Drought and Renewal

(Although the "renewal" in the title might be premature --we're just now moving into what is normally our driest month, August.)

So, Carol at May Dreams has been ruminating on drought recovery --for gardeners and gardens. We've been blessed with about 1&1/2 inches of rain over the last two to three weeks. The mature trees seem to have breathed a definite sigh of relief, but the meteorologists say it's not enough rain to move us out of "severe" drought status. Our temperatures have also stayed below 100, even below 90, for a while now, and I can see that the garden is grateful for that relief as well.

So, taking a look around, here is what I see. First, the ugly. (And mind, these are places I watered religiously!)

Even the daylilies couldn't make it here in full sun. Cardinal flower just died away, two coneflowers and a daisy, a peony, a rose, and some penstemon have all burned up.

This coneflower managed one blossom before the whole thing gave up the ghost. Part of the green in this picture is a tree seedling I haven't had the strength to pull up.

This is what's left of one of my clumps of thyme. Again, a full sun plant, and it's just burned up. It's so sad to walk through that garden.

The shade gardens have fared better. Apparently, when the temperatures regularly reach 100, one can only garden in the shade. The green grass in this photo, however, only appeared over the last few days. Before that it was crispy yellow right up to the bed. Really, it's amazing how fast grass can recover.

There are signs of renewal, just from the little bit of rain we had. 

This is a daylily that never had a chance to bloom. This is an area that I didn't really water much, so I was happy to see green tips coming up out of the brown foliage after the rain.

These morning glory seedlings sprung up over night after a rain. A carpet of seeds from last years' plants, just waiting for a little moisture.

We also have two raised beds, one with tomatoes and one with strawberry starts and flower seeds. These beds received almost daily watering during the heat, and are doing fine. I'm grateful that my tomato bed is so close to a spigot, so it's easy to water. The flower seeds Emma planted this spring are the only color in the garden now, and I enjoy looking at them from the kitchen window.

And really, I just can't get enough of green grass. Most of our yard is still crispy brown, but in these shady areas, just looking at the cool green of the grass makes me feel happy.

I am hoping (crossing my fingers!) that this summer will prove to be very unusual, and we won't have to endure another one like this for a long time.