Surviving the record-breaking heat

Heat waves are everyplace each astatine erstwhile close now, and Austin excessively is broiling successful the hottest July connected record, according to KXAN. That’s saying thing due to the fact that past summertime was incredibly hot. I felt sure, aft enduring Snowpocalypse, past summer’s oven-like temps, and past February’s Arbormageddon crystal storm that Austin had someway earned a respite from the upwind gods’ wrath. Alas, no. And truthful we proceed with 105, 107, adjacent 109 F temps and nary rain. No, this is not normal, y’all.

Some plants are faring amended than others. Let’s observe those! Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’, I salute you for looking large nary substance however hot, nary substance however cold. It conscionable keeps increasing taller and taller, elevating its Koosh-ball caput to astir 12 feet high. Where it’ll apical retired is anyone’s guess.

Here’s that yucca from different angle. The Circle Garden’s ‘Winter Gem’ boxwoods got a small trim recently, and the variegated whale’s lingua agave successful the banal vessel is yet recovering its moonlight-yellow streaking, aft pouting for a portion pursuing its unsmooth transplant this spring. I’d hoped the metallic ponyfoot successful the vessel would person covered the decomposed granite by now, but it’s struggling.

So past week I did the unthinkable: I planted a half-dozen 4-inch pots of autochthonal woolly stemodia successful the tank. Oh yes, I did. I planted successful July. Broke my ain cardinal regularisation of Texas gardening. So of people I’m watering them each greeting to get them established, and really they look beauteous happy. With immoderate luck the stemodia volition overtake the meh ponyfoot and metallic up that vessel by autumn. If you’re searching for immoderate stemodia yourself, I recovered this batch astatine Barton Springs Nursery.

My vessel watering brought to beingness 1 of the ‘Labuffarosea’ rainfall lily bulbs I’d planted successful determination and forgotten about. I emotion however these saccharine pinkish flowers popular up aft a rainfall (or, sometimes, hose watering) to grace the plot with their beingness earlier going dormant again, until the adjacent rainy day.

I besides planted a autochthonal manfreda, oregon Texas tuberose, successful a platform planter I’d been wanting to redo. This did not interruption my cardinal regularisation of not planting thing betwixt May and October due to the fact that it falls into my objection for succulents. I did hazard stressing it a small by dividing the 3-gallon works I picked up astatine Vivero Growers, but it doesn’t look bothered by the vigor oregon the separation. I filled astir it — and americium playing disconnected the manfreda’s purple spots — with sprigs of purple bosom that I snapped disconnected a spot down the pool. Gotta emotion a pugnacious works with bully colour similar purple heart, adjacent if it does effort to instrumentality implicit erstwhile conditions are right.

Other heat-wave, don’t-care plants see ‘Fiercely Fabulous’ mangave. It’s blushing a small much than accustomed successful the vigor but seems beauteous content.

‘Cream Spike’ agave is getting taller and pupping similar crazy. I’ll request to repot this 1 sooner oregon later.

Up successful the broadside yard, ‘Bright Edge’ yucca is simply a victor successful vigor oregon cold. Yarrow foliage looks beauteous with it, though it doesn’t bloom overmuch for me.

On the different broadside of the gate, Mediterranean instrumentality thenar is putting retired caller maturation successful its Comeback #2 pursuing Snowpocalypse and past Arbormageddon. The variegated ‘Opal’ agave successful the Corten saucer planter shrugs disconnected the vigor too. I seldom adjacent retrieve to h2o that one.

Datura tin get a small wilty successful precocious summer, but it continues to unfurl salad-plate-sized, night-blooming flowers. The ivory buds, rolled up similar a newspaper, hold for dusk, erstwhile they unfastened their lemon-scented blossoms for sphinx moths and different nighttime pollinators.

Wheeler’s sotol and woolly stemodia are summertime performers successful silvery green.

What a star!

While buying for plants past week I recovered my publication The Water-Saving Garden for merchantability successful the acquisition store astatine Barton Springs Nursery. Yay! Thanks for carrying it, BSN!

And I admired this beauteous succulent planter astatine Vivero Growers.

Succulents, sotols, yuccas, agaves, purple heart, and woolly stemodia are summertime survivors and thrivers. It’s bully to person a fewer plants similar these successful your country travel the summertime from hellhole (redux).

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