Late July Invasions

'Grosso' lavender, in need  of a good cutback, tries to flee 'Black Beauty' elderberry

Extreme heat seems to encourage extreme unruliness, and the heat is back up to "extreme" here in NE Ohio. Temperatures rise solidly into the 90s during the daytime, and only drop down to the 70s at night.  Politeness disappears in these kinds of temperatures, and invasions of personal space become even more annoying than usual.

The lower branches of red orach (atriplex hortensis) smother part of an 'All Gold' hakonechloa

Walking around the garden, I've noticed that I could flag a lot of my plants for encroachment. Some are viney plants that try to nonchalantly snake their way into another plant's territory:

Sneaky shoot from a tropical passionflower vine, weaving through the lower branches of an artemisia

Sweet potato (the edible kind) exploring a nearby potato cage

Others are more casual about invading seemingly neutral airspace as they cozy up to their neighbors:

'Yubi Scarlet' portulaca, dropping by to visit 'Opal Purple' basil from the clay tile planter above

'Black Lace' elderberry (what IS it with these sambucus?!) reaching out to touch 'Lemon Boy' tomato

And on a ballsy few, the fine art of subtlety is completely lost:

Unknown squash-family volunteer, taking up residence among the 'Caradonna' salvia

Speaking of unruly things, both my Garden Assistant and my boyfriend looked like they were about to melt last night. I hate air conditioning in general, and am salty about having to turn it on twice before August even arrives... but I caved into the puppy dog eyes.  (And I'm sure that Miss Coco appreciates having it on, too!  ;)  Also, I'm baking a birthday cake for Steve over the weekend--not fun in 95-degree heat--so I admit that having air conditioning will definitely be appreciated by me during that task.

I hope that you all are keeping cool this weekend, wherever you are.  And that the denizens of and visitors to your home and garden are less ornery than mine!