I'm east of Rochester about a mile from Lake Ontario. We've been extremely dry, too. Even when rain is in the forecast, it slips by south of us and misses us altogether. I mulched the vegetable garden with straw, which has helped retain some moisture. I have cucumbers on a trellis that wilt down every afternoon, but they're producing lots of cukes. The tomatoes are producing well, too.

MJ

I'm just northeast of Buffalo, and I think I can count the rain we've had since July -- and almost all of it scattered. One time, my mom, who lives 1.5 miles north of me, got rain for 45 minutes. I didn't get any. We got some this past week, but it's been pretty hot and dry most of the time. And now that I broke my foot, I fear I will have lots of plant death, as I don't seem to be able to count on my husband to water everything, just sticks a sprinkler in a few spots. :(

I am just north of Clay in Oswego County and we have had very little rain. It seems to rain all around us, but not here. Just figures that I picked this year to start a huge new flower garden. So far, I have lost one new rose and one bluebells....not too bad, I guess, but I hate losing even one plant. We have a well, so it has been hard to water deeply as the incoming water to the well can't keep up with the outgoing water, at times. I am now saving any "grey" water we have in the house and using it to water plants and trees. I have never had to water the trees before. We did get a couple of inches of rain in July, but it was all at once, and most of it ran off and was not absorbed by the ground. So much for the rain barrel...guess you gotta have some rain to get water in the barrel :(

I'm in the Utica area and we're having the same problem. It will rain all around us but miss us completely, or else we'll get a short burst of rain, enough to say it rained but not enough to do any good. Last year we had too much rain, this year is the exact opposite. sheesh!

We in Saratoga Springs area are getting crispy. Good thing I put newspapers down in my few gardens. It seems the rain falls around us but not ON us!! I'm really hesitant to do much watering as we are on a well. Wish I could divert the grey water......

Hi Cherrylane!

I'm just across the river from you, in Endwell. We've had a little hit-or-miss rain here, but nothing really soaking. It seems like if I get rain, no one a mile away does (and vice versa). My sister near BCC has had even less rain than we have, and her lawn is crispy toast. I've been watering once a week or so, just the flower beds intentionally (if the lawn gets wet, that's okay, but it's incidental). I started a new mixed border this spring, and I can't bear to see it wilt away. Some things have been just thriving (cannas, amaranth, sunflowers, phlox, alyssum, tall and intermediate bearded irises), and other things are just holding on (daylilies, coneflowers, a new lilac, siberian iris, columbine, lady's mantle). Still, I'm glad for the heat this year. Too bad we can't have a year with the best of last year (weekly rain) and the best of this year (hot sunny days more often than not).

But if the weather was perfect, we gardeners would find other things to grouse about, so I'll count my blessings (and hope for a good soaking rain soon).

Laurel

Corinth here. Even the trees are drooping. DH is watering the gardens that have boulders as the edges. The boulders retain the heat and everything would get extra crispy without some water.
This was this Spring just after I filled the water feature. Mr. Robin was enjoying a bath. You can see how the rocks are used to form the back and front of the garden.

It's horribly dry! Everytime someone gets rain it seems to pass us by. "Possibility of thunderstorms" never seems to happen. My biggest fear is that this is part of global warming and might not be just a freak summer, but a trend toward much more volatile weather.

I'm in Endicott, and I have been watering every other day just to keep things alive. Even the rain we had on Monday didn't seem to help. Grass is suffering more than the plants though. I do mulch my plants and it seems to help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blackie's Gardens

Oh, fer crying out loud. It looked kind of blustery out there so I checked Weather.com to see the radar map. It showed all this activity coming just about on top of me (east of Rochester). I was thrilled, and made a general announcement to family and garden occupants.

After dinner I peered outside -- still bone dry. I looked on the radar map and saw that it missed us....again.

Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Up here in the northern Adirondacks, we had a bone-dry spring but most of the summer has been tolerable. A bit drier than preferred but enough rain that I don't have to water every day. It seems to cloud up and rain the minute I finish watering, anyway.

The soil here (sand, actually) dries quickly but where I've got a good mulch down, the natural rainfall and occasional watering is keeping the garden thriving.

This is my first garden since moving up here and my neighbors said that I really got lucky with the adequate rain and moderate temperatures.

Wayne in the Adks.

Thank Goodness! Mother Nature has seen fit to piddle on Vestal. I am so thankful.

Yes, yesterday we got rain out here in Horseheads, too, thank the gods. I have just about given up on my garden for this year because of the dryness. I also have a well and am afraid to water too much, as in the drought three years ago, wells here dried up. I actually checked the US Geological Survey for groundwater levels in my area, and they claim that it is only slightly below normal (on account of the very wet spring we had).

Yes! It rained last night, a good part of the night as far as I can tell. My gardens looked fresh and green this morning when I went out for the paper.

We too have been so dry but we actually got a few good shots of heavy rain today.

My gardens should be looking great in the morning!

Jean

How did others in the Capital District make out in this storm?

Saratoga Springs is once again high and dry. I've lost all faith in doppler forecasting and have been using dishwater to water flowers.

Hey Cherrylane!
I thought you were getting all the rain that seems to pass us by. Afternoon thunderheads in the past couple of weeks made me think....FINALLY! Nada, not one drop. Dragging out the hose twice a day is getting tedious. Finally got some rain the past couple of days, but I figured I would take up cactus gardening which seems more suited to the climate of late. Question. How come crab grass and other weeds don't seem to be bothered by this drought?!!!
Happy gardening, Barb