This is for all of you "suffering" colder and wetter than normal weather, how I ENVY you! It was 104F yesterday. Last night when I went to bed at 11PM it was 82F inside, when I got up it was 83F. This was with all the windows open, fans blowing air in, exhaust fans blowing air out of the upstairs and the outside basement door open to draw air through. It clouded up and just got worse. My threshold now is 65F, 70F is extremely uncomfortable, 80 is sickening. I spent years in greenhouses and the field and my tolerance goes down every year. This weather has been like this (not as hot but BAD) since the beginning of May, actually all year, the winter was very nice. Too bad I cannot walk or drive very far anymore, I was unable to get out and enjoy it.
The only things that hate this weather more than me are my plants. I had a few precious Aroids that I brought with me, cobra lily and voodoo lily. Amorphophallus, Dracunculus and Arisaema. They did fine at first in pots because it was unusually cold and rainy here. Then I got the house and a yard & the weather went back to hell on earth. The aroids at BEST shrink every year, most died, even in the ground in part shade. They also have a VERY short growing season here due to frequent and massive temp fluctuations in the "spring", which keeps bulbs from sprouting and seeds from germinating. the lilies are mulched so once they reach a plantable size they are mostly OK, but lots of frost and distorted buds this year due to temp. fluctuations, as usually the case here.
This is hell on the lilies too, even the OT hybrid Satisfaction fried in the bud yesterday. At best the bloom only lasts part of a day. The Darker colored ones burn the worst, like Landini, Firetruck turned orange and fried, Red Velvet is doing OK, blooms only last 2 days but no burn. The Trumpets are frying as soon as they open and the orientals that are not in enough shade are dying well before bloom time.
I grow sunflowers to shade them but due to the heat the sunflowers are mostly stunted and this is July-Aug. weather, I though the Asiatics would be done before it became hell on earth again.
The American hybrids that I planted out and bloomed recently had fried a little, but did pretty well for which I am thankful for.
Surprisingly Lankon and Santa Rosa, (both so delicately white) in full hot and horrible sun have done very well, the first blooms have lasted all of 4 Days without looking too bad!!!!! But no pink tint in ANYTHING here due to it always being too hot.
So this is for you, who are nice and cold and wet and rainy, some of my fried lilies. just a sample, sorry some are blurry. I am NOT going out there again until after sunset, the clouds are burning off and hell is here to stay for the next 2-3 months.
DOT COME, ONE DAY OLD BLOOM
FRIED MARTAGON LEAVES, THANKFULLY MOST HAD BLOOMED OR ABORTED LONG BEFORE NOW
AN ORIENTAL LILY STILL ALIVE, BUT PROBABLY NOT FOR LONG
