I feel like I'm losing my summer this year. I still don't have a tomato to eat, and yesterday I decided I'd had enough of the JB's; I took every last blossom off my beautiful white Rose of Sharon tree and trashed them. Today the live JB's are trying to mate with the dead JB's in a deadly brew of soapy water. Strange AND ugly bugs, no good use to anyone or anything.

This heat is wringing me dry! Keeps me so tired. It seems even the AC is working extra hard to keep things bearable inside. Came home the other night to some crispy plants.

Saturday is usually my big garden day - cleaning things up, deep watering and such. I managed to get out on the terrace this morning to throw some water at the tomatoes and not much else. Five minutes out there and I was sweating bullets. I did go out later in the afternoon and gave everything a drink, but I didn't enjoy the task as much as I usually do.

Too bad about your ROS, Mary! I've seen those JBs decimate plants down at my mom's place.

PV

This prolonged dry heat has turned my yard crispy. I have watered and watered, and it's still a mess. I'm at the stage where I am just going to glove up and pull the crispies and mulch mow the debris. I have gaping holes in my beds-something I haven't seen in years. I lost two evergreen shrubs and a chokeberry.

I feel like I missed both spring and summer.

I agree. Our temp is now 93, heat index is 101. Everything is frying outside. Like Bakemom, I keep yanking plants and bare spots remain. Our actual temps forecast are 99 Wed, 100 Thurs. Since humidity is to rise daily, I can't imagine what the heat index will be then.

If only it would rain. I usually don't mind watering, but this heat is just too brutal. I don't like to wet my plants, preferring to hand water the soil. But I think I might just resort to sprinklers.

BUT- the melampodium and verbena bonariensis are thriving and trying to swallow up every other flower in their paths.

Karen

At 9:25 p.m., it's still 87 degrees, 65% humidity, heat index 95.

I've been just messing around in the house, can't stand to go out. Maybe I'll read Harry Potter for a while.

Karen

I had been watering plants in containers. I still have a couple flats full of seedlings that are waiting for empty spots in the garden. The rest of the garden does pretty well thanks to mulch.

I have been away since Sat. Won't get home until Sun. DH said it's been raining everyday since Mon. Too much rain apparently because our garage was flooded and there's flooding all over northern Illinois. Am in Manhattan. Yesterday morning a big storm hit NYC and it rained 3 1/2" in an hr. Train lines were floodeds. Tornado hit Brooklyn according to DS. Last night the sky was unbelievably clear...the clearest I have ever seen since my arrival in NYC. ....a treat for a visitor like me...

pit - I was thinking about your boy today, wondering if he was home yet. Guess not - so both of you were in on the NYC fun! LOL!

Yes, an F2 tornado did touch down in Brooklyn yesterday - you should see the damage it left behind. Really freaky! Guess where I live? The tornado hit a ways down from me, and I certainly feel for those folks whose homes and property were damged, but that storm yesterday morning was certainly exciting. Until it came time to go to work.

What is normally a 25-minute commute for me turned into over two hours. And it was so durned HOT! But it was a very pretty night last night, even if the air felt like it was sitting on your shoulders.

Today's much better. Even though I'm a bit whacked and really love storms, I hope we don't get any more that severe.

Hope you're enjoying your stay in NYC!

PV

Pit, the rain in Chicago moved to N. Indiana & I had 1" of water in my basement this morning. One of our 3 sump pumps quit. DH was in Detroit, so I had to call my brother to come bail me out! I was 2 hour late for work...what a mess.
Pvick, I love storms too, and as I'm typing I can see lightening to the north, right along the IN/MI border. Cool. I love it when it's far off, & not right on top of me!
Maggie

Oww. Sorry to hear that, PV & Maggie. What a mess. :-( DH is home while I am off galivanting in NYC. He said our basement was luckily dry this time. We usually got sewer back up in the past. Last month some neighborhoods were flooded & the city received so many complaints about flooded basements that the city must have kept the flood gate open. Otherwise we wd have been ankle deep in water by now.

PV, the thunderstorm woke me up. I didn't have the television on so I didn't know anything about the tornado. I didn't know tornadoes would hit NYC! All I thought was there goes my trip to Liberty Island. I still did not understand when I was told that the ferry was delayed because people were late to work. My kid got it made. It takes him 8 minutes to walk to work. I told you he lives in an apartment that nearly bankrupted us. We just chalked it up for his education.

I am sitting on his bed looking out the window. I can see New Jersey across the river. And if I angle myself a little bit, I can see the Statue of Liberty too. I told him this is once in a lifetime deal. If he comes back to NYC again, he will live in a dorm like any other college kids. I also keep telling him to be careful with money because had we been spendrift, we would never ever could afford this apartment for him. I hope that message has sunk in. He loves it here in Manhattan. Me? Give me Alaska anytime. I am making the best of my stay in NYC. My legs & feet will never be the same.....so is my pocketbook ...........:-0

heehee, heat must be getting to me, cuz I thought you wrote "farting" in the heat.

hahahahahah