As summer marches on, I find myself deadheading and snipping the plants and flowers more often to help encourage continued blooming for what’s left of the summer.
I still want my porch to look magical as I leisurely work the summer rocker and read the Sunday NY Times, and I still covet daily indoor bouquets.
Gardening luxury.
But I also find July to be the time of year I get weary of heat and humidity and require additional motivation to care for my plants as eagerly and enthusiastically as I did when summer first bloomed.
Can you relate?
Truth be told, I am not a huge fan of summer.
I love fall, and spring, and I can do without winter after the holidays.
But summer offers up mixed emotional baggage and dirty feet, because I love to garden barefoot.
My summer feet and fingers will never look like I just exited the best mani-pedi salon, no matter how cute my sandals are.
I‘m okay with that because I love digging in the dirt, and flawless feet are highly overrated.
My take.
I recently read that there is a Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) for summer, too. Not just winter. It’s often even associated with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).
Who knew that summer could be such a bummer for some?
My dislike for summer is not quite that severe, and I’m pretty happy spirit overall.
But believe or not, there are many people who don’t love this sultry season, and they feel the downside of it, just like their winter counterparts do.
I count myself in that group.
I love the longer days, the gardening, the ease of dressing to head outdoors, outdoor activities and concerts and art fairs, all the beaching and so on.
But I also hate high heat and humidity, which seem to worsen each year.
Climate change is real, people, and we don’t seem to be doing much about it.
Meaning, it’s only going to get worse.
The reality leaves me sweaty and thinking less clearly. I find myself getting tired and cranky more easily, even when I exercise and eat right and drink oodles of water.
Which I usually do.
Points for self-care.
Fact is, summer is just not my favorite seasonal friend, and it never will be.
I’m just not wired to slow down for the Dog Days of Summer.
But you will find me dancing spirited jigs in my boots and an oversized sweater in apple orchards in the late fall.
Which is also when I do my best writing.
All that said, this is the time in the garden when I struggle to keep up with the clean-up plant chores.
Fortunately, my town offers a garden refuse pick up day each week.
That motivates me to stay on top of my clean-up yard work.
Which benefits me and my plants, making the chore less difficult later.
Now, if only we could do something about that high humidity. (Incredibly grateful for AC!).
I might actually learn to adore summer.
Maybe.
Summer rant over.
Right now, I’m going to go outside and water my plants before the heat of the day really gets cooking.
‘Cause I really do love my little flower babies.
If you can’t take of them in July’s heat, you shouldn’t plant ’em.
Right?
Do your best early season garden intentions suffer under the extreme heat and humidity of mid-summer, too?