Hi Everyone,
I saw a clever church marquee on my way home the other day. It read, “No it’s not as hot as . . . ”
Well, since I’ve never been to hell, I can’t say, but it sure feels like we have arrived. Three solid weeks of over 100F degrees every freakin’ day makes this red dirt girl a snarly stick in the mud (if any mud could be found). However, I’m reminded it’s not as bad as the summer of 1936 in which the hottest day ever recorded in Oklahoma was July 19th with a high of 109F. With no air conditioning, several folks died from heat related injuries, but not as many as I expected. So, although it’s hot, I’m thankful for “refrigerated air,” something which schools didn’t have even when I was a child, and one of the reasons why we went back to school later than my children who start back next week.
In honor of Bloom Day, and because I have summer cabin fever, I went out Saturday afternoon and took pictures. As I write, I see it’s 105F. Gee, one degree less than yesterday’s high makes all the difference doesn’t it?
I’ve heard from the weathermen we’ll receive a cold front tomorrow and highs will then be in the 90s. Imagine, 90s seeming cool.
Now, without further complaint, here’s what’s blooming in Okie Land today despite August’s furnace.
I planted some yellow lantanas early in the summer, one of Proven Winners’ cultivars. Luscious Lemonade, while imagining all that yellow/white goodness against the red fountain. Then, they just sat there trying to bloom, but not growing any larger than their small potted selves. You know how you walk by a place in the garden and each time you wonder? Lantana is easy for pity’s sake. At first, I pondered the cooler than usual, rainy spring. Then, one day . . . Eureka! It hit me. The new area around the fountain is builder’s sand, and they had no nutrients. I worked in some soil and added organic fertilizer for a jump start, but it was late in the season, so they didn’t have time to quickly catch up. In other words, it wasn’t the plants’ fault. It was Ortus Erroris (Gardener Error in botanical Latin, something which happens here a lot). Later that week, I was cruising Lowe’s and saw these ‘Confetti’ lantanas in huge containers. I added three of them to the surround, and now all of the lantanas are very pretty. Plus, the Gulf Fritillaries tell me they like bright colors.
The common, pink garden phlox, Phlox paniculata, continues to bloom, and the swallowtails, whichever variety they are, love it. I know this is a passalong plant, but there’s a good reason why. With a little water, it blooms for months, and even if you don’t water it mid-summer, it still lives. How do I know? I see droopy ones all over town. That’s one amazing plant in my book.
What else likes this hot weather besides cacti and sedums? Cupheas do. After last year’s success with bi-colored cuphea, I added three more plants this year to the tiered beds. They are blooming and pretty as always. I also have bat-faced cuphea in the potager, and it greets me with its sunny face every morning. The gorgeous dark purple cuphea I had last summer surprised me and returned this year. Either that, or it produced reliable seed which sprouted. I like all of my cupheas and couldn’t garden in Oklahoma without them. I also have ‘Ballistic’ growing in a container, but I think this weather has been nearly too much for it.
Verbena ‘Lan roypureye’ Lanai Royal Purple has bloomed for months too. It sat there until the furnace turned on in July, and now, you can’t stop it from clambering over the side of the wall. I also have the Lanai Peach, and while it is a pretty color, it only blooms at its ends. I’m not so happy with it. However, Royal Purple can live here anytime. Behind the verbena blooms several dwarf zinnias and Pentas lanceolata ‘Stars and Stripes’ I planted to replace something which died probably from Ortus Erroris again.
Some of the roses try to bloom, but whenever they eek out a blossom, it resembles crumpled tissue paper. I wish they would just wait until September, but they don’t listen very well. Do queens ever listen to their faithful subjects? ‘Belinda’s Dream’, ‘Carefree Beauty’, Knockout, the David Austins against the garage wall, ‘Frontier Twirl’ and ‘April Moon’ all are giving their best summer concert, but they look pathetic.
All of the basils are blooming, including the red Thai basil I planted earlier in the year. Also, spearmint is blooming looking all the world like an expensive perennial. The small pollinators cover it day to night.
The crapemyrtles still bloom and all but the purple ones probably will until frost. The purples start and end a bit earlier than the other cutlivars.
Prairie plants like the coreopsis laugh at this weather and shake their petals as if to say, “bring it on.” However, the black-eyed Susans are looking a bit bedraggled without me to deadhead them. I’ll be honest, I’m just not into doing garden maintenance right now. I wonder how the landscaping crews manage to keep up with their yards? That reminds me, a very funny book about a garden writer who doesn’t like lawns, Radical Prunings: A Novel: A Novel of Officious Advice from the Contessa of Compost
If I can’t garden, at least I can read about beautiful gardens until the weather cools.
Thanks to my dear friend, Carol of May Dreams Gardens, who hosts Bloom Day each month from her sunny porch back home in Indiana. Did you know the 2011 GWA Symposium will be held there?
I can’t wait to read about your blooms for this month, and I’m off to do just that.
hey dee,
we are so hot here too. finally today it felt pretty good at 98 around 4 o’clock pm.
imagine that feeling good. it’s good to see you are still having some things blooming even with the heat. i have often thought of getting a kindle or nook but never have tried either and would love to see your reviews.
happy summer days.
Hi Dee! And I thought we had it hot! Our Real Feel temps have been over 100, but not the actual temperature. Still, it’s hot and I see you’ve managed to enjoy some beautiful blooms in spite of the heat. Same at my house. I was actually surprised that I had as many blooms as I did. Love the first photo – it’s gorgeous!
Dear Dee, the plants that can remain alive and even bloom in that searing Oklahoma heat should be listed and planted everywhere we suffer from this type of weather. The cupheas are amazing and some return here as well, whether by seed or root, who knows. The pollinators and hummers love them. Good for you finding good sized lantanas to beef up the bed. And what a nice surprise that the GWA will be in Indiana next year! Do stay inside until the weather breaks. I remember no AC in the schools. Windows open meant bees and things would fly into the classrooms! Chaos would erupt! 🙂
Great blooms this month and I love that bumblebees. These wonderful critters are everywhere in my yard just now.
Time for summer reading and enjoying the garden from the windows of the air conditioned house. I hope it cools off a bit more for you Dee.
Wow, those are some pretty merciless temps you’re having Dee. In spite of the heat you’ve got some wonderful August blooms.
Thank goodness for air conditioning. Ours has been running more this summer than any summer I can remember.
I like all your blooms Dee but I have that “I am sick of this weather” attitude. I shouldn’t complain since our temps aren’t as bad as yours but this has been a memorable summer. Even my friends with pools are sick of it.
Looks pretty darned good for 3 weeks of hellish heat. The worst part about taking pictures right now is the sweat rolls off our forehead & messes up the lens!
Must try the phlox again. I didn’t have luck with my one attempt but they’re so beautiful that it’s time to add them back to the wish list.
Hey Dee, sounds like you’re having a hot summer as well!! Despite the weather your garden looks great.
Hi Dee, I came here from May Dreams to check out the other GBBD bloggers. You have some very nice flowers blooming, despite your intense heat. Here in the PNW we are finally getting a few days in the 90s, it has been a very cool spring and summer for us, which many plants dislike too. I noticed you said that phlox paniculata goes on and on. Mine (first time I’ve ever grown it) bloomed beautifully but then immediately faded away. I wonder if maybe it’s because it was planted in sand. Well, I moved it to more fertile soil with better water retention, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it likes this spot better.
I have a Kindle too, and I love it!
Goodness that is hot, I thought it was hot in Italy where it was 89 degrees. Cant imagine how they coped before air conditioning.
aloha dee,
what a beautiful collection of summmer bloomers you are showing us today, lantana here is also effortless-even invasive. Haven’t had a chance to grow the phlox here since its a little too wet some times, they are quite beautiful and aromatic from what i’ve heard with some varieties…looks like things are doing well in your summer heat
I sure hope I’m headed for heaven one day, because after this summer I know I couldn’t stand it in the other place for very long:) This summer certainly does show us what can really take the heat–your verbena look lovely! The butterflies must love the heat, too, because there certainly are a lot of them this year. I hope it does cool down for you this week–we’re supposed to get “down” to the 80’s tomorrow–yippee!
Lovely, I like all the insects visiting your flowers.
Debbie, I’d say definitely to the harder constitution than the gardener. I’m about done in by the heat. However, we’re to get a cold front today. I’m counting on it.
Hi, Honey-bunny. Oh, I do not miss that heat. It has been extra hot here, and people often comment on my move from Oklahoma: “How do you like the heat here?” Ha! Few believe me that Oklahoma is a lot hotter than the Gulf Coast.
When I come, I would love to get some of your phlox. Will try it next year. I let so much of what I did plant this year burn up.
Hugs,
CurtissAnn
Hi Dee, It’s nice to see all the toughies blooming for you in all that heat – think I heard this morning that relief is on the way for you – hope they are right. Love reading on my Kindle too – it’s so hard turning pages now 🙂
All looks wonderful, Dee, and amazed how you garden in the heat. This has been the hottest summer here too and I totally wilt tending the garden in the 90s! (It’s even hot here at the lake!I pre-posted my mid-August treasures.)Happy Sunday 🙂
I complain about our british summer but I don’t think I could cope with temperatures like that at all. Those poor little roses – must be a shock to the system when it opens its little blooms to turn crisp within hours. Despite your heat you sound as if you still have plenty of blooms in the garden for you to view from indoors.
Thankyou so much for visiting me today – its always great to meet folk from across the world through this meme of Carols.
Dee,
Wow, I’m amazed you have anything growing with all that heat. I heard the other day, we’ve had 30 days in the 90’s here in CT which is quite unusual for us. Color is a bit hard to find in my garden but I do rely on lantana too. I have some red/yellow/orange ones that seem happy no matter what the weather is like. Thank goodness for plants with a constituion hardier than that of the gardener!
Sorry for your heat, Dee. I remember from last summer…whew, it was a doozy. Hope it breaks soon.
Your passalong phlox is blooming in my garden too but not as nicely as yours, and I didn’t include it in my post. But I’m glad it’s there, adding its dark pink to the mix despite the heat and lack of rain.
Pam, I think mine is a much older stand of phlox. It’s so nice to remember good friends through plants. Hope y’all get a break soon too.
Gosh! I thought I had it bad with a string of 90-degree days. Whew, fortunately no 100-degree days. You have my sympathy! There’s the hot version of hell and Dante’s Inferno, where in the Ninth Circle, the devil (and other betrayers) are frozen in ice made from his tears and his flapping wings…cold, cold, cold and such a contract to the familiar ‘hotter than’ image. Today, I’d be happy with no humidity, a breeze and no mosquitos. As I told Carol, the weeds are plentiful and huge.
Thanks Jo Ellen. It’s been one hot puppy here in August and late July. Yes, I remember Dante’s Inferno, and sometimes hell is equated with ice. It would make sense since Satan is as far from the Light of God as a fallen angel can get. Happy Bloom Day.
Aren’t prairie plants great? I never water mine and they’re looking great. My Rudbeckia look great, too, but it’s not as hot here. In fact, I’ve never seen a bedraggled Rudi (again, thankful that it’s not as hot here). Also love the lantana.
Hi Monica, my Rudbeckia is only bedraggled because it’s coming at the end of its bloom cycle, and I need to deadhead some of it. I just don’t want to go out there and sweat even more. I do love lantanas. Happy Bloom Day.
Your plants look very good despite the heat and humidity! I pretty much wilt when the temps approach 90 degrees and the dew point gets into the 60’s… I don’t know how you folks bear it! Larry
Ah Larry, that’s just the magic of pictures. 😉 Thank you so much for stopping by.
Hi Dee it’s a while since i popped by been busy feeding my Lyme Disease blog. Everything is looking good despite your hot weather. it amazes me how well the plants return after such hot weather. We have had one of the hottests driest summers I can remember.
Hey Joanne, I’ve missed you! A visit to your blog shows you’ve also been busy with the garden. Would love to see it one day.
It is wonderful to travel around seeing all the August gardens in the cool air of the house and your garden is look fantastic. Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful day.
It is wonderful. I’m so glad Carol thought of Bloom Day, and thanks to Elizabeth Lawrence for her famous quote which started it. Thank you too for coming by my blog.
I really like the combo of pentas, verbena and zinnia, and all the little actors in your garden, I have only seen one butterfly all year in my garden. I do have plants they like. No garden sprays either. I am envious of all the beautiful photos of butterflies, such as yours, that I have been seeing all around the blogs.
Donna, thank you so much, and I’m so glad you came to visit my blog this Bloom Day. I’m sorry about your lack of butterflies. I’d send some to you if I could.
I love it when the growing conditions get really tough that some plants just sail through like your verbenas. They are the ones to grow as no matter what is thrown at them they can be counted on. I am interested in one of the ereaders but I will wait for the prices to go down first. Thanks for sharing today.
You’re absolutely right, and my garden depends on such plants.
Dee – You and I have a lot of the same colors in our gardens. When I put together a bouquet this am I realized that so many gardens are all gold in August – but I can’t seem to get away from pink. No bad thing. It hasn’t been so hot here this past week, but still no rain!
Pat, my garden will be more gold as September approaches with the Solidago and the reblooming Susans and some Helianthus varieties. I do love my pinks though. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for rain for both of us.
I don’t know where my garden would be without Lantana and Crape Myrtle, they make August barable. I am sorry your heat has been so bad, we hit 105 two days in a row, setting an all time high. However, I still would rather have the heat than the cold. Happy GBBD!
Les, I’m with you. Nothing would be going on in my garden otherwise. I love my crapes, lantana and garden phlox. They “make” my summer garden. Happy Bloom Day.
Dee, I hope it cools down for you soon and may your roses heed your warnings and hold their breath till September. Otherwise your photos show a lush garden visited by happy butterflies and bees. Happy Bloom Day, hopefully we will all be reporting cooler days with plentiful rainfall for the next Bloom Day. ;>)
Carol, we have cloud cover this morning due to the cold front, so it’s definitely cooler this morning. Only 75F which is pure bliss. Thanks for thinking it’s lush. It just seems that way in pictures.