Downtown Chicago’s weather went from zero to 60 seemingly overnight. Or, more accurately, from 60 to 90 — degrees that is. A great time to get my plants back outside, right?

Not necessarily… While sun and heat would appear to be the perfect prescription for perking up plants that had been sentenced to home confinement for days on end, it proved too much of a good thing for some. Here’s a recap:

On the upside, despite their time indoors (after work to the facade of my building forced me to clear my balcony garden), my flowering plants boxes still looked pretty good. [The lobelia pictured is a prime example.]

But, my herb/edibles planters were a different story. The marigold foliage had gone from bright green to mostly brown. Surprisingly, the herb seeds that I’d direct sown outside  —  just before I had to shift everything to my living room — managed to sprout inside without the benefit of direct sun, but they were ultra-delicate threads with a hint of leaf at the top.

I moved the pots and planters back outside on Sunday afternoon, making sure I watered everything thoroughly, in anticipation of the 90 degree days in the week’s forecast. But, before long I realized the direct sun and high temperatures I’d been hoping for came on a little too fast for some of the plants. Extreme changes — even to conditions under which plants will ultimately thrive — can have profound effects.

I should have treated those fine new herb threads like other plants started inside and given them a proper hardening. Big oops! Some were fried and dried by the end of the day on Monday. And there was even some withering of leaves on a couple my heirloom tomato plants.

So, thus begins the process of reconstruction. Today I planted new herb seeds to replace some of the sprouts that got fried and covered them in seed-starting soil to speed things along. I decided three of the four marigolds were lost causes and removed them from the planters. I’ll assess, replant and replace as needed in the coming days. I also salted the water for those damaged tomatoes with plant food.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for my small-space city garden, 10 stories up, but, to quote Broadway’s Annie : “The sun’ll come out tomorrow…”

Let’s hope the plants are ready for it.