Some Like it Hot...

This summer has been exceptionally hot and humid and most of my plants are struggling to keep up.  Even with daily watering they are looking pretty sad.  I'm happy to report there are a few exceptions.  Below is a picture of my Mexican Male Fern, which is one of the few plants I have thriving in this un-Godly heat.  Who new a Mexican fern would thrive in southwest Ohio???  I just planted it this spring and according to plant tag its hardy to Zone 5, but we'll see if it survives the cold Ohio winters.  We have a saying here in SW Ohio....the only predictable thing about the weather is that you can't predict it!

Mexican Male Fern...thriving in the summer heat

Another one of my plants that is thriving is some Munstead Lavender I planted by my porch.  This was kind of an impulse buy.  I can't resist clearance plants and I got 3 pots of Munstead Lavender for about $2.00.  The only problem with clearance plants is you then have to find a place to put them.  I finally settled on a place close to my porch.  Hopefully it works out.  Since they were on clearance...you can imagine they looked pretty sad.  I wasn't sure if they were going to make it and in fact 1 of the three is dead...or mostly dead.

Mostly dead Lavender

Not to despair!  The other two are actually starting to turn around!  After poking around on the internet, I found out that Lavender actually does quite well in high heat.  It's native to the Mediterranean area.  Now I know SW Ohio is a far cry from the Mediterranean but I'm still going to give it a shot.  After all, Lavender is such a wonderful plant with so many uses.  I think I'll leave the dead one in the ground for now....after all it is a perennial and sometimes they surprise you.  It might come back next year.  

Lavender making a comeback!

As my friends and family will tell you I pretty much never by annuals.  Planting and replanting year after year seems like a lot of work, not to mention a waste of money.  However, I broke my own rule this year and decided to plant some wave petunias out by the mailbox.  This area of the yard receives full sun all day.  There aren't too many plants around these parts that can stand up to that kind of heat.  Well wave Petunias are certainly one of them!  They've gone absolutely viral over there.  And they don't call them wave for nothing....these things spread like mad!  

Purple wave Petunias

Of all the plants I have, these are by far doing the best in this scorching heat.  I guess some really do like it hot!