The Hottest Summer

 "This is the hottest summer of my life........"No, this is the coolest summer of the rest of your life".

Some meme I saw on instagram.

115 degrees, the thermometer read at 2:15 in the afternoon on a Monday. I put on a wide brimmed hat, over a cooling, water soaked bandana and decided to go see what the effects of this inferno looked like on the cool, temperate loving plants of Northwest Oregon. It wasn't pretty, evergreens scorched with burn marks, the huge cherries, loaded with fruit were flagging as if someone held a blowtorch to the leaves. The sun burned on my skin and every breath felt labored like it sometimes does in a sauna when you take a deep breath. It was a record for Salem and at 117 I think it was one of the hottest places on planet earth for that day. 

Stopped to see some of the lilies of the high country on the way back from a fun filled weekend along the cool, crystal blue waters of the Mckenzie river. 

Lilium columbianum
 blooming along side the road cuts of the ski trails I often hit in the winter.

Lilium washingtonianum
The fragrance of this one is hard to describe. It permeates
the dry woodlands where it always seems to grow only above 4000'

       Lilium 'Fusion'

                This hybrid between the easter lily and the 

                              Leopard lily above is one of my all time favorites, 

            It naturalizes and increases well and has 

          huge leapoard spotted summer flowers

Lilium pardalinum
This is in the rock garden in a mixed bed with Eremurus and Itoh Peonies

                                                                             

All the lilies in the garden seemed to stand up to the heat well, I can't say the same for some of the other plants. It was a true scorcher and it's clear the entire compilation of Northwest gardens may have to change if this weather is the norm. It was crushing weights of ice in February followed by all time record heat and drought. The climate has changed. 

Highs in the 90's seem like sweet, cooling relief. 

Mark

Lilium washingtonianum ssp. washingtonianum