"It's So Hot...[how hot is it?]..." ~ Zinnia Report 2024

 Hi! It's so hot we couldn't sit out for sewing afternoon. 84* w a windchill--I mean heat index!--of 91*+.

 

And so bright. After the IV treatment I am very sensitive to intense sunlight and being too hot, so I brought Mo in. He was hiding in the shade of the zinnies again.

Weed garden, ick!

Yesterday I had a hummingbird visit! And a yellow swallowtail butterfly as big as my hand. The flower pots are finally bloming and the tiny creatures have found me. Lots of bumblebees too, and sweat bees, wasps, other butterflies.

I drew the ugliest bumblebee in my nature journal, prob have to redo. The bottom bee below is from a book.

Only Two months late the flower pots are brimming and bursting with color.

So many kinds of zinnias, am thrilled and so proud.

These ''cactus'' zinnias are beautiful, big and showy.

As are the pompoms

Traditional large and small. These are the bees' favorites. 

I esp love this palest pink one.

The marigolds are cute and fill in the zinnias' scrawny base stems

This very large pompom marigold is just starting to bloom. It really takes its time! I love its name and color.

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Not a lot of cosmos but a nice selection of different kinds, from tiny 12" with one inch flowers, to today some pink ones taller than me!

The meadow seeds

are mostly a fail, I got a lot of crabgrass, weed grasses, and what I call chamomile but is maybe chickweed? [tally tiny white daisy flowers w a yellow centers, really invasive, not cute. I did get some baby breath and this new to me tubular flower in red and purple. 

I thought it was a non-hybrid snapdragon precursor but it is ''balsam''. NO relation to a balsam tree that is like a pine tree w fragrant needles---this is a type of impatiens. Who knew? [link:  HERE   mine are delicate not profuse like the ones here]

Assessing results so far:

These grew:

The cosmos grew, the green zinnies may still bloom. I have one pot with buds only, pretty sure they are the greenies.

These did not grow or died immediately [nasturtiums]:

I'm carrying many buckets of water for the flower pots, twice a day.

Today [Thursday / Friday both] was supposed to be cool and drizzly, but instead, this heat wave. No rain on the weather bug predications for the next few weeks.

Short walkies for Baby Mo---see you soon!

love

izzy

gone to the beach....

if you enlarge, click on image, you can see the swarming birds. This was a wind-free buggy night.