Well, not EVERTHING is dying.

As I type, it's 79 degrees outside and 81% humidity. The high today is 99 (which is a lot better than 103, if you want to compare.)

There was a light sprinkle this morning, but not enough to make any sort of a difference. The weather people are predicting that next week will be a bit cooler... Meaning the mid-90's. Oooh, what a refreshing change.



One of my daylilies sent up another stalk with buds. I was greeted this morning by two lovely blooms. It seems that a lot of the garden bloggers who live farther North aren't too fond of daylilies; I happen to love them. I guess that the gardening elitists resent anything that doesn't need to be coddled.



The native hibiscus is blooming this week, as well. The humidity steamed up the lens when I took this picture.

Bleh.

It's hot and miserable. I can't even get my dogs to go outside. The ground is dry; the leaves on almost everything have wilted. I finally caved the other day and watered, but I'm not sure how much good it did. The only things flowering right now are purslane, cosmos, zinnia, and bat-faced cuphea. Most of the plants I tried to start from seed in containers have died, so I threw them away today.


The sago palm is doing well in the hot shade.
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Cosmos are still going strong. I thinned them out a little over the weekend.

Seed pods on the Whitebud.

Somehow, the Asparagus Fern is still alive.

Star of Texas

I believe that this is a "Star of Texas" hibiscus. I noticed that it had opened this morning on my way out the door, so I took a quick snapshot with my phone. I was worried that it might wither in the heat today, and I had to make sure I got a picture.



I've neglected my garden for the last two weeks. It's been hot, and the mosquitoes are out. Last weekend, we had houseguests, so I didn't have any time for gardening. I did manage to pull a few weeds and water my container plants, but that's about it. I need to give all of my newer trees a deep watering, weed the back border bed, and deadhead almost everything.

More rain, more humidity

Red Columbine in the partial shade bed on Sunday evening


This weekend, we saw more showers and more heat. Saturday evening was cooler than things have been lately. The daytimes were muggy, though. We got a reasonable downpour on Sunday evening, and a drizzle Monday morning.

My husband keeps buying me plants; while I appeciate it, I do worry about their chances for survival.

New stuff this week:

"Climbing Red Fountain" rose, described on the tag as an "everblooming climbing rose." Pictured.

"Climbing Iceberg" rose, a climbing floribunda. The tag says it only blooms on old wood, and that it's a vigourous climber.

"Early Splendor" Amaranthus. Right now it's fushia, but is decribed as "maroon-purple at base; scarlet-red upper leaves." It was in a planter at Shoal Creek nursery and is quite impressive.