Drought Conditions

It's been pretty dry here in California too. So far we don't have any watering bans in effect, at least here in Northern California anyway. So my roses, jasmine, peppers, etc are in 7th heaven. They get watered almost every day. I even managed to bring back to life a pretty pink tinted flower that is under my lilac bush in the back yard. I didn't even know it was there until my dog, Buddy, decided it was a chew toy last year. LOL. It looks kind of like one of yours. I was hoping maybe, since you are the all knowledgeable plant dude, you could tell me what kind of flower it is. I would very much appreciate it. Thanks hon.

Hi Grandpa! It is really hard to get much out of our garden this year. We water and water, but things just aren't doing well. Our flowers are not doing very well either. We have a flower box under a long bay window and normally the impatients in it are flowing over very beautifully. This year..they didn't even spread!! We are down so much on rain. The ground is rock hard, grass is brown. Really pathetic. Yet, two of our neighbors were out last night with pressure washers....washing their concrete driveways!!!!

Drought ... what's that? Here in Texas I believe we are over the above average of water for this month, all it does it rain, just about everyday and then the other days we are having flash floods. But the good news about the rain, normally our temperatures are in the high 90's and with the rain we are staying in the low 70's to 80's so it does cool things off.

Watering bans are a way of life here & have been for nearly oine year. Last summer we had the odd, even day thing. It was complicated, as there were certain times where all watering was banned. Then there were hours when sprinklers could be used. Then there were hours when hoses could be used. All this on the odd/ even day business. People got confused. Elderly people & people with disabilities were allowed to apply for exemptions, such as my parents, as they were not going to get up sat 5.00 am to water their garden.. That was level 2 restrictions. Now we are on level 3 or 4, I can't remember which? All I know is that all watering is banned at all times. We are only allowed to use a water can. Can you imagine with my 1/4 acre block, watering everything with a can?

Far as I know, there is no water ban yet here. Besides, I have a well so the ban doesn't affect me. Anyways, here is a pic I took back in beginning of June of my garden. Most of the beets have already been harvested and eaten by now. With my set up, so far I only watered it once this summer but they are letting me know they need a drink within the next few days. We had rain but not enough to help the plants and trees along. My flower beds are overrun as well. Going to go out and take a few pics soon as I'm done here so I have more to post later. Wait till you see my 2 pumkin plants. lol They are overtaking the garden/yard as well as my tomatoes.

In the Philippines, the dams are drying up. This is very serious as it supplies the water for irrigation in the major farms. if the drought continues, the country's rice supply might be affected. The governement is currently inducing rain by cloud seeding. But what the country really needs is some typhoon.

Large areas of the UK have been flooded for about a month now, so we're having exactly the opposite problem. Last summer was very hot and dry though. I'm (sort of) lucky to live in the northern part of england where the land is quite 'hilly' so we get very little flooding and plenty of rain.

You should feel more lucky grandpa, as we should be experiencing rainy season as of now. But with climate changes, we are still experiencing summer throughout the day. Though there are places where rain pours mostly, we are lucky enough to feel rain showers here in our region. In fact, ricefileds are starting to get dry and crops are starting to die. We are also experiencing water shortages here, dams are drying up and are way too low to it's usual measurement. We all are now doing the very best to conserve water, make good use of it and look for more water resources..

right now at my place it's a flood like situation instead of drought!lol this year we are having record break raining in the rainy season(monsoon) and it's very hard to go out for paddlers.:)

here in the Philippines, we have drought conditions too, some provinces already declared in "state of calamity" due to lack of rain and water supply,farmers cannot plant thier crops.It is supposed to be rainy season but it is still dry. Our government is spreading a nationwide water conservation as we will have short supply of it for the next few months. Our dams are all below mormal level. These are trying times for all of us.

It is so hot and dry here I didn't bother with a garden as most didn't and I only put up about half the amount of flowers/bedding plants as I usually do. The other day my thermometer said 104. We need some rain badly as the crops are in bad need.

Sounds like your plants have had a good couple of days Grandpa Bob! lol Well here in Scotland we don't - and to be honest rarely do - even when England does! Quite ironically there has been more rain than ever there are thousands of households down in England that have no water - flooding has left them with no clean water supply - how awful that must be! xxx

Oh yes, the southeast is under heavy drought conditions and my yard is suffering as a result. We're on water bans (can only water your yard 3 days a week and only with a hose). We have the same ven and odd address restrictions too. Must be in the official book or something. You should see my water bill! Don't even get me started on that. I actually write articles for Associated Content and have done a bunch recently about drought resistant gardening. You should check it out. Here's a link if you're interested. www.associatedcontent.com/emma412

This is an effect from global worming? In Europe, southern part is very hot this year, even in Spain, temp is so high and several incidents of fire throught the southern part....on the other hand England is under water, they have a flood of this kind after 60 years....this is scray. Last year in Dallas we had this kin d ps ban on watering and it was for not alternative days but for weeks -2 weeks...

Actually Kansas, at least the central part, is having the opposite problem. We are having a lot more rain than usual. It is hard to get a chance to mow the lawn. Someone said that the Farmer's Almanac predicts being wet until November, then a dry month, then lots of snow starting in December. I am sure your plants appreciate the double dose.

I have always lived in an area where draught and flood doesn't affect us much. I grew up having plenty of water and being surrounded by water. HOwever, this summer, I had experienced some days with no water to the consternation of most people in the city where I live and its because due to some upgrading of the waterways. The thought of having little or no water is so unthinkable for me. HOwever, I have learned not to take the water that we have for granted with such experience. Water is indeed life.

Luckily here in western "Taxachussetts" it is not a drought but rather we are getting plenty of rain. It was so wet that I did not get the garden started until late. For those of you that have gardens and little water you could start by putting plenty of organic matter in your gardens (for next year) and also by mulching around your plants, this will help to conserve water. In the fall instead of throwing away your tree leaves dig them into your garden to let them rot there. Grass clipping too can be put into your garden (unless you spray plant killing chemicals) (If you have a place to put a compost bin then by all means do so and use the compost in your gardens. Your vegetables and fruits will taste better for it and you will not have to use as much water.

Water when you can, ops this reminds me I have the hose running out back I will be back in a second. It is still 90 degrees F. out there at 9:25PM so while I was out there I took off my night gown and did a dip in the pool. Yes you heard me right I was a skinny dip well sort of more like a fat dip in the pool while I was out changing the water. LOL I sleep so much better if I can cool off before going to bed. Sorry to keep you waiting while I was changing my sprinklers.

Here in Michigan, we just started another heat wave cycle yesterday. It's 97 today with humidity index in the 100's. As of yet, no water ban has been put in place, but they have asked us NOT to mow lawns or get gas until after 7 PM. I've also heard on the radio that the utility companies say they can handle the load. So far so good. We seem to have several days in between these hot days that are much cooler so no drought yet.

i guess we had passed the drought condition already for it is raining in here once in a day..the rainy season had already said hello to us and it caused us calamities and floods..the storm has come..