Why do my plants look so bad?
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Until this summer I thought myself an adequate gardener considering the hot and dry weather north Texas usually throws at you. Now I walk out in my yard and see a hospital ward. I'm hand watering nearly every other day and yet most of my plants are barely staying alive, much less providing that big splash of green (and color) they had been doing in previous summers.
Had I just forgotten everything I know about getting plants through the summer heat? How come so many of my established plants are failing?
I started to do an inventory of my plant collection. As typical I think of many gardeners, I'm changing out plants across my yard every year and trying something new. Over the last three years there are a host of new plants and species scattered about.
And there is a truth about the previous three summers. They have been mild here in North Texas. Those new plants have had it easy.
Take a look at the average summer temperatures at DFW over the last four years. Look how much warmer this summer is (with most of August still to get through):
I pulled together the previous three years May-July numbers and compared them to this summer. The average daytime high at DFW from May 1st to July 31st had been about 89°F. This summer? A whopping 95.8°F. Basically, since May, EVERY DAY has been about 6°F warmer than the average high over the previous three summers:
And look how much drier it has been. Over the previous three years DFW averaged over a foot of rain for the three month period (May-July). This year the amount has been less than half of that.
So you can see, we had three mild summers and then suddenly, one of the hottest summers on record. Right now this summer ranks THIRD on the last of all-time hottest summers in the 123-year history (#1 2011, #2 1980):
So all those plants in my yard suddenly ran into one the worst summers our area can hit us with. No wonder they are limping along.
And it doesn't look like it is getting better anytime soon.
I wish I had better news of what is ahead for the last 27 days of Meteorological summer. The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) put our their updated August forecast last Thursday. The best chances of above-normal temperatures and below-normal rainfall? Right over north Texas. That just doesn't seem fair does it?
A little hint about keeping your plants alive through weather like this. Every time you hand water your plants you are flushing out the nutrients in the root zone. You are giving them water to survive but are robbing them of their food. You have to supplement them through times of intense hand watering. I use some fish emulsion but any organic and mild fertilizer will do. This might enable your plant not only to survive but actually start looking better in this heat.
All of us await for the turning of the calendar to September and the promise of cooler weather. Over the last 30 years you can see how the average number of 100° days significantly drops off from August:
What we really, really need is some rain. Our current dry streak at DFW now stands at 62 days, the second longest on record. With an active Atlantic tropical season anticipated there is always a chance by late August and across September that the remnants of a tropical system reaches into north Texas.
These systems have historically produced some of our largest rain events in our history so it can easily become "too much of a good thing". Still, a big soaking rain across our area would produce a moment of spontaneous joy for many gardeners here in North Texas.