The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

 

The intense heat ended with a bang last night and dropped as much as 50 degrees in some places. Yesterday's high was a miserable 112. It is back in the high 80s today and feels so much better. It is still hot though and I would like our regular highs in the 70s back please.

Watering again this morning and taking a closer look at the plants. Overall, the garden looks pretty good with more good-looking plants than bad ones. I think our diligent watering helped matters tremendously. I will remember the umbrellas next time though.

The above photo is one of the good areas. That is Pennisetum orientale 'Karley Rose', Wall Flower (Erisymum), Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia 'Poco Orange') and Smoke Tree (Cotinus 'Royal Purple') in the background.

A view of the Smoke Tree from the street -

More of the good include surprises like Japanese maples and daphne which appear unscathed. All of our maples in pots are in shady areas. My favorite one at the moment is 'Moonrise' -

'Moonrise'

 And even 'Golden Full Moon' which is notorious for burning appears fine. It get all afternoon shade which I'm sure helped and it is also in the ground -

'Golden Full Moon'

Some heat-loving perennials and annuals -

Balloon Flower

Gaura

Portulaca

Veronica and Phlox

 

Petunia

And while I would not consider snapdragons a heat-loving plant, I was surprised that these were not damaged. This has been my favorite annual this year.

Snapdragon

 

The Pineapple Lily (Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy') looked like it had practically melted. I really thought one was a goner but it appears to be on the mend today. I am shading it again today and hoping for the best -

Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy'

Tree-wise, the 'Esk Sunset' maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) was not the disaster I expected that it would be. This is a tree that I wish I had planted in a shadier spot. It does seem to be acclimating fairly well to its full sun location.

'Esk Sunset' maple (Acer pseudoplatanus)

Another tree that should also have been planted in more shade is 'Skylands' spruce (Picea orientalis). However, it seems to be improving -

Picea orientalis 'Skylands'

I mentioned in my last post that two dwarf conifers had severe sun scorch. There were others that did not blink including this one which gets all day afternoon sun. This is either 'Valley Cushion' or 'Catherine Elizabeth'.

Picea abies 'Pusch', however, didn't fare as well. Notice the west side suffered the most -

Picea abies 'Pusch'

On social media, someone mentioned that their Spanish Fir was drooping. I had totally neglected ours with no supplemental water. It appears okay. I can't really tell if the top tips are falling because they are new or if that is heat related. It has really been growing!

Spanish Fir (Abies pinsapo)

The Stewartia, unfortunately, was burned and this is another tree that I wish was in a shadier spot.

Stewartia (Stewartia psuedocamellia)

The Wheel Tree (Trochodendron araliodes) also suffered a little. It does get afternoon shade but apparently it gets too much sun in the morning as well.

Many of the hydrangeas look sad today but not as many as I expected. I don't think I lost anything but some blooms. The Oakleaf hydrangeas fared the best and they look fantastic.

Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake')

Oakleaf Hydrangea 'Pee Wee'

The older paniculata hydrangea 'Ruby Slippers' (which gets full west sun) was impressive today -

 

The newly planted 'Quickfire' less so -

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Quickfire'

Sumac 'Tiger Eyes' (Rhus typhina)

Let's hope we don't get any more of these heat waves any time soon!

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy