The Garden in August

My garden is almost gone for this summer.  The heat of days with temperatures over 100 has killed what survived the earlier humidity.  One tomato in a giant pot survives.  Two others planted in a hanging basket are still alive, but are only now starting to grow.  I did not plant okra this year which is the reliable August crop.  The question now is whether I put in a fall garden.   If so, I must start soon.  If we get a soaking rain soon, I think I will.

I have begun cleaning the garden, but where I have not watered the ground is rock hard.  Yes, I have been adding compost, but there are still many areas that contain mainly sandy concrete that turns to quicksand when wet,

The elm in front continues to drop giant branches.  I think the tree, which is twenty feet tall, will be the last casualty of 2009's brutal summer. Should I have it trimmed back now or see what survives?

The cacti and succulent garden is doing well.  My native salvia is spreading; the prickly pear cactus has grown new pads, and the cereus has taken root.  The sanseveria that froze to the ground in the odd freeze we experienced has put up new shoots.  Even the bits of kalanchoe that fell off a pot plant have taken root.

I will soon be potting sanseveria that I have had rooting in water.  I need to add some catnip in pots, but I think I will wait until next spring.  Maybe I will  plant some rain lilies under the birdbath. Maybe.

Gardeners Are Such Fools

The heat has broken. Now, we only have days in the nineties and nights dipping near seventy. Mornings are really lovely.

Last week we had the first real rain since early spring. I got an inch and a half of the wet stuff. The garden is so much happier.

The reprieve from the August heat and lack of rain has raised my hopes for a fall garden. I am removing dead plants and preparing the ground for new plants. A friend who gardens in one the community gardens is busily cleaning out his plot. He will plant for fall soon. Gardeners are such fools.

Another friend passed two basil branches (basil picture above), well rooted in water, on to me. I planted one under the bird bath in the front yard, far from past basil failures. The other plant went into the vegetable garden in back. This time in the flower bed at the edge of the garden where the sunburned remains of forget-me-nots still litter the ground. The only plant that survived from spring is a hybrid wandering Jew. This plant has produced a beautiful rosette of leaves that seems not to mind the heat and lack of water.

I have two tomato plants to be put in the ground, and I will try the Japanese shiso again. I think I will add mint to the circle under the bird bath and more herbs in back. Once it is cooler, I will add some leafy vegetables to the garden. I want to grow some catnip near the water faucet in front, but I fear the cats would soon eliminate it.

On the east side of my house there is an extremely dry area with poor soil. Nothing has grown there all year, not even weeds. Of course, I could not stand that bare soil. Now, I have planted a variegated, thornless prickly pear, an ordinary prickly pear (right), an echeveria (below), and a volunteer plant with bright pink flowers, rescued from a neighbor who was going to mow it. My struggling kalanchoe and some rooted sanseveria leaves complete my attempt to bring life to that dead area. I will see what happens.

Gardeners are such fools.

P.S. My eggplant has set fruit.

The Garden in August

The battle is on to keep the plants alive until September and cooler weather. We are heading toward a new record for the number of 100 degrees or more days. Great! On top of that a drought has lowered our water supply to a very low level although not as low as when I was a child. With the water level dropping, new more stringent watering rules are going into effect.

As of August 24, 2009, we can only water once a week and not during the heat of the day. The police will be handing out tickets, no warnings. The tickets will be at least $400.00. I can't help but think that a cash-strapped city has discovered a new revenue source. Other cities and towns are only now going to mandatory conservation and twice a week watering.

Unless the weather changes and rain comes, I don't think I will have a fall garden. The problem is that I need to be planting now for the fall and it is too hot and too dry.

I lost my last artichoke and my lavender. The tomatoes are still alive but producing smaller fruit. The cherry tomatoes are now pea-sized. The yellow pear tomato is not producing at all. It looks to be on its last legs suffering from heat and disease. Even the native black nightshade is having problems. This plant has grown at the edge of the garden since spring. The white wing doves love its fruit so I have let it grow. Something is eating the leaves. The plant was already weakened by the heat, so it has a very straggly appearance.

My okra continues to flourish with pods harvested every day. The first eggplant has been picked and eaten. With the dearth of insects including bees, I am now pollinating the eggplant by hand using a paint brush.

The weather forecast is for another week of heat and dryness. We may break the all time record for days in three digits. Oh well, I am going swimming with my cousin.

Photo by faul

Gardening at over 100 -- Degrees, that is

I planted a garden this year with little regard to practicality. I planted vegetables that I wanted to eat including artichokes and eggplant. Of course, I have tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and okra. I did not do a lot of homework. I had gardens in the past and usually had fairly good success. I should have been more deliberate and studious.

I planted artichoke seeds late last year. Some plants came up and did fine through the winter. I did not have a freeze this year. Growing up, it always froze in the winter, usually several times, but in the last ten years freezes have become rare.

Anyway, the artichokes grew rapidly, and I soon discovered I had planted them too close together. I transplanted as many as I dared, trying to space them far apart. Most of the transplants made it, even the one I put in the midst of the parsnips.

All was well until the temperatures climbed above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and stayed there day after day. Despite my watering, my artichokes began to dry up. Soon, the plants were infested with black aphids. I don't use pesticides. A Ph.D. in chemistry makes me too knowlegable about the dangers of poisons whether man-made or natural. I washed the aphids off: they returned. I tried soap and water and washed some more. The soap and water was successful. The aphid numbers were greatly reduced, but the artichokes continued to decline.

I went online to research artichokes. Okay, a little late, but at least, I was trying. Artichokes don't like high temperatures. In high heat conditions, they go dormant. We had record breaking high temperatures (as high as 106) day after day. My artichokes were definitely unhappy - their leaves curled and the whole plant lost color.

So, I must wait. Either my artichokes have gone dormant (I hope) or they have died. All I can do is wait for cooler temperatures to find out. Whatever the outcome, next year I plant in partial shade.

Photo by flickring