Heat wave & rambling

Hello, we're in the middle of the heat wave of this week and I'll admit, I'm not coping very well. Some of my plants are, some aren't. Its the negative point of having a lot of container plants as its harder to keep them constantly wet but on the other hand, its also easier to give them a drench than bedded plants... I have two potted tomatoes - exact same conditions but one is dying slowly & the other is thriving...the last few years have seen my fushias struggling at this time but this year, its doing wonderfully. I realise I haven't written for a while and I did think having the app would make it easier, but alas not...

Lately, I've been pondering shade... These new developments outer Melbourne are being slapped up quickly and two things they seem to have in common is the non-existence of public transport & shade. Public transport is a whole dofferent blog which I won't start on at this time. However, shade...For parks where children are play and especially at this time of the year, its a must but there are so many parks in these areas with no shade. Trees that have been planted which due to the choice or the climate of the particular suburb, they will not grow to huge trees any time soon. The only shade these places do have are from existing tree populations which have either been cut down or pruned so heavily that they might as well have been cut down. So how do we combat this potential problem? I don't know as there seeems to be more and more of these shadeless 'suburbs' around Melbourne. I think the plantings therefore need to be looked at. What's fashionable at the moment will not be 'good' everywhere! This is a problem. No shade means that the wildlife will be limited too. Are there water sources? Are there other plants which can neutralise the shade problem? No...there are no micro-communities and this does nothing for the environment as a whole and community.  Its also interesting that most of the plantings are native. This is a positive step, I guess as they would survive more readily in this harsh shadeless place. As long as they are established, they should be ok. Also if there is a water source and weeds don't suffocate plants. I'll sign off now with a photo of one such place. Beautiful but no shade. Thanks for listening. Keep cool!