We have had an incredible summer of heat and dryness in British Columbia. Yes, we’ve had wildfires, some from nature, some manmade. Our rivers are low, the salmon are suffering as they swim upstream to spawn. The forests show the effect of lack of rain –the cedars especially seem able to let whole branches go brown and drop to the ground so the rest of the tree continues to survive.
My garden is struggling. The tomatoes on the deck are too hot, even with lots of water, and the fruit starts to rot even as it ripens. Those growing in the upper garden are coming more slowly and most seem to survive long enough to turn a lovely red. I have a huge zuchini plant which gave me one fruit, about 20 inches long and weighing 5 pounds. Everything seems to be out of whack!
The dahlias? Only the red pompoms are blooming. It is so weird. I have 16 different varieties. I don’t know them by name but by description, yet other than red pompoms, I have 1 white, 1 adobe, 1 yellow (with stems so short I can’t cut them and put them in vases). Does this mean only the red ones like this heat? Hard to tell.
How are you surviving the hot weather? I”m not writing and not at work, so I’m going to cool off with a swim in the lake. 🙂