I feel I’m fighting a losing battle with the weather and so is my garden. Everything is looking parched and very dry and I just can’t keep up with it all. I’m watering everything in pots that need watering in the morning when I get up early and it is nice and cool, but the rest of the garden just has to cope by itself. Normally it can as I am on heavy clay, but with this being the third heatwave, I think all moisture has now been used up and with having 2/3 of an acre, it is far too much for me to water. I just about managed to find six plants that look ok to be photographed, one is looking lovely, which was a nice surprise.
Yucca filamentosa.
It was a lovely surprise when a flower stalk suddenly appeared on my Yucca filamentosa and the flowers gradually started flowering, I think it is the only plant in my garden that is really happy!
Lysimachia ephemerum.
Lysimachia ephemerum has also suddenly burst into flower and is looking ok at the moment, but it does like moisture so I wonder how soon it will be looking stressed.
Iceberg rose.
My Icegerg rose is flowering nicely still, which means that I haven’t had a visit from my local Roe deer, thank goodness!
Hydrangea.
Some of my hydrangeas are looking stressed, but this one in the shade by the front door seems ok at the moment. I have flung buckets of water over the others and hope that they will survive.
Honeysuckle.
I have a small window in the wall by my TV and yesterday while I was watching Wimbledon, this honeysuckle was waving to me in the breeze, I had to get up and photograph it!
Acanthus mollis.
This is the bane of my life, if there is one plant that I regret planting, it is this one! For 30 yrs it behaved itself and didn’t spread very much, but then it started taking over the garden. Lovely flower spike but it has no manners whatsoever! No matter what I did it kept on spreading, I even resorted to spraying it, but that acted like a fertiliser and it spread even more. The leaves are now looking very unhappy and yellow, do you think the drought will kill it, I hope so! The leaves in the photo are from the phormium beside it.
Those are my six for this week. I think I ought to take a break from SOS until conditions improve with the weather and the garden. My problem is that most of my plants like moisture as the garden is so wet in the winter and I have planted accordingly, we didn’t have summers like this when I was making the garden 35 years ago, I’m not sure what I ought to do.
Please pay Jim a visit at Garden Ruminations to see how others are coping with our hot weather.
I love the look of acanthus mollis but resisted the temptation to buy it and, having read your comments, I’m so glad I did!
Hopefully there will be some rain for you soon although it will probably all come at once, as these things seem to these days.
Just as well you resisted it Helen, a while back Monty Don said not to buy it as you would never get rid of it, I wish someone had said that all those years ago! I need a downpour all night long I think, it can’t come soon enough!.
Gardening is becoming a real challenge and just when we need our green areas the most. Well done for finding six to share. The rose is a real beauty!
It certainly is a challenge at the moment, isn’t it Gill.I still have quite a lot of green but it isn’t looking as good as it usually does. The roses are still flowering, just about!
Good job dealing t=with the heatwave! I mostly only water my vegetables, but had to get out the hose last week to give a deep watering. Need to do it again this weekend, as next week will be brutal again. The iceberg rose looks cool despite the heat!
I only water my pots or newly planted things as we are on a water meter and have to pay for every drop.I have plenty of water butts but they are now empty after 3 heatwaves, it must rain soon!
I love the waving honeysuckle! The Lysimachia ephemerum looks beautiful. The weather is getting wearisome. It seems it really is going to be like this every summer.
It was lucky I spotted the honeysuckle Graeme or I wouldn’t have had a full six for my post! The Lysimachia is now ready to split so I can move some along the border as it seems happy there.
Do your acanthus leaves droop in the heat, too? They look awful during the day but beautiful at night (if you go out to look at them 😁).
Rose iceberg is so bright.. I guess that its fragrance is lovely
Yes Fred, the Acanthus leaves do droop in the heat, I’m hoping they will eventually die, but I can’t say I’ve been to have a look at night time! Glad you like my Iceberg, but I don’t think it has much perfume unfortunately.
How beautiful to have a flowering yucca!
The honeysuckle is also very lovely. We got one as a wedding gift and are hoping it will settle in well.
The flower stalk suddenly popped up Kathrin, the previous week there had been no sign of it, it was a lovely surprise, especially when it grew as tall as me! I’m sure your honeysuckle will settle in well and provide a wonderful perfume in the evenings.