The Aftermath of the Heat Wave

Crunch, crunch, crunch..

I had been away from the Red House Garden for 10 days during a record-setting heat wave.  The crunching noise was me walking across the very brown lawn from my car to the front door.  Oh, dear... what was the garden going to look like?

Blooms of 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' Rose - lightly toasted

Well, it ain't pretty.  Even though our cat-sitter had watered some of the garden (I frantically e-mailed her from Canada when I heard what the forecast was going to be), the garden looked pretty worse for wear.

The voles already ate a rose bush out of this corner and stressed out the camellias.  I think the heat has now finished them off.

I am saddest about my new little native Sparkleberry tree that I had planted a couple months ago.  It is supposed to be drought tolerant, but I'm sure the new transplant wasn't meant to got through this heat without water!  I don't know if it will recover.

Believe it or not, this little twig with leaves is actually a five-year-old tree.  Sparkleberries are very slow-growing..  

Ah, but not every plant withered under the heat.  My back yard was actually extremely green and lush looking when I came home....

thanks to CRABGRASS!

Ahh, we crabgrass love the sun and heat!

All of the crabgrass apparently threw huge parties in the 105 degree weather and spread like only weeds can throughout most of my mulched area.

Seriously, are there no other plants other than WEEDS that can take this summer heat?

Over here!  Over here!

Thank you, Cosmos Sulphureus, for standing up to the heat!  (Ah, I see you are invasive in certain areas.  Well that explains it..)

Actually all my Coreopsis, Black-eyed Susans, Salvias, and Milkweeds sailed through the heat without batting an eyelash as well (yay!), all being tough, drought-resistant native plants.  Other blooms I owe to the person who watered parts of my garden while I was gone.

Do you see the bee in the middle of this Hibiscus moscheutos 'Luna Pink Swirl'?

Thankfully, though, all I have lost is a few ornamental plants.  My thoughts are with the farmers, for whom this heat affects their livelihood.

How is everyone's else's garden looking?

Red, White, and Blue

Even the flowers here in at the Red House Garden are putting on their patriotic colors.

Happy Fourth of July!

Where's my Mother?

Record breaking heat has descended on much of the U.S., including the Red House Garden.  At least, that's what I hear.  I am currently escaping the heat in Canada, on vacation here to attend a wedding.  I'm a little afraid of what I might find when I come back, even though the person feeding my cats has been watering some of the plants.  I'm worried for some of my newer plants - I hadn't counted on them trying to fend off 105 degree weather!

On a completely unrelated note, here is a picture of a baby blue jay.  It is much cuter than a picture of my frying garden, I'm sure, even if I had fried garden pictures available to share.

Blue Jay fledgling

We met this little feathery guy on our last round of travels in May.  The baby blue jay was sitting right outside a rest stop building for quite awhile.

It was looking around and squawking, most likely for its Mother. It let me get quite close to it before finally flying a short distance away, confirming its fledgling status.  (Sometimes baby blue birds will wander from the nest a couple days before they are able to fly.)

Is my Mother over there?

I do hope it found its Mother!

You're not my Mother!  Where is she?

And I do hope my garden isn't fried..