crispy ground

There hasn't been significant rain here in over a month. Two weeks ago I started watering the fig tree daily, carrying buckets of water to it. Today I noticed the gardenia bush had lost most of its leaves; only the tips of some branches still had green ones. So I gave it a lot of water too. I hope it survives; its flowers smell so good when they bloom.

I gave the azalea bush by the back door water too.

When I walk across the grass with the buckets of water, it feels crispy under my shoes. It is so dried out. I don't know how plants can survive so long without water, especially on hot days. But so far, most of the yard seems to be doing ok. Maybe I haven't looked closely enough. Today I decided to also water some of the lantana, and closer up, its leaves looked like they were shrivelling up.

I thought this might be the driest I ever recalled it being here. I was right:

Drought Status Update for the Southeast

Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina have experienced record dry conditions for September 2025-March 2026, with records dating back to 1895. September–March was the second driest for Alabama, third driest for Florida, ninth driest for Tennessee, and tenth driest for Virginia.
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Moderate to Exceptional Drought (D1-D4) conditions cover 96.83% of the Southeast, and Severe to Exceptional Drought (D2-D4) conditions cover 81.75% of the region. This is the largest area of drought (D1-D4) and of Severe Drought or worse (D2-D4) for the Southeast since the U.S. Drought Monitor started in 2000.