It is getting dry out there.

We had 0.15 inch of rain overnight Sunday and early Monday morning, and since it came in the form of a slow, drizzly rain it all got soaked in. But it still is nowhere near what we need. That is about all of the rain we have had for August, and the last half of July was pretty dry, as well. And no rain is forecast for the next week.

We have watered our vegetable garden twice and will start another round of watering tomorrow. At this point, I will take the run of dry weather – no, it is not a drought and probably doesn't even qualify as a dry spell – over the soggy conditions of the past two summers.

Lawns that have been cut too short and are without irrigation are beginning to turn brown. Pretty soon even properly cut lawns without irrigation will turn brown. That is perfectly normal, and they will green up again as soon as cooler, wetter weather returns in a few weeks. It least, that is the normal pattern.

Established perennial and shrub borders can survive this dry weather OK. But anything planted in the last year or two should have plenty of water. So, more watering.

We are at a slight disadvantage, in that we had to take down our water barrel when the house had new shingles put on the sides. It did get about a third full with the rain Monday, but we will use that quickly.

My column last Sunday was on harvest season. The one this coming Sunday is about Barth Daylilies.

And now to the pictures. The first is of a Rose of Sharon, which looks really good now – a lot better than the picture shows. The second, of a friend's garden, includes a white Rose of Sharon. And the third shows a tall sedum which is about to turn its gorgeous red color for fall.

About the Author

Tom Atwell has written the Maine Gardener column in the Maine Sunday Telegram since the spring of 2004. He has worked at the Press Herald/Sunday Telegram since 1974, about the same time he started gardening with any seriousness.

He gardens with his wife, Nancy. She not only is the better gardener of the pair, but also knows the botanical names of plants. They have two grown children and four grandchildren.

Tom was born in Skowhegan, grew up in Farmington and graduated from the University of Maine with a BA in journalism. His goal each year is to have continuous compost from his three compost bins, continuous bloom in his low-maintenance garden and more fruits and vegetables on his family table than the garden pests eat in the field.

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