Ask any gardener and they will likely tell you they often rail against the weather. Well this year has been a year full of all kinds. We’ve finally hit our first extended heat wave which has driven me in most afternoons. Luckily I can still enjoy a view of the gardens from indoors. It’s been a strange year this year with a warm dry April followed by mostly cool & wet weather and our first long heat wave not arriving until well into July.

Being a gardener I follow the weather patterns with interest to see how they affect the plants in my garden from year to year.

A warm spell in April caused many of the shrubs to put on a quick spurt of growth which was then damaged by cold weather and frost conditions in May. My Neon Flash Spirea grew about 5 inches and then had to be cut back twice to remove damaged growth. Yet it seems to have recovered fully, shown here in mid-July, although the growth is a bit leggy.

Cooler nights in June and the first part of July brought early signs of fall colours in some of my shrubs as well. Here you can see red tips on my burning bush already appearing in early July.

Oh well, there is never boredom from year to year, is there?