Too Hot for Gardening!

Being out in the garden is lovely, almost all of the time. There are plenty of cool green things, grass, branches, leaves, and there is often a breeze that blows across the yard, for some extra coolness. But some days the yard can become a no go zone, except for letting Missy our dog outside and back inside, where the air conditioning is.

 

We do have a swimming pool in the backyard, but swimming in the pool just isn’t something I like to do, it appeals for more to my husband and our son. My main thing I do with the swimming pool is getting creatures out of it, if they fall in and can’t get out. There was a frog there the other day, and I was very glad to move it to a much safer spot. Apparently chlorinated water is deadly to frogs who are in it for too long …

We used to have a pond with fish in it, as well as the pool. The pond is still there, but the goldfish are well and truly gone now. When I get a frog out of the pool, I take them out the back of our place to the pond. The pond is a much same place for frogs!

this was one of our home-grown capsicums, yum!

Anyway, after this weekend coming, it will be back to cooler weather again, with the slight possibility of some rain before the following weekend. I don’t know why it is, but the weather forecasts seem to be getting more attention than they used to. Is this because I’m getting older, or is it simply because I have that information close handy on my mobile (cell) phone? I know I look at the weather bureau app on my phone at least once a day, even though I don’t really need to know about the weather most of the time, because I’m inside, safe from the weather.

Looking after the plants, that’s an important thing, definitely. My husband does most of the watering, as well as almost all of the outside work. I’m a very lucky wife, and appreciate what he does! We both like our special plants, our bonsai and so on, which need special care in hot weather, because they’re kept in very shallow pots sometimes, which dry out quickly. Sometimes the watering gets missed for various reasons, but I’m glad that on the most recent occasion, the relevant plant has made a comeback. I hope we can keep this plant going for many more years!

this bonsai is in a deeper pot, which is more suited to its lengthwise growing style …

Our tomato plant though, that’s definitely looking weather affected … The leaves look battered and quite dry, with only few tomatoes growing on it at the moment. I’m not sure if those plants will make as good a come back, and I’m not sure what is planned for further ideas for our vegetable garden. We’ve grown carrots (many years ago) capsicums (more recently), the (cherry) tomatoes, and various others – baby spinach, herbs, and things I’ve forgotten … We’ve always had various herbs growing in pots here, in all of our years of living in the country.

The bonsai interest and the herbs are both things we brought with us when we moved from the suburbs. The interests ‘grew’ even more, and I’m very happy with out results. Between the plants, the property, and our dogs (now only one dog) we have plenty of living things in our lives. There are practically no plants inside though, just two bits of the herb thyme that I’m trying to grow from cuttings. We have a hanging basket with thyme growing in it, and I was wondering the other day if it might be possible to grow thyme in a tiny bonsai pot, of which we have many …

I don’t know whether these cuttings are going to ‘take’ and grow roots, but I’m working at remembering to keep both of them sufficiently watered. I might look into the idea of growing herbs as bonsai plants, it seems like a lovely gift to give to people, a growing thing that can help to heal them … Oh, I’d better head off and do some research, inside where it’s nice and cool!