Yes, it is wonderful - I am listening to the patter on the roof. It actually waited til the peonies were almost over too :) Great relief for forest fire hazards.

Soils prone to drying are dust here already.

We had a little the other day, but things are drying out already. I've been putting in some last-minute plants, and as bboy says, the soil is dust. I was so excited a while ago when the radar showed rain bands--we got about 6 drops.

I hate to think of what it will be like in another month or so.

What amazes me is all the people carrying on about how wonderful the dry weather is. At the end of the summer when they are on water restrictions they might be singing another tune.

We ended up getting 1/2 inch of rain. Not enough, but certainly better than none. What frustrates me, is that after it rains it always seems to get windy which of course dries the soil out. And the forecast is for sun. Lawns around here are as brown as they usually are in late August.

Dotty it poured here too, we woke to the sound of rain what a great morning and early afternoon, it just came down in buckets. The sun came out in the late afternoon everything looked so fresh. Like you we have had the driest June on record. I wonder what the rest of the summer's going to be like, June sure isn't what we're used to by a long shot.

Yup we had two days of on and off heavy showers near the border Weds and Thurs. Everything responded with vigor and added growth (including the weeds). I agree the lawns are real brown and it this continues we will have tumble weeds in the streets come August.

July is the annual low point for precipitation here every year - as it happens the opposite of Florida, in the opposite part of the country. Approaches to irrigation that might work in Florida (or even England) do not apply here. On all but water-collecting (damp or seasonally flooded) soils you must water every year, staring in spring to get full response from any and all plants not fully established summer drought-adapted kinds originating in climates with rainless summers.