We have had quite a streak of 90 plus degree days in the past 3 weeks. It has been enough to make even the most passionate gardener wilt.  Even the corgis want no part of it. Getting in my fountain at the end of the day has been a regular thing lately.  Intense heat can play special havoc with gardens in containers, as technically speaking, their roots are above ground.  They also are completely dependent upon you for water.  But there are some things you can do to help your containers cope with the heat. 

The obvious solution is to pick plants that like to be dry. Succulents, echeverias, agaves and other desert type plants can survive long periods without water.  I am told that agaves have lived on the roof of the Vatican for 300 years-I am quite sure no one waters them.  Plants native to desert like environments have adapted to do well with little water.  Being from the Midwest, I am not such a fan of these plants.  I would starve, only having succulents to look at in my pots, so I look for other solutions.  Diamond Frost euphorbia and variegated licorice will not suffer the gardener that waters them too often.  Once established, I only water when they are really dry.  

You can buy a little time if you grow annuals in window boxes.  The big idea here-a giant soil mass dries out slowly, rather than twice a day. When soil heats up, the rate of evaporation of water from that soil gets to be speedy indeed.  I have seen clients splash water on their pots from a watering can-this is not watering.  I fill this window box to the top with water, let the water soak in, and fill the box again.  I repeat this until I see water raining out the bottom.  Water your pots thoroughly, not lightly.  This box sometimes goes three days before I need to water again.

Automatic irrigation for annual plants can save you hours of time, but you have to be sensible with it.  Water automatically when there is a need, not automatically.  Patty at Bogie Lake has been watering annual crops for so long she can tell if something needs water by looking at the leaves.  She says the green color will change when a plant is dry.  Barring this type of watering skill, put your finger in the soil to see if it is dry. So many people plant impatiens in ground, as it is so tolerant of water from an irrigation system. The cosmos in this bed I let go to the dry side before I water.  Most annual plants love the heat.  90 degrees they handle with aplomb; it is 90 degrees without water that is a problem.

Small containers in full sun locations are not for everyone.  Not everyone can water twice a day if the temperatures are over 90.  If the time you have available to water is short, use fewer, and bigger containers.   If you must have smaller containers, choose plants that don’t mind drying out, or plants of easy culture.  The only thing that ever seems to bother petunias much is too much water.  These mini cascade geraniums are amazingly tolerant of hot and dry conditions. They also bloom long into the fall.  I wonder why I do not see them used more often.   

A grape vine and some angelina is a dry and hot tolerant combination, and much more verdant looking than hens and chicks.  Plants liking a long root run, as do tomatoes and grapes, benefit from deep soil more than wide soil. 

Topiaries grown from shrubby material such as these eugenias are not fussy either.  They never seen to be bothered by heat, and they tolerate imperfect watering.  Choosing plants that are native to hot and dry environments are perfect for your full sun terrace.

When plants grow together, they shade the soil.  This slows the rate of evaporation from the soil much like mulch does.  I may groom old leaves out in order to keep good air circulation, but I let the plants provide a shade barrier to the soil.  A hanging basket that has gone bald on top and is showing soil will dry out very fast.  Most plants do not like to be watered every day, but when the temperature soars, you may need to do just that, to keep them alive.

Be thoughtful about where you place your containers.  A little shade from trees or shrubs can help your post stay good looking.  This pot has enough exposure to the sun to stay good looking, but not so much exposure that they fry. Group pots together; one large pot planted with a topiary lantana can handle any amount of heat and sun.  Other pots grouped with it will benefit from the umbrella.   Other plants that make great umbrellas are datura, irisine, nicotiana mutabilis (pictured above) and grasses. 

Seeing these rain clouds gather overhead was a gardening religious experience; we had 1.5 inches of rain last night.  And relief from the heat. Some days you just get lucky.

Leaves are a very highly specialized mechanism for converting the energy of the sun into compounds that provide food for a plant.  The word for this-photosynthesis.  Though I have a middling ok understanding of the science involved, I am better on the appreciation end.  The infinite diversity of leaves is like having a box of pastels with a 1000 diferent colors available-only better.  Leaves are not just diverse in color, but also in mass, volume, substance, shape, form and texture.  Appealing leaves can add as much to your garden-maybe more so, than the flowers that come with.

Is it my age, or are polka dot plants cool? I like variegated leaves-this plant does a stellar job of delivering  very interesting color contrast and texture-and is adaptable to either full shade or full sun.  What more could you ask for?  They are equally as good in the shape department-I trim mine into all kinds of shapes-balls, ovals-they are as decent as any living plant I have ever seen at approximating a square. I think of them as supporting cast leaves-would that I could grow this plant into a topiary on standard.      

This handsome leaf strongly reminiscent of Luciano Pavorotti is related to ligularia.    The large thick leaves of Farfugium terminate in graphically frilly edges.  Look again-this is a leaf a gardener would never forget.  The contrast in texture between the main leaf and the edges-as dramatic as it gets. An aria is in the air.  A simple and decidedly modern container is all the better for the strong texture and rhythm that a planting of this plant could provide. 

Pepperomia-this family has many species, and lots of cultivars.  Long the darling of the indoor house plant set, I like planting them outdoors.  The leaves are routinely round or oval-the variation in surface, sheen, and color- striking. This class of plants-I am a fan of pepperomias. The small growers, my favorite.  The big paddle shaped leaves of a viariety whose name I do not know-I plant them with the frothy leaf fronds of ferns-a dramatic study in contrast.  Try tropicals outside-they might surprise and please you.    

Grass-I admire grass in any form.  My clipped turf-a groundcover like a skin over dirt. The ornamental grasses such as this Panicum Virgatum-graceful.  Tranquil.  Meadowlike.  Good for the gardening soul.  The long narrow leaves are textural, and rhythmic.  Any long grass is all the better for the wind flowing through.  Ornamental grass moves with the slightest breeze.  I would put grass at the top of my list for leaves that manage to make beautiful music.

Caladiums have giant heart shaped leaves.  They come to a point dramatically-like an arrow.  They are thin.  Substance refers to thickness; a xx leaf is thick and rigid-a caladium leaf is very thin, and wispy. A leaf of considerable size, which is white to boot-this plant will like shade.  The new varieties of caladiums-such as this all white variety known as White Christmas-greatly enhance the palette of any gardener focused on great design.  

Cuban oregano-I plant this plant as a skirt,  routinely.  The thick hairy leaves have a great texture.  They grow like weeds, and take well to pruning.  A mass of this oregano well grown-green and beautiful. 

Figs have large and beautiful leaves.  The leaves are spare, on the trunk.  Should you have a modern or contemporary garden, consider figs.  Each leaf is a sculpture. The ripening fruit will please you.  Should you have a farm and garden landscape, a few fig trees will make themselves at home.  The design issue here-make much of whatever design component important to you that takes your landscape where you would like it to be.   The figs of the Italian working gardens-is this you?  The sparsely growing figs that so fit in a contemporary garden may be more to your liking.    

Strawberries-who does not love this fruit?  I would only ask that you look at their medium large toothed leaves; are they not beautiful?  This pot at the shop features a topiary rosemary-which I have left out of this photograph.  The rosemary- underplanted with strawberries and  fiber optic grass.  The contrast of leaf textures-pleasing. 

Lotus-this leaf is like no other leaf. Thin, delicate, and emerald green-astonishing.    Our native lotus, nelumbo luteus-I have many memories of visiting those large stands near Monroe, protected by the Ford Motor Company.  The Ford family-they support my museum, my opera, my symphony, my city-and my native lotus. Many thanks to you, Ford, for honoring the beauty of the leaf.  Gardens may have flowers, but most of what is there is about leaves.

I have been 60 for 5 days.  This does not make me an expert on the topic-I have a year’s time to be this age and see what it means.  But here is my take on the birthday week.

 I had the sense, in my own self defense, to take a week’s time over turning 60-it was not all that easy.  Things that are tough to take sometimes benefit from a little extra time. The instinct to defend oneself-I recommend not interfering with that.  I have no problem following a logical train of thought, nor do I have any trouble getting a train of thought to stick to the tracks. So being 60-not one whit different than being 59. Or 54, for that matter, except my knee worked better then.  But people don’t live entirely by the beauty of logic; I am no different. I am much more likely to ask myself how I feel about this tree in that place, than what I think about said tree in such place.  As much as I admire rational thought, I don’t live by it.  How I live-much more complicated and with far fewer conclusions than the aforesaid.  Not neat.  I have no theorem that neatly wraps up the process of moving from one decade to the next; I was not ready to be 60.  I was skeptical-sure I would not like the sixty number next to my name.  I was furious in advance.  My process is unpredictable even to me-and sure to be messy.  Frankly, I dreaded coming up on this birthday-I felt vulnerable, unprepared, and disgusted.  How could this have happened to me?  

Never mind that the last two weeks of May and first two weeks of June are so packed with work I don’t really sleep-I dream so much about the work at night I wake up exhausted.  I cannot rest until everyone has their summer flowers.  I am sure you have noticed the days I have missed posting. There were days that got away from me. I chose to make an effort to celebrate.  Faced with a birthday that seemed too big to handle, I planned a party. A big party.  Why not stare down that which was staring me down? On Thursday night of last week, I was completely undone. A third of my pots were not planted, there were issues with the menu, several jobs needed a change of gears and follow up, my switchboard was lit up-the light was not natural, but nuclear.  I had lots of work still waiting.  I was beginning to think I had made a terrible mistake, trying to plan a  party during such a busy time.

When I dissolve into tears, Buck gets embarrassed, but he stands pat.  He clears his throat, and throws his arm around me.  What could be better?  He encouraged me to cry everything out, and then get going.  The Friday before the birthday party-a whole lot got done.  Not just for me-but for three clients. I slept soundly Friday night.  Saturday morning at 11 I get a package, and a note from a very old, and very, very dear friend who is in Paris with her husband and children.  The particulars-they belong to me.  But what she wrote me, on the occasion of my 60th, made my eyes well up and spill over.  Taking the time to make an occasion of seeing friends-this was a good idea.

My 60th birthday party was last night.  I had 60 guests; at my age, I have made a good many friends over the past 20 years.  To the last, they have endowed my life.  Old and new, my friends are the best. This is what was good about turning 60.  I have a history, honored by friends who really care about me.  One of them orchestrated an impromptu birthday sonata from all of my friends at that party-many thanks Tom.  My oldest friend, Janet-how we have loved each other for decades, rights my life.  Fred and Lynn-these two are family.  And Jane.  All of my friends are family. I am family to them in return.  

When I am really old, when I am thinking I might die, all I want around me are the people whom I love.  This is the beauty of the 60th birthday. You recognize in a different way there are relationships that matter. They see me, the person, not the age.  All of my friends look good to me; I am lucky to have each and every one of them.  This is more than good reason to celebrate.  Needless to say, I had a great time.  A lot of people I met over work, but this was not about work.  I have managed to make and sustain friendships. 

 Janet and I have been close friends for over 25 years.  We have gardened together just about every minute of the past 25 years.  Her garden-exquisite. Our relationship-extraordinary.  Did she come to the 6oth birthday party-oh yes.  Love you,  Janet. No kidding.  Some friends are newer friends, but at my age you figure out pretty quickly what is going to work, and what won’t.  My birthday week, pretty perfect.  My 6oth birthday party-it was great.