The heat is on ....

I was hoping that by the time this hits print, the hot spell would be over. Sadly, the forecasts don't look favorable. Records are being set right and left ... and not the good kind.

We gardeners aren't going to have the luxury of staying indoors with the A/C blasting unless we go out very early in the morning to get our chores done. At times like this I have to wonder why I didn't take up knitting.

There are a few things, besides lawns, that need extra attention during hot weather. First of all are the hanging baskets. These can need water twice a day. You may want to move them to a shadier area. The blooming may slow down, but at least they won't be dead. Move them back when it cools off a bit.

Anything in a container is going to need extra water too. Remember, lawn sprinklers don't put much water into a container as the foliage usually prevents that from happening.

This is the most stressful time of the year for trees. In the winter it may be very cold, but the trees are dormant, so they don't really suffer from it. Soak each tree with a hose that just trickles at night.

Hummingbird feeder solution will go bad quickly on hot days. Plan to wash them out and add new sugar water every 2 or 3 days, at most. Unless you have a lot of hummers visiting, only partially fill the container each time. Hang them in the shade if possible.

To keep perennial chrysanthemum and asters short and full of flowers, cut them back by a third this week. It helps to do this the first time in late May.

All the perennials have bloomed so early this summer. Most of them are nearly a month ahead of schedule. This is both good and bad. The good is that so many of them bloomed before the heat arrived. The bad is that they were here and gone almost before we knew it.

The July bloomers started doing their thing in June. These include such as the Asiatic lilies, coreopsis, black-eyed Susans and cone flowers. Except for the lilies, the rest of these do have a long bloom period and will continue to produce new flowers as long as the old blossoms are picked off every few days. The delphiniums were extra nice this year. Once they finish flowering, cut those stalks down, leaving the others. Although it isn't as spectacular as the first showing, these will produce some re-bloom in late summer.

A reminder about petunias: these need constant deadheading and each flower must have the little 5 leaf calyx taken off. This is located at the base of the bloom. If it is left on, that's where the seeds will form. As you know, when an annual goes to seed, it's done its job and will stop producing new flowers.

Now that the irises have had their month of rest, they will go back to growing. This is the best time of the year to move or divide them. If you find any mushy areas on the rhizomes, (tubers), just cut it out with a sharp knife. Dip into a 1-10 bleach solution, then leave the rhizome to air dry a few hours before planting. Adding a fertilizer such as bone meal is welcome now for both established and newly planted irises.

My thought for the day: Silence is golden ... unless you have children. Then silence is just suspicious.

Elaine Cerny has gardened most of her life, starting in 4-H. She has belonged to garden clubs in three states and is currently serving as secretary for the River City Gardeners Club in Post Falls. Her column appears in The Press every other Sunday from early March until late October.