Sunday, June 13, 2010

Hot.

The woman on the tv this morning seemed surprised that it gets hot in mid June in NC. We are only a little over a week away from the official start of summer. I bet she'll be surprised when it's cold in February too. It's already 84 degrees. The humidity is in the mid-90's. The heat index today could reach as high as 105, in the shade.

Some plants love this heat. The squash are producing. By mid week, I'll be eating fresh squash every day. The double orange ditch lilies are making their show now.



So is this unidentified plant, again from a trade last fall.



Maltese Cross has done much better in its second year. Last year a few blooms sprawled across the ground. It looked more like a creeping verbena than an upright grower.



Salvia subrotunda is cracking color too. With a few dozen self sown plants, the display should be great this year. The goldfinches can hardly wait.



That large blooming spidery rudbeckia is impressive too. I'll have to save these seeds separately from the others I collect.



The biggest disappointment this year has been the meadow garden. The cosmos are blooming and more are coming, but there's been a real lull since the clover died. It's reseeded heavily, so there should be plenty next spring too. I've got an idea to make this bed more interesting using grasses. I just need to divide some of my existing plants. I'll wait until it cools down a bit in 6 months.



Scattered storms in the forecast too. We could use the rain.

7 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Hi Tom ~ It is hot and humid here too. Right now it is 88 but with the humidity it feels like it's 107. I thought we were going to get some rain earlier, but it blew around us.

I just love that second lily of yours, and the orange ditch lilies look great too. Enjoy your homegrown squash. What a treat!

I'm sorry you are disappointed in your meadow garden, maybe next year it will be better.

Keep cool ~ FlowerLady

Jean Campbell said...

It's 101 here, which feels like being wrapped in a warm wet blanket when you go outside.

Your purple eyed daylily looks a lot like Moonlight Masquerade or Pandora's Box, depending on its size. Pandora is small. Any attempt at identifying it is a guess, as there are probably hundreds of similar ones.

My double orange ditch lily looks different to yours. Mine is more like scrambled eggs than layered petals. I like the way they hold the blossoms high on long scapes.

I have to go outside and move the dribblers around again.

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

Thanks Flowerlady. I'll keep plugging away at the meadow and spreading cosmos seeds all summer. A few rudbeckia should bloom out there soon. It's awful here. Rain is likely within the hour now. Big storms.

Nell, I was thinking that was Pandora's Box, so many have similar traits with different names. Somehow, I managed to plant all the doubles along one spot and all the singles in another. I dug them all from the same place. One of those little things.

No watering here. Just waiting on the rain.

Unknown said...

My friend Cooper has an incredible meadow garden just outside Atlanta, and it took him a few years for it to really take off. He has pretty great photos on his website. Email me for the address if you're interested in seeing them.

F Cameron said...

Love that rudbeckia!

I didn't last in the garden at all this morning. Gave up at 9 am. Took a walk just before dark, after the rain and it felt a bit better.

For your meadow garden -- you may want to try blue flax (perennial) and linaria 'Canon J Went'. They are about the same medium height and both have similar blue foliage. My cornflowers are still going great, but I'm deadheading. The California poppies have already reseeded and the blooms continue. I'm not going to bother with any other poppies in the future.

Darla said...

My doubles are blooming too. I just got out one of my tags and I do believe your Daylily is Pandora's Box.

Dar said...

The Double Ditch Lily and the Maltese Cross really caught my eye...gorgeous oranges...love your gardens
BlessYourHotWeek

'verification' word for your week is
'decksit'....sounds like a cool plan