July is a difficult month for both gardeners and plants, especially with the beginning of triple-digit temperatures.
By mid-morning it is time for gardeners to be out of the sun. The native plants have listened to Mother Nature by now and have gone dormant for the summer, but the non-native ornamental plants will survive with the help of irrigation.
While the native plants take a nap, the annuals and perennials will adjust to the heat and go into a stall mode waiting for the shorter days in the early fall.
In my wife's woodland garden, mostly in shade but with some sun, the Impatiens balfourii will survive in both sun and shade. In the sun, the leaves curl and droop - looking wilted - a way of exposing less leaf surface to the sun.
When the sun moves off the leaf, the leaf goes back to looking normal. Mother Nature has taught the plant to adapt to the conditions.
This annual from the Himalayas requires regular watering and will grow in all zones, according to Sunset.
My wife planted one, and now we have them all over. It can become a pest by reseeding if one lets it. And my wife has let it.
It has a lilac and white orchid-like flower that appears to hang in midair above the foliage.
The Auburn Garden Club sells Impatiens balfourii at our April plant sale. Gardeners who buy the plant say, "That's what my grandmother grew in her yard."
One of my favorite flowering plants now in bloom in my wife's shade garden is the tiger lily or Lilium columbianum, a native of Northern California that can grow 5 to 6 feet tall with one to six golden orange, unscented lilies.
My wife planted this beauty years ago. Each summer it returns.
Although we have lace-cap hydrangeas growing in the shade, another plant that I like is the oakleaf hydrangea or Hydrangea quercifolia growing in full sun.
Elongated clusters of white flowers in the late spring and early summer turn pinkish purple as they age, but oakleaf hydrangea is best grown for its handsome foliage.
The oakleaf hydrangea is one of the few hydrangeas native to the United States.
Last month I wrote about growing tomatoes and pumpkins in pouches.
The pouches when flat are 22 inches long and 7 inches wide with a handle on the top. Each pouch holds the equivalent of two gallons of soil. I hang the pouches on the south side of the house on "S" hooks.
So far I have had surprising success. On the first of July, we ate our first ripe tomatoes. All my tomato plants are bearing fruit.
My mini baby-jack pumpkins all have flowers and some are forming fruit.
After my pouch success, I planted Big Max pumpkins from seed in the ground. This is the variety that gets to be 90 to 100 pounds in weight.
I'm going to scratch the name of each grandson and 2007 on the skin when two pumpkins get to be good size. As the pumpkin grows, the name and year will get larger.
After I harvest the pumpkins, with the help of my son, I will take a photo of each grandson sitting on top of his pumpkin.
Great photo opportunity. Great memory.
Saul Wiseman can be reached at swiseman368@sbcglobal.net