As the weather starts to heat up, I've been treating some plants, such as the privet hedges and tomatoes, with Chill Out fertilizer from Envii products. This formula is said to change the plants' reaction to heat stress, so that they don't abort flowers or shoots and will continue to grow.

It's not only hot, but dry. We haven't had rain around here since May. So I'm spending most of my gardening time watering, fertilizing and mulching, rather than planting, trimming, weeding or harvesting. I did, however, manage to pick the first ripe blackberries before the birds got them!

It's been at times relaxing, and at other times invigorating, to spend hours of these bright July weekends in my garden, suntanned and sweaty, hanging out with cats, watching birds and squirrels, as I get the watering done. I've found that when I'm in the right state of mind, and have had a good sleep the night before, exercise and rewarding work in the garden can be as satisfying as when I'm taking pictures or simply lazing about.

I've been appreciating how mid-summer's flowers have started to ornament our yard: newly opened gladiolus, daylilies, and crocosmia are adding to the mix of eye-catching begonias, fuchsias, roses, and big tangles of nasturtiums. In the fence-top planter box, sometimes overlooked, I now have another columbine blooming: sunny yellow and red.

The Sombrero echinacea (coneflowers) from GrowIt, which arrived in mid-May with buds on the stems, have finally developed those distinctive cone-shaped seedheads. The Salsa Red variety's been blooming slowly for a few weeks now, but the Grenada Gold flowers just opened last week. I hope all the coneflowers will continue to add color to my garden well into fall.

All the snap peas have been eaten and the vines are expiring. I'll start more seeds soon. Of the plants I've tried for the first time this year, these were a favorite. The new radish varieties are coming along nicely. I hope that a few of these'll be ready to pick within a week or so. Basil and spinach are only doing okay; the plants protected by netting from bugs and snails are growing more slowly than uncovered ones, which are getting eaten up by pests more than by me. One recently-acquired plant that is growing rapidly, without any sign of being nibbled, is a pineapple sage. The leaves' scent is delightful. I plan to pick some to use in cocktails (similar to mojitos) this weekend.