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Firmly rooted in the Oklahoma soil

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Too hot, too long

We returned from the daylily national convention a couple of weeks ago, and it’s been too hot in Oklahoma ever since. I think David Payne said yesterday that we’re at day 15 of consecutive days over 100°F. It was 104° again yesterday. We had a cold front come through last night with very little rain. It’s now down to 88°, but we’ll be back in the 100s in a couple of days.

We returned from the daylily national convention a couple of weeks ago, and it’s been too hot in Oklahoma ever since. I think David Payne said yesterday that we’re at day 15 of consecutive days over 100°F. It was 104° again yesterday. We had a cold front come through last night with very little rain. It’s now down to 88°, but we’ll be back in the 100s in a couple of days.

Cloudy sky, burnt grass, too hot.
While I was out taking photos in 104° heat, I heard thunder. I dared these clouds to actually produce rain. They didn’t last night, but we had a little rain this morning.

It hasn’t been this hot this long since 2011 when it was one hot and humid mamma jamma.

Last week, I spoke to the Tulsa Herb Society at their big summer meeting. If you live in the Tulsa area, you should join this very active and generous garden club. They don’t just grow herbs.

With Beth and Deb Otjen at Tulsa Herb Society.
With Beth and Deb Otjen at the Tulsa Herb Society. It was 108° that day.

When I drove home on Tuesday, the temperature gauge in my car showed 112° the entire way. The reflective heat from the pavement was so hot that I could feel it through the car floor and my shoes. I put my feet on either side of the floorboard and hit cruise control. I’m a native Oklahoman and resilient, but that’s too hot.

The meeting, however, was tons of fun. Lots of people came, and it almost felt like 2019. Remember 2019?

While we were in Asheville, there were 100s in the forecast daily. I’m grateful I came home to a garden that was even alive after all this heat. We are still in the 100s this week and part of next. We were fortunate to have cloud cover several times last week. It kept the temperatures down a bit, and we got a tiny teacup amount of rain. I’ll take it.

Lower back garden too hot
I know it looks pretty good in this photo, but it’s all illusion. The garden is very toasty.

Most of the daylilies are done. Only the late-blooming ones are in flower, along with those that rebloom. The foliage on the dormant varieties is starting to show severe stress. Dormant daylilies try to go back underground when it gets this hot.

Black-tailed Bee Fly (Bombylius major). I found its ID on insectidentification.org. It’s an adorable, fuzzy little helicopter creature.

If I’m honest, everything is showing stress, even me. If I could offer a few plants for hot-weather color, they would be:

  • Hibiscus moscheutos, perennial or hardy hibiscus like
  • Crapemyrtles. Unfortunately, in OKC, they now get crapemyrtle scale.
  • Phlox paniculata, tall garden phlox
  • Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm,’ but only if you have a dry garden. It spreads too much when you water even with drip irrigation.
  • Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’
  • Verbena bonariensis
  • African blue basil,not a perennial, but a real nectar machine.
  • Pycnanthemum virginianum, common mountain mint. Just keep in mind it’s super aggressive.
  • Ornamental grasses. They move in the slightest breeze and don’t mind the heat.
  • ‘Rotkugel’ ornamental oregano which comes from Holland. i bought mine from High Country Gardens.
African blue basil is very happy in the cutting gardens. I planted it for my honeybees, but they’ve shown no interest this year. Last summer, they were all over it.
Rotkugel’ ornamental oregano is pretty, pollinator friendly and drought tolerant.
‘Rotkugel’ ornamental oregano.
Too hot
‘Rotkugel’ ornamental oregano is such a great pollinator plant. It is unfazed by the heat.
Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’ looks tired, and the leaves are too yellow. It needs a respite from the heat, and a little fertilizer I think once temperatures go down.

I wouldn’t plant anything right now, especially daylilies. However, my order from Blue Ridge Gardens came. After soaking their roots in the sink. I found some old plastic pots, potted them up, and put them in the shade. It wasn’t enough shade, so Bill and I installed a tarp two nights ago. We’re calling it the daylily nursery. I also have two ‘Lava Lamp’ hydrangeas in pots. I put them under the tarp today. Anything that needs a little shade is appreciative of that tarp; when I stand beneath it to water, it feels ten degrees cooler.

Sad-looking daylily nursery with tarp.

Have I mentioned the garden and I are stressed? We are. It’s just too hot. However, I’m surprised at what still looks good out there. I took a few photos and did a couple of videos on Instagram in the early morning when it was still bearable to walk around out there.

Sad shade garden because it's too hot.
Very sad shade garden with unhappy maidenhair fern. When I return from England, I’m calling the irrigation guys to figure out what’s wrong with this bed and the border by the garage. Both aren’t working well.

Meanwhile, the tomatoes have mostly quit producing. I’m hopeful that cooler temperatures in the forecast will spur them to bloom and set fruit again. I grow my tomatoes in cloth bags, but I also have drip irrigation on a timer on each pot. If you want to know how to install drip irrigation in pots, check out my book, the 20-30 Something Garden Guide. You can get it used for a great price these days.

‘Black Strawberry’ tomato is still going strong, and it’s the prettiest tomato this year too.

One tomato still going strong is ‘Gary O’Sena.’ He is putting on beautiful, if smaller than usual, tomatoes. Also, the cherry tomato, ‘Black Strawberry‘ is still producing small beautiful tomatoes. Here, I used it in a fresh corn and tomato salad. The basil in the salad is ‘Everleaf Emerald Towers,’ and it doesn’t go to seed in the heat.

Corn and tomato salad with ‘Black Strawberry’ tomatoes and ‘Everleaf Emerald Towers’ basil.

As for other garden chores, just wait until this heat diminishes. I’ll post in a few days about cutting back my lavender. It’s finished blooming and needed the trimmers. In about a month, we’ll be puttering and potting up again. Stay inside except for watering, and keep cool, my friends. Maybe eat some ice cream and peaches with a drizzle of honey?

Peaches and vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of honey is great when the weather is too hot.

Here’s one good thing about this terrible heat and drought. Weeds don’t grow very fast. Carol and I have a new podcast episode up. Also, if you want to ensure you don’t miss an episode, sign up for our weekly Notes from the Gardenangelists newsletter. Carol writes it, and it is funny.

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28 July, 2022 By Dee Nash

Filed Under: Gardening, Oklahoma, Summer

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Hi, I’m Dee, a professional garden writer and speaker born and raised in Oklahoma. Here you’ll find all my best dirt on gardening and travel. Welcome!

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