Friday, July 22, 2011

Heatwave

It's been an interesting week of survival in 100 degree heat for many of the plantings that we choose to grow in zone 5!


Zahara Zinnia is my plant of choice for the south side of my house.  They love the heat.

My roses have been attacked again this year even though I used the new Bayer Systemic advertised to combat Japanese Beetles.

The containers have required watering two to three times per day to keep from wilting;


Redhead Coleus is planted in my smaller turquoise containers, too small for this large of a plant.  These are the containers that I had to water three times a day in the heat!


Indian Summer Coleus can withstand high heat without wilting.


The tightly planted back border looks great because the plants shade each others roots.


The mid-season daylilies are blooming joining the end of the early and extra early (Eileen Clymer, extra early, has bloomed for six weeks).

Mary Todd in the foreground is an early bloomer but it is overlapping with a mid-season bloomer in the background.

Chicago Rosy in the background

Cherry Cheeks in the back garden side border.  It is a mid-season to late season bloomer.

Dark Ruby
Early to mid-season still blooming at the end of July!

Chicago Apache
This is a mid-season daylily that has just begun to bloom in the raised bed on the south side.

Entrapment
I purchased this at Home Depot last year mainly because of the name.  Entrapment is a mid-season bloomer.  It is a shorter daylily and I will have to move it in the fall because it is behind Eileen Clymer and blooms after but is hidden by the long blooming Eileen.

Ice Carnival
It is more of a yellow tinged white and grows in my raised bed vegetable garden mid-season.  The nice thing about it is that the day old flowers are hardly noticeable as mushies.

Nutcracker Suite
Very strong scapes on this mid to late season bloomer, tinged with peach.

Rain spattered Mauna Loa early to  mid-season (big storm again today) in the front garden.

Joan Senior
Supposedly one of the best whites mid-season but has never been a real strong grower for me.

Barbara Mitchell
One of the best pinks mid-season but has been in two years and this is the first year with blooms and very few!

Daylilies love the heat, still need some water, but are great performers! 

30 comments:

  1. Your Daylilies are looking so lovely despite the oppressive heat. They sure are a fantastic performer in the heat. I'm surprised your Impatiens is doing so well in that back border out in full sun and the heat, and you still have lush green grass! Your garden is looking an absolute picture in spite of the heat wave.

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  2. Hi Bernie,

    I usually hand water all of the beds each morning, impatiens are not in full sun all day. I do have a watering system and have been using it this past week so the grass does not die.

    I have found that even in the hottest summers the impatiens flourish if they are watered. I am having more trouble with the New Guniea impatiens in my front concrete containers, lots of shriveling of the leaves.

    Eileen

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  3. Your garden looks gorgeous, I'd never guess it's been that hot there. I added lots of Dayliles last year after seeing them on so many blogs, they are just starting to bloom now. We are still having very cool weather with lots of clouds. We've been promised some sun this weekend though.

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  4. Eileen, love the daylilies, mine are doing fairly well, too, even the ones I moved earlier in the season. The coleus are amazing, I think the Redhead one is almost as pretty or prettier than my favorite, Sedona. You have so many beautiful things to share, Eileen, just gorgeous.

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  5. Hi Catherine,

    I am really getting enthused about adding even more daylilies. I can count on them to bloom each year and multiply. I still need to add to my earlier ones and the late ones.

    Eileen

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  6. Hi Karen,

    I love Sedona also but this year it is getting eaten by something! I have sprayed it, added a systemic and slug bait and all the leaves still have bites out of them, a mystery.

    Eileen

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  7. Eileen, You are the best! I wish I had your knowledge of plants. What a gorgeous, gorgeous garden. I am amazed. xo Jenny

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  8. Hi Jenny,

    Thanks so much. Gardening is continual learning, always surprised at how much I still have to learn.

    Eileen

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  9. Our NG impatiens are all crispy on the leaf margins too. I haven't had them in years - now I remember why. It was probably an especially hot summer the last time I grew them. It seems no matter how much water they get they still get crispy during the dog days. If I move them into more shade they stop blooming.

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  10. Hi Eileen,
    You have some beautiful daylilies. I can tell you take good care of them! Unlike mine which have tons of hanging mushies today.

    I really like the color of Ice Carnival.

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  11. Hi GG,

    That crisping seems to depend upon the leaf color of the New Gunieas. The variegated and darker leaves seem to hold up better than the plain green. I will have to remember this for next year.

    Eileen

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  12. Hi Zoey,

    There are days that I miss picking the mushies and some do not show up as much as others. Ice Carnival is one that you could actually leave and hardly notice.

    Eileen

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  13. Your garden is so lovely in all that heat. I love the colors. We are suppose to get a break from the heatweave that hit Michigan by tomorrow..Whew!

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  14. Such gorgeous gardens, Eileen. I always enjoy my visits here!

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  15. Your daylilies are beautiful! I too have used the Bayer systemic the past few years to battle Japanese beetles. I treated a Linden tree (which they love) in March just when there were leaf buds forming. The Japanese Beetles are still eating the leaves, BUT I'm seeing tons of dead ones under the tree. I went out one morning and there were at least 100 dead ones on a hammick under the tree. So, as I understand it, the systemic stuff won't keep the JBs off the plant, but will kill them if they eat.

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  16. Joanna,

    You are probably correct, but they are really doing a job on the petals and flower buds before they die.

    Eileen

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  17. Your comment about Joan Senior was interesting. I bought her three years ago and she is still the same tiny thing as when I got her! I thought perhaps of moving her this year. Glad to see it's not me that is having a "growing" issue with her!

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  18. Hi Vetsy,

    They are predicting in the nineties for us for the middle to latter part of the week with lots more rain.

    Eileen

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  19. Thanks Pat,

    Ditto I always enjoy visiting your site also.

    Eileen

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  20. Hi Tracy,

    I am thinking of moving Joan Senior, been there about five years, and sure isn't a stellar performer!

    Eileen

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  21. Eileen girl you put me to shame over my garden .. I think I threw up my hands and gave up this year .. nothing is as pretty as last year for some reason .. hey, I was very impressed with that beautiful pink lobelia over at Lona's garden .. I have never seen one that colour, so now I am putting it on my 2012 plant list ! haha
    Joy ..
    I have Chicago Apache too and it is a beauty : )

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  22. Eileen, I gasped then drooled at your header photo. Talk about outstanding! Love, love, love it and the rest of your garden photos. Sorry about those beetles. I hope they ease up. Glad to hear you got some rain.

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  23. Day lillies sure do love the heat and I think that's why I just can't succeed with them as well as you all can in the US. I didn't even realise that you had early, mid etc flowering ones. Your photographs are superb and so sharp - the detail is amazing in them especially seeing the little crinkles in their petals.

    Watering 3 times a day sounds like a dreadful chore to me especially since you had to venture out in the heat in the first place. Hope your summer days get a little cooler for you soon.......... though those coleus are looking great.

    How do you keep your grass looking so green?

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  24. I don't know how I missed this post as well as several of others... I must have been away for awhile. We did have house guests several days ago and that probably explains it! Your daylilies look wonderful, and more and more I appreciate what an important part of the gardens they are. My large daylily bed does have some brown foliage but is getting to the point where the bloom overshadows that... suspect it got too dry at some point. Great post today Eileen! Larry

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  25. Joy, I also loved that Lobelia and will look for it next year for my wet area. This heat is brutal to most of our plants but the storms are even more scary.

    Eileen

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  26. Grace, the beetles are really getting to me and they are destroying many of the rosebuds.

    Eileen

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  27. Hi Rosie,

    It was many years before I realized that there were so many bloom times for daylilies. I am on a roll now making sure that I have some of them blooming throughout the seasons.

    Eileen

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  28. I agree Larry,

    With such a small garden they have become the backbone of my flowering perennials. They do take some care to keep them neat more important because my garden is small.

    Eileen

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  29. Eileen, I love your back border. It looks beautiful. Your hemerocallis are stunning, despite the heat. I saw Japanese beetles in my garden for the first time just this week. Not a good thing!
    Beth

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  30. Hi Beth,

    Not everyone gets these beetles, but they are so destructive. No matter what I have done they are here.

    Eileen

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