Wow!!! Can't believe it's the end of July already. Summer is half over. Actually, I hate to say it, but it looks like September around here. Everything is drying up. The trees are drying out from extreme drought. And the leaves are falling! Perennials are shriveling up. What's going on here? New York State has issued a statewide drought "watch" in effect for the entire state: Current Drought Conditions in NY StateOf course Northern and Central New York aren't as severe as other parts of the Country so we can't complain too much. In northern Oswego and Jefferson counties, and along the St. Lawrence River there is not much top soil because of the rocky terrain so these areas burn up rather quickly from the lack of rain.
We actually had a little rainfall last week around the Mexico, NY area. About 1/4 inch. Syracuse fared better with over an inch of rain.
People that live in residential areas, while on a restricted usage, have been able to water their gardens and lawns somewhat. People that live in rural areas, that depend on well water (like us) have to be careful when watering so that our well doesn't dry up and burn out the water pump. If that were to happen families would have to have water delivered and have their well filled up. We've personally been very fortunate that our well has never ran dry. Once, when our children were young, that almost occurred when they were playing in the sprinkler and forgot to shut the water off.
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| Dog-sitting |
Last week we went for a walk in the Robert G. Wehle State Park in Henderson, NY, and the pictures in this blog post show the drought conditions in this area. The Robert G. Wehle State Park consists of 1,067 acres. The property was originally owned by the United States Government and was known as the "Stony Point Rifle Range".
Mr. Wehle was know around the Henderson area as a breeder and trainer of English Pointers. Mr. Wehle raised his famous dogs in this park. There are several sculptures of dogs on view in the park created by Mr. Wehle.
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| One of the dog sculptures by Mr. Wehle at the State Park. Elhew Kennels is Wehle spelled backwards. |
This State Park has recreational activities open to the public that consist of several trails totaling 14 miles for hiking, cross-country skiing, and mountain biking. The trails also offer beautiful views of Lake Ontario as well. NOTE: The cliff-side location may not be suitable for families with children.
Here is additional information on the State Park Robert G. Wehle State Park
Even though we are now currently under a drought "watch", earlier in the season we had sufficient amounts of rain for the gardens and area farms. I'm not sure how the drought will be affecting our local crops of fruit and vegetables. I am pretty sure that the local produce most likely will be smaller this year than normal.
Thought I would post some photos of our daylilies. Even though it's dry now we previously had an ample amount of rainfall until about the middle of June. The daylilies flourished in those rains.
Some of the daylilies have had buds that did not develop fully and dried up, but for the most part the buds were beautiful.
The drought has been so severe that the rhododendrons are curling up their leaves to prevent dessication (dehydration). This rhododendron did pick up when we watered it (don't forget- we're on well water so we have to be careful when it comes to watering our plants).
This photo kinda sums up our drought! Poor birds (robins and sparrows) have been looking for relief under the sprinklers!
Hopefully we'll all get some relief shortly-
Feel free to leave a comment -
and thank you for stopping by!
Boy, like here, I really hope you get rain. We too are so dry and it has been very hot and humid too. I never heard of that state park. I like the dog statues.
ReplyDeleteThe park is fairly new. It was established in 2003 when the jurisdiction was transferred from the Dept of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The DEC acquired it from Mr. Wehle in 1990. Mr. Wehele owned the property since 1968. His family was from Rochester and owned the Genesee Brewing Company.
DeleteThe statues are gorgeous and you don't expect to find them in that environment.
Thankfully here in Florida we have the summer afternoon rains.A few years ago we had a summer drought and then we had wildfires and that was the year of all the hurricanes. Be careful what you wish for
ReplyDeleteYes, you are absolutely right about that. Would not want that. But some of the areas around here have experienced severe storms that have caused lots of damage from large trees being blown down. Some nice all-night rains would be great. (and hopefully no wildfires!)
DeleteThankfully here in Florida we have the summer afternoon rains.A few years ago we had a summer drought and then we had wildfires and that was the year of all the hurricanes. Be careful what you wish for
ReplyDeleteIt's been fairly dry here in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. We've had a little rain but nothing soaking. We all need an all-day soaking rain. All the perennials I planted look sad. I hope you get rain in August.
ReplyDeleteSame with us, Ann. And we could use a couple all-day soaking rain, too. Even my old, hardy perennials look sad. Hope you get rain as well.
DeleteOh wanted to say how much I LOVE that orange daylily!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I can't remember the name of that daylily, but if I do I'll let you know. Maybe I'll get some seeds off it and I can send you some.
DeleteWe have had little to no rain here, too, Sue. We actually have a 450 gal tank we collect rain water from the eaves in, and this year we bought one of those big caged tanks to hold more. So far, in the past two months, we have had to have both tanks filled by a local guy three times. My perennials have really suffered--just been keeping the veggies going, and newest transplants. Everything is so dry that the sparrows are eating all my wisteria and trumpet vine buds before they can develop. Not looking good--so, do a rain dance whenever ya can! I know it won't help my perennials any, but we are in the process of setting up a hydroponic system in our basement for my veggie gardening from here on in.
ReplyDeleteI've just been watering the transplants, too. I'm finding a lot of birds at my plants, too. I thought they were picking off insects but they could be eating the buds to get water out of them. Your hydroponic system sounds like a wonderful idea.
DeleteI'll work on my rain dance this afternoon! Thanks for commenting.
Sue, Your articles are always a great read. Thanks for sharing delightful tidbits of the beauty in our wonderful state and in my "backyard"!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Donna. I'm really glad you enjoy them! It's fun coming up with photos and items to write about!
DeleteWe really do have a beautiful state! And I love the photos that you post, too!
Our watering system for the garden relies on rainwater storage from the roof so we're hard pressed. We're using what little we collect to keep our newest plantings alive.
ReplyDeleteBasically that's all we're doing too, is watering the new plantings. Most of the perennials, even if they are suffering from drought now, should be fine next year.
DeleteI think it might come to a situation in the next few years that people will have to consider more watering saving alternatives. Thanks for commenting.
What is weird it that it seems to be hit or miss. On the west end of the Mohawk Valley the Corn is head high and grass is green as, well, grass...
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right! It has been hit or miss around here as well. Syracuse, which is about 25 miles south of us, got over 3" of rain last week while here in Mexico, NY we got about 1/4". The storms have been all around us, but they just seem to miss us.
DeleteThe corn around here seems to be doing ok, but the stalks are short. Our corn isn't quite ready yet here so I'm wondering how it's going to taste. Sometimes it's not as sweet when we have a dry season.