The current pandemic and the stay-at-home order that followed it have upended my usual activities and thrown my schedule into total disarray. Like many people I know, I find myself struggling to remember what day it is sometimes. Rapid changes in the weather have also left me wondering what season it is. The calendar says it's spring but, in the middle of our second heatwave of the year, it feels like summer. Meanwhile, some of my trees are making it look like fall.
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| This is the Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana) in our front garden. After blooming for months, it dropped all its flowers and, since this photo was taken following our first heatwave, most of its leaves. |
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| The ornamental pear (Pyrus calleryana) also went into fall mode but it still held onto two-thirds of its leaves despite creating a fall-like mess of leaf litter |
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| The noID Guava also lost a lot of its leaves in response to the heat but managed to quickly sprout replacement leaves since this photo was taken last week. Cleaning leaf litter covering the spiky agaves below hasn't been a lot of fun, though. |
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| The Auranticarpa rhombifolium in the middle here has been showing signs of decline for some time but the last heatwave sealed the deal. Although the tall shrub on its right is the same species and looks fantastic (if perhaps in need of pruning), these shrubs in general haven't done well here. A neighbor told me that these shrubs originally formed a hedge along the street but quickly began dying and were replaced by Xylosma except for one stretch in this area. We've pulled 3 of them since we moved in and now I'm planning to take out both the dead one and the other one on its left. |
Sudden heat stress probably accounts for the behavior of the trees shown above but some trees in my garden are still firmly in spring mode.
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| Dwarf Acer palmatum 'Mikawa Yatsubusa' is looking great in partial shade |
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| Acer palmatum 'Sango Kuku' is also doing fine with morning sun and afternoon shade |
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| The persimmons also look great. 'Hachiya' is on the left and 'Fuyu' is on the right. |
However, the mimosa tree (
Albizia julibrissin) says it's clearly early summer, time to leaf out those bare limbs at last.
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| It'll probably be several weeks yet before it has a full canopy |
A lizard I met in my cutting garden this morning, as the temperature reached into the 80s, said the answer to my question is obvious: "It's lizard season!"
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| As oracles are known to do, he ignored me for awhile |
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| Before turning in my direction, giving me an answer and suggesting I leave the garden to those that can really take the heat |
I hope you're doing better than I am keeping the days of the week - and your seasons - straight! At one o'clock, we've just passed the 90F mark. Tomorrow is expected to be hotter still.
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Gracious! I'd gladly take some of the heat off your hands. We are 10 to 20 degrees below normal and every night through Monday it will be in the 30's. Multiple chances of frost and freeze warnings this week will take their toll on plants here. Isn't it so strange that we can both have such extremes at exactly the time of year when the weather should be pleasant, enjoyable, and moderate. Right now it's difficult to imagine 90 degrees, but I'm sure you and your plants are sweltering, especially without rain. I truly hope the weather moderates and you get a cool down soon.
ReplyDeleteWe could really use a heat exchange program since it's pretty clear that Mother Nature is off her rocker, Cindy! Whether sudden extreme cold or heat, both damage the newly emerged tender spring growth.
DeleteIt seems that the heat is getting the better of some of your older plants. How in the world do you clean up those leaves with all the ground covers etc you have? Blower or vacuum? Gosh girl, here in a night or so we are having a freeze with frost warnings for more than one night. UGH... Talk about crazy times. I am beginning to think there won't be a summer. No doubt it will all turn out ok but it is getting to that turn. I will be out placing sheets and blankets over several plants and hoping for the best for the rest.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you're still shivering out there, Lisa - it's weird that you're getting freezing temperatures in May. I actually do have a leaf vacuum and I'm seriously considering dragging it out to suck up leaves in the tricky areas, especially among prickly plants like agaves. The problem is the length of the extension cord...
DeleteOh, gosh, this definitely your year for weather anomalies. Cooler winter, rain in April, now heat. We're having off and on warmth and cold. Snow predicted Friday night...what?? :(
ReplyDeleteSilly me bought a few annuals and I'm already tired of ferrying them in and out, morning and night. I have trouble keeping track of the days, too. Ground Hog Day (the movie) comes to mind. I expect to hear "I've Got You, Babe" upon arising every morning. ;)
Snow in May in your area and heatwaves in April in mine - I can't help wondering if we just haven't pushed Mother Nature too far for too long. I love the movie 'Groundhog Day', Eliza, especially the fact that the central character, after testing his limits, learned from his mistakes and became a better human being. We can only hope that our experience has a similar impact.
DeleteWe're about to get our own weather whiplash as yesterday's high was 65 and Saturday is predicted to be 88, then back down to 63 next Wednesday. What's up with that!? So has your Bauhinia x blakeana done this previously? Do you think it will be okay? Not to ignore the others, but that tree is a favorite of mine!
ReplyDeleteWeather whiplash indeed, Loree! I've speculated that Mother Nature has become an alcoholic but maybe she's succumbed to hard drugs...The Bauhinia is regarded as "semi-evergreen." It does drop masses of leaves periodically, although never all of them that I recall. There are still some green leaves here and there on its branches so I'm hopeful the effect of the earlier blast of heat is temporary - and that the current heatwave doesn't make things worse. So far, this heatwave, while unpleasant, hasn't been quite as extreme.
DeleteWith so much serious news to keep up with, I haven't been checking weather forecasts, so was shocked when our gauge read 90 the past two days. A heat wave?! I'm with Loree about your bauhinia -- hope it's not serious. And I'm with you on the Blurdays running together. Thank goodness a big flat desk calendar lies under my keyboard.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping we get a nice stretch of cooler weather to allow the Bauhinia to recover. Eliza commented that it's feeling like the movie 'Groundhog Day' and I concur!
DeleteHeat waves keep me stuck indoors. Grrr...
ReplyDeleteI hope your trees are all okay. What a difference between the Auranticarpa rhombifolias on the left and the happy one on the right. Maybe the unhappy ones have only rock to live on?
I dash out and give my Jmaples a cooling wet blast from the hose in the worst of the heat. So far they are okay. Supposedly cooler tomorrow, yay!
I'm looking forward to that cool-down, HB! I've asked myself why that Auranticarpa on the property line is SO much healthier than any of the others are or were. My best guess is that it gets water from the neighbor's irrigation system even though it's on our side of the property line. They water more than I do. We have everything along the street on a soaker hose.
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