A HOT Memorial Day Weekend!

This might be slightly skewed by the air conditioner ten feet away, but not by more than a few degrees....

Greetings! Hot days here in Iowa -- it's been in the upper 90s most of the past week, which has meant a very short spring, after being so cold and snowy until mid-April. As I wrote back in early April, I was worried that we'd have only about five weeks to work before it got too hot to move plants safely or work outside comfortably, and I was right to be worried.

I've been trying to do things outside in the morning and evening, but it was already 90°F by 8 a.m. today, and the evenings stay in the upper 80s (plus we've had our usual May gnats, which seem to be worse in the evenings). So I've mostly just been watering things around 11 p.m.by flashlight, which is actually a very pleasant time to be outside....

I have been working this weekend on the getting the fountain to function in my new Islamic-style Paradise Garden. I bought a fountain pump and, after cutting a hole in the bottom of the galvanized milk can, I set the can on several bricks in the sheep tank and installed the pump underneath the can, with the output tube inside the can, and sealing around the hole in the bottom of the can with lots of plumber's putty. I then filled the tank and turned on the pump.

The good news is that it looked very nice, water bubbling gently out the top of the milk can and overflowing into the tank, just as I had planned. The bad news is that the milk can is apparently just decorative in nature, not water-tight in the least. Water streamed out of every rivet hole in the can, which necessitated taking apart the fountain and buying some spray sealant, with which I sprayed the inside of every seam in the can several times. We'll see if that does the trick, after the sealant has dried and cured. Perhaps this evening I'll try filling it again.

I've also been giving the boxwood hedges in the Herb Garden their annual trim. You can see the difference it makes in the above photo, taken midway through the job. It's much easier and quicker now that I have a cordless trimmer, even if I do have to take a couple of (very welcome) breaks to recharge the batteries.

Ah. Much more orderly now.

Anyway, here are a few highlights of the late May garden -- but I've had to keep my eye out and be quick about taking photos, as the heat means that many of these lovely flowers go over in the blink of an eye.

A single peony in the Rainbow Border.

A beautiful deep red peony in the same border, 'Red Charm', I think.

These weren't open yesterday...

Lots of yellow irises in the Yellow Garden.

Multi-hued irises and Painted Daisies (Tanacetum coccineum) in the Front Border.

We bought a large rock and rolled it off the back of our pickup truck into the North Border, and I think it looks quite nice there, drawing the eye.

Clematis and veronica near our front steps.

Anyway, I'll spend the afternoon today inside keeping cool in the air conditioning -- much like nearly every other day this past week. It will give me a good chance to read and catch up on what's going on in your gardens.

Hope you're enjoying cool and pleasant days in your gardens (I can't believe I'm already writing this, after all my wishes for warmer days until very recently...).

Thanks for reading! -Beth