A Sweltering Summer But Sunflowers Are Growing

This has seemed like a long scorching, sweltering, suffocating summer. I've hibernated in the air conditioning. With little rain and plenty of heat, at the end of July, we've already had 14 days of 90  degree temperature, high humidity but only 2.5 inches of rain. Not like the two previous summers when we had only a total of 10 days of 90  degree temperature.

Part of my garden and a lot of my flowers have been in survival mode for several weeks. Some, the tomatoes in particular, are not doing well at all. Only Sunflowers, Zinnias and Pumpkins are growing strong. I've watered all the plants off and on to keep them from withering in this firecracker heat; the  irrigation system from last summer has been very useful again. The growings of the summer.....