We are 'cooler by the Lake' here so, so far, warmer weather is welcome by both people and plants BUT it has been an unusually cool and dry spring here. We've only had about 1/3 of our usual spring rainfall - and last spring was pretty dry too. Drought seems to be an unwelcome part of the 'new normal' here. *sigh* There is no 'normal' anymore!

It's raining!!! Yay! Nice cool breeze blew in, too. The forecast here has it in the high 60's for early week, so that's the end of the heat wave...for now.

mxk3, I was so happy to feel that cool air blow through...we hardly had any rain though, but maybe we’ll get some tonight. My annual containers are all planted, and today I planted some cucumber seedlings that had recently germinated. My tomatoes are going in the ground soon as well, though I’m holding my peppers back until next Thursday, as there are some mid 40s nightime temps in the forecast. My tomato seedlings are huge and need to be planted asap.

lovemycorgi: We had a nice soaking rain starting late evening and through the night -- much needed. I was going to start planting up some containers with annuals but got sidetracked with something else. I'm going to try to work on a little bit after work each evening this week -- I can't do marathon days anymore, my right hands was screaming at me this morning from just the modest amount of weeding and digging I did yesterday, I really have to pace myself since my hand injury a couple years ago.

@mxk3 z5b_MI I feel like your recent post is an omen- it's finally a normal spring day (expected high of 70) and I have a marathon planned: pulling Dame's Rocket and other invasives, regular weeding, get potted garden herbs planted, etc, etc, etc.... pre-loading with ibuprofen and going to take lots of breaks. But this crunched spring makes me feel like the marathon is necessary to get caught up! What happened to your hand?

Yeah, so much for doing Spring yard work. April was unusually cold here as well (NJ/Zone 7b), there were a couple of nice days, and t then pollen and other allergy irritants shot through the roof. I know people who never had allergies that were seeking medical attention and thought it must be Covid (nope!). Yeah, I need the air for allergies and the humidity. Tomorrow, we are in a severe weather risk zone with hail, severe thunderstorms, maybe a few tornadoes and 90 F by Saturday. Again, what Spring?!

@bananastand, it seems like the last few springs in Michigan have been as you described, compressed and short, with precious few truly mild days in which to perform all the usual spring chores. It’s once again hot and sunny here in SE Michigan. I understand it’ll get cooler later in the week, and I’m so looking forward to it, as I have many more garden chores to complete before summer officialy sets in.

I never even knew Dame’s Rocket was an invasive until afew years ago. We own part of a river floodplain and the Dame’s Rocket and garlic mustard are completely out of control. it seems that every pretty wildflower I see on our land is defined as invasive when I google it.

bananastand: I made a new perennial border in 2019 and over the course of a week planted shrubs and hundreds (yes, hundreds) of perennials, I really over-did and paid the price -- an overuse injury. My hands, especially my right hand, have never been the same since, and if I over-do it, even slightly, it lets me know. I do a lot of driving, too, gripping the steering wheel certainly doesn't help.

@lovemycorgi z5b SE michigan Ugh, invasives are the worst. Hope you get some productive time in the garden this week!