African Garden + Weather

Maximum Acceleration
Clematis 'Silver Moon'

With the sudden onset of full summer, with lows in the 70sF/24C and highs in the 90sF (it is 96F/35.5C as I write this), plants have gone from 0 to 60 in less than 36 hours. This Clematis wasn't in bloom on Sunday.

Similarly, this rose wasn't in bloom on Monday.

Rosa 'Carefree Beauty' with lavender, Dianthus 'Cranberry Ice' and Cornus kousa 'Beni-fuji'

It hasn't been this hot here since August '06. I swear, if you could stand the heat, you could see the flowers opening. Check this out:

see the difference in the center of the bloom? That happened in the time it took me to change aperture settings on my camera and snap another shot. Things were delayed from blooming by the unseasonable cold in April and May, now they're playing catchup in a big way. I hope they can adapt to this sudden heat, I fear for them. I watered all the plants in containers this morning and some of the plants in the ground. I'll be getting out the sprinkler at 5 o'clock, the earliest I can water under local ordinance. If I can just get them through one more day, we'll have temperatures below normal, with highs in the 60sF/19C. Fingers crossed.