It’s hot, hot, hot, here in central North Carolina. Daytime highs are in the upper eighties, often climbing over ninety. As is frequently the case, it’s also dry. Summer means occasional thunderstorms provide most of the rain. Until a couple of days ago, when we finally got some significant downpours, they haven’t happened here in the last couple of weeks.

The weeds are amazingly undiscouraged by the heat and dry conditions, but I do have to water frequently to keep the flowers and shrubs healthy. In fact, the gardens need weeding pretty badly, but I have to limit myself to short stints, in the cooler part of the day.

I also now have a hole in the border along my back fence, where I’d transplanted some strawflower seedlings. The seedlings were coming along nicely until one morning in June when I went outside to look and discovered that every single plant had disappeared, gnawed all the way down to the ground by some hungry critter. There are plenty of suspects: rabbits, chipmunks, and moles are common. Unfortunately, a combination of being busy with some other projects, a minor injury that took me out of commission for a week or so, and dangerous heat levels have meant I haven’t really had the time or opportunity to get replacement plants. Such is the gardener’s life. Not everything will survive or thrive.

On the other hand, the gladiolas are putting on their brief but stunning show, the daisies (African and Shasta) are covered in blooms, and the zinnias are brilliantly colorful. I divided most of the daylilies this spring, which suppresses the number of flowers this year but will yield better results in the future. The roses are putting out what will likely be their last round of blossoms until fall. They hate the heat and mostly shut down operations until temperatures cool down again.

Right now it’s mostly about keeping things alive and growing through the hottest days of summer. And enjoying some pretty arrangements of blooms inside, and time spent in the glider or chair outside in the garden.