Our dry season this year is famous. Temperatures soared high even a few weeks after the rainy season stopped. It suddenly reached above 30°C onward and on May 6 it was 36.6°C in Metro Manila. Of course there are even a few places in the country which experienced even higher than that. General Santos City in Mindanao and Tuguegarao City in Northern Luzon, known to have the highest temperatures in the country reached 37C and 38°C, respectively. We saw on TV some human casualties because of heat stroke. Mostly they are politicians or their members on the campaign trail. It is incidental that elections will be on May 13, and campaigners are obliged to go out on the streets no matter what the conditions are, to show the electorate their presence and discuss their promises with them. I guess this part is the most difficult part during the election, eventual losing might not be as stiff.
Our plants in the province in our property are not as agile as the politicians. They can't even leave their place to drink water nor seek some shaded areas. We also cannot just quench their thirsts because water is also a problem during dry seasons. The limited supply goes to the people and animals. Few years ago I reported here some of our dead fruit trees. Now i will post some ornamental plants in our yard.
This birds' nest or Asplenium nidus was so glamorous and healthy during the rainy months. It's been here throughout its life and this is the most devastating year for it. Last year most leaves got scorched and yellowing, but not like now that they really dried. I know it will eventually regrow when the rains come, but maybe not as lovely.
This Ixora showed lots of flowers and they wilted sooner than their life expectancy. Nevertheless, some shoots are still producing new flower buds. Ixoras are really drought and heat tolerant, the leaves are also not drying. This scene for the ixora is not seen during the rainy season.
The dwarf Ti plant here is already a bit shaded, but the leaves still show scorching and some leaves really dry. Even some shade cannot alleviate the heat in the surrounding. These are directly planted on the ground so their roots can grow down deeper for more moisture, but still the heat is intolerable.
Heliconia rostrata have shown their elegance the previous month, but that length of inflorescence are still short compared to their previous performance. If the heat is just lower, they will not dry as fast. In the past years they are still in good condition in May when the rains come.
These croton plants are in a hedge shaded by taller trees, yet the leaves droop conserving some transpiration loss from the leaves. I love these plants as even mature leaves don't fall off, just droop to show their disgust to the surrounding temperatures and drought. I hope they will not reach their threshold levels, and rains come before that. Plants in open places are not as resilient.
Oh we are at Mother Nature's mercy when it comes to the weather. It is important to be reminded just how precious water is. I hope your plants will come back to their former beauty... Michelle from nature notes... Michelle
ReplyDeleteHow sad to see these plants looking so unhappy. I hope you have some much needed rain there. Wishing you some rain and a happy day!
ReplyDeletePraying for rain to water these beautiful plants ~ Great shots for ODW ^_^
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting "real" pictures of what is happening in your garden. It is always tempting to take pictures that only show plants thriving and don't show us what the real gardener has to face.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to see your lovely garden in such distress. Although we don't have a dry season/rainy season in our area, we have been experiencing very bad drought conditions over the last 10 years; the weather people predict that it will only get worse.
I am lucky to have a tall-grass prairie garden in my yard which is native to the area, and adapted to such drought conditions so that it blooms reasonably well, and makes seed with very little rainfall. Are the native plants, adapted to dry seasons, also suffering in your yard? Or are the photos you've posted of native plants unable to tolerate how water has been diverted from nature to cities and to agriculture? I am very much afraid that as the planet warms, we all are going to be facing this more and more.
Best wishes to you!
The drought certainly has taken its toll on those poor plants. It seems strange to see them growing in nature; we only see those varieties sold in pots as indoor house plants. I do hope you get rain soon!
ReplyDeleteYou asked about the tree flowers on my blog - Yes, those are the flowers of a sugar maple, from which maple syrup is made. We don't tap our trees, but my husband's family does. They make their own syrup every year.
I hope your weather moderates soon. How upsetting to see people and plants suffer so.
ReplyDeleteI would wilt in heat like that, I don't like really hot or humid weather. But nice photos to show it!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get some rain soon. Beautiful shots. I like all the vivid colors.
ReplyDeleteSounds like this has been a hot year for your area. My plants brown and scorched on the tips due to the freezing weather here. It takes a lot of time unfortunately for the plants to recuperate and generate new leaves. If it at all recovers before another winter, I would be happy.
ReplyDeleteHow awful for both the humans and plants....I am not one who likes temps near 100 in the desert or the tropics...
ReplyDeleteI am sorry for your drought conditions. It is sad for humans, critters and plants. We were in a really bad drought for 3-4 years, but started getting rains again which has been wonderful. May you soon have milder weather and get some much needed rain.
ReplyDeleteFlowerLady