My landscape is mostly baby trees and a rose hedge right now, but I'll start (set the bar pretty low, that is)

A very happy Prunus subhirtella.

Pinus contorta var. latifolia I planted last week. (Pic taken today Aug. 1)

Fat rose hips are everywhere!

Addison, thanks for the nice photos. I need to also search for a lower bar! The drought has been bad, but the worst thing is one pernicious deer that has eaten nearly everything up. Maybe I'll get some aster blooms. This year is bad for garden photos, but perhaps I can find some other things to share.

Ahhhh, the sound of a gentle rain outside now...finally!

I envy you, deanna. We are supposed to get rain all day today but not a drop happened. good thing I watered the vegetables yesterday.

Yesterday I saw that we were predicted to get anywhere from 1/4” to 1 1/2” of rain depending on the storm track. We have only had a very slight drizzle so far, not enough to bother my rain-averse dog. I hope that we get some steadier rain tonight.

It has been so hot that I haven’t gotten out into the garden for quite a while until this week. Not much is going on, but I found a few things of interest.

A volunteer sunflower after a friend gave me some sunflower seedlings last season.

A tree form Quickfire hydrangea, new in 2020. It is surrounded by some volunteer milkweed that is being enjoyed by the caterpillars.

When I took this photo, I framed it for the two monarch caterpillars on the left top and bottom leaves. When I looked at the photo later I realized that there was a milkweed tussock moth caterpillar on the main stem at the bottom.

Surprise lilies, Lycoris squamigera

Out of control elderberries, much loved by the birds.

Calycanthus Aphrodite has been blooming for at least 6 weeks.

Tall garden phlox has been very reliable over the years.

Annabelle smooth hydrangea, a selection of H. arborescens.

Clematis Princess Red

Mandevilla is a tropical vine that does well in pots and adds a lot of color at a time when the garden often looks very green.

This is my landscape after weeks of no rain. (some before (some from last year) and after for some photos). Some photos are hard to make out - not a lot of definition in them - but they get the idea across.

Hydrangea Bombshell

Actea racemosa, hydrangea White Dome on left, spring

Agastache

Hostas

This first picture is from LAST MONTH

Monarda, July and today

Phlox

Hydrangea White Dome, June and today (with above phlox in June in front of it)

Weigela and spirea Goldmound, May and today (and yes, that little oak is still there lol)

Hydrangea (possibly Nikko Blue)

My annuals are toast, and I've let several things go - I'm on a well and need to watch my water usage. About the only things that don't seem fazed by this drought is some sedum and this laurel, which I barely water because it seems to be doing okay

This is today, and it looks really good, oddly! You can see my droopy calycanthus directly behind it and that spirea to the right, as well as lots of crispy things in the background.

Honestly if this goes on much longer I don't know what will make it through.

Dee

That is dreadful, Dee! It makes it tough to like your comment because everything looks so very unhappy. It is very dry here, with moderate to severe drought, but nothing like you are living with. I have some leaf drooping, and few flowers, but the plants themselves are doing OK so far. I hope that you get rain soon. If everyone else farther south than I am is dealing with the same issues as you are, no wonder this thread has been pretty quiet this month.

We are supposed to get significant rain this week, but last week we were supposed to get between 1/4” and 1.5”, but ended up with less than 1/8”. So I am cautiously hopeful.

Dee, you've got it worse than us. Things are unhappy, but I do not have the extreme browning you do. We also watch as rain forecasts either disappear the closer the day gets or turn into nothing. We were, thankfully, blessed with over an inch that fell for 24+ hours very gently last week. It was just amazing. All of our grass is still dead all over the peninsula, but at least there is some moisture in the soil now.

I, too, am not watering because of my well. I've also decided that if I lose things this year, then I'm learning what not to plant in the future. I need things that can handle this weather. Historically, the drought from around ?2003?, long before I got here, looked like it was horrendous. Droughts will come and go, but they are coming more frequently! I need plants that can handle it.

I'll be interested to see how hostas fare in the long run. They like lots of water. I've heard that over years they will shrink under dry conditions, finally disappearing. What do you think about their longevity if these dry conditions become more frequent?

Deanna, same here. Rain has been forecast countless times over the last several weeks, only to never materialize. Literally never materialize. Even, as I mentioned above, the last few days - it was supposed to start raining around 3am Monday morning, and rain straight through Tuesday evening. Two glorious days of rain turned into a ten minute downpour yesterday about 7pm. I guess it's good it rained so heavily since it was for such a short time, but yes I would have loved a nice steady gentle rain for two days.

I think the hostas DO shrink. I have a bed of mostly hostas in an area of my yard that gets little supplemental watering - it's too much of a pita to drag the hoses all the way over there for that little bed, and just as annoying to have to carry a watering can 20 times lol. The hostas have shrunk over the years and really declined. I finally got out there just last month and weeded and mulched, and am trying to give it some supplemental water, but obviously my timing is bad with this drought. I believe there are also tree roots, those fine, reddish brown roots that strangle everything, in there as well, as once or twice when I've moved something in there those roots are everywhere. So the dryness, the roots, and the not-so-hot soil contribute to their decline, I think. Too bad, as it was a once-lovely bed and rather visible. I've been planning to re-think and re-do it and I think I need to get going on that!

:)

Dee

Thank have few photos. The deer ate the echinacea, but I’ve got some secondary buds coming now and joe pye weed. The deer do not want my JPW!

i have had some monarch caterpillars. When i see some butterflies flying all about together it makes me happy to think they might have all just hatched on my milkweed. I have mostly left the garden to suffer in the drought, but I have watered the milkweed twice this summer during the worst wilting.

We got rain again last night! Can’t remember if i emptied my guage after a short rain earlier this week. If so, we got a full 0.3”! If not, we got 0.2“. My experience here is that fall gets moist, which is how weather is described for our general area. We also got rain in late august during recent droughts and I was hoping this year would not disappoint. Dee, I REALLY hope you get a reprieve soon. I will be looking to see if grass on the rest of the peninsula is still dead brown or it starting to green up a bit. Finally, some predicted rain is actually appearing! Took a pic of the wet garden this morning. Recent moisture has perked it up.

Deanna we got about another ten minutes of rain here - it's so hot that a half hour after the rain you'd never know it had rained! Everything was dried up already. But it gave me another day's reprieve from watering, and the shrubs are looking a bit perkier (well, the remaining green parts are lol). At this point I am kind of done with the garden for this year, thinking about fall and fall chores and possibly some planting if the budget allows. Just keeping my tomatoes and dahlias alive now, and throwing some water at my beloved cosmos and zinnias just because I don't have the heart to just let them die lol.

I did buy some hostas, and I have two clumps of a hydrangea I moved (possibly/probably a gifted Nikko Blue). I will be putting in a small shade garden at my daughter's new house around her AC unit. Might buy an evergreen holly or a pieris to pop in there for some winter interest. It's behind the house so not really visible but as a gardener I feel the need for something evergreen lol (I don't think she cares but I think she'll appreciate it when it's done... if she ever even goes out in the backyard in winter!)

:)

Dee

We got about another 1/4” yesterday, much needed, but not nearly enough.

I am trying to get the garden into a semireasonable state for when I put the house on the market, but I think it will look pretty unkempt.

Dee, I really hope that you get some good rain soon!

September 1st already - guess I missed the August post, but I’ll post to this here instead of starting on a September thread.

I Love the photo of the very fat rose hips, Addison. I’ve never seen rose hips that big! Lol What variety is that?

Babs, I see you have elderberries with fruit, I have elderberries that didn’t fruit this year and now they are all brown leaves. I’ll be surprised if they come back next year. All your photos look very good considering the summer we’ve had.

Dee, as I said on the Drought thread, your garden looks like mine and I’ve had the same story of rain forecasts that never come. Your poor garden!

Your Laurel looks good, but do they have thicker waxy leaves? I have a hosta that does and it looks great too.

I feel the same way, if we don’t get significant rain this fall and winter, who knows what will come back next year.

Deanna, I’ve been surprised that even though some of my Hostas have wilted and or had yellowing and the bloom has been sparse to nonexistent, I think they are doing okay. My worst hosta is one I planted just last year, so it’s not had time to establish. My best is June that has sailed through without so much as a yellow edge to a leaf. I’ve noticed that the thicker and waxier leaf on June might be the difference. So if I add more, that is what I will be looking for.

I’m wondering how the bulbs are doing. I can see the damage to the plants growing now, but I’ll really be sad if the bulbs don’t come back in the spring.

Your garden is looking very good Deanna and nice to see some actual pretty garden photos. You mention having butterflies, we have hardly seen a bug. I think the drought is affecting the insect populations as well. And the rabbits have almost stopped coming into the yard as well. Very little for them to eat. Even the pollinators have very little to pollinate. No bird song in the mornings either. It’s really pretty shocking.

Our lawn is brown and crispy but how is it that the crabgrass is still growing?!

Babs, I didn't realize you were selling your property! Wow, big changes for you. I imagine though, that a large property like that is difficult to maintain for one person. I bet you have some exciting plans!

Here are some photos of my garden I posted them on the Drought thread, but thought since we save these threads to compare year to year, I'd leave a record of them....

This is what my 'Ghost' fern looked like in the spring. We had a LOT of rain last year and this is the best it's looked.

And what it looks like now....and since it's a favorite of mine, I've made the effort to keep it watered when it's wilted, but I do have other ferns that look dead as a doornail.

Even Vinca which in my 40 years of living here, has been 100% bulletproof and has never wilted .... here it is in the spring

and today...but notice there are two epimedium at the top that are doing fine.

Phlox 'Nora Leight' was gorgeous last year and here it was just this spring....

and now...quite a mess. the other side of it has brown leaves up to the blooms. And that's been watered deeply some times.

Blueberry bush - with fruit that all shriveled up after this photo. The birds didn't even get any....

and today....

Even the Asclepias...in the driest part of the yard....

Clematis....

In the spring..

Now.....

You can see at the top of this photo, the bottom of my Syringa pallibin. That is actually looking very good and just about uneffected.

Here is the Hosta in front of my poor 'Ghost' fern and what looks like a dead Hellebore to the right. And I had a Heuchera there that just died. Between the rabbits earlier and the drought it's a mess. It was only planted last year though.

Here's 'June' looking great although it didn't bloom this year. As in some other photos, a lot of my Hellebores look browned, which is surprising since they have pretty thick leaves too. But this one here, was planted last year I think. Some that are well established in a lot of shade have wilted but not browned.

One of six mophead Hydrangeas that all look about the same. But notice that is an epimedium looking very good next to it. Both of these are under a Japanese Maple and in shade except for a couple of hours in the morning. Some of my epimediums look bad and one looks dead in an area I didn't water at all. But most of them in shade, did better than anything else.

I have 3 Hydrangea paniciulatas. Two 'Little Lime' in my full sun all day bed and I've had to keep that watered by hand as well as I could because it is right in the front along the street. So the Little Limes still have wilted and drooped but I have one NOID Hydrangea paniculata in half shade, that looks entirely uneffected and I really haven't watered it much at all...

So that's my sad story. I'm trying not to get upset about it and I guess taking the attitude that what will be will be. If we start to get significant rain this fall and winter - I might have a reasonable return of some of these plants although in much smaller footprints, and if we don't, well...then we're all heading in a direction that is going to take a LOT of adjusting to.

PM and Dee, I keep coming back to this thread to see your drought pictures. They are really amazing in the worst way. Dee, I looked up the drought monitor and see that much of eastern CT is in really really bad drought. I can’t imagine being a farmer this year, or a gardener, down there.

We are getting good rain today. PM got a downpour recently (yesterday?). I hope you are experiencing some of this relief.

With some recent rain rejuvenating the soil, I will be able to put some plants in ground and move things around. These pots wintered in the garage and have waited all summer. Now that it’s raining, I can begin this year’s spring chores of planting them in the ground. Every year is an adventure, in a way!

Halleluiah, we had 3 inches of rain this morning and more expected, the rest of today and tomorrow! SO relieved. At least, this gives everything a better chance to settle in before winter and hopefully come back next year. Deanna, glad you are getting some good rain there too!

I am debating whether to clean up the perennials after the rain stops and cut back burned up plants, like the Phlox. I think I'll leave the shrubs alone and try pruning those at their appointed time. I'm wondering if after the stress of this season, if the plants would rather be left alone to prepare for winter without my interference.

Halleluiah indeed! It has been raining here since midnight and still raining pretty hard right now.

Excellent! I hope everyone gets rain today. The forecast I'm looking at is calling for 80% chance of rain today, tonight and tomorrow. And if you look at the weather map, it looks like there is a very large area of rain heading this way and is large enough that it's hard to imagine anyone gets missed.

We did get some rain, but I'm not sure how much and I don't think it was as much as expected. It should be raining right now (according to the forecast) but the sun is coming out. It does look like the rain is just delayed and it should rain later this evening through tomorrow, so I am hopeful. Fingers crossed!

:)

Dee

PM, I’ve wondered the same thing about stressed plants. I’m going to treat them like newly divided plants, I think—get rid of excess green but provide them enough to photosynthesize for energy. I’m going to trim some things back so the roots don’t have so much to send water to and keep alive with the exception of milkweed. Maybe that will strengthen the roots. I really don’t know, so I’d welcome any insight!

Dee, I hope you'll get more rain. I have been disappointed with previous rain forecasts and then getting barely a drizzle.

Well, we haven't seen more than an ocassional drizzle all day. Glad I got enough in the beginning. And I have my rain barrels filled up again, now too. Many forecasts this year were disappointing for sure. And today I had 3 inches and my daughter who lives less than 10 miles away, hadn't seen a drop. [g]

Deanna, I have a couple of plants that have all brown leaves on them, so I can't see how the leaves are providing anything to the roots. I might as well cut those off. I guess, it would be less risky to leave most of them alone when they still have some green. Especially since it's not like I'm going to end up with a good looking Fall garden out there any way, even if I do clean up....lol.

Glad to hear that so many of you have had respectable amounts of rain!

We have had about an inch so far, and it is still raining. it has been medium to light rain that is supposed to continue for a total of about 36 hours, so the plants should be quite happy. It’s the perfect type of rain for soaking in.

PM2, pre-rain, your garden looked really sad. it is nice to have reports on plants that do well with drought, like Hosta June and the lilac Pallibin. I am moving, not due the property size, but to be near family as I age (as a widow without kids.) So after this fall I will be in Wisconsin. I am doing this with mixed feelings, but it seems like the wise thing to do.

It's been raining steadily some of the overnight and now again this morning. I haven't been out to check the rain gauge. I hope everyone gets a good drenching!

I should be doing more evaluation and I'll be sure to report if I find any other plants that have done well this summer.

Babs, I think it's great that you are moving closer to family! Wisconsin has always seemed like a very family oriented state for some reason. Wholesome. lol Just an impression I picked up along the way.

I can imagine you would have mixed feelings, it's a difficult change to make, leaving what has been your home for so long, but it does make a lot of sense. But change can bring a lot of happy surprises and just another chapter. I hope you will still visit here at the NE Forum because we would miss you terribly!

My DH just checked the rain gauge - we have had 5 inches so far and it's still raining.

Wow, PM2'! That is an entire month’s rain in a couple of days. The garden will likely be much happier going onto winter. Are you hearing about flooding problems in your area?

Babs, I think you are right - they should be all set now if we don't have a heat wave and drought the rest of the Fall. [g]

No, I never get concerned when they report possible flooding because we don't seem to be in an area that gets that. I've lived here for 30+ years and never saw water even collect in the street. I'm very thankful about that. I did see a weather report warning of flash flooding yesterday, but I never pay attention to that. There is a community about 4 exits down the highway from here that gets their downtown flooded pretty frequently in a heavy rain, because they are in a low lying area. But as far as a river overflowing it's banks 2 towns north of us there is a river that overflows it's banks and floods neighborhoods, so I hope they haven't had that problem. We'll have to see what the news has to say by the time all the rain stops. And in NH they have that issue in neighborhoods along the main river that runs through the state. We have family that just moved to NH, but thankfully, not along the banks of that river and they are on a lot that is the high point of the neighborhood, so that works out very well.

How about where you are - anyone here that is affected by flash flooding?

Babs, good luck with the move to Wisconsin. As PM2 said, hope you'll still visit us at the NE forum - will miss your presence for sure!

PM2, I don't have a rain gauge but it has been raining here steadily since Sunday midnight and still hasn't shown signs of stopping. According to the forecast, we could be having rain until 10 pm tonight

RTHawk, I don't have a commercial rain gauge, I just found a good level spot out in the open in the corner of one of my raised vegetable beds and I put a tall clear plastic container out there and measure the water with a ruler. Works for me. It could be more precise but it gives me a good enough idea of how much rain I'm getting.

We've had gentle rain off and on today for another 3/4 of an inch and I think that will be about it - and that's plenty. I'm sure if you've had steady rain all that time, you've had a good amount too.

PM2, our rain gauge showed 5 1/2” since the rains started. What a relief to get somemgood soaking rains.

thyme2 - Yay! Glad you got some too! It really is a relief, feels like it's been a worry all summer in the back of my mind. Right now, I can't wait for all the leaves to fall and I don't have to look at brown leaves any more. Next spring, I guess. Can't wait. lol

5.5" is fantastic! You've got some happy plants and wildlife now.