Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, Mani the purebred border collie, Mani the roasting hot border collie, here today not only to tell you how totally roasting hot I am, but to talk about the enclosure. You may remember me from such posts as “Into The Garden, Endlessly Roasting”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
I’m facing the other way from my last characteristic pose, to cool off my hindquarters.
So, big surprise, it’s been hot every day here, since like forever. Denver does have hot summers, but this seems ridiculous to me. Even more ridiculous is that this is, so far, only the second hottest summer in Denver on record.
It’s 97 degrees Fahrenheit (36C), with eight percent humidity, right now.
The guy I live with said it’s best that we stay inside today, with the swamp cooler running. I don’t have many objections to that.
Yesterday he worked in the enclosure and I worried that he was going to get heat exhaustion, but he did come inside frequently, to drink cold rooibos tea.
One issue that he’s facing is what to do with the tree peony, Paeonia rockii ‘Highdown’.
This was his wife’s favorite plant. He moved it into the enclosure, where it took about a dozen years to recover and flower again, but it’s really suffering in this heat and very dry weather. He offered it to some people last year, but they declined. He then offered it to his sister, but after talking about how big this thing gets, and how many years it takes to recover from being transplanted, she didn’t want it either.
I don’t know what will happen to it.
The roses are another issue, but an issue that’s been resolved. There are four, and the guy I live with dug up three, so far. These are spoken for. They’re sitting on the patio, looking okay, and will get a weak foliar feed after a while. I discussed this in my post “The Pump.”
The roses will be buried in the ground over winter, and then dug up next spring, though the guy I live with wonders if we’ll even have a winter.
Anyway, he cleared out all the vinca from one part of the enclosure a few days ago, and decided to plant the Agastache rupestris he purchased earlier this year. This is a fairly high-water demand plant for our garden; earlier this year the guy I live with imagined filling the enclosure, which was regularly watered, with a lot of plants that hummingbirds would like, but the heat, drought, and watering restrictions put an end to that plan.
The agastaches really aren’t desert plants, like some people say. More of a mountain plant (rupestris means “rocky”, as in cliffs and stuff). The monograph on the genus says this species is found (at the type locality in southwestern New Mexico anyway) “growing among vegetation-covered boulders of pink granite, on north-facing slopes, in sandy soil” (or something to that effect). Hummingbirds love it.
There’s no north-facing slope or sandy soil in the enclosure, but the guy I live with does have some ugly pink granite, which his late father-in-law collected somewhere (so he obviously can’t return it).
There are two agastaches there, among the pink granite.
The plants were in “the waiting room”, with their roots grown out of the root balls using the “Super Genius Method”, but today they were wilted, which the guy I live with expected. He watered them.
There are some penstemons that will be planted here, watered, and then this little area will be mulched.
And that’s all I have on this roasting hot day. I’ll leave you with a picture of me on my morning walk; we got up extra early to enjoy the cool weather.
Until next time, day.
the miserable gardener 
What a lovely tree peony bloom!
We were ecstatic to get a half-inch of rain a few days ago (in 20 minutes; very efficient delivery by Mother Nature…) and now hoping the monsoon really does kick in. In late spring I planted a dwarf mugo pine (‘Wintergold’) which has either gotten terribly sunburned (is that a thing?) or is dying in spite of my watering to establish it. Needles and branches are flexible and intact but the color is a golden brown now. Like most of the West. Stay cool with that swamp cooler!
We’ve had hardly any rain here in the last month. About 0.20 inches total. The guy I live with said not getting rain here after mid-July or so has been a trend, this century.
When he read your comment about ‘Wintergold’ he said “Uhhhh…”. It’s quite possible that it’s dying, but it might be good to wait. We had one here, and the needles turn yellow in the winter. It died a few years later, for some reason.
The guy I live with said he’s lost a few new plants this year. Three agaves, $25 each, which he thought had been hardened to the sun,so he left them out for a day, and they were killed. Turned yellow, and then to mush. He said he should have known better and been more patient. So things like this do happen.
Such is gardening; the guy you live with is right. Hate to hear about the agaves.
He says he’s only spent about a trillion dollars on plants that are long dead.
If you buy agaves that are grown outside, like at Southwest Gardens, they’ll be fine. Greenhouse-grown ones are very tender and need a long sun-hardening period. Same with cactus.
That Paeonia is a treasure and such a pity that your garden conditions no longer suit it. We had no rain in July and temperatures not previously experienced so many plants, and the garden generally, are in poor condition. Rain is forecast for this afternoon – “downpours, with the threat of spot flooding!” Wouldn’t that be nice!
The guy I live with says that downpours would be most welcome here, if only to break the monotony.
Most of the plants in our garden are adapted to prolonged drought, but the poor peony is really suffering. Maybe someone will take it, this autumn.
It’s been such a disappointing monsoon season in Arvada. On the days it actually rains, I can only measure by the number of drops it’s so sparse. 50 days and counting until autumn officially arrives and it can’t come soon enough for me and Wilson. 🥵 Try to stay as cool as you can, Mani.
It rained here today, while the guy I live with was working in the garden.It rained for about five seconds. Denver has been getting a lot of rain, but all we get are what Marshall Olbrich, in The American Man’s Garden, called “derisory sprinkles”.
The constant heat is very tiresome, but I’m so glad the guy I live with got the two portable swamp coolers. I spend all my time enjoying them, until bedtime, and then I spend all my time enjoying the little air conditioner in my bedroom.
Glad you received some moisture. We experienced two claps of thunder and about 12 drops-not even enough to wet the sidewalk. Thank heavens for Willis Carrier, the inventor of air conditioning. I’ve always only had swamp coolers until I moved here in December and now have central air for which I’ve been grateful every single day since that first 90 degree day at the end of March. I fear this is the new normal. Stay as cool as you can.
We got way more than twelve drops. Maybe a hundred.
The guy I live with constantly says how sorry he is that he didn’t get a whole-house swamp cooler like our neighbor down the street has. Maybe later this year.
In my last house, I put one in (it was a Breeze brand, designed for the Outback of Australia). This is the first time I’ve ever had central air. I loved the whole house swamp cooler although with day after day high temps it wasn’t nearly as cool during the day when temps didn’t cool off at night for multiple days). I had hot water heat and no ductwork so it was the only solution. Plus it added humidity to the house-a good thing in our low humidity environment). Stay as cool as you can.
I’ve been sleeping in my Upstairs Fort all night, because the little Midea gets the bedroom freezing cold. Not so much on 100-degree days.
It’s hard to believe this is the only the second-hottest summer on record.
I know-I was certain this was the hottest! Imagine my surprise.
Yes, it is hard to believe. The guy I live with said he’d like some rain just to break the monotony.
Some ice-cold small hail wouldn’t be terrible, either.
Meee-yow iss a Dessert…umm no wait…a Desert! Iss it a Deseert where you live Mani an Guy?? That’ss so so hot!! Mani keep an eye of Guy ’cause wee do not want Guy to overheet. Poor Tree Pee-ony. Wee hope it sirvivess….. Mee thinkss yore restin foto iss THE purrfect way to sirvive a HOT Summer…Enjoy yore mornin walkss two!
**nose bopss** BellaDharma an ((hugss)) BellaSita Mum
The guy I live with says not quite a desert, but a “semi-arid” climate, though it’s pretty close to being desert-y this year.
He likes hot weather and I don’t. He does stuff, and I don’t, except I make excellent use of the swamp cooler.
You nose how to enjoy Swamp Kewler to THE MAX Mani 😉 BellaSita xplained what ‘semi-arid’ iss…it meenss REELLY REELLY dry to mee….to us!
It’s really dry right now. I’ve been sleeping in my Upstairs Fort all night because the little air conditioner is so nice.
Mee been sleepin close to THE floor fan…iss furry nice…this has been a brew-tal Summer fore al of us Mani an Guy!
Yes, it has been brutal.
How interesting that folks are lining up for your roses but not that tree peony! Even if they are all spoken for, it would be fun to hear about what kinds of roses they are and stories about how they came to your garden, if you care to share.
The enclosure is coming along handsomely! Between the agastache, the penstemon and the bird swing, it seems like it is going to be bliss for the hummers! A hummingbird flyway oasis?
The roses, which don’t look so great after 100 degrees, are Leda, Gloire de Guilan, Kazanlik, and High Country Banshee. They came from High Country Roses.
The guy I live with used to go to High Country Rosarium, as it was then called, many years ago, with his wife. They suggested that when you transplant roses, it’s a good idea to remove all the leaves, so the guy I live with isn’t too worried about all the crisped leaves.
It was the roasrium that suggested burying the roses over the winter. He tried that one time, years ago, and it worked. You kind of have to remember where you buried the roses, though.
The guy I live with planned to have a lot of “hummingbird plants” in the enclosure, since it was regularly watered, maybe once a week. I guess we’ll see what happens.
Catching up on the latest posts. Too bad re: the heat. It seems most of the world is experiencing drought, excessive heat and fires. The enclosure is going to be great and it will be fun to watch the hummers. They have arrived here very late this year missing the penstemon bloom. I always grow salvias and cuphea too as well as some of their favourite perennials (they fight over red bird in a bush). Interesting about the agastache. I started a bunch from seed and have planted some in the garden and some in pots. The ones in the pots receive regular water and have exploded. The ones in the garden are sad. Will remember this. Good luck with yours. Thank goodness for swamp coolers. Can you ask the guy you live with about his genius plant mix (sand and gravel ) please. Sounds intriguing.
The guy I live with says if you notice the “sandy soil” in that description he gave, that’s an indicator that the agastaches are adapted to having monsoonal rainfall go straight to the roots. So in the garden they want a lot more water than some people suggest, and in fact they look great when watered, or grown on drip irrgation.
That’s why he almost always repots new plants into a larger size pot, and surrounds the root ball with a very gritty mix, or coarse sand (not “play sand”, but something like paving sand), and waters that.
Any coarse mix has a higher water and oxygen potential than a root ball, and root tips will seek that out, so the roots grow out of the root ball and are more easily introduced (by planting) into the garden soil. The roots are already on the move, you might say.
I will give the gritty mix a try. Thanks. I am not a huge fan of ‘potting mix’ especially one with peat. I always try and get rid of as much as possible before planting into my heavy clay. Newly planted and well watered plants have failed because the roots failed to move out.
The guy I live with says that’s exactly right. One other method is to try to bareroot the plants so that the roots are immediately in contact with the soil. This requires some care, which is why the guy I live with no longer does that.
That peat stuff dries out almost instantly and is difficult to rewet.