Our weather this year has been very dahlia friendly but the heat is due to arrive tomorrow and for the next 3 days when it will be very close to 100. (Probably a few degrees over that here). We do not use shade cloth because mostly the garden doesn't need it and we are too old for climbing ladders. Here is hoping the parts that get fried are superficial...the ground will be well shaded by plants so I am hoping it doesn't overheat and it is watered automatically by our drip system.
The biggest worry is our young apple and pear trees..., all loaded with fruit. Last time we had a heat wave it cooked the young fruit on the trees. We have 3 semi dwarf apples that are loaded and 2 pears. The Orcas pear is loaded with over 40 beautiful plump pears and I hope hope hope the sun does not damage them! We have the young apples covered with a motley collection of old blankets, beach towels, sheets.... They are semi dwarf trees but they are in raised beds to get them up out of the (root rotting) clay..they are growing healthily but that makes them harder to cover...we joke about building a solar collecter over them that will shade them from mid day summer sun.....
