Garden and cats

Due to the recent heat wave we had, with temperatures over 40 degrees Celcius, my poor garden is suffering! Leaves turn brown, although I water every day, and buds dry on the plants before they get the chance to open, especially the ones from the pink Mignon-dahlia.

I am not going to show you the dried-up buds, but this was the plant three weeks ago. 
Some plants aren't bothered at all by the heat, like the Solanum, who hardly has any soil, but became enormous. Started off in a plastic pot. I laid some bricks around it in a corner of the house and just watered. The roots must have gone through the pot, and use the dust that gathers in this corner as soil too!!!

Opposite of above Solanum blooms the Campsis radicans. This is a very abundant shrub/climer. The orange flowers are beautiful, but.... be careful, it attracts a lot of wasps and ants. I have been stung already twice! But then I rub the spot with some broken ivy leaves and the pain subdues quickly. Lovely to have a garden and be able to use the plants, to eat, to use as medicine and just smell and enjoy the shapes and colours. 

Of course not only the wasps, beetles, snails, grasshoppers,  and mosquitoes like my garden, but also the garden cats. These are the cats that my neighbour and I feed, but they aren't coming in the house, like these two enjoying an afternoon nap.

The one who owns the house is Flopsy, a neutered male. He is a bit frightened of the female garden cats, because they can become vicious when they have kittens! So he prefers to find hiding places in the garden. As he is "well-nourished" he is not so quick any more! But he is very sweet.

We just had a nice thunderstorm. Love it at the end of August, after all this heat! The garden feel great too, it needed desperate a downpour. And the jasmine smells wonderful after the rain.

As the heavens provided the water, I had an hour free to write!! Now it's time to feed the hungry!!!