Ianna,

The news makes it sound like many of us are being baked and broiled. We finally got a pretty good rain today and watched the temp drop from 95 to 81! Now, of course, it's really steaming in the sun and that will probably damage the leaves of the plants just as you mention avoiding the leaves when hand-watering.

The sun hits my garden first thing, so like you, I have to water carefully at night just to give the plants time to soak up some water. Last night, I could barely breathe outside, so I watered this morning...and nearly passed out in the early morning heat. My husband said he'd never seen me in such bad shape...considering that the only thing that I was doing was taking the hose with a watering wand around the garden for an hour.

Take care.
Cameron

I walked down to the barn, barefoot, to make sure the cats' water bistro was full; and my feet felt like they were burning from walking across the grass!

Plants in the containers look a little weary today, but too hot to go out and water now. Should have done it last night.

I've been deep watering the base of my plants the past couple weeks in anticipation of this heat. I poke a pinhole an inch from the bottom of gallon milk jugs, cat litter jugs, whatever, and fill them with water. Each jug gets placed close to a plant where the water can spray directly at the base and water just the roots. When the water in the jug falls below the pinhole, what's left holds the jug in place so the wind doesn't blow them around. It ain't pretty but it's practical and with the temp climbing to 100+ the next couple days, my plants are in good shape to weather the hot weather.

For me I roll up a bandana, wet it under the faucet and tie it around my neck when I'm outside in the heat. It helps keep me from getting light-headed but I still take frequent indoor breaks and stay hydrated.

For the critters I keep two birdbaths filled with clean water and a large pet bowl on the ground for the ones that can't reach the water in the birdbath. Last year I looked out the window to see the red fox standing on his tippy-toes trying to drink from the birdbath. My neighbor's honeybees are frequent visitors to the birdbath same as the finches and other birds. The robins take frequent baths in them and I've seen the grackles take a bath once or twice.

Those are all great tips.

You can also put ice in a plastic bag and roll it up in the bandana to make it stay cooler longer. Light colored, loose fitting clothing helps. Wear a lightweight straw hat and open type shoes. In the summer I work outside morning and evening and skip midday.

I water my container plants first thing in the morning and again in the evening if they are wilted. When it's hot at night too, they won't make it all day if you only water once at night. Cut back on fertilizer and trim back any struggling plants so they won't use excess energy trying to grow in the heat. Mulch makes the biggest difference in keeping the roots of plants cooler and also keeps water in longer.

Be prepared to replace a few plants just like we do down here when we get a deep freeze every few years and lose our tender perennials.

I also gave everything a massive soak last night and tried to move smaller containers into shade.
I find I can weather the heat fairly cheerfully if I clink ice around in my glass (lol. Yes, ice clinking- just sounds 10 degrees cooler ;) and try not to say, "wow, it's so hot" too often, even if it is.
I must have splashed one of my huge hostas because it has the burn you're describing.

We were lucky to get a 15 minute deluge yesterday. 1" or more in 15 minutes. Everything seems so refreshed.
Now you know why hostas etc. are purely shade plants for us in the South! They fry up in the hot sun so quickly. The good thing is that they can go dormant and return next year with more vigor than this year.

It was 104 here today with 109 heat index - only 23% humidity. At dusk, the temp dropped to 97 and the wind picked up - it felt cool. That's pretty bad!
I wish we had normal temps of 80s and 90s. I'd have tons of tomatoes! They are all blooming like crazy, but not setting fruit. Well, I have gotten a few Earl Girl tomatoes. Harvest three Lemon Boys and have one Cherokee purple turning color now. They sure taste good. If I can just keep them alive until the end of summer or the heat dome goes away that is stalled like a bulls eye over our state, I'll have tons of tomatoes.

All the leaves turned brown and fell off the Weeping Willow in the back yard two days ago, in spite of all the watering. I planted cannas around the base and mulched it deeply. The cannas are doing pretty good. Smaller than usual, but they look good and are about to start blooming. I set the sprinkler upside down at the base of the tree and let it run for an hour, and still it got stressed. Good grief!

It's so hot that my flip-flops melt to my feet - I am serious. I have to wet my feet to get them loosed from the rubber. I have to change out the water several times a day for the chickens, birds, and the cats (who choose to stay outside under the patio canopy), even though their buckets are in the deepest shade. It feels like bath water. Dang! Imagine how hot the water gets around the plants! Without deep, deep mulch, they just stew in the water. The water is hot down to 6 inches. I think a couple of my flowers cooked to death today.
I know that high humidity does the same thing in the heat. When I lived in Louisiana, the humidity was very high and one year when we got way too much rain, my green beans cooked right on the bushes. My entire back yard smelled like cooking green beans.
It's just so bad in either case.

Ya, a wet towel around my beck really helps. I have to keep wetting it to cool it down. I also wear a do-rag tied around my forehead to catch the super-salty sweat. Man, it burns if I don't. I also wear a hat to keep the top of my head protected. What little brains I have left, I most definitely want to keep. (:/

~Annie

Actually I recommend keeping one's neck cool to help cool down the body.

The heat was great in Toronto that the wind was hot.it broke records. It was pure exhaustion just to walk to the corner. I had an icy slush in hand to cool me off enough to get to the subway. So hot, the privet hedges nearby were wilting. trees looked thirsty.

However my plants have remained lush and seemingly untouched. The grass looked quite green unlike the brown and yellow grasses elsewhere. This is because every start of the season, we add a small layer of triple mix top soil and reseed. This and because the grass sits atop a clay base makes the ideal grass lawn. It's got rich good topsoil on the top layers and clay which keeps it moist within. I highly recommend this method of adding triple mix + brick or cement sand thinly to the grass at the start of the year. Plus the method of aeration.

Ugh, yes, it's been awful. I'm trying to imagine a summer without ripe tomatoes....

Thanks for the tips!

WE had rain everyday in the Month of May braking records. We have not had any rain to speak of since.With the spring rains the plants bulked up and then there was no rain to support them. The grass is yellow straw, the ground is cracking, and the garden is struggling. The water in the above ground pool is so warm it is not any relief to go in.Maybe I should use it as water source for the garden. The humidity this week has been at mid 60s to 70%.So, drought conditions,but still mildew on the phlox. I water pots in the am and pm. To deep water I put an old fashion ring sprinkler on the hose set very low. Every half hour I go out and move it along to a new spot. It takes me 2 days to get it all done. The birds, butterflys and any insects greet me every time I go out to move the sprinkler. The lawn only gets what seeps out from the garden edges. We don't have air-conditioning so I dread the sleepless nights. I hope this lets up in time for the garden to recover some. I am planning a "Big Dig" this Fall to divide, move and form new beds. I don't want to move stressed out plants that may not survive the winter . Insult to injury, that would be. Take care all, plants are not the only ones to wilt and stress in this heat

Praise be, we got rain Saturday night. The garden perked up just from that one rain fall. It is so amazing to see. We can water all we can but nothing beats a natural rainfall.The temps are back down in the low 80's which is a help too. Put the hose away this morning for the first time in weeks. Keep it coming. Hope you all get some relief too.