It's Blooming Hot! - A Call to Plant

Blooming hell. It is one of those days when you want to utter every expletive under that yellow orb,  called the sun, and more, and that's because of the havoc being wrought by that all mighty self-combusting orb, and the low cloud cover!

Today it was 45 degrees celcius in parts of our state, and we are a hot continent, but this is blooming ridiculous.  It's meant to be only spring. Currently, it's still 36 degrees at the Tullamarine airport. (Okay, keep it nice, Nicolle. We know you can tone the language down.) So here we Melburnians sit, with our air-conditioners buzzing at top speed - hmm .. but not me of course, and as I walked back from my tram  stop, after a scorcher (as we call a hot day in Australia) in the city, I noticed there were not many houses with their air-con on.  It's probably because of the electricity prices soaring over recent years. But, money or  no money,  us greenies were put on this earth to suffer, and never use our ACs (well I rarely use it when my son is at his father's), because I'm such a blooming martyre like so many others.  I'm not a devout - dark green greenie, but there are a couple of green things I do well - I catch public transport, and I don't use my AC.

So out comes the large damp towell which gets draped over the shoulders, and then, if I can track down the spray bottle, out it comes too.

So what do we do? Sit here and complain? Yes, a lot of that.  We aussies, are a bit like our ancestors, the brits, we do so love a good whinge. But there is something else we can do, in addition to whingeing and that is :

- To Plant

Yes, I know you're going to say - but it's too late, it's almost summer, planting a deciduous tree the requisite distance from the house, isnt' going to help me this hot season. No, that's true.  But maybe, it's something we all need to think about with springs turning in to summer, and winters turning in to spring, and so forth.

Over the next day or so, I am going to post up some photos of a house near me, and how they have cleverly kept the lawn on their nature strip and planted fruit trees all around their garden, and along the nature strip as well. It's truly sensational, in every sense of the word.  Their home faces north and west, and this means they cut out a huge amount of the heat island effect, which would  exist if the trees and lawn weren't there. Sensibly, apart from the footpath, and road, which can't be avoided - really, there are no hard surfaces.  I will probably go overboard and photograph a gorgeous Crepe Myrtle and a few others.  All I can say is thank you - to the trees, and thank you to the people who plant them!

There is every reason, given looming 2 degree temperature increases across the globe, to be planting where ever possible.

Watch out for weed trees (cough splutter, as I have a very large desert ash in my midst which gives a lot of shade for which I'm grateful. Well, I never said I was perfect!) Here is a link to some old posts where I went on and on (as we greenies tend to do) about all the benefits of gardens -  but I think worthy of being revisited on a day when November temperatures broke the all time record, in Melbourne!

http://bloomingandbold.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Benefits%20of%20Gardens%20vs%20Outdoor%20Rooms

There are around 20 fruit trees in our midst, including owners yard!

Street Garden - Community Garden - Verge Garden Extraordinaire