Cooler temperatures hit my garden this weekend, which proved to be of some relief to my plants. The four specimens of Harlequin Euonymus that I planted in my test bed are looking fairly scorched on the pale leaves. My concerns that they would not be robust have yet to be unfounded since they have sat quietly without any visible signs of spreading.

Needless to say, with the brief showers we experienced, I didn’t have to break the mandatory water restrictions to resuscitate some of the flower beds. The Hot Lips salvia plantings are budding again (I need to prune those) despite enduring the wilting weather from last week. Salvia greggii have proven themselves more hardy in direct sun, showing no obvious signs of wilt. Alas, a strong gust of wind knocked a tree limb on top of one of my purple salvia greggiis. Let’s hope it survives…

Okay, I exaggerate. Lowes had my red/charcoal lodestone bricks reduced to 78 cents per brick, so I naturally bought some more. I was wheeling 50 bricks and 2 bags of mulch to the backyard when I lost control of the silly old wheelbarrow and it collapsed on top of the purple salvia. In the process of extricating the barrow, the salvia and a neighboring lily were squashed, and the remains of an ill-planted fringeflower was uprooted and trashed. Nobody but the dogs saw the accident, so I can freely blame it on an errant tree limb.

Dad gave me two more salvias to add to my new collection. Two quart pots of white salvia greggii will be joining the rest, as soon as I decide where to put them. Happy Father’s Day!