Yup, grass is D.E.A.D.!!! Been mulching all my new plantings like crazy, all perrenials!!!(300)Sooo hot, been working on my yard, doing hardscaping, a slope..tires...dirt...more tires...gravel....sooo hot, but am getting my wheelbarrow slope done!!! Next is putting the rubber liner that is sitting by that big hole...inside the hole!!!lol! Yup, a pond is gonna happen! May be a swimming hole for a while so I can cool off in this heat! DH put the airconditioner on today(we haven't been using it) and I am afraid that I'll not wanna leave the house!!!lol!

It's going to be hard for you to keep all of your new plants happy, so don't stay inside too long! I love the plants that come up in the springtime, flower, then go dormant in our dry summers. Totally easy-care for our climate and they are such a joy after our grey winters. Maybe people here could make a list of these sorts of plants. I would start with Aconite, Wind Anemone, Snowdrop. For autumn colour, Autumn Crocus.

Vine maples and burning bushes in unirrigated landscaping at main entrance to Camano Plaza shopping center on Camano Island, WA currently developing autumn color.

We're getting thunder, lightning and rain this morning in Sequim. First rain since May 19th.

Has just started raining on Camano. Yesterday I noticed along a local highway multiple native Indian plum (Oemleria) that had gone mostly yellow, this again being the premature development of autumn color in response to drought.

Summer came one or two months early, so some plants are looking now like they might usually look in August or later.

Just got a few drops near Buckley. Hope there's more on the way. My right arm is 6" longer than it was a few months ago after doing a daily bucket brigade hauling water out to some of the new plants. We've seen a lot of yellowing on Indian plums here, too. Even the weeds are wilting.

We're getting our first 'real' rain since May here on the coast this morning. There's been some heavy drizzle a few times, but not the sustained drops I've been hearing on my skylights for the last 45 min now. Great for my lawn, and maybe I'll even get some inside cleaning done while everything outdoors is getting a much needed drink...I've been picking wild blackberries evenings and the woods have been tinder box dry.

We've had about 1/10th of an inch of rain in the last day but it is still raining lightly. At least this type of rain is absorbed - it doesn't just run off. We need a lot more than this though....

Nothing near Seattle. Some rhododendrons rolled up despite previous waterings. Nearby Kousa rolling despite previous waterings - but it does this every year.

We're still waiting for rain. Still carrying buckets out each morning to the desperate plants. There's a chance in the forecast Sunday--keeping my fingers crossed.

Indian plums in the woods and shade are all turning yellow--it's DRY!

Our pastureland has dried up so much that the farmer is going to take our(his) cows away. Darn. One of them had a calf yesterday, it was a lovely surprise! A very nice thing to find in your field. I loved having them boarding here, it made our place look like a real farm!

Dotty, sounds like the cows have finally come home.

Or gone home, in her case.

Had a pretty good dump here, north of Seattle late yesterday. Still on the dull and damp side. It would be unusual if the lingering spring rains that didn't happen last month got shifted into July - normally almost the precipitation low point for the year.

We sat and watched the radar on the weather channel as all the rain went around us. We got just a trace this morning--containers sitting in the yard weren't even damp on the bottoms. Several inches below normal for the year, now. Definitely going to lose some plants, the point now is to focus on those that have a chance to make it thru until the rain comes again.