Hot Blast

Whew. It looks as if we may have survived that eight-day 100-degree-plus “hot spell” around July Fourth. It was brutal, and there was so little — other than watering every morning — that we could do for our plants. The big boys — the trees and larger shrubs — look positively shiny and new now that the Delta breeze has returned and nights and mornings are much cooler. Alas, some of the smaller plants did not fare well. They simply and literally were baked by the heat and sun.

It looks as though we have lost a few daylilies, and they’ve been in the back yard since before we moved here in 2002. Just goes to show you how unusual that long heat wave was. Our tomatoes, peppers and squash are much worse for wear, as well, but seem to be rallying.  Needless to say, we have some precooked tomatoes still on the vine, and the bell peppers already have sunburn.

I have to look on the bright side: This baking of our daylilies offers me the chance to plant something new, obviously something more heat-tolerant. Cacti need not apply. Any suggestions?

A young bell pepper shows damage from of our recent heat wave. The trellised lemon cucumber, which shades the bells in the afternoons, was decimated by the week of 100-plus-degree days. (photo by Kathy Thomas-Rico)

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