Why are my Leaves drooping?!

Summer is here with a vengeance already. Its only June and we are hitting triple digit temps and my plants are definitely feeling it. While I’m fortunate enough that my current garden is a shade oriented garden, it still is showing signs of stress. Drooping leaves or wilt is very common in the hot summer. What is wilt?

Wilt is the loss of moisture in the leaves which causes the cells to collapse and leave to not be able to hold its erect form. It is common when moisture is inadequate or there has been a lack of rain for a period of time.

I am currently seeing this in only one plant in our shade garden, our Pineapple Sage. It droops daily, often times even when water is being applied daily. This is your plants way of telling you it needs water or some protection from the intense heat.

Here is a before and after of my Pineapple Sage:

Summer can be a challenging time for gardens in Southeast Texas, but proper plant selection and cultural practices such as water delivery systems, shade systems, etc can provide you with great relief and happier, healthy plants. Look for our next post on proper watering practices!