Go on, you probably have one by now.

It’s so hot; the farmers are feeding their chickens’ crushed ice so they won’t lay hardboiled eggs.

Man, was it hot.

I guess I’m a “heat wimp.” But if I’m going to tolerate that kind of heat, I want to be on vacation next to swim-able water. (Quite frankly, my only pet peeve with this area of the world – the water is too dang cold!)

It’s so hot, the trees were whistling for the dogs.

And I’ll never say I want to live in Arizona again. I’ll never curse those in between days again when it is cloudy and overcast. Remember when it wasn’t too hot, nor to cold? Do you remember those days?

It’s so hot; birds have to use potholders to pull the worms out of the ground.

This umbrella trick (shown above) worked out well for our recent heat wave here in Seattle. Our big, in-ground miniature garden can normally tolerate the full sun but, with the extreme heat this week, we knew our prized trees just weren't used to it.

Besides the risk of getting scorched by the sun, we were afraid the ground might dry out too often, and too fast, and put undue stress on the plants.

So, we placed an old market umbrella to shade our miniature garden from mid-morning to late afternoon to give the conifers a break. We took the umbrella off in late afternoon, and replaced it the next morning while the temperatures were in the triple digits. It worked like a charm.

It’s so hot; the potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.

You can also use this trick for new mid-season plantings if you’re in a climate that will let you do this. I’m not sure I’d recommend this to my fellow miniature gardeners in the southern states right now, but, by using the umbrella trick and sheltering the planting from the extreme sun, you can get away with planting in the summertime.

The idea is to mimic spring, or fall, weather by shading the new plantings from the midday to late afternoon sun. Again, take the umbrella off in late afternoon, and replace it mid morning so the plants can get some light. (Note that this is for full sun plants.)

It’s so hot the cows are giving evaporated milk.

And when watering your new plantings, keep on top of it - but don't over-water. Follow the watering schedule for the plants. Some plants like to dry out to just barely damp between watering and others like to dry out more between the watering.

Containers, of course, can be done anytime! Again, be conscious of that hot, late afternoon sun, as the pot will dry out too often and stress out your plants.

It’s so hot; I put the umbrella in the mini garden for shade.