gardening in the hundreds

This past week didn't hit 100°, but the "feels like" was over 100 every day.
More of the same this coming week.

There is not a lot I can do except wander through the remaining gardens and worry. I have zinnias and marigolds blooming like crazy.  Some of the zinnias are short, stubby things and they must have been intended to be 12 inches or better.
That said, even in their stunted state, they are blooming profusely. 

There are taller ones that wave in the wind (no breeze here) weeks of very windy mornings and afternoons.  Makes it difficult to get a non blurry flower.

End of summer zinnias

I visited my sister-in-law last week and enjoyed the colors and color changes of the tall zinnia survivors of a long hot summer.
Oklahoma got more rain than we got here in north Texas and she still has tomatoes and blooming things.

Some would say the garden was bedraggled and untended. I say there is color everywhere!  What joy to take pictures of blooms!  My gardens are burned up except for surprising regeneration here and there.

There were enough zinnias to pick and make lovely arrangements to enjoy the entire time I spent with my sister-in-law.  We ate, talked, napped and ate and talked and I took pictures of the changing blooms.
It was fascinating to watch the smallish center of the flowers begin to grow darker and larger.  If they hadn't been in the kitchen, we would have missed the hourly changes.

My daughter had given me an older iphone and I tested the camera.  I am not in love with the thing as a rule, but it has a surprisingly good camera.

End of summer rescued from garden

Don't forget to click on picture for larger.

Interesting marigold blossoms

These flowers are an example of how seed heads develop.The 2 pink ones have petals compacted tightly and the brownish scattered blossom is some time later will look like this.

 

More last blooms.

November weather is odd

Up early as usual. Checked weather for today. One of the odd things is to see a current temperature of 51 degrees at 4:00 AM, humidity of 86% and then the forecast for the day?  High of 48 degrees and slight chance of rain.  I ask you, what's wrong with this picture.  I know, I know, a front..... maybe that accounts for wind of 21 mph and gusts of 29 mph.

That bit of information aside,  if at all possible today, I want to clean weeds and mulch from front flower bed.  I bought some Garrett Juice to pour over the poor soil in this bed.  It is great stuff and need to get it on/in the ground before it gets really cold. 
I read the label (I am so proud, it comes in handy sometimes) and see that it is not supposed to freeze. Well, that means the jug of concentrate won't be living in the garden shed.  I am also adding 3 bags of "good" compost.  This may well make "too much soil" for this enclosed space. I think of it as sort of a container with no drain hole................

Anyway, for the morning, that is the plan. 

Aside from plans; I will share a senior? moment. 
I have purchased 2 inexpensive solar lights.  I stuck them in the garden to see how  they work. Disappointed after several mornings..................I took one  inside and really looked at the thing. Now, I really pride  myself that my age, I can still do a good bit. Therefore, why in the world I didn't check these things out at first, I will never know.
There was a little slip of something hanging down inside the bulb, from the top. I "assumed" it was a light filament or some such. Don't ask me why. I truly know better!!  I unscrewed the cap and put on my bifocals. The green tag said "remove first".........................What can I say?
So, this morning I go and still no light? There was plenty of sunshine yesterday.
I checked a web site about this and find it may be the battery. Ok, I didn't know I needed to pay attention to a battery. 
Back to this later.

Now, I see a forecast for 20's tonight. I will have to cover the mum since they took a beating in a lighter frost. They have daisy like flowers and, obviously, not as tough as the ones everyone is setting out.
At these temperatures, even the pots will have to be covered.  I am going to drag out the blankets and hope they don't break the stems.  The wind broke a lot of stems.

 Maybe I need to think of another kind of fall flower.  I do love these so.
They grow quite tall and spindly before they "lay over".  It is fascinating to see this behavior and actually look forward to it.
I put a cage thingy in the pot and they are standing taller.

The red blossoms poking their heads in here and there are Pentas. 

These red blossoms are zinnias that reseeded themselves.

 These are all so beautiful right now.  They have tough looking stems. Brittle actually. I can snap one off pretty easily.