Basil, peas, poppies and daylilies

This past week has been busy with high school graduation and then getting Jess ready to head off to Junior Forest Ranger camp in High Level for the summer. The yard has been going along nicely now that the fence is in and things are returning to normal.

We have, however, been stuck in one of the longest and hottest heat waves that I can recall. This is day seven, I think, of it being really stupid hot.

This has meant hours of watering in the yard. So far, only the pansies have completely given up. Everything else, we've managed to keep alive.

Some plants are actually doing quite well. The pea vines are now over six feet tall on the south side of the garage and I had to starting tying them up because the stems were starting to break in the wind.

The poppies and daylilies have also started blooming. There is quite a bit of weeding to do but it is too hot to work in the yard after about 9 am and it has not really been cooling down until after midnight. I'm hopeful for some rain tonight and then a fall to more seasons temperatures. This morning it was only 26 and that felt incredibly cool.

The basil has been loving the heat. These were a gift from friends and I thought I'd pooched them when I transplanted. They have fully recovered and are huge. The leaf in the centre of the picture below is the size of two twoonies!

I'm hopeful the temperatures will drop next week and I can get out the dehydrator and get to the herbs. We should also have garlic scapes shortly. I've also done a couple of late sowings of lettuce and carrots. Im not sure the carrots will mature but, maybe, with a hot summer and a late autumn.