Charlie told me today that all that fret about scorching your plants by watering them in the middle of a hot day is crap - if your plants are wilting, and clearly need water, then water them!  They won’t shrivel up and die if it’s high noon and  you dash out to give them a drink - but they might expire if you wait the few extra hours. If you have hanging baskets, it is absolutely essential that you get them watered on hot days! Also, replenish your plants with MiracleGro or other good fertilizers.

If it’s hot, the best time to water is in the morning or in the evening - because less water will evaporate and you won’t have to water as much. Plus, you won’t be outside, in the middle of the day, in the heat! It’s important to take care of yourself too!

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty, you should also be conscious of whether you are leaving your plants wet overnight - that can cause some problems. Some plants, particularly roses, might get mildewed or begin to rot if their leaves and stems are wet through the night. Just be aware of how your plants respond to humidity.

So, short answer: if it’s hot, water your plants.
Longer answer: the best time of the day to water plants is in the morning. For the various reasons mentioned above.
Happy gardening!

I'm currently occupying a table at Irving Farm Coffee House and working on our updated website! I hope I'm not bothering anyone - I've been here for... a while. But I'm having a great time, learning how to use Weebly and designing web pages, all that. This is my first blog post for Paley's. Not terribly exciting - more experimental, actually. Comment on this post if you like the changes or if you see anything on our site that needs more work! Thanks for visiting!