Ye Gods, It's Hot!

What a depressing 10-day forecast:

I heard the weatherman say Thursday's 96 will feel like 105.  Nice.  Next Tuesday's 100 should be great.

And not a drop of rain in that forecast.  I'm going to be gone all next week, so I guess I'll soak the garden as best I can before I leave and cross my fingers.

One rhubarb plant has one beautiful red leaf.  That's the color I expected the stalks to be, but they manage to stay green.  The two new plants I had hopes for were both killed in last year's flood conditions.

I've picked and eaten all the 'Premium' peas.  They were perfect.  'Miss Lillian's Case Load' is prolific, but has smaller peas, and I don't think they're as sweet.  I have some 'Lincoln' peas that are just now flowering because the rabbits have been keeping them pruned.  I planted that variety last year, and as I recall, they were sweet and had lots of peas per pod.

'Miss Lillian's Case Load'

My cabbages have gotten large enough that I put them in the ground.  I hope they make it through next week.  After planting I mulched them with straw to help keep the soil from drying out.  Fingers crossed.

'Primo Vantage' cabbages and 'Calima' green beans

I planted the same two varieties as last year.  Purple 'Omero' and green 'Primo Vantage'.  I wasn't that impressed with either, but I forgot to order different varieties for this year.

The grapes are getting large.  I'm going to try to cover them with a light crop cloth before I leave so they might - and I mean MIGHT - not get eaten by the raccoons before I get back.  The coyote urine I got doesn't seem to deter the little devils.  

It just occurred to me a couple of days ago that I should try transplanting some mint and oregano around the trellises the grapes climb on, because the raccoons don't try to go through those.  Too late this year.

'Golden muscat'

Blackberries and raspberries are blooming and setting fruit.  Sadly, half of my raspberries didn't survive winter this year.

The tomatoes have all started looking very good.  But this heat won't be good for setting flowers or fruit.

'Supersweet 100' cherry tomato

'German Johnson' tomato

I put in eight 'German Johnson' and two 'Missouri Pink Love Apple' tomato plants, both of which I've grown before, but not at the same time, to see how the taste compares.  Alas, I think the 'Missouri Pink' plants are going to get too much shade to do as well, and that will no doubt affect the flavor.  

Over in the flower world, there's a lovely pale apricot-colored hollyhock.

The misplaced plant I thought looked like some sort of melon, since it was in last year's melon plot, that I figured (!) was somehow a miracle that overwintered, is a pretty pink.

Late winter: hollyhock mistaken for a melon

Actual melon ('Savor' - a French charentais)

Most of the other hollyhocks are wine and red.

The bright blue delphinium is stunning.

There are lots of coneflowers (Echinacea and Ratibida) in the wildflower garden, but I planted pale purple (Echinacea pallida) and Ozark (Echinacea paradoxa) at the edge because I love the downturned petals.

pale purple coneflower and Ozark coneflower

Oriental poppies have bloomed and gone, but the annuals and Shirley (corn poppies) and breadseeds are blooming.  My Spanish poppies haven't shown up yet.  They should be blooming.

'Amazing Grey' corn poppy

 

'Pandora' corn poppy

An unexpected corn poppy appeared.   Either it came from a seed that got in the wrong packet or it's a mutant.  Whatever it is, it's lovely.

So far, this has been a good year for the roses. (Don't click on that link if you can't stand tear-jerker country songs.)

I managed to remember to get a systemic insecticide put down, and one early Sevin spray that seems to have taken care of the horrible aphid problem I had last year.  Hopefully it will also work to control Japanese beetles.  I hate to use it, because of the bees, but I haven't been able to control either of those pests in the past.

The rose garden in moonlight.