Any plants already in a weakened state can succumb to opressive heat very easily. The sun culls out the weak and strengthens the strong.

The only thing loving this heat is my elephant ears.

Surprisingly the local lowes I went to this morning did not have any burlap so I used a tarp instead on all my perennials. Since they are all fenced I just put them on top of the fence posts as shown in the pic. Although I wonder if it's safe to assume my sedums and yarrow(achillea sibirica var. Camschatca) will be ok in this heat since they are labeled as being tolerant of hot sunny sites? Would I still need to cover them up? The sedums were planted last year but the Achillea was planted in late April. Both have rock mulch

A tarp over your plants will concentrate the heat. Don't do it. Stop using black plastic!

Put container plants out of the sun.

I've been watering with an oscillating sprinkler in the mornings for 40 years with no problem. Water goes deep. In fact it's better because the water goes in slowly and doesn't run off as with hose watering. I don't have the energy to do drip irrigation plumbing.

Stop worrying about this. Plants will adapt. It's not the first time temps have gone up into the high nineties. If they don't make it, it's an excuse to plant something else. This is gardening. Things die sometimes. Stop worrying about soil fungus.

Make sure the ground is moist and enjoy your air conditioner and/or pool/beach.

Maybe I'm not understanding, but having grown up in Alabama, I've got to say that heat is a part of life for plants sometimes. As long as they are watered DEEPLY, and not every day, I can't imagine the heat being more than just a more stressful time. I am a believer in the hand-held deep watering, which took FOREVER last summer with my new (huge) perennials beds, beds that couldn't be established until late June into July due to a hardscape project. The only plants I could think would be so stressed they're really in danger are ones designed for shade that might be getting too much sun, and then the excessive heat on top of that. Lungwort comes to mind. I've got some that get more afternoon sun now due to tree removal, and on a hot day they'll wilt.

Watering deeply every day would probably be too wet for many plants. My soil is well draining because I had to build it from scratch, but about a foot underneath that well draining soil is other "junk." I could imagine too many deep waterings trapping water because it might not percolate through that bottom layer so well.

I'm not sure you should get that THAT stressed about the heat and plants. I hope others can correct me if I'm wrong.

Another note on deep watering: Last summer was dry for us. When I put in plants, they got watered deeply on a schedule that roughly looked like Day 1, 2, 4, 7, 12, 19, etc. The point being they were watered more generously in the beginning to stimulate root development. If your plants have water in the soil to drink, not sopping water, but just some moisture in the soil, they'll be wilting at sunset and perky in the morning.

I water with sprinklers, too - I use those that have fine spray and leave them on for a long time. There is no run off; the water penetrates. But the point is a good one; in order for the sprinklers to provide deep watering you have to use the right kind of sprinklers and leave them on long enough. Putting temporary shade over tender plants is a good idea - I have a friend who sunk vertical pvc pipe around her garden so that she could stick in a patio umbrella on especially hot days.

If your plants are not mulched, mulch them. The mulch will help keep the soil cool and moist. water in the early morning or after 8 after the ground has cooled a bit. I have used cardboard boxes rocks, chairs anything for shade on newly planted plants. It has been 97 for days and will be above 100 tomorrow . I do see an unusual cooling down next week . But that is only a flash in the pan. I expect heat till end of September. Good luck.I know your choice of plants are not always heat resistant plants like the plants I have.

Thanks everyone. I am seriously considering moving out of NJ in the future. Cannot stand our climate anymore.

We do have quite a range of temperatures here. I have been giving my newer purple joe pye weed 2 gallons of water from a watering can every morning because I noticed it was drooping in the afternoon. Should I stop that? I bought it as a large plant (2g) and planted it June 1st. It is mulched well but there is thin turf adjacent to the mulch and you can see the soil is rock hard and cracking it so dry. The soil there does not have great permeability.

Its been a crazy year for weather, and while there are myriad reasons to move out of NJ, I wouldn't count the gardening conditions as one of them.

Often The wilting of leaves in mid day is not a sign of lack of water. Plants can naturally do a transpiration and wilt in the sun and heat and then pick themselves up in the evening. Check and see if the dirt is dry because it might not need water. One can give too much water in heat. Plants are not always taking it up and maybe going into semi dormancy and then you can cause rot.

With others who say plants adapt and don’t complain at the first bit of heat/cold. In fact, many plants have an amazing defense system when conditions may put them in harm - for example, producing more/early seed or sending out new shoots from the root system. My plants are thriving in the heat. Certainly, this is the trigger that really gets the elephant ears to take off properly. Maybe I’ve also got the watering thing down, but that’s more by intuition than anything else. Sorry your conditions are stressing you out so much. But if you have the privilege of being able to choose where you live based on climate, go for it.

Skip, the unpredictable and inconsistent climate we have and the expenses here in nj are just too much.

It is stressing me out big time. It might sound stupid that I'm stressing over plants like as if I'm dealing with a relationship crisis but plants are my life. And I just woke up this morning to find out that some of my achillea stems were still wilting and my ajania mums were slightly wilting. I watered it 2 days ago and covered it for shade. So I watered it again this morning in panic. Why are they still wilting? As wantonamara stated I thought they will wilt in midday during the hottest time and perk back up overnight

Heruga, I recommend 50% shade cloth instead of a tarp. I'm using it in the veg garden and to protect newly planted perennials. It's an initial expense, but once you have it, you will be using it every year in our climate.

I'm even shading tomatoes this year (there was an experiment at out local extension where shaded tomatoes did better than toms that fried in the sun all summer). Shade cloth and fluffy straw mulch!

You can attach it with clothes pins to bendable PVC pipes stuck in the ground. It does not look glamorous but your plants will be happy.

I only have a pic from the veg garden but you get the idea.

I also notice that, with my container plants on my deck, when they're heat stressed, they don't take up as much water as on a nice, cool, breezy day. You'd think they'd need more water, but they sort of shut down in the heat. So don't keep watering. You can drown the roots when they're gasping for air. My plants are still beautiful in the heat, but like it better in the shade right now.

Heruga, where would you move to, that has 12 months of perfect weather???

That's another topic altogether, I guess.

I have learned to back off on the watering of many plants in the heat of summer, especially my succulents.

NJ is gentle compared to many areas of the country. All I can say is This too shall pass. Maybe one should pick plants on the virtue that they are beautiful and tougher and good in your area on a tough year . Look around at what is working right now and why. That will save a tonne of money.

I was visiting a cousin outside of Philadelphia back in 2015 and she was complaining about the drought and how dry it was. Her un irrigated lawn was emerald green and everything was blooming and doing their plant thing. I kept my mouth shut because it looked like Ireland to me, and she said it looked like California..I have to garden for the tough times. After the drought of 2011 where everything turned to grey ash, I got to see the land return like a phoenix from the ashes. Gardening is all about cycles. I have taken a liking to the browns and golds of summer dry grass.It is the grey tones that worry me. The rains refresh them in couple of days after a tropical system moves in during late August or Late September. It is startling how fast the world greens up. Fall hits our dormant gardens like spring.Mid summer is like winter often.

Here , Texans moan and groan on the death count from the really bad cold snaps that you Yanks would laugh your heads off at, so I can relate in this way. We are not made for cold down here.

Yeah, taking care of a likable part of local nature, wherever we are.

Heruga is still quite young and a relatively new gardener. And many of the concerns he expresses are those of a gardener without a lot of practical experience. All entirely expected and natural :-) When one has been gardening for decades rather than just a couple of years, as most of us have, many of these concerns become second nature and are dealt with without issue. The longer one devotes to this vocation/avocation, the easier or more commonplace it becomes and and things like dealing with the occasional heat wave are taken in stride.

But I can't address either the location or the climate as being suitable or not for his future......that in an entirely personal decision based on his specific criteria.

Heruga, I hope you don't mind me pointing this out, as you and I have had a longer and more direct relationship over the last couple of years than is typical on GW and I think I have a somewhat good understanding of your current status :-) But as wantonamara has so aptly stated, "this too shall pass" and so will many of your immediate concerns. Every day you garden is a day that brings more experience and knowledge and sooner than you expect you will be dealing with all these concerns with relative ease!!

I took the tarp off this morning before work as my plants were wilting so I suspect that the tarp concentrated all the heat there or maybe my plants are already suffering from root rot. So here is my plan. Today I will let my perennials be in full blasting sun of 99 degrees, my achillea and Dracocephalum being in rock mulch, and test out how much they are able to tolerate it and how tough they are. Whatever they couldnt take the heat will come off my plant list and I'll think of tougher alternatives. Although I doubt my achillea or Dracocephalum will be negatively affected by the sun itself since they are suited for hot dry sites.

But yes.. NJ may not be as hot as Texas or gold as Vermont but those states have a warmer winter and cooler summer, respectively. NJ is neither! Brutal winter and brutal summer. But then again the weather report states it will be in the lower 80s during the weekend. So yes I guess it shall pass but we have heat waves/snow too much! Soo.. I'm not looking for a place with perfect weather all year long as I will never be willing to move to the west, but something better than both a brutal winter/brutal summer.

I started seriously gardening around March of 2016. So that's only 2 years. I've never experienced a bad heat wave like this nor excessive snowfall like we had this past winter so I get super worried when things like this happen. Gardengal, yea you've helped me alot this past 2 years and I really appreciate that. Maybe I'm just a worrywart. But I have learned over the years that gardening is no easy hobby/career. Everything is like against it I can say. With the presence of pests like deer, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, insect pests, fungal and viral diseases, harsh weather conditions, natural disasters, ignorant people.. I am finding it very hard to successfully grow and enjoy my plants. Don't know how you experienced gardeners have dealt with this and all the frustration but im curious.

Heruga, for me, the frustration comes from pests that eat my plants...insects, rodents, etc. Babies and small animals get through the fence. That hurts to see all my peas and lettuce gone in one day.

If I lose plants to the weather I just go buy or seedstart more. I like to shop.

Some plants like it in my garden and the ones that don't (or have hard to deal with problems) I stop growing. You never stop learning.

There's no way I will ever stop gardening, even if it's just containers on my deck and steps.

Here's how I deal with garden frustration:

Air conditioner

Pool

Long handled oscillating hoe

Trips to Tucson in winter (70 degrees and sunny)

Trips to the beach anytime (the beach fixes everything)

Traps and shotgun (use of those is the epitome of frustration)

Letting it all out in forums by writing

Other hobbies...lots of them

Basically the recipe for success is to find what grows well for you...and I recommend local natives as adapted to the climate. Similar climatic zones worldwide will lend other things that grow well (for me that means most chinese and japanese plants are weeds...and thrive to say the least).

It's really not worth fighting the climate.

Temporary shade structures for plants not yet well established are an excellent way to get them through the summer. Yes, use shade cloth not tarps or plastic.

I am in approximately the same same zone as the OP, Zone 7/NJ. I have not seen any evidence of damage from the current heat. Ground moisture has been GOOD up to now though, and I have no recent transplants. The only thing I have done, is to move some of the containerized tropicals (bananans, palms, and Citrus) to areas under large patio umbrellas or under an island of Hemlocks. (Official temps are taken in shaded areas unaffected by black asphalt. You may think the temp is only 99 F, but areas adjacent to structures and blacktop may be MUCH HOTTER.)

P.S., If you trying to advance to a better gardening zone, don't know if New England is any better in recent years. They have been dealing with Summer droughts for a few seasons now. I see that now, in this third year, drought seems to be building once again in New England. As long as we get RAIN, I am HAPPY no matter how freakin' HOT it gets in NJ. And there is NO TELLING of what the climates in the near future may bring any of us anyway!

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

I have mostly Japanese native plants in my garden and most of them aren't weeds.. And btw do I need a shade cloth specific to plants or any shade cloth will do? Do home depot or lowes carry them?

New England area gets more snow than here in the winter which I do not want to deal with. I haven't seen any damage either which is surprising but now I'm worried about the root rot fungus forming because of hot soil temperatures. So to water or not I'm kinda can't decide on. Like example, my Japanese hemlock in my container hasn't been watered since last Wednesdays heavy rain and it is still somehow moist(5-1-1 mix so not a peaty one) when I stick my finger in, it endured the past 3 days of extreme heatwave with no symptoms. Am I supposed to water it again or wait until the soil becomes dry first few inches?

If the plant is showing no stress, I would wait till the soil is dry or dryish.. Maples like moisture but they like drainage too. They do not like to sit in it. I haven't had rain in weeks, you are lucky.

Well, in the south, japanese privet, japanese honeysuckle, japanese kudzu (do I need to go on?) are horrible invasives in our forest land. They not only thrive solo, but there will never be any way to remove them. In particular, kudzu is the destroyer and engulfer of whole forests.

Don't get me wrong there's a lot of totally lovely Japanese plants that I'd give my eye teeth to have, but they're usually the most finicky ones, and usually also very expensive.

I have to say that if Japanese honeysuckle didn't exist, I'd sure miss that sweet fragrance...but I am constantly roundup'ing trying to get it out of they yard, where it marches forward relentlessly.

So...umm, that's my diatribe about how hardy (in my zone) and tough those similar climate plants are, even if they are from half way around the world. Other than high altitude plants and totally frost tender, it's amazing how well they do totally on their own, and so far from home.

I grow from seed because one of the diminished expense and because of the vicariousness of my climate and of my fickle attention does kill off many establishing plants. It hurts less if I raised them and they were free. I go to plant swaps and trade with other growers. Usually one will make it out of the horde that I planted. We had less than 5" of rain between End of September and May followed by a few small storms and then more extended dryness and heat. I had business and husband health issues since January. All the Trees that I planted last fall are crinkly toast right now but two. I have 8 more trees and 10 more shrubs in the pipeline ready to be planted this fall. Fingers crossed that this coming year will be less eventful. Death is part of gardening when one is gardening under the DEATH STAR. I have lowered expectations on years like this and I don't beat myself up over it. I wish that I had been more attentive but I wasn't. Some of it is inevitable because I live on rainwater harvesting and when things get like this , I have to stop watering. My garden is all about the cycles of nature. Good and bad. It is enough to make one a philosophical gardener and on really bad days, a fatalist. LOL. I hang on to 'This too shall pass' and it has every time before. I look at the weather stations up north and the heat is starting to break. Not here. We might get rain tomorrow. I think I will wash the car today and leave the car windows open and a camera in the front seat. It is supposed to be 102 or more today. Next week, after the rain(hopefully) we will be in the 90's. Today finds me hopeful . I walked outside in the sunrise and listened to the sound of dew dripping down my rain gutter pipes. When I drove around on Sunday and Monday, the land was full of brilliantly, no, flagrantly blooming Barometer Bushes ( Leucophyllum frutescens or Cenizo). The bushes know when it is going to rain. Yippeee, I can taste the hope.

Omg what the hell! We are experiencing flash flood warning and is pouring so bad. The weather said only 30% rain. 2 inches of rain in less than an hour. And I just watered my pots and some of my landscape plants this morning that have not yet been watered since this heat wave started. Now they are all soaked bad and I'm really worried of root rot. We have an excessive heat warning plus a flash flood warming at the same time! High temps and wet soil:Root rot alert.... I watered my potted tsuga diversolia, potted basils, potted weeping cherry seedling, potted sciadopitys verticillata, potted pinus thunbergii all between last night and this morning. Mixes are all well draining but stay moist. Pouring Rain right after watering.. Is this concerning?

Yes many Japanese plants are invasive but I'd say only like 30% of them are and that's what I like about growing them too. Invasive means tough and not susceptible up death easily. Wantonamara, yes I feel you but at least you don't have frequent, damaging blizzards in the winter nor too many freezing temperatures..

Sounds like a Texas summer storm. God , I love them. 2" of rain will bring your temps down for the day. Enjoy. The plants will love it. We are not in control. Relax and enjoy the rain.

Take a few deep breaths and stop worrying about rot. Your plants will be fine. We need the rain. Enjoy it.

We get damaging Ice storms. I lost a hundred trees one year on my land 3 weeks after I bought the land. We get tornados, lost 10 trees after a tiny tornado. hurricanes. I have learned to not worry unless it hits me full throttle. I lived with all my extreme valuables packed in my car during the drought of 2011 because wildfires were popping up all around me. one 6000 acre one got 1 1/2 mile upwind from me.. a 40 acre one got within a 1/4 mile. Gardens are fungible. Homes are harder to replace.

Yes, in nature, it DOES rain more than one consecutive day..just let them dry before watering again.

Nothing would grow at all in the British Isles if rain rotted roots. Go for a walk and quit fretting.

Wantonamara if I was you I would've have immediately moved states but if I had no choice but to stay and deal with all the things you saw on your plants I'm pretty sure my depression would've gotten way worse to the max where I would require professional help. Might get a little personal here but one of the reasons I love gardening and might say my motive in starting gardening is because its very peaceful and soothing which helps a lot with my depression and anxiety. So yes nothing stresses me out more than seeing my own garden deteriorate even if its only 1 plant.

Alright well I guess I have nothing to worry for now but that one post from akamainegrower got me worried on nothing but root rot

Run naked in the effin rain and just be grateful for what nature has provided in its infinite and superior wisdom!

I moved here from the windward side of Oahu by CHOICE.I love it here. I left Paradise because it was too predictable and beautiful. I like the raw edges.. I also suffer from depression and I love being out in nature. It gets me outside of myself and I can feel reality.. I find it very soothing and I have learned acceptance of weather and I look to it to find beauty, challenge and knowledge of my environment. I turn over what I can not control. If a plant dies, ... So it goes, it's just a plant. Seeds come in the millions. Gardening is like gambling and faith. Knitting or watercolors might be more controllable. If you hang how you feel on external things and happenings and can not take the eb an flow of a storm, blizzard or heat wave, you will never find a state that has what you want. There will be gophers, hurricanes, mudslides, locusts, aphids, deer, voles, wildfires, a loose dog and pooping cats, floods and fruit fly to keep your anxiety on a roll. Too many ways that a plant can die, but there are so many plants to take their place.

I'm sure root rot has been an issue for some folks, but most plants are tough and can handle rain and weather fluctuations. If they couldn't, we would have a lot less green and flowering things in the world. I don't think you need to worry about it at all. Just let the soil dry out before you water again and let the plants otherwise do their thing.

I noticed my containers were staying damp too long, so I took them off the deck and put them directly on the ground. They are fabric pots so the plants shouldnt be able to root into the soil, and the ground should wick the excess moisture out of them (according to the Tapla post in the container forum) .

Grow oaks, conifers (not those native to the west) along with succulents and all your worries will melt away.

"Just let the soil dry out before you water again and let the plants otherwise do their thing"

What if its going to rain again before the soil even got a chance to dry out? For the next 3 days there is a forecast of thunderstorms and rain. Friday has the best chance of rain. Should I move them in my garage or under a roof to avoid the rain? I was told as long as the mix is well draining there should be no concerns on this but I feel like my pots have been moist for too long and hasn't dried out completely since spring.

Hey whaas, when you mean native to west, do you count Japan as 'west'? Since it is in the pacific ocean as well.

"I was told as long as the mix is well draining there should be no concerns on this"

The reason plants die from too much water is, they basically drown. When water drains too slowly and water is continually added, the water essentially stays in place too long and the plant cannot get enough oxygen. Fast draining media like you have brings air through along with the water, so the plant is not 'drowning'.

"but I feel like my pots have been moist for too long and hasn't dried out completely since spring."

You never want your pots to dry out completely. What you want to keep is that balance of consistently moist.

If you have a garage, that you can keep air moving through, so it doesn't get hotter than where you have the plants now, you would be able to control how much water they get. This might be okay for a limited period of time but remember, you plants need sun too. You might be better off to find an east side of a building and put a partition up to keep the sun off the pots, yet give 6-8 hours a day of sun to the plants. If you're using 5;1:1, just make sure they don't get dry because the heat will cause the plants to transpire at a greater rate and evaporate more out of the pots.

I dug this Maple last April, then found out it wouldn't be planted until August or September. So I potted it, put up shelter to keep the sun off the pot and water it if it doesn't rain. It's doing fine, in fact it has added leaves since potting. Not bad for a tree I bare rooted 2 months ago. :-)

When I say let it dry out before you water again, I mean let it get dry once the rain has stopped. My garden floods every spring when the ground is still sodden from snow melt and we get torrential downpours for days. Everything comes through fine.

With pots, it depends on if you have a variety sensitive about too much water. I don't bother to move mine, I just make sure they can drain and not get waterlogged sitting in a saucer or such.

Hi, fellow new-ish gardener! Just wanted to offer a little reassurance since we seem to have quite a bit in common. I am also relatively new to gardening, and many of these kind gardenweb folks can tell you they have offered me plenty of advice and answers over the past couple of years. I live just a tiny bit west of you, also 6b in Southeastern Pennsylvania. We had the same wretchedly cold and snowy winter, 108 degree heat indexes all this week, and are currently getting your same thunderstorm and flash flood watch. I have a bit of a plant collecting disease, so I have a huge range of plants, shrubs, and trees in my yard, even after just a few years of gardening. Many started life on the clearance rack because I don't have an unlimited budget. However, we do seem to have a different approach in terms of plant care. My plants get amended soil, mulch, deadheading and weeding. They get divided when I want more. And this week, I watered them, which was the first watering the ones not in hanging baskets got all year. They are absolutely thriving, even with my benign neglect. Plants mostly want to survive, and my thought process is that any plant that needs such specialized care that it doesn't thrive under my natural conditions was not going to do well in my yard anyway. I can't control the weather, so there is no sense in overstressing it. And I embrace our very cold and very hot temps - I need the cold for spring bulbs and the heat for summer flowers. If my flowers are rewarding me with a yard full of blooms and pollinators, yours will be fine with your much more attentive care. Lose the tarp and let them do their thing!

Hm.. maybe I am too sensible and that may be my problem. The heat wave isn't over until tomorrow night but all my plants look fine as of now. But yea, 80 degrees on saturday. Not sure how it goes from 101 degrees to 80 degrees in less than a week but ok, thats typical NJ weird weather I guess.

Thank you everyone so much who helped me. I've yet learned another important lesson in gardening :)

Shade cloth is available from Gardener's Supply via mail order .

Big on line catalogue available.

I don't waste money on shade cloth. What I have done for years is: pick up sheer curtains at yard sales. This season I lucked out with a person who works at a curtain factory and now have yards of sheer curtain pieces the temps here were 98 for 3 days, covered with the curtains, used my soaker hose and the only death were some Swiss chard seedlings and some of the red raspberries have sun scald.

Get ready for another round of heat as forecasting another 7-10 days of 90's starting tuesday, 7/10. At least with the high humidity we are getting pop up thunderstorms. Some of my paniculatas planted in full sun are showing a little stress with yellowing of older leaves, but so far everything else is holding up well including the lawn.

Regards,

Will

We've been lucky so far that the storms happen at the right interval to not have to worry about watering. I'll hit the veggies and planters every couple of days, but the rest of the garden has held up well with the regular rainfall and a deep mulching.

That said, I sure would like a few nice days where I could be outside to enjoy the garden, rather than having to hide away inside.

Jenn, I really enjoyed your entry. I also started as a plant collector, and for a few years I tried growing every plant I could find, usually one of each. (I do have different growing conditions within my yard.) As time went by, I said goodbye to plants that struggled (sorry, phlox), and multiplied the ones that thrived (hello daylily). I have less variety now but the beds look better with plants in larger groups, and I stress less about things I can't control.

With a few exceptions, though -- I still make an extra effort for roses and annual edibles.

We will wet down a bandana around the neck to keep us cool. Hell we have bene known to wrap a few ice cubes in those bandanas, called sweat rags. We keep gardening , but mostly in evening and morning. Then we have to worry about skeeters.