For anyone who needs to hear it:

I garden for a living, and I don’t feel great about my garden right now.

Yes, the record-breaking heat is physically draining. But more than anything, as I’m sure you can relate, it’s the mental drain. It’s the helplessness and frustration caused by a forecast that seems to get worse and worse.

If it helps, here are the things keeping my hope alive and helping me move forward:

1. I’m doing the bare minimum, but I’m still doing something. Even if it’s just 30 minutes spent watering or sowing fall seeds, I consider that a success.
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2. I’m focusing on what actually looks good and using it as data for the future: the plants in large glazed ceramic planters, the pumpkins planted in July, the gomphrena, the salvia ‘Mystic Spires Blue,’ and the zinnias growing steadily from seed I collected from existing plants and scattered around the garden in July.
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3. I’m keeping things alive, not trying to make them look great. I know that if I can keep the perennials and annual flowers alive, they’ll bounce back when it finally cools off.
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4. I’m starting seeds indoors because it’s one of the most hopeful things we can do right now. It’s air-conditioned gardening! I’m starting brassicas and lots of cold-hardy annual flowers. If you’d like to do the same, enroll and learn how to start seeds indoors like the pros. Growing your own transplants saves a crazy amount of money.
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5. I refuse to be pessimistic. There’s a difference between frustration and pessimism. Frustration can be used as fuel. Pessimism leads nowhere.

Wallow, complain, vent, scream... but don’t throw in the towel.

The best gardeners I know all have one thing in common: they keep going.

We’ll get through this. Focus on taking small steps forward. Don’t stop moving.

CWL

P.S. If you need help with specific problems caused by the heat, you can enroll and get direct help from me. It’s an especially valuable resource for our students during challenging seasons like this one.