Anyone else gardening in extreme heat?

[Trax]

Or "What to grow if you live in the Mojave Desert", lol. I thought I made a thread for this but I can't find it now.
Anyway, Maybe this will help other gardeners who live in hot climates and don't know what they can grow. Please share any experiences you've had with growing plants in hot, dry climates here.

I got really curious last summer since the heat killed the holly bush so I dug up the weather statistics and found the actual highs. Here's what they were:

MAY 2011
A mix of 70's to 90's (F).

JUNE
90-92-94-95-95-96-96-96-94-94-90-94-99-101-96-100-104-107-103-100
97-100-102-102-102-103-104-96-102-105

JULY
105-105-107-106-106-106-110-100-112-106-105-102-102-105-105-102
102-102-100-102-102-102-104-106-100-105-108-105-102-104-106

AUGUST
100-100-100-83-80-83-81-84-86-89-89-100-104-91-66-62-90-84-85-89
82-70-83-88-78-82-87-93-93-78

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
The highest temp in October was 88. There were no freezes till December and the lowest temp for the whole winter was in the 20's (F).

This summer has been tons cooler but we still have enough heat to kill most plants if they aren't watered every day.

MAY 2012
A mix of 70's to 90's (F). A lot like May 2011.

And mostly June was awesome. Only 6 days in the 100's (F):
JUNE
66-87-91-92-91-76-77-84-87-89-89-85-81-91-90-92-91-91-89-89-79
90-97-100-104-106-101-101-100-98

July was a lot cooler too:
JULY
94-94-97-100-100-100-98-98-100-90-95-98-97-98-95-94-100-100-104
108-104-102-102-98-103-101-102-106-108-108-109 (today)

Last summer it rained once each month. This summer, zero rain.

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WHAT I LEARNED BY EXPERIENCE

FLOWERS
PANSIES. They bloomed in the spring and were awesome both summers.
LILIES & TULIPS. They were awesome both summers too but the lily leaves died back when the heat started.
IRISES. They were awesome both summers too and the leaves stayed healthy all summer.
CANAS. The ones that were in the shade did awesome both summers but they stopped blooming when the 100's heat started. The leaves stayed green and healthy. The ones in full sun died.
MUMS. They can do okay but they need to be in the shade when it's this hot or the leaves die and they won't grow back in the fall. That's when they flower.
ROSES. They liked the heat both summers too. I think the low humidity helped them a lot.
BLUE HOSTAS. The leaves finally died, even in the shade with lots of water, but the only summers they flowered were these last 2 triple-digit summers.
CALA LILIES. I def wanna grow some but the heat didn't just kill the leaves, it killed the bulbs too - in the shade. I'm going to try them again but I'm def digging up the bulbs after spring.
PETUNIAS. They are awesome this summer and started blooming when the heat wave started. I grow those in the shade in a pot and I def want more.

If anyone has any info, advice, or corrections, please share.

VEGGIES
OKRA. It loved this heat and both summers it was awesome!
PEPPERS. Even the bell peppers were awesome both summers.
HORSERADISH. That's really hard to kill. It did awesome both summers but I forgot to water them enough this year so I had to rescue mine. No prob. The roots are very deep and it will grow back next spring anyway.
PINEAPPLE. It loved the heat both summers.
PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS. The apples are edible and the flowers are awesome too and it's been awesome both summers.

Again, if anyone has any info, advice, or corrections, please share.
I want this thread to be all about growing plants in very hot environments - especially dry ones but not restricted to that. I want it to be a thread for sharing ideas and experiences.

Here's my latest projects.
IRISES.
I dug up a ton of hybrid irises today cause they didn't bloom either year. They were in morning sun. The ones that bloomed and were the healthiest were in full sun. I'll keep the tubers cool and dry till the heat wave ends then re-plant them in a better spot.

Z102 by Trax, on Flickr

CANAS.
The other project I started today was canas. The ones growing in the shade were awesome both summers and bloomed till the heat wave started. The ones in full sun died.
I dug up 2 survivors and I'll put them in the shade when the heat wave ends. The ones in the shade aren't flowering but they are sending up pups!

Z100 by Trax, on Flickr

Z101 by Trax, on Flickr

Sorry about the small photo sizes. I can't display more than 1024x768 till I renew my Pro account at Flikr. I'll be doing that this weekend.

 

[Crabbergirl]

Josh,
You and I are mirrored weather patterns up until your late fall and winter. We have the extreme heat as well and the drought and the torrential rains. How ever our winters are a lot warmer than yours and without snow.
One of the things that I have found that is most helpful for both the heat and the drought is mulching.Especially when you have layered news paper down first. This reduces evaporation and holds moisture closer to the roots. It also reduces your need to water. I like to lay soaker hoses down first and then cover them , that way when I do water it goes right where it need to be with no wated water. But I think you and I talked about this before.

You are right about the veggies that love the heat, but drought, as well as our massive rainfalls, can take it's toll quickly on those too.

for us Floridians, August and Sept are the hottest months. Also the worst for tropical storms

 

[Trax]

@ Crabbergirl. You are definitely recruited for this thread! I could learn a ton from you (and other peeps could too) about growing plants in hot climates like ours.

 

[Crabbergirl]

Have you watched the "Back to Eden" video mr_yan posted? You really should, it is about an hour and 1/2 but you can view the actual transformation of a dry ground garden into an Eden.
For about 20 years I have used , soaker hoses, covered with newspaper covered with grass clipping. The key is to wet the ground ( best to start after a good rain where the ground has been soaked) then put down your paper and mulch. As the paper and mulch compost you just continue to layer paper and mulch. This does 3 things, it builds the soil,keeps down weeds and prevents severe drying of the soil.

Also I plant near tress so that at the hottest point in the day , a shadow may be across some sensitive plants. Use of shade cloth is also beneficial for those of us who get "fried" in the summer. You can also build tee pee's that you plant a vine on , but in the middle you might put a tender palnt. Or plant things under your okra so that as they become trees they shade maybe some arugla. We have to be very creative in making the summer productive in our heat

 

[Wombat]

Hey I think I can join this club! I've done exactly what Nancie has posted, over the years. Although we don't get the extreme heat that Trax gets we do have quite a few droughts and that means a lot of extra work around the place. Great advice there young lady!

 

[RonsGarden]

Same here!
The extreme heat during the summer is really taking it's toll on perennials that are suppose to be drought tolerant! Even deserts get more rain then we do during the summer!
If our winters are going to be more or less snowless and dry like last winter then my only solution is to plant....cacti and other succulents that come from dry arid climates that are in the 5, 6 and even 7 zones that receive winter and spring rains. Most start putting on growth during the late winter and spring then slowly go dorment during late June to ready themselves for drought in July, August and September. Then they recover in the Fall to get ready for their dorment winter months.
Hostas are great for dry bright shade and do wonderfully here on mostly sandy soils!
They look awful if planted in direct sun unless they are watered frequently. They are pretty much maintainence free.
Some of the ornamental grasses do great in full sun as long as they are summer growers, spring growers tend to look stresses once hot dry weather settles in!
Tall growing sedums become stunted unless they recieve enough moisture in the late spring to get them through drought conditions....
A lot of Penstemon species come from hot arid areas and do great if they have succulent foliage...others do not!
It is all trial and error on what I can and cannot grow, So I pull out what suffers and try something else! Researching species is a big help on selection of species and even after researching there is still the chance they wont survive my extreme garden conditions.
But there are always surprises such as Turk's cap lilies, Coral lilies, most of the echinecea species and culivars, a few of the gailiardia species and hybrids, Jesione, Tunic Flower Saxifragia, Platycodon (Balloonflower), Lavendar (most of the hardier species).......

 

[Crabbergirl]

Ron,
Were your ears burning yesterday? I was talking about you to Lysle. He is entertaining buying a new home and his one issues was taking his landscaping with him. He hates the thought of someone else letting it go to waste. He told me he thinks he is only going to do cactus and succulent gardening at his new home. He like the idea of the water saving and the fact that we have the ideal growing conditions. I have tried many times over the years to get him to join our group as he is extremely educated in horticulture. He may join us on my prompt that he should talk to you about all your experience with cacti. We shall see.

 

[RonsGarden]

My ears were twitching!!
If Lysle comes on his experience will be a really appreciated!
We could talk for hours about starting and growing them to maturity!
Please give him a kick!
There is so little infor on growing them in my area so any info is better then none!
Too bad I do not live in Florida!
There is an almost endless number of species he can grow that I cannot! His only issue will be too much rainfall so drainage will be the prime concern, raised beds, or rock gardens will be the best way to grow them.
My issue is not enough rain, with fast draining soil I'm ready for when we do get the infrequent downpours!
.....
I'll be starting to do some heavy research starting in October, to look for more species that I can try! I have a few already that may or may not survive our winters so it is a wait and see until next spring to see how hardy they really are.

 

[Crabbergirl]

Lysle has this great aptitude for plants and succulents in particular. I will try again to see if I can get him to join us. He stays really busy with his business, but I know you 2 would have a lot to talk about. I call him the sponge. If he hears it, sees it or reads it, it stays with him. He is the Cliff Claven of Florida! LOL!
If I get a chance to go by his place I'll take some picture for you. Most all of his cacti are blooming. Even though the flowers are mostly night bloomers you can see all the buds. He is giving me cuttings to get going and the new cirrus has a bud on it already.

Extreme heat plants I have;
Mexican Petunias
Mexican Daisy
Giant Aloe
Night blooming Cirrus
Devils Wlking Stick
African Iris
Prickly Pear Cactus

I have 2 cactus Lysle gave me but I am not sure of the names.