Glimpses of the heat

We’re still in the throes of the heat wave I wrote about last week. In the last few days, records were broken up and down the state: 127°F in Death Valley, 119°F in Redding, and 113°F in Sacramento. Although the high forecast for tomorrow is “only” 95°F, any reprieve is short-lived. By Thursday, we’ll be back up to 108°F.

Cooped up inside, I was thinking of ways to photograph the heat. That proved to be quite challenging. Really, all you can do is capture the effect of the heat:

Roldana petasitis in the late afternoon

Roldana petasitis the next morning. The leaves do recover a bit overnight, but not completely.

Aeonium leaves respond to the heat by folding inward...

...to protect the growth centers

Aloe capitata closes up tight as well and turns red

Some plants simply don’t make it, like this Salvia chiapensis

This Dudleya pulverulenta looks dead, but it’ll magically reappear when the winter rains come. At least that’s the theory.

You know it’s hot when cacti start to shrivel up

The leaves on our Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’ are doing the same

Cacti can get sunburn, too

As can Euphorbia ammak

This Echeveria agavoides decided to call it quits, although the others nearby look perfectly fine

On the other hand, quite a few plants in the garden don’t seem to be fazed by the heat:

Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’ looking perfectly happy

Parodia magnifica flowering magnificently

Echinopsis ‘June Noon’ producing flower #19

Echinopsis ‘First Light’ is back, too

I’ll leave you with a photo of the thermometer in the greenhouse:

Fortunately, the greenhouse only heats up like this for an hour in the late afternoon when the sun hits it directly. For the rest of the day, temperatures in the greenhouse are typically 3-5°F above the outside temperature.

Here’s the forecast for the next 10 days:

© Gerhard Bock, 2024. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.