MizGG, 87 is a nice cool day for us, right? I get a lot of things done outside when it's only 87 degrees.

Carrie, like you ''as hot as it is ..." I'm still going outside and it's not only to water, but to decide what it worth it to me to keep watering everyday, or almost everyday.

So far the bougies are worth it for their hot colors no matter how high the temperature. The plumeria seem to like hot weather too and are worth it for their tropical foliage as well as their scented flowers.

I'm eyeing the huge New Zealand purple castor bean. It is absolutely gorgeous, but those dark leaves collect the heat and it's needing water every day to keep it fresh looking. I'm going to try cutting it back by about half.

Lots of things are getting cut back like the always appreciated blue plumbago. It does wilt when it gets tall and nothing makes a garden look worse than wilted or half dead plants! After being cut back by half my many plumbagos are back to blooming in no time at all.

At one time I was dedicated to trying every plant that just might grow in my yard and can readily appreciate those who do that. But at this time in my life I'm dedicated to saving my back, my time and the world's water. Several plants have hit the road, either to a neighbor's garden via our neighborhood Facebook page, or to their 'happy hunting ground' via the green recycle bin.

So what's worth watering every day for you?

For me, right now, I'm just trying to keep my perennials alive ... especially three that I just planted a few weeks ago (nursery went out of business, I couldn't pass up 75% off). I have an Oklahoma Redbud I'm waiting to plant next month, so am watering it daily, and keeping it in shade. The lawn is burnt toast. Most of my annuals (except Mandevilla) are fried. I have some potted plants on the back patio I'm still trying to save, but most are succulents.

I go out around 6am and hand water the bloomers, about every third day.

Bright side: less mowing. :D

Since mowing is something I love to do, and is less stressful for me as I love sitting and mowing with the wind in my face, I do miss this. I am okay outside most of the time..............just have to do my chores in short periods of time, then go inside to rest and cool off. Hey, but it IS August in Texas and I have been dealing with this heat for MANY years, so will just go with it and wait for cooler nights so my brugs will bloom.

We were away for about ten days and I lost a few things. Lucky for me I had two September Morn roses since one seems to have died while we were gone. I'm watering at least every other day if not every day.

I can't believe Dr Seuss is blooming in this heat. One flower opened yesterday and I have a few more buds.

Carrie, do you continue with your normal fertilizing schedule for your brugs when it's this hot?

I would like to say that I do, Ruth. Unfortunately, I am unable to fertilize as I once did, so will have to live with whatever blooms my brugs choose to give me. I do have one with buds on it right now (surprisingly), and it is the noid pink from the gentleman in Florida. My big Dr. Seuss would begin his blooms about now and continue until I had to cut him back. I am still mourning the loss of that brug.

This Dr Seuss is from yours. I lost the original, but had taken a cutting.

The only thing that is blooming in my garden is my "Inner Byatch" and it is blooming repetitively. I am unpleasant to be around after a days work in my un Aced shop. I can hardly look at may garden. We have not hit 100 yet out here . Close and the humidity is up there and the sun incessant .

Seems Echinacea would have been worth the water after seeing how well they are still blooming with more frequent rains further north - but unfortunately are already toast for the season in our yard.

Flowering dogwood frequently reminds us that it's not native to our dry prairie heat and slightly alkaline clay. The 2 or 3 deep drip waterings needed when the weeks hover near triple digits have been worth it for its wonderful fall and spring shows, but seems to be getting increasingly harder to keep it from going chlorotic. Am already considering replacements because it's the one plant (besides turf) we have to pamper even in non-drought years.

The St. Augustine thrived on our very localized (lucky) rains well into July, though is now needing it's two allowed weekly waterings plus a drip line in the sunniest spots on another day or two. Worth it until replaced with less thirsty options.

Mistakes in placement I'm watering every couple days are a butterfly weed stuck in a dry full-sun bed to replace a Blackfoot daisy that suddenly flamed out (it's what I had at the time) and a 'Disco Belle' hardy hibiscus that I've failed to move since the tree that partially shaded it came down. Still no sign of Monarch cats on the bw; lots of hummers and wasps about, but bees and butterflies don't seem to be at their usual numbers. Parts of the leaves on the poor hibiscus slowly scorch yellow to brown to black over the summer, but it's usually blooming like this by the time I remember forgetting to move it... so the extra water keeps it alive as it cooks and flowers for another year:

My bougie is blooming, I had to move it to an area where it only got morning sun and I think I finally found one! Everything else is cooking and it breaks my heart. I planted some indian hawthorn early in the spring and it had a good head start. Its literally cooking in the sun. My hydrangea is ailing but still barely alive. I'm trying to nurse it through. I'll be happy if it just makes it through you know? If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears.

Our torch glow bougies are blooming but something is really eating them up. All the leaves are just chewed up. I promised one to a friend but they are just awful. DH has sprayed, but we may have to toss them all. One of our hydrangea is just barely making it, too. We have moved it to full sun and water it regularly but don't think it's going to make it.

MsRedByrd, my hydrangeas require shade, and they are doing well with supplemental water...................what kind do you have that require full sun?

Carrie, Thanks for the tip. I don't know the variety, but we had it in shade for two years and it did just fine... lots of blooms and healthy looking. Now, it has bare stalks. I'll go out and move it right now. Ok.... I moved it and I found a tag..... kinda faded.

And, I do see a little sprout coming up... yippee!

Good luck.....................hope it survives, and gives you many blooms.

Not much going on in the garden right now, just trying to keep it alive. For blooms, I have turk's cap (pink and red), Lady in Red salvia everywhere. The purple crepe myrtle just started blooming. Pride of Barbados, black and blue salvia, mexican petunia, Greg's blue mistflower, cannas and water lilies are blooming intermittently. They are getting enough moisture to keep them from looking too ratty.

I want to cut everything back, but wonder how low I can go without damaging perennial salvias ( B&B, greggii), mistflower, gaura and turks cap that I let get too dry and is looking ugly. Anyone ever trimmed back morning glories?

It's been a rough few weeks, the AC fan went out and it took two days for hubby to get it repaired so I didn't mow since there was no cool place to escape to afterward. The next weekend I tripped over a limb downed in a wind storm (with only .25 in of rain) the previous weekend and landed hard on my left side and hand while mowing the grass out back. Nothing broken but lots of pain and bruising. Then I had jury duty. Aside from getting up really early and finding downtown parking, that wasn't as bad as I had expected. I was released in the early afternoon without actually be selected for the jury (yay) and my employer paid me for the full day.

edited to add that one of my big hidden gingers has a lovely bloom and the morning glories put on a show every morning, I enjoy coffee and morning glories. I should go out with a camera one of these days.

Ugh, PK! Glad your hand is ok! And your AC went out, nooooo. I don't think I could last two days of that.

I'm worried about our resident squirrel. I keep food out for it, and a bird bath (under a tree) full. Today, it stayed on the rim of the birdbath for four hours straight. Then I didn't see it for a bit, looked out again and it was back on the rim another two hours. It kept putting its chin in the water, not sure if drinking or just wanting to be wet. I've never seen one do that for so long! I seriously think it was getting heatstroke, at one point, it splayed out on the grass, under the birdbath. It just didn't look like it felt good, and didn't even run off when the Mockingbirds swooped in.

You should be able to trim the black and blue salvia pretty far back without any issue. They form large root nodules making them very resilient. I've cut them to the ground before and they've come back fine. Ripped them out of one bed this summer because they became a thug and took over, sending runners out in every direction.

PK, we would love to see pics of your morning glories. I've seen our squirrels flattened out on our grass and always wondered why they did that. I thought they were waiting to pounce on a bird. Or, maybe it was the heat?

Gee, Pam, I feel better just reading what you have been going through. Hang in there, September isn't far away. I have hidden ginger blooming as well.........it is so pretty.

Overall, I feel the activity of this site has been down. It might be related to Houzz or not. It's been many years since the migration to Houzz, so can we still keep blaming that on Houzz?

I can't tell that for sure, either. The other garden sites that I visit have even less activity. I used to be able to spend entire days on here because there was so much posting going on, I could read and reply to various topics all day long. Now I'm probably spending 30-60 mins every couple of days, and even that is kind of pushing it to spend time on a site about a topic I enjoy when there was hardly any new posts.

I have noticed this as well.

Sad

Well, we are getting a few posts by new people. Hopefully they'll stay around. I imagine a lot of folks hang out on Facebook and/or with their smart phones.

I cut back a bunch of stuff yesterday including a hedge of plumbago by about 2/3. Also trimmed some of the taller branches from the New Zealand purple castor bean. Be aware that castor beans are of the euphorbia family and the sap can be irritating. So when handling be careful. Best to wear gloves, don't touch your face, and then wash the gloves.

Among plants that thrive in the heat with little water in full sun is Baja fairy duster. Photos taken just now ...

Roselee, I'm so envious of your Baja fairy duster. What do you feed it? Mine is in a 10" pot with one stalk that has a couple of branches but I'm just thrilled that it has a few blooms. I will have to bring the pot inside this winter as I doubt it can tolerate 8b winters in DFW area.

Linda, I sprinkle a few time release fertilizer pellets around it a couple of times a year. The soil in which it is planted has had decomposed granite mixed in so is very well draining. I've had it several years. It dies back to the ground most winters and has survived temps down to the mid teens. It did not die back this last winter which was particularly warm, but I cut it back anyway as sometimes stems can be somewhat frost damaged and don't grow well. I've found this to be true with Barbados bird of paradise. It grows back quickly.

If you don't want to risk planting it in the ground I'd suggest planting it in the biggest pot possible as desert plants often have wide ranging roots. I wish you the very best with it. It's a beautiful plant.

Maybe once it cools down a bit I'll plant it in the ground and hope for the best. Would like to try cuttings just in case it does not survive the winter. Have you been successful getting cuttings to root?

Day 2 of squirrel sitting on the birdbath all day long (even right now) drinking water non-stop. I'm wondering if it got into poison of some sort--not by me! Something is very wrong. It let me get close as I added fresh water for it, and seemed to barely be able to cling to the tree. I put a shallow dish of water on the ground, too, and it drank from it, but prefers the birdbath. Our resident wild rabbit hopped up, and drank from the dish. :)

But dangit, I'm so worried about Squirrel. Poor little thing. We have a neighbor cat who enjoys killing my criiters ... I found the remains of a BlueJay last week by the same tree, and I've seen him stalking our bunny.

Linda, I've never tried to root the Baja fairy duster, but I should try as I wouldn't mind having a couple more.

MizGG, sorry about your critter stalker. There have been far fewer squirrels around my place the last few months making me wonder if someone is trapping or shooting them.

MizGG, I hope that your squirrel is ok.

I have fewer squirrels this year as well, and I don't know why. I really don't have any reason to think anyone is harming them....................too much area to run around in.

Sorry to spam this thread with my squirrel saga, but here he is, Day 3 at the watering hole. He stays in this position all day, until dark. His little front paws must get pretty shriveled up! I just don't understand this at all. It's not even very hot out yet, he can't simply be thirsty after 3 days of drinking for 10 hrs each day. Still, I'm glad to see him today!

that tail down posture doesn't look good. I hope that he makes it.

He's hanging in there ... today I noticed his right paw is very swollen. Pretty bad infection, it looks like. He's been in the water again all day. I got some food for him, and he's been eating a lot. He's such a little fighter! I just want him to get better.

Bless your heart MzGG. Do you have a habitat for wildlife in your area that you can call for info? Sometimes they'll even send someone out to rescue the animal. If you felt comfortable enough, you could scoop the water out of the birdbath, and try getting him into a cage to take him to a wildlife shelter if you have one. First put on a couple of pairs of heavy gloves, long sleeves. I would throw something over him. Sorry, don't mean to be telling you what to do, but between the heat and a possible infection, may be nothing more than a thorn, the little guy doesn't stand a chance, especially if it's already been 3 days. I'm such a sucker for animals! I'm rescuing my second kitty for the summer today~rescued the first one a month ago. Keeping them both since i'm fortunate to only have one other 6 yo little boy. I pray you will either be able to get help or take him someplace. Please, keep us posted!

Maybe his foot feels better when it's in the water? As much as I dislike squirrels, I hate to see them suffer.