Brandon, I saw a story a week or so ago. It didn't say the drought would be worse, but it did say the drought that we've been in since March 2006 would continue through this year.

Becky

I just looked up the forecast on the National Drought Monitor Site. I hadn't even thought about doing that the other day. I guess I was too worried about the situation to think about it any more. Anyway, the forecast on that site looks good to me. If you're interested, take a look at the 12 month Climate Outlook Map. I hope their predictions are more accurate than those of the darn news people.

Here is a link that might be useful: National Drought Monitor

I heard on the news that this year and next will still be in drought. I hope they are wrong!!!!!!

I just looked at the drought monitor, and it looked to me like it is simply saying it may not be as bad as it was last year although we will still be in a drought.

I'm not a meteorologist but after looking at the National Drought Monitor as well as the comments already made, I come to the conclusion that we have even chances of receiving normal rainfall through this year but since our drought has been at the "exceptional" level, normal rainfall for this year will not be nearly enough to undo what's been going on for a couple of years, let alone how the drought deepened last year. Therefore we will remain in a drought, unless we have a few of those tropical storms SLLOWWWLLLY move over us this summer!

I'm not sure that any amount of rainfall could undo the damage from last year. If plants died or got sick because of the drought, lots of water isn't going to make them better. I have lost a number of large trees this year and I think the drought must be to blame.

If we can get anywhere near normal rainfall next year, I will be thrilled. In fact, I don't want lots more than normal; that can cause all kinds of problems just as well as drought.

I think the National Drought Monitor is predicting better rainfall than last year, so I am really hoping it's correct.

Was it the drought alone that killed things last summer? I think the late freeze helped (or hurt).

The real zinger was the way our trees "thought" that spring was early last year... they began sending out new growth very early. Then, we had a late super-freeze and everything turned black.

I have heard that this is incredibly stressful to trees as this new growth saps a lot of the stored energy from the tree.

Then, follow that up with an abysmal drought, and we've got problems.

Surely, it won't be as bad as last year!

You are correct behaviorkelton that the late freeze killed/stressed many plants. But many trees and shrubs would have pulled through had we had normal rainfall last year. The late freeze and the drought combined were a deadly combination.

Has anyone used rain barrels to collect water? I am seriously thinking about getting a couple. If I could collect enough water for my potted plants, I would be content.

I saw rainbarrels the other day for over $300.00 in some catalog. I looked twice to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. There must be some real suckers out there!

Cheryl, I have heard that you might be able to get barrels for free or for very little from softdrink bottling companies. I never have called any of the local ones to see if that is the case here, but it might be worth looking into.

I told my Husband for the last several we were going to have hotter than normal Summers. My Mother was Native American, and she taught me as a child to look at the amount of insects and leaves and accorns to determine how bad the following years seasons were going to be. It has proven to be correct in almost every instance. I guess it just Mother Nature's way of insuring survival of everything.
BTW I lost a Butterfly Maple I had had for almost 15 years
to that late frost and drought. I also lost 3 japanese Hollys. It was like i couldn't give them enough water. The Botanist at Goldsmiths Botanical Garden, said it wasn't necessarily the lack of water but rather the extreme heat.

Brandon,
I know that the prices for some of the barrels are unbelievable as I have been surfing the web for weeks now looking at them. Unless I can collect enough water to make it worth my effort, I don't even want to bother. And so, I have been looking at a system where I can join 2 75 gallon barrels together. The prices of the "premade" systems are pricey enough to make me pause, but I'm hesitant to use a selfmade system that might have "overflow" issues that I'm not handy enough to fix. In researching how to set up a proper system, one needs to have a way for excess water to flow away from the barrel (and the house foundation).

I'm not so much a sucker as I am not particularly handy.

I've been collecting water out of my downspouts for a couple of years for my bog plants, and it's amazing how much water can be easily collected in a short amount of time during a good rain.

In my next life, I hope to have enough money for a well and a cistern. :)

For hundreds of dollars, I'd get pretty inventive (-:

BTW Cheryl, are you growing lots of seeds for the swap this year? I still haven't decided how many to grow, but I think I may have more than I can handle.

I have adenium, plumeria and ornamental pepper seeds started, several trays of rooted coleus, several upright Elephant Ears (Alocasia Macrorrhiza), tropical hibiscus (El Capitolio peach and red), and a few Clerodendrum thompsonaie rooted cuttings.

I am also thinking about starting a tray or two of different annuals so that there is plenty of variety for folks. I acquired a variegated morning glory at last year's swap that is now my favorite of all the MG's and I collected plenty of seed off of it. It stayed compact and didn't take over like most MG's and it didn't develop rust like some of the other variegates are prone to do. And I have several different other kinds of annual seed that I need to sort through. Of course, before I can start anymore seed, I need to rearrange the plants under lights to make room for more trays.

Some of my daylilies need to be divided and as it was just too dry to divide them last fall, I waited to divide them this spring and will bring them to the swap. As is typical with me, I always think that I won't have much to bring - but end up having a full load to bring to the swap.

Our lecture at the MTPS this spring is going to be...

"DROUGHT TOLERANT PERENNIALS AND ANNUALS"

We lost SIX Yews and FOUR high-dollar Dwarf Alberta Blue Spruce last year and that bites! They were several years old and very well established. The operative word there was "were". That was a three-prong deal though. First we had the late killing frost, then the drought and then added 30+ days in a row of over 100 degrees. I may just pull everything up and go with cactus!

Hey Cheryl --

If you think of it, I could probably use a cutting of your Clerodendrum ugandense. I left mine outside too long in the fall, and I think I finally killed it. :-/

I'm planning to start several types of basil seed. We'll see if I actually get it done!

Ione,
I didn't bring in my Ugandense last fall. It had gotten really large and I found the foliage to be stinky. I love the little blue flowers but have decided that I prefer plumbago auriculata which is more easily found locally.

And Bigorangevol - - I thought yews were indistructable! While we are showing signs of improvement on our drought situation, I am not going to be gardening as usual this year. I am limiting new plantings and am cutting way back on the number of containerized plants. And I'll be utilizing plants that can handle the heat and limited waterings. Even so, if I just maintain the plants (in ground and in pots) that I currently have - - I still have far more than is easy to manage if the drought continue.

Well darn. I'll just have to keep praying to the clerodendrum gods over mine, then. I thought I had killed it last year as well, and it came back from that -- so you never know!

Ione,

I have C. ugandense seeds that I am planning on growing. I will be happy to bring you one or two if I get them planted and they do well.

What's the best way to keep these through winter around here?

Brandon -- Thanks, I was hoping for a bigger start, but since Cheryl doesn't have hers any more I may go for your seeds after all!

I never succeeded in killing mine over the winter, despite trying very hard, until I let it freeze this year. They can take a lot of cold and a lot of drought over the winter and still come back in the spring. They are tough buggers!

So, should I let them go dormant and then store them in the garage during winter?

I always kept mine in the house (cool, roughly 60-65), and watered it only a little. I don't know if I'd say it was really dormant, so much as surviving a long drought. ;-)

I dunno how Cheryl did hers. Ohhhhhhhh, Cheryl........

I used to dig mine up, cut it way back (maybe 18 in. tall or so) and stick it in a corner in the garage. I'd water it maybe once a month or so. It would look semi-dormant until the days started to get longer and then it would start producing new growth.

semi-dormant = still needs light. I guess my garage is out. Looks like I may have to grow it as an annual or give it away at the fall swap.