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Sunday, June 08, 2008

Hotter than Hades

It's just too darn hot. Too hot to take photos, too hot to type as my hands stick to the keyboard, too hot to be outside. Phooey.

When I look at our weather site, it lists the high temperature for today to be 90 and if you scroll a little it also shows our current temperature of 96 (feels like 103). I guess they don't update their own information as I expect it will get hotter yet today.

(Updated at 1:10 PM, the weather channel lists the temperature for zip code 11746 as 102 degrees (feels like 110). I feel like a sponge.)

Wish I felt as cool and crisp as these driveway daisies look.

This watering can was not planted. Nope, it had a hole in it and last year I had it planted with annuals. Both of the plants in it now are volunteers that seeded into the can from nearby. I guess I can't complain about this!

A good hot weather chore is to plant more tomatoes and basil. I guess you can never have enough of either of these. Since I'm planting them into huge tree pots, I can do this chore in the shade and move them into the sun in a few days when this heat spell finally breaks.

We have no air-conditioners installed yet in the bedrooms and there is no air-conditioning on our main floor so I will leave you now as I can barely stand sitting here any longer.

How do you cope with this type of heat in your garden?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

You move to England where it's very wet and cold,hehe!!!
I would love some of your heat!

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

I was just whining about the heat & you've got it worse that we do! I'll join your pity party. Fortunately, we've got central AC & a fairly new AC unit. I make quick little forays into the garden to do chores in bits & pieces, then retreat to the AC.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

No central air conditioning? That is terrible heat not to have cool air.

Anonymous said...

So sorry you're 'baking'! Is this normal weather for your area, for this time of the year?

It's a pleasant 76 degrees with a slight breeze, here today, in San Diego, CA. It does get hotter, of course, and during those months, dh and I plan our gardening time to avoid the sun and hottest times of the day. We do have air conditioning. If all else fails, there's always the beach!

Sounds like it's time to take a dip in your pool! Sending you cool breezes!

garden girl said...

Love the watering can Melanie! Even better that it planted itself!

I can sure empathize with your heat wave. We're having one too, and DH doesn't like to turn on the air conditioning. It's been very sticky. I'm glad today's thunderstorm cooled things off. It's a relief.

Gail said...

I don't cope well, I am not meant for heat and humidity...I'm Celtic! But I retreat inside and read and comment at my favorite blogs!

What is the other self seeder in the can, I think one is perilla?

Melanie Chopay said...

Hi zvrk, last time I was in England was summer of 2006 and it was hot and there was a drought! Still, I'd move there in a heartbeat :-)

Mr. McGregor's daughter, central AC is a dream. We have an old house with plaster walls and cast iron baseboard heating so central AC would require massive renovations.

Robin, you are so right! Thankfully the ocean around us usually insulates us from these types of temperatures.

Lin, nope, this is not normal at all. We're supposed to go back to the 70's by Thursday. The south side of our island, just 8 or 9 miles from here is much cooler thanks to the ocean.

Hi Linda, thanks for sending the thunder storm here, it's booming right now and hopefully cooling down a bit.

Gail, I know what you mean, I'm German and not made for this heat. You are right about the Perilla, the second plant is Silene armeria which likes it hot and dry. It's an annual that self seeds nicely, nickname is Catchfly. It would do well for you (I think).

Gail said...

Melanie,

I looked it up, it is cute! I think I might actually have a seedling that came from a wildflower package I scattered...I did get a few poppies, too.

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

Sounds hot there. You should be in the pool!!!(-: That is how I would handle the heat...if we had one(-:
I just got an old watering can at the flea market today. It was a bargin at only 5 dollars, and no holes in it...
Heat here has been great lately. 95right now. I am sure that will change soon and everything will die. When the heat hits us its 110 and there is no humidity so its like an oven. I got my stone raccoons painted today and managed to do quite a bit outside. Time to bbq dinner and then watch a movie!!
I hope you are cooling down by now!

Unknown said...

Wow, what a great combination of volunteers! I wish my seeds were that helpful, I could use all of the nice freebies I can get around here.

Hope you spent most of the day inside. This early in the year it would be super easy to get heat stroke!

Debbie said...

It has been hot up here also, Melanie. No ocean breezes to help, although yesterday we had a nice late afternoon thundershower roll through. I do love those thunder storms. It didn't help much with the heat and humidity, but it did give us some rain.

I actually enjoy the heat as long as I don't have to work too hard. I did a bit of gardening, also planting tomatoes, but then retreated to the shade.

We have no AC anywhere in the house...just lots of wonderful old maple trees that help a bit.

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain with regard to the heat. It's been hotter than normal in Austin too. I am amazed to see the high temps for NYC on the news though. Yowza!

steele said...

I came across your blog while searching for planting ideas for succulents and sedums. Your post on May 30, 2007 shows a planting in a rock wall. What are the succulents that look like ferns? I've never seen anything like that before!

Love your blog!

Amy said...

Ugh! I feel for you.

So far this year it has been unusually wet and cold. I can't complain though - I don't cope well in hot weather and the water keeps the forest fires away.

In summer we often get some very hot, dry days. It is rarely humid, which is nice (though hard on the skin in winter). Even on really hot days, night and early morning are always cool. So, we open up the windows and set up a fan to pull the cool air into the house.

On hot days I try to garden in the morning or evening. Evening though, is a bit tricky. I want to be out there when it's cool, but not when the mosquitoes are out!