This summer, June through August 2024, the average temperature for the contiguous American states was 73.8° F (23.2°C) – 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit above average – ranking as our nation’s fourth-hottest summer on record. So says NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. California – together with Arizona, Florida, Maine, and New Hampshire – “sizzled through their warmest summer on record.” Heatwaves are growing more frequent, more extreme, and longer lasting in the U.S. West and across the world as the climate crisis drives increasingly severe and dangerous weather conditions.

To end this summer with a bang, an excessive heatwave arrived on Thursday, September 5th, bringing a record-breaking temperature of 112°F (44.4°C) in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, September 6th, says the National Weather Service. With temperatures in the nineties in our neighborhood in West Los Angeles for five days straight, I was forced to stay indoors – no weekend gardening – until relief came on Tuesday, September 10th.

I shouldn’t complain. The residents in Phoenix, Arizona, had it much worse: 100 straight days at 100°F (37.8°C) or more, rising to 116°F (46.7°C) on September 5th. This marked the hottest summer in Phoenix since records began in 1896. What a blessing to have air-conditioning and cooling fans! We were blessed, too, in not experiencing power outage due to stress on the power grid. As of 8 p.m. Monday, September 9th, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) said the outage impacted 10,593 customers.

With excessive heat comes increased risks of wildfires. To date this year (as at 09/14/24), the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has battled 6,126 wildfires, burning 992,109 acres, and damaging 210 or destroying 1,229 structures. Those structures include peoples’ homes and businesses. Thankfully, there has been only one fatality.

As of September 14th, there are 18 active fires across our state that are not yet 100 percent contained. Among them, much closer to our home, is the Bridge Fire in the Angeles National Forest that started on Sunday, September 8th. So far, it has burned 53,783 acres and is only five percent contained. Los Angeles County is now on an Air Quality Alert due to increased fine particle pollution from wildfire smoke.

Happily, with a few exceptions, our garden plants continue to thrive, following the three-month winter-spring rains. The two Propeller or Crassula Falcata succulent plants did not fail to brighten my days with their spectacular red blooms sprinkled with gold dust.

As shown in the photos below, two plants are struggling with the excessive heat: The scorched daisy bush has borne no flowers this summer. The Aeonium Mint succulent, browning at the edges, has lost its rich dark green tone.

I may have a “green thumb” as some of my neighbors claim, but I’ve not had much success with my vegetable garden (pictured below). Five okra seedlings shriveled up in the heat. None of the cilantro seeds germinated. Four green or string bean plants grew as tall as four inches, bore a few beans, then dried up with the excessive heat. The cucumber vines delighted with its show of several yellow blossoms but yielded not a single vegetable. The potted sweet potato (bottom right) has little foliage.

The potted eggplant, rooted in the ground, dominates the small space. I’ve trimmed it several times, but it refuses to be contained. It bore several vegetables during the spring, but over the summer numerous blossoms appeared only to wrinkle and fall from the plant. That changed recently. Can you see the young vegetable in the front left?

As Planet Earth continues to overheat due to our carbon emissions, I’ve got to learn to adapt like succulent plants. Sometimes, it may require that I change my way of being as when green foliage becomes orange or red. Other times, it may require that I shed parts of me to remain whole. Then, there are those times when I must die to self to be born anew.