We returned from Florida this afternoon and were pleased to discover that the weather here was even hotter and drier than 1,200 miles South. The few scattered thundershowers which should have given the garden some hope while we were gone just weren’t enough, and overall things look completely miserable. Here’s a view from Florida since I’d rather not face Pennsylvania yet.
At least in the tropics an afternoon downpour can give some relief. Here in Epcot I liked the way these mixed cannas filled the bed, a little short of a plant for my taste, but I’m sure they’ll fill the area with color all summer.
I hope to catch up a little tomorrow, but for now it’s ok to be back and we’ll see if I can scrape together enough care to bring the garden back from crispiness. If I never post again I just want to say thanks for all the comments and friendship and I wish you all well.
sorta like suburbia 
I do hope you’ll give us more of your tropical view!!!!
Thanks Jayne, I’m sure I will, but I do enjoy wallowing in a little self pity now and then as well 🙂
Oh dear, cheer up Frank! Didn’t you have a good holiday after all? The garden is probably hiding some small wonder that will revive you. I hope so anyway!
I had some time to hunt for small wonders today. It could be worse, but I did lose a few treasures here and there. Fortunately I ordered a few new iris this afternoon to cheer myself up and I’m fine again 😉
Oh dear. I wish I could send you some of the tropical downpours we have been having this year. Sorry, has that made things worse?
Haha, luckily gardening is entertainment here and I’m never so invested that I’ll lose the farm or go hungry if things take a turn for the worse… still, if you could send some of that rain my way 🙂
Trying hard to do so, we are ready for some sun.
I feel like that every August Frank but just hang in there it will get better and as Cathy said some little beauty will surprise you and spur you on.
I was thinking of you while looking around the garden and realized it would really need to become much worse before I’d consider giving up. The fall rains will come, but in the meantime there are a few surprises here and there.
I felt like that when I got back from my holiday. The garden looks such a mess. Never mind a bit of cutting back and watering and it will look good again.
I did consider giving up for the year, but then did what we do and just moved on to get the water hose and clippers.
Hope you get some restorative rains soon. We finally had some overnight after impossibly dry hot days so maybe it will move up toward you.
That would be nice, but I’m pretty sure we would need a steady day or two of rain to bring anything close to relief. Neighbors said it rained just the other day, but I don’t see it.
If you need to cool off, Bittster, Florida is but a plane ride away. Actually, while it has seemed cooler in Florida than northern parts of the country, locals have complained that July temperatures feel more like August.
A July like August!? So there’s the possibility it will get worse?
Oh well. Pavement is not an option so I’ll just keep gardening along 🙂
Did I mention we drove? Apparently I’m just full of ways to keep my life interesting.
Always a delight to come home after a week or more away, and discover what’s happened to all of your lovely plants! With me, it’s usually horrifying to see what the deer and woodchucks have done while they had the place to themselves! It’s worse than leaving two teenagers home alone!
I guess I didn’t mention the woodchuck damage 🙂
Whatever phlox didn’t shrivel up and die was nibbled down to a nub. Also the zucchini and squash which looked so promising when we left are unrecognizable now… oh and apparently they eat parsley, gomphrena, eggplants… well, unfortunately you already know.
Oh my, I haven’t had problems with Gomphrena before. But this year there seem to be more of them than ever before, and they are nibbling things they’ve never bothered before, like the Balloon Flower.