Sunflowers Three

Sunflowers Three, a photo by linfrye on Flickr.

10 1/4" x 14" Watercolor
Arches 140#CP

Hot days, hot nights, hot flowers!

There aren't many plants that have been able to survive and still look perky after weeks and weeks of 90F-100F temperatures. The unrelenting heat continues and today our heat index will reach 110F ... sweltering. So though the sunflowers are still living, I've painted these far 'perkier' than they are in reality.

The bloom time of most all of my flowers has also shortened, and already seeds are forming on my coneflowers and gailardias and rudbeckias ...the natural response, I would suppose, to so much heat stress: bloom, pollinate, form the next generation. I'll have to begin seed harvesting this week ....
The birds have already begun to peck at the seedheads, and I feel for the hummingbirds who are looking for some nectar -- there just isn't a lot of it in flower production these days.

I've also begun to notice more tree leaves dropping and turning yellow - yes, a bit early for fall, and definitely a result of summer's intensity.

I'll be doing a bit more hibernating until the we have a break in the weather ....

Meantime -- stay cool!