Copperopolis Summer: Dry, Dry, Dry

The gardens at Ludwigslust in Upper Germany where rain actually falls in the summer

Ahh, Ludwigslust...

It was inevitable that when I visited countries where it regularly rains all summer long that when I came home I should make comparisons.




More Ludwigslust

Coming off a very dry winter, with slightly more than half our expected rainfall, and no rain at all since May, things are looking severely baked around here. It didn't help that while I was gone Copperopolis was struck with a heatwave with temperatures up to 108 degrees. 

Not Ludwigslust (that's a thirsty Frogpond deer in the upper center

When I left, the corn looked like this...

...and, when I came home, it looked like this

Buckeye falling asleep in the heat

The sorry state of the garden wasn't Bruce's fault: he watered early in the morning before leaving for work and dashed home again in the evening to do it all over again. It just couldn't be enough.




Some plants, like the California buckeye to the right, have adjusted to our rainless summers by estivating -- when the weather gets hot, they just go dormant until the following spring. 


 It's a clever technique, but, sadly, they still look like hell. They may as well be my poor, fried hollyhocks.

Hollyhocks definitely past their prime

Of course, some plants thrive in all this sunshine

The worst part of all of this is that since we had such a dry winter, the water table is very low.  If I leave the hose running for too long (meaning about one and a half hours), the entire well runs temporarily dry.  Then the pump shuts down until the well has had time to recharge.  This is taking several hours now.  I've drawn down the well down like this three times just since I've gotten home. 
This is not a good sign of things to come.
It's going to be a long summer, I'm afraid.  Whining doesn't help -- I'll just keep doing my best to keep everything alive until fall arrives.