response to heat like this. Following a severe heatwave in 2020 shorter than the current one, it took more than a year for the tree to recover.
I hope weather conditions are better for all or most of you! For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
