not just mine, but the ones still for sale at the nurseries. Mine are extremely leggy. Don't remember them looking so bad in previous years. Is this a good time to give them a haircut? will that help? I thought these were supposed to be perfect for brutally hot summers. Not too impressed so far. Thanks for your comments.
Portulacas look terrible
Everything in my garden looks terrible. This heat is unreal. Every August I think "This is the worst" and then by next August I'll have forgotten and it happens all over again. My portulacas are great early in the morning, but by mid day, everything looks almost cooked, like boiling water has been poured over it all. My brugs are drooping and stupid me put in a new hamelia and new sage a couple of weeks ago and they're never gonna' make it in this heat, even with water every day. We're half way through August, but it's still an awful long time to cooler weather!
My portulaca looked terrible this year. I'm not even sure they are worth cutting back, i might just rip mine out ....maybe wrong location, maybe something else but I sure won't buy more than one or two next year and try them in a different spot.
Yes, the heat is definitely on until November! And I'm the idiot who waited until August to prepare my new beds... I think I might be smelling like sweat & mosquito repellant permanently!
I'd try cutting those portulacas back some if they look that bad... they grow back very quickly/easily so you don't have anything to lose!
My impatiens are the worst looking thing in the garden right now. I know it's not lack of water, so I'm guessing it's just the heat. I've trimmed them back and am hoping they make it until it's cooler. I considered all succulents, but with our ocassional gulf coast downpours, I didn't think that was a good solution either. I see pictures of gardens in the Pacific northwest that are so beautifuland their climate is almost gardening perfect enough to make me move!
Shear them back by half--they will respond to it.
I already sheared back my portulaca. They usually come back and bloom again.
Ahhh gardeners, the eternal optimist. By next spring, we'll be planting with abandon. No thought of August in mind. Me too of course. pod