It's official. The month of August was the hottest and driest ever. And September hasn't gotten better. August had more days over 90, more consecutive days over 90, more triple-digit days, and less rain than since records were kept. After the driest May on record, and a June that saw little rain. July was the only month with any moisture, and not much fell then. The humidity fell to 17% one day last week -- there isn't a molecule of water left in the soil.
Greater Cincinnati seems to be stuck on the northern tip of the drought that's hit the Southeast this summer. Our condition moved to D3 last week (with D0 being not-so-bad and D4 the lowest level of hell, apparently). Mature white pines are turning brown overnight. Dogwoods are defoliating. Some neighborhoods look like fall, with dessicated beige leaves carpeting the beige lawns.
Mature viburnums are wilting, as are the omnipresent shrubby honeysuckles. The blooms of unwatered Sedum 'Autumn Joy' are brown, rather than pink. In fact, the only plants that look good are Liriope and Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana). The junipers self-sow everywhere, and look perfectly lush and richly green against the parchment and dusty olive green that are the dominant shades of the woods these days.
Even an hour north of us, the roadsides are green and the trees don't look so stressed, but it seems as though every recent storm went north of us or simply dissipated without any rain ever hitting the ground.
We're trying to convince customers that they must water, or they'll lose their beautiful boxwood hedges and mature trees, but it's so time consuming that few folks are taking us at our word. I suppose I could say it'll be good for the nursery business next spring when people have to replace thousands of dollars worth of plants, but I suspect many people will be very discouraged and simply give up.
PS... guess I'm back. My new job got very hectic in late spring, and after weeks of six-day work weeks, I got out of the habit of posting. Writer's block? Unblocked?
2 comments:
R-
I am pleased to have you back. Had feared that you had abandoned this blog.
What a frightful drought you describe. They say that August was extraordinarily dry for us, but I have been noting that lawns and such that usually brown late in the summer never did this year. I don't get it.
Good luck with saving SOME plants.
-J Potter
Hi Jay -- summer was pretty hectic, but I've got some photos of a couple of local adventures to post. Soon, I hope. Still waiting for rain, although at least the temps have moderated. R
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