Heat was predicted for the weekend but the forecasts for my immediate area called for temperatures in the low 90sF, which wasn't too ominous. I gave the areas I thought were at greatest risk extra water and applied some additional mulch on Thursday, thinking that would be sufficient until our irrigation system ran in the wee hours of Saturday morning. I was wrong. When we awoke to soaring temperatures on Friday morning, I ran around watering more plants while my husband shuttered the house against the heat. The air conditioning went on before 10am. Still, when I left the house to meet friends, I'd no idea just how bad things were going to get. By the time I got back home mid-afternoon, our temperature had hit 110F (43C) and the humidity was in the single digits. Strong winds that persisted well into the night made things worse. At 8:30pm when I went back outside to do more spot watering, it was still 102F and when I went to bed around 11pm the temperature was stuck at 101F (38C).
The temperatures dropped into the low 90sF on Saturday, and Sunday was about the same, but the damage was done. Flowers shriveled and some plants had outright died. Even plants in my lath (shade) house were impacted. Perhaps the biggest shock was the damage done to my
Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', plants that have survived prior heatwaves without any sign of difficulty.
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| The tawny bronze color of the leaves here isn't normal and it's worsened since I took this photo. I've 6 of these large plants scattered about the garden and only the one in the deepest shade is unscathed. I'm not going to cut the damaged foliage until fall as I assume it'll help protect the foliage underneath from any further heat blasts. |
Every time I walked outside, I found further evidence of damage. I wasn't sure what I would find to cut for a vase and I seriously considered posting a photo of the lemons I picked Friday evening.
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During the last horrific heatwave we had back in 2015 2016, my lemon tree dropped every piece of fruit virtually overnight and, although I now give the tree more supplemental water, I feared a repeat of that event. I'd already gifted bags of lemons to friends that week but I picked buckets more for us and our neighbors Friday evening. |
However, while my supply of flowers has been vastly depleted, I was able to find some that made it through the blast furnace undamaged when I surveyed the garden Sunday morning.
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| Almost all the Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) blooms were shriveled by the heat but I found 2 in good condition to decorate the front of this arrangement |
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| I dressed the back of the arrangement with one of the few daylilies I found in bloom |
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| The Abelia and Renga Lily blooms shown here were protected by deep shade. The Artemisia foliage and Allium flowers seemed impervious to the heat. |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Abelia x grandiflora, Artemisia ludoviciana, Allium sphaerocephalon, Arthropodium cirratum, Jasminium polyanthum, Hemerocallis 'Apollodorus', and, in the center, pink and white Eustoma grandiflorum |
Most of my
Agapathus look awful and I've already cut down a few dozen flower stalks just because I couldn't stand seeing at them in that state but I found a few in good condition in a relatively shaded area and cut those for a second vase.
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| The Matilija poppies (Romneya coulteri) at the bottom of the back slope took the heat in stride, although half the blooms I cut shattered before I got them in the vase |
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| The feverfew flowers shown in this back view surprised me - they appeared to bloom in response to the heat! |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, this vase contains: noID Agapanthus, Abelia x grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Romneya coulteri, noID Lonicera, and unkillable Rosmarinus officinalis. Included, but not shown in close-up, is the feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium). |
I'd foolishly hoped that, after a very dry winter, Mother Nature might favor us with a mild summer. May and June were unusually cool on average and that gave me an artificial sense of security. I'm disappointed to say the least and more than a little shocked that our temperature here hit 110F. I can't recall a temperature that high in the seven and a half years we've lived here. However, while I the garden sustained some losses, I expect that most of the damaged plants should survive - I just have to face several months of ugliness until they rebound. Still, I know we're lucky that we haven't been affected by wildfires as many areas in California and the Southwest have. The only one happy about the weather at the moment are the lizards.
For more "In a Vase on Monday,"
visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
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| In addition to this week's vases, one of last week's vases got a face-lift and remains in the front entry. The dahlia blooms that were in last week's vase reacted badly to the air conditioning but the Lisianthus held up well. |
All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
