Friday, July 23

Late July Invasions

'Grosso' lavender, in need  of a good cutback, tries to flee 'Black Beauty' elderberry

Extreme heat seems to encourage extreme unruliness, and the heat is back up to "extreme" here in NE Ohio. Temperatures rise solidly into the 90s during the daytime, and only drop down to the 70s at night.  Politeness disappears in these kinds of temperatures, and invasions of personal space become even more annoying than usual.

The lower branches of red orach (atriplex hortensis) smother part of an 'All Gold' hakonechloa

Walking around the garden, I've noticed that I could flag a lot of my plants for encroachment. Some are viney plants that try to nonchalantly snake their way into another plant's territory:

Sneaky shoot from a tropical passionflower vine, weaving through the lower branches of an artemisia

Sweet potato (the edible kind) exploring a nearby potato cage

Others are more casual about invading seemingly neutral airspace as they cozy up to their neighbors:
'Yubi Scarlet' portulaca, dropping by to visit 'Opal Purple' basil from the clay tile planter above

'Black Lace' elderberry (what IS it with these sambucus?!) reaching out to touch 'Lemon Boy' tomato

And on a ballsy few, the fine art of subtlety is completely lost:
Unknown squash-family volunteer, taking up residence among the 'Caradonna' salvia

Speaking of unruly things, both my Garden Assistant and my boyfriend looked like they were about to melt last night. I hate air conditioning in general, and am salty about having to turn it on twice before August even arrives... but I caved into the puppy dog eyes.  (And I'm sure that Miss Coco appreciates having it on, too!  ;)  Also, I'm baking a birthday cake for Steve over the weekend--not fun in 95-degree heat--so I admit that having air conditioning will definitely be appreciated by me during that task.

I hope that you all are keeping cool this weekend, wherever you are.  And that the denizens of and visitors to your home and garden are less ornery than mine!

5 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

My garden densiens are rocking and rolling in this heat. Another plus is that we are having enough rain to support all the growth. Yipee. I hope it lasts. We haven't entered August as yet though.

Denise said...

You're so right, can't keep your back turned for too long mid-summer. But does that squash look healthy in the salvia. Don't know which I'd pull out, the salvia or the squash!

Unknown said...

Greenbow Lisa, rain? What rain? :( We got a little last night, but it's already back to being dry as a bone here.. *sigh* Glad that you're getting some, though--with all of the limbs and trees coming down, hail damage, etc., you've had more than your fair share of bad things to deal with this summer. That's for sure.

Denise, I'm leaving both! :) Oh, my poor salvia... I can't tell you what abuse it has taken this year. First it was clobbered by the blackberry, and now this squash decides to pop up right beside it, just as the blackberries are getting harvested & cut back. It can't win for losing! (And I can't even get in there to cut it back,which would help it tremendously.)

Stratoz said...

looks great, if not perfect. crafting has won out to gardening and thus weeds are crowding out my plants. I did give them some attention the other day.

Kylee Baumle said...

Is THAT why my garden looks a mess? I went out and whacked the heck out of some things last night. I couldn't stand it anymore. Everything is leggy and dry. Not lush and green and alert like it was at the beginning of June. I cut the gaillardia back to about 6 inches tall, the monarda the same, the Veronica, too. So many things are suffering. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I long for fall...

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