hot as hell with a side of drought

Black-Eyed Susan

Nashville saw its hottest day ever June 29, at 109 degrees. Throughout this summer we have shattered existing high temperature records and last week we had multiple 104-degree days. Not only was June one of the hottest months on record, it was also one of the driest and we are in the midst of a full-on drought.

Pretty much any plant not being watered regularly is a plant that is struggling. We will lose many trees this summer due to the high heat and drought conditions. Species that appear to be struggling the most include Sycamore (Platanus), Tulip Poplar (Liriodenron), and Redbud (Cercis).

These ArborRain watering bags will help newly planted trees and shrubs. The peppers and herbs are doing great. Of my tomatoes, only the Super Sweet 100, Yellow Pear, and Romas are performing well. A native Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) is pictured above, and is the only thing alive in that scorched field.

green peppers

tomatoes

With all of the blackberries I harvested from the backyard, I made a blackberry-peach cobbler that wasn't too shabby. This is the tried and true easy-peasy fruit cobbler recipe I used; simply switch out the fruit for whatever is in season or (in the freezer) at the time.

and it's summer...

Japanese beetles

The garden has been busy, despite my lack of time to tend the garden or blog about it. I’ve been enjoying the veggies and herbs that I planted, as well as fruit that I did not plant; volunteer blackberries are so fun! Japanese beetles are wreaking havoc on my knockout roses and other ornamentals. Also, I’m struggling to keep up with the watering, especially now that it’s practically summer and we are in a precipitation deficit.

Part of my garden inattentiveness here of late can be blamed on my trip to Italy last month. And what a fabulous diversion through ancient ruins, art, architecture, and culture it was! While we didn’t have time to tour all of the gardens I wished, I was surprised to see Acanthus and poppies growing as weeds all over Rome; if only our weeds could be so striking. Acanthus was also immortalized in ancient sculpture and architectural decoration throughout Italy.

Acanthus popping up in the ancient Roman Forum

Easter Blooms

Mom's blooming azaleas, with viburnum in the background

Spring is in full swing as evidenced by a profusion of blooms, buds, and pollen. But we’re not quite done with cold weather; the forecast for this week shows two nights with lows in the mid-thirties. So I’ve set my sights on this weekend for planting veggie starts.

Among the available pink blueberries, purple potatoes, and apple mint, I have whittled my wish list down to a few veggies and herbs including some varieties new to my garden such as ‘Salad Bush’ cucumber, ‘Golden midget’ corn, ‘Sweet Banana’ peppers, and ‘Taxi’ tomatoes.

Over Easter weekend I had the delight of taking in all of the striking azaleas that flourish throughout my mom’s established neighborhood. Also flowering now are Spirea, Iris, Peonies, and Ajuga. The strawberries have tiny green fruit now and I can’t wait till they ripen; which is usually in May, but this year will probably be sometime in April. 

ajuga lawn

strawberries

If I had unlimited space at the perfect exposure, I’d like to plant all of these:

Cucumbers:

§      Salad Bush

§      Sweet Success

§      Green fingers

§      Bush pickle

Green Onions:

§      Evergreen hardy white

§      Parade

Sweet peppers:

§      ‘California Wonder’ (for stuffing)

§      ‘Sweet Banana’

Hot peppers:

§      ‘Pretty in Purple’

§      ‘Tabasco’

§      ‘Jalapeno’

Corn:

§      ‘Golden Midget’

Red Heirloom Tomatoes:

§      Brandywine

§      Soldacki

§      Italian Heirloom

§      Juane Flammee

Purple HeirloomTomatoes:

§      Cherokee Purple

§      Nyagous

Green Heirloom Tomatoes:

§      Aunt Ruby’s German Green

§      Green Zebra

Yellow Heirloom Tomatoes:

§      Dr. Wyche’s Yellow

§      Beam’s Yellow Pear

§      Taxi (early)

§      Sungold (cherry)

Cherry Tomatoes:

§      Mexico midget

§      Black Cherry (early)

§      Sweet 100

§      Red currant

Other Tomatoes:

§      Carmello

§      Roma

Herbs:

§      Basil

§      Chives

§      Cilantro

§      Parsley

§      Sage

§      Thyme