You Grow Girlâ„¢

This time of year in the desert is not fit for man, beast, or plant. 115 degrees, folks. Oh, but it’s a dry heat. Sure, like a blast furnace. Summer in the desert is like winter in the east. Everyone has cabin fever because they have to stay in their houses. Even going out to the store is a hardship. Rear view mirrors melt off windshields, car batteries sizzle, and plants? Basically, you just set your automatic sprinkler, then sit in your house and hope for the best! I can’t even get out into the garden unless the sun is gone. So it’s hard to see what’s going on. Basically all you can do right now is pull out the plants that have died from the heat. Don’t dare to plant anything new! Of course the “professionals” do, because they have to make a buck. Never mind it’ll be dead in a few weeks.

And if the heat isn’t enough for you, couple it with 30 mph winds. Let’s see, there’s a summer humidity index and a winter wind idex, but what we need is an index that takes into account the temperature + wind + infrared rays + albedo effect. That would put us at an effective 200 degrees F. Really, why did I move here? To escape the winter chills and the sweaty summers of the Midwest? No, I moved here because of the 300 plus days of sunshine and the southwest lifestyle – pools, shorts, and all that. So I have to grin and bear it. My garden does the same. Well, ok, it doesn’t grin.