HOT...

hot enough to drive even me indoors. not a whole lot to update right now; it's really too hot to be planting anything else in the ground. keep your containers watered every day (i forgot a basket of petunias once and they are still not recovered a week later...); alternatively, i've moved some containers into shadier parts of the yard. even sun-lovers need a little break every once in a while.

pick produce as soon as it's ready to keep it coming. cucumbers, peas, squash, beans, all need to be regularly harvested to keep producing new veggies. keep your tomatoes consistently watered to keep from splitting their skins. a weekly fertilizing isn't a bad idea, especially for anything in containers, as things are growing fast this time of year and may have exhausted all the nutrients in their potting mix. use organic--i get a dilutable fish-based organic fertilizer at lowe's. cut herbs frequently to keep them bushy and full, instead of letting them grow leggy and not as leafy.

this is the time of year to sit back and start enjoying all your hard work! keep things trimmed and watered and everything else will pretty much take care of itself.

another note: vacation. there is no need to let all your plants you've been taking care of for months dry out and die now! i worry more about leaving my plants than i do my pets. (kidding. sort of.) everything that can be moved (pots, windowboxes, wall planters, hanging baskets, everything!) i cram as tightly as possible under a shade tree. give a THOROUGH watering and mulch the tops if you have the time. set up an automatic sprinkler so water the section of plants every day. start this a few days before you leave to make sure it is working and no plant is getting left out. all the things in the ground should be okay if mulched heavily and well-established (i.e. not newly planted). cross your fingers, water before you leave, and pray for rain.

houseplants that will need water before you get back can be stood in saucers of water to draw it up as they need it, use watering balls (really nifty glass globes with a stem on the end that you fill with water, poke into your soil, and let the water slowly leak out as the dirt dries up), or coerce a housesitter to water them for you. (not the best option in my opinion, as i have come home to dead plants every time i have someone "plantsit" for me). i find that my house is cool enough, and the air moist enough, that most of my houseplants are okay for a week while i'm gone if watered thoroughly before i go.

on that note, go get some lemonade and enjoy your plants outside in the sun...oh, wait, it's a hundred degrees in louisville, kentucky, in july...maybe just sit in the air-conditioning and look at them through the window. :)