Doesn't look great, but maybe an early start to the summer heat will mean an early end to it as well. It just doesn't seem like the same pattern we were in last week. From what I hear after wednesday or so we may get some beneficial rains for the next few days! Hang in there everyone!

I'm fearing the same, Dottie, hoping that we're wrong and it's just this weeks' heat wave getting to us. I didn't actually lose anything last year, but a few have come back up struggling. What they don't need is another drought season!

I delayed any planting last fall due to the powder dry depth everywhere. Was lulled by the wonderful spring into adding some newbies and now am resigned to daily hand watering to help them establish. Poor substitute for real rain, but better n' nothing.

I meant to say...*it doesn't seem like the same pattern were were in last year*

~~sigh~~ I too was lulled into the nice wet spring we had and succumed to a clearance cart at Lowes and stocked up on Clematis at $1.50 each, fell prey to the 1/2 off Bluestone sale and had a very good WS season - so I have a whole lot of plants that need to get into the gardens - then we got hit with this 95+ no rain weather - plants are in a shade house but need watering twice a day - gardens are looking stressed already - time will tell I guess.....

Lynne

Even with the rains we got earlier in the year I noticed that when I dug holes in the ground to plant things the soil was often very dry. Scary dry, considering the amount of rain we were getting. I am glad I downsized (but I still have way too many plants!)

I noticed too how dry it was this spring when I dug down and you didn't have to dig very deep either. So far the plants seem to be holding their own. I've only watered potted stuff. Hoping that the in ground things are sending their roots deep and don't want to mess that up by watering and causing them to be more shallow rooted. I planted very few annuals in ground and the sunnier sited ones are suffering. The shadier sited ones are doing pretty well.

Well, of course I was lulled into thinking the earlier rains were a good omen. . .Now I am already running around the garden with watering cans, trying to save transplants. AGH! Last year's drought nearly did me in, but this heat is unbearable! If we have 99s AND the drought this summer, I may sit down and cry! :(
On the flip side, I will be eating blueberries soon, yay! Covering them when a late frost threatened really did the trick this year.
And I did have lots of yummy sugar snap peas from the veggie garden, so I am thankful for that as well. Have to keep a focus on the positive here. . . LOL
Praying for rain. . .Hope all of you get some precip as well. :)

I noticed some of the deep dryness too, depite raised, bermed beds. In retaliation (had to get plants in the ground), I excavated the hole then filled it with water and let it perk down. Depending on the location, I did this at least two or more times before setting in the newbie. Wasn't trying to fool the newbie, just trying to give it a fighting chance to sink roots into friable soil.

I'm still babying them - so far it's working, but it's too early to pass judgement on the method. Much of my plant placement is predicated on 'neediness'.

I try to avoid them, but when confronted with a thirsty plant I tend to place it near the water source - I so hate haulin' hose! Somehow, the 'design' still works. I think.

The early spring regular rains and the extra long and gently warm spring really benefited the trees to produce lots of leaves.
Now, they are sucking up whatever moisture we've dedicated for the sod. The black walnut has apparently reached its roots into the sod areas and finally poisoned my pride and joy evergreen. I guess that was inevitable.

Wish there was some way to install a soaker grid system under sod but I suppose the soil would block the holes in the hose eventually. Just seems so wasteful to use above ground sprinklers and waste the water into the hot air.

I'm hoping, so hoping, that this sudden heavy cloudiness indicates a long period of gentle rains that soak in.
Off to check the weather channel with fingers crossed.

I was lucky that my soil, despite the raging drought last year, was very moist when I planted this Spring. I thought it would be dry as everyone else stated, but such was not the case. Even so, I did not plant nearly as much as I did last year. Everything I planted, I planted right around April 15th or later, and they all benefited greatly from the Spring rains.

Of course, I still have to hand water my tomatoes and herbs, as well as my potted annuals. So I spend at least an hour a day, every other day, (every day during the heat wave) and so far everything looks like they're surviving okay. However, if we continue to have this outrageous heat and no rain, I will cut back watering my annuals and I'll keep cutting back, until I only water the shrubs I planted this Spring. I really hope it doesn't come to that, but that's what I'll do if need be.

Come on Mother Nature, give us some rain please.

We just got a good shower here. Hopefully we will settle into a nice, summer shower pattern and keep everyone irrigated! We have had some good rain here this year so far, I planted some things over the weekend and the surface was dry, but down about 4 inches, nice moist soil!! The heat has been bad the last week, today my home weather station was registering 106 before it started to rain, then it dropped rapidly to 78. Let's hope this weather pattern breaks!

They are getting rain west of Hickory so I hope it turns south because my sod has almost given up the ghost but my beans are great.

Well, I just found out I have plenty of water. After getting my water usage down to under 250 Cuf for the last 2 month period I thought I would have a nice low water bill. Come to find out that there is a minimum of 600 cuf per 60 days so no matter how low I go in cunsumption if it is under 600 cuf/60days I will pay the same so I will be watering my plants regularly and giving away water so other people can water their plants. You wonder if they really want people to conserve water or not. Or is this just another way to discriminate against single people who would have a hard time using that much water.

Boy. We were out for an hour y-day taking our watering cans to the veggies and distressed shade plants to help them out a little. They have perked up nicely. Hopefully a little rain will help things out as well!

I wish a return of the 70s and 80s again, please. :o)

Calling for isolated storms and lower highs the next few days; hooray!