Heat Loving

 Itoh Peony: not a heat lover
 
This garden hosts few plants properly called "heat loving".  The head gardener certainly cannot be deemed so.
The Japanese Anenomes are blooming but the foliage is scorched.  A recently purchased Eucalyptus 'Moon Lagoon' has tripled in size in its small nursery pot, and needs to go into the ground ASAP.
True tropical plants are relatively big consumers of water, and their large leaves shred or snap off in our fierce Santa Ana winds.  
Begonia 'Griffon' is one of the few plants relishing the daytime heat and overly warm nights.  It looks quite dreadful in winter.
Agaves are mostly found at high elevations with cooler temperatures;  Aloes mostly endure a dry summer to grow and thrive in cooler, wetter winters.  I thought Echeverias preferred mild spring and fall, but this rosette, decapitated, re-rooted itself firmly into its pot in less than a week.  
We've had a hot September, minimizing garden activity both plant and human.  I planted the Leucophyllums, bought a couple of 'Burgundy' Cordylines to add to the west slope, deadhead toasted roses, and now await the return of gardening weather.
Pentas can be called heat loving.  They love the hottest weather of summer.
 This rooted cutting of 'Erfurt' nearly died in our last heat wave, totally defoliating before I saved it with plentiful water.  It's leafed out again and I'm paying close attention now.
 Fuchsias are unhappy here from mid-summer to early winter
 To save water, I've not deadheaded any of the reblooming Hydrangeas.  No extra flowers means they need a little less water.
 I moved this Aloe capitata seedling off the front slope because it looked near death.  In mostly shade it recovered in only a few days.  When it is larger, I will put it back out front.
 Aloe deltoideodonta (hard to remember the spelling on that puppy) has 4 flower stalks, so perhaps it's a summer bloomer.  This one is more shy of flowering than all my other Aloes.

 Sunburn on little Echinopsis 'Flying Saucer'.  Moved it back into more shade. 
 Hoping for cooler weather soon. 

Comments

  1. Ditto on everything here, too. Good condensing of the conditions. Well photographed also Thank you. I feel better now that someone else's garden is suffering/reacting the same way as mine.

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    1. September has been rough, hasn't it? We started having heat waves in March. It's been an 8 month long summer, at least. Or is it more like 4 years now?

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  2. Apparently, Mother Nature doesn't know how to spell "fall." I keep hoping every heatwave is the last. At least your Itoh peony has a touch of green left and your Japanese anemones have made an appearance. My Itoh has been toast for well over a month and my anemones are nowhere to be seen this year. Earlier today, I noticed that even my potted blueberry plants are scorched - I water them regularly so I wonder if the heat stress is cumulative.

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    1. The peony starts shutting down early, but with less heat it lasts longer. It was pretty much all green up until about a week ago. Anemone foliage got scorched within the past week also. I think heat can be cumulative--the Fuchsias can take about 3 days of it, then they start to scorch.

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  3. Interesting how plants behave on hot weather on the other side of the world. I´m amazed that Hydrangeas and Fuchsias are doing rather well in your area, they like cool weather, lots of water and some shade.
    Happy gardening!

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    1. We do get very mild May and June--our summer is really more July August September than June July August.

      They like the cool, water, and shade here, too. We just don't have as much of that as you. ;^)

      Gelukkig tuinieren! (Did that translate correctly?)

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  4. So it's not just me [fans self, to no avail]. Still schlepping a few cactus and agaves from spot to spot to avoid sunburn. Fall temps would be nice!

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