Around the Garden
Water and the Beauty of it All

– By Chris Cohan –

Aren’t plants amazing? They just stand there in the middle of this heat wave and take it. They don’t bellyache, bark or whine. Nope, nothing tougher than a pansy.

Plants are suffering stress from this debilitating heat wave. Lawns are browning out PDQ. Hydrangeas and new plantings are hanging their heads low; most hydrangeas perk up as the sun goes down, while the new plants may just never thrive.

Vegetables have gone on heat strike, leaves are falling from some trees and flowers are dropping early. All that plants are begging for is H2O, aqua, eau, wasser, water.
Call it what you will, water is the number one factor in good plant growth. Without adequate water a plant will die. On extremely hot days, water very early, before sunrise if possible and again in early evening as needed.

I may have written over and over never to water late in the day, but desperate times call for desperate measures. During a heat wave, keep plants well watered. When the temperature finally gets back to normal for the season, revert to only early-morning watering.

Now as far as watering goes. Don’t just spritz the leaves and figure you’ve done your duty. Deep soaking is necessary to get to the root systems. Stick a shovel in the garden and see if the soil is dry a few inches deep. If so, you need to water longer.

Once the heat has abated, put a sunhat on and head right back out there. Those plants are counting on you. No excuses, it is summer and what do we expect? It is supposed to be hot. So, embrace the season, lather on sunscreen and drink lots of water — hmm, a theme seems to be developing here about water.

Gardening is great to loosen up all of your aching joints from sitting around in that artificial AC. Best darn all-around exercise. Beats everything advertised on TV and there is no shipping or handling fee. Not to mention when you’re done, besides a wet shirt, you have actually accomplished something.

Roses, spirea, catmint and daylilies should all be aggressively pruned to stimulate new blooms. The Endless Summer hydrangea series keep pushing out blooms all season long once they’re established. So, prune the dead flowers and enjoy the endless summer display.

This heat, which causes bushes full of blooms to suddenly fade and fall, reminds us of beauty’s ephemeral nature and its importance.

Beauty transcends the common dullness that can engulf us and clog our lives. Whether in the form of horticulture, art, music or literature, it has the power to draw us in and stimulate and challenge us.

We thirst, we thrive and we are better for the effect beauty has on us. What gives us pride in our community or country? Grand gardens, awe-inspiring architecture, quality museums — all are the cornerstones of civilization.

During these hot days we slow down and have time to reflect on how fleeting things are. So, whatever your passion is — from plants to painting — enjoy and cultivate it.