The heatwave we feared was coming hit Southern California with a vengeance the middle of last week and still hasn't let go. On Thursday, temperatures along my part of the coast climbed above 102 (39C) and on Friday they peaked at 108F (42C) with nighttime temperatures stuck in the upper 80sF (30-31C). We hovered just below 100F on Saturday, giving me hope the trend would continue downward, only to climb back up to 104F (40C) yesterday. I've cut a lot of flowers since the heatwave began, most of which went into the compost bin. However, I was able to cobble together two arrangements yesterday.
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| Living up to its name, Dahlia 'Catching Fire' produced a bounty of new blooms seemingly overnight |
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| Back view: the first of the white Amaryllis belladonna also made an appearance in my back garden border just as the pink form hustled to exit |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Amaryllis belladonna, Dahlia 'Catching Fire', Clematis terniflora, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', and Leucadendron salignum 'Blush' |
I made use of three dahlia varieties for my second arrangement.
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| As there was little value in letting them burn, I cut flowers of the 3 dahlia varieties with peachy tones: 'Fairway Spur', 'Creme de Cognac', and 'Labyrinth'. 'Labyrinth' deserves to star in an arrangement of its own, as it was eclipsed by the others here, but hopefully there will be enough blooms to put that together once the heatwave has passed. |
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| I fleshed out the back view with Rudbeckias and Zinnias |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Creme de Cognac', D. 'Fairway Spur', D. 'Labyrinth', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Rudbeckia hirta 'Sahara', and Zinnia elegans 'Golden Hour' |
As there was little reason to hold off on cutting flowers once the heatwave started last week, I pulled together a couple of vases mid-week too, both of which I'm still enjoying (with a few tweaks).
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| An unexpected bloom from a bearded Iris prompted me to act - there was no way the flowers on that stem would last a day in 100F+ heat. Two views of the vase are shown above. Clockwise from the middle row, the contents included: Achillea ptarmica, Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda', Eustoma grandiflorum, Iris 'Autumn Circus', Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', and Symphyotrichum chilense. |
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| The sky-high blooms of both Dahlia 'La Luna' and 'Summer's End' were already taking nose dives in the heat last Wednesday so I cut them to fill another vase. Clockwise from the middle left are: Dahlia 'Summer's End', 'D. La Luna', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', yellow Rudbeckia 'Sahara', and Tanacetum parthenium. |
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| The Iris had withered by Sunday morning so I pulled it and moved the vase to the kitchen counter. The second arrangement remains on the kitchen island but I've traded out the 'La Luna' Dahlias shown here for fresh blooms yesterday. |
We're hoping the heatwave will break by the middle of this week. While late summer heatwaves are common here, even along the coast, they don't generally last this long. The fact that temperatures remain high overnight worsens the impact on plants. I haven't ventured down our back slope since Thursday but I expect that I'll find every lemon on the tree there has withered or fallen to the ground, which is its usual response to heat like this. Following a severe heatwave in 2020 shorter than the current one, it took more than a year for the tree to recover.
I hope weather conditions are better for all or most of you! For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Beautiful Kris, did you go out early in the morning to gather blooms? Initially we were supposed to cool Sat/Sun but definitely didn't. Looking forward to the cool down!
ReplyDeleteYes, the end of the heatwave got pushed out a couple of times here too! This morning, local forecasters predicted that this would be the last day of triple digit temperatures - I hope that's correct, especially as we're not expected to see any clouds until Wednesday. I almost always cut my flowers in the morning but I did so particularly early on Sunday morning, partly because Meeko was insistent about my getting up!
DeleteMy goodness, Kris, that's hot! What a shame you had to cut so many blooms and then compost most of them too 😢 At least you will get some pleasure from those you rescued and made vase from - are you able to keep your house cool? As always, I especially love your blue vase but like the second one with the dahlias and rudbeckias and zinnias too - the colours blend so well with each other. Fingers crossed that the heatwave does break soon... 🤞
ReplyDeleteWe upgraded our air conditioning system in 2019 when we did our home renovation so it's comfortable in the house even it walking outside, even in the evening, has felt like stepping into a blast furnace! Forecasters are contending that today will be the last one with temperatures in triple digits (Fahrenheit). I understand that this heatwave has been the longest stretch of that kind of heat since the early 1960s.
DeleteHoping you get a break in the weather. That is too hot. I would not like that this time of year as it cools down here. That is so much garden goodness to cut and share. I couldn't pick a fav as all are incredible. Lucky you!!
ReplyDeleteApparently, there's a pattern of heat "events" shortly after Labor Day in SoCal, Donna. I hadn't tracked that trend but I admit September is prone to surprising ups and downs.
Delete108 degrees?!?! That's crazy! That was 10 degrees more than here in the Sacramento Valley. I hope your garden didn't suffer too much.
ReplyDeleteThe highest temperature I can recall since we moved here was 113F but I think that was 2020. However, I don't remember any stretches of triple digit temperatures this long. There's definitely damage but I haven't closely assessed it yet. I suppose the good news is that fall is planting season!
DeleteYou found an astonishing number of floral beauties this week. Love them all. Labyrinth is a lovely dahlia, of course they all are. I cannot believe those temperatures and am sorry you're having to put up with them.
ReplyDeleteWell, at least the high temperatures come with low humidity so the high temperatures aren't as miserable. However, low humidity poses other kinds of risks. There's a major wildfire burning in San Bernadino County and the air smelled of fire all the way here this morning. Our air quality is terrible at the moment.
DeleteMore fabulous Dahlias! A joy to see them. 'Catching Fire' my favorite, but the soft elegance of 'Summers End' is too. And at the moment, the thought of summer ending is heartening.
ReplyDeleteHere the Dahlias have held up better to this heat than the roses, which look like corn flakes, only brown.
10 degree drop forecast for tomorrow. 10 more on Wedneday. Fingers crossed. Take care out there.
It's after 8:30pm and the weather station on our roof says the temperature stands at 92F. The other station reads 90.8F. Dry winds have been blowing here for hours too. But I hope the forecasters are right and tomorrow is the beginning of the end for this crappy heatwave!
DeleteUgh, how hard it must be to see all your hard work melt and droop before your eyes! It occurred to me that your scramble to harvest before a heat wave isn't much different than mine to save flowers from frost... which of course, puts the end to gardening for the season here. Our temps continue to be below average as they have been for weeks... it's been in the 40s at night for the past several nights and cool days, too. But at least the sun is shining and we get solar gain. Weather weirding!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your house full of beautiful bouquets, and I hope your garden recovers once this nasty heatwave subsides. Eliza
Yes, I've often thought that late summer is our equivalent of winter conditions in colder climates. We probably shouldn't complain as these horrid heat spells don't often last as long as freezing conditions but they do set our gardens back and kill some plants outright. I still haven't had the heart to check the lemon tree on the back slope - the last time we had a bad heatwave, it dropped all its fruit and the tree took over a year to come back.
DeleteOh Kris, I know how frustrating it can be when not only the flowers butvthe fruit suffer on adverse weather conditions. We had hail back in early July and it ruined our hopes for a good apple crop for the year as almost all the apples were damaged and then the wasps moved in to clean up! Your dahlias have stood up well to the heat, and on the bright side: it is a wonderful excuse to cut everything and bring it all indoors into the house to enjoy!
ReplyDeleteYikes, wasps are mean! It's going to be interesting to see what the heat does to our persimmon crop. Even though I don't eat persimmons myself, it'll be too bad if they all end up on the ground to rot.
DeleteThat peachy toned dahlia arrangement is gorgeous! I am so sorry you're still dealing with the heat. We hit 102 last Thursday but were back down to the upper 80's for the weekend.
ReplyDeleteWe were warned that this heatwave could encompass the coast and it's not like we haven't had serious heatwaves before but I'd still hoped we'd avoid the worst of it. It's supposed to be cooler today. At 10am it's "only" 86F so maybe we'll stay below 100 today.
DeleteGorgeous flowers. Here on the other side of the coast, NJ, near Philadelphia where the debate will be tonight, it has been mild. We had quite a few heatwaves this summer. I've had enough of them. I love all your beautiful flowers.
ReplyDeleteThe heatwaves are all the more destructive here because we're so dry at this time of year - we rarely get any rain from mid-April until late October. Luckily, there are no wildfires in our immediate area.
DeleteYou have definitely beat the heat with these vases, Kris. I'm amazed it is hotter there?! Amelia
ReplyDeleteWell, we don't have your humidity level to contend with but the heat was definitely on, Amelia. I live on a peninsula and our side of it doesn't get much benefit from the cooling ocean breezes, although those were blocked entirely during this heatwave by a high pressure system that just settled in and stayed there for several days. It's cooling off now, though. Last night it was still 92F at 11pm and now at 7:30pm it's down to 71F!
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