During the terrible New England drought last summer, some of my annuals put on a real demonstration of endurance.
Because May was very cold and wet here in Maine, it was June 10 before my annuals for cutting were planted in rows in the vegetable garden. June, in the meantime, had turned unbearably hot and dry.
My light soil had already dried out, and the seeds showed no signs of life until after we had light showers on June 20th.
About five days later, several varieties grew and bloomed as usual, despite the continued heat.
They had no artificial watering whatsoever and, up until September, only a few scattered showers at intervals of several weeks, plus a few foggy nights.
There was a thin layer of dressing under them, but even this was probably of little help in such a dry season.
Most Successful Plants
The most successful plants were thick rows of dwarf marigolds and dwarf Mexican hybrid zinnias, which were about normal size and a riot of color.
Candytuft and baby breath were more scattered, but the few plants bloomed happily and continuously.
Others that came up, but were rather stunted both in height and in size of bloom, were the tall zinnias and marigolds, bachelor buttons, a very few calendulas, and also orange cosmos – this the most surprising, perhaps since it usually prefers cool weather to start.
A few asters appeared but grew very slowly and were very late in blooming, while annual hollyhocks germinated but refused to grow tall.
Portulaca, California, And Shirley Poppies
In another part of the garden, portulaca and California and Shirley poppies self-sowed and also bloomed all summer with no care whatsoever beyond having the largest weeds pulled once or twice.
During the worst heat waves, the marigolds and zinnias drooped and wilted badly but recovered promptly overnight and showed no permanent damage.
44659 by E Babb