the carnage

I spoke way too soon.  Day 2 did not end well.

This is what my tomatoes look like.  The linen cloth certainly helped, I don't think there'd be anything left without it.  But I don't think this new growth is going to come back.











This ugly mug is blossom end-rot.  I'm pretty sure the heat brought it out.  It's taken two of my Better Boys, and will probably take more before the wave is over.








This one absolutely stuns me.  Geraniums are meant to be one of the toughest things you can grow in Melbourne.  They're meant to be drought-proof.  but this is what they now look like.  And if you look very closely in the top left corner ... see that tiny spec of green surrounded by shriveled brown?  That was also a geranium.

And finally, the one that made me cry when I saw it.  I knew I was taking a chance when I planted rhododendrons but at the time I was homesick for Oregon and took the chance.  The first time we got a heat wave I bought shade cloth to pamper them through it.  And this morning I pulled back the shade cloth to water them.  AND I FORGOT TO PUT THE CLOTH BACK ON.  I don't know how I could have done that.  And this is what two of them now look like.

How could I do that?  Stupid stupid stupid!

But I have to remind myself of what's surviving.  My pumpkins are still ripening on schedule.  My Japanese maple looks like a mess and lost a lot of leaves, but I can see fat buds swelling on the twigs and hope it's going to recover.  And my little designer twig is toughing it out brilliantly under its shade cloth.

And I have to remind myself that this is a once in 100 year freak of nature.