I have given up on the tomatoes, sadly. The perennials and shrubs are well-mulched and long established, so I'm not too concerned about them. I will be if we don't get lots of rain in the fall.

We normally get rains in late September. Most of my vegetables are doing ok since I planted them a little late than I should have. Peppers, tomatoes, pole beans, okra. Bush beans are done. Corns, pumpkins and sunflowers are doing bad now with the hot weather.

Has not been a good situation. What's more, there is almost NO coverage of it as a developing story..., but watch, after Labor Day it will be breaking news. It actually gets worse as you travel east and into Long Island (much of Jersey is in the yellow drought category according to the US Drought Monitor; LI is orange as they had much less rain earlier in the season. Expect an early change of foliage without the vivid reds and oranges, they will be more muted. Over the years, I got away from the veggies as I now have deer so mostly herbs and they thrive in drought. What can you do? Mulching helps. I don't water the grass, just the shrubs and not constantly as you see some people doing. At least the weeds have slowed down and mowing is not a weekly chore. Fall is for planting so I hope moistures levels improve because otherwise you'll be wedded to the garden hose. This is when the drought tolerant plants come in handy. People in NJ take water too much for granted as it often around in abundance. Bet we have a very WET winter though!

I'm watching some plants just wilt from too much watering on my part and some are dropping leaves because I didn't water enough when it was very hot. I have newer Ninebarks, Coppertinas, and they lost leaves, a lot of leaves. I was trying to be good and put plants that need the same amount of water and conditions in the same place. Sadly I didn't realize some Hydrangea wilted in the heat naturally and it didn't mean they needed more water. I was told they should be fine next year. But we will see what comes back. I also stuck with some natives that did okay, they need the moister though. For their sake and the lawns I have been using E-Z flow compost in the garden as well as some Humic DG to help change the soil so it holds moister better. I have a very sanding property. It seems to be working, I haven't had to feed anything say a little Hollytone to fix the PH level. And as far a watering form most of the season I was able to go easy even with the new plantings.