Absolutely! I thought our few weeks of no rain was bad...water barrels were empty for a week or 10 days...Have you tried giving them some artificial shade to reduce the stress, Alex? Your plants in peril might be too big to put lawn chairs over (my favorite trick, neighbors must think I have the weirdest lounging habits) but is a rigged tarp doable? The only things I've lost because of the no additional water resolution were some self-seeders that had reached the point of being invasive and some super aggressive ground covers, hoping they're reduced for good. My new tree peonies are mostly doing well, Black Panther is the only one that I'm worried at all about since it's leaves are all dried and brown. I'll continue to give it some water once a week or so just in case it's just died back early and will come back next spring. Not turning on the drip lines twice a week has made a $300-$400 difference PER MONTH to our water bill. We get billed every 2 months, July last year was $1200, was less than $600 this year. My husband has been watering his tiny lawn and fruit trees 3 times a week so will expect a much higher September bill, even though I've only used the hose for an hour or so all month...
Jerry, I'm afraid I'm in the same situation with several of my peonies, think I completely lost 3 or 4 that I THOUGHT were established this spring. I've already caved and ordered a few as replacements but there are still a couple that I'm absolutely sick over losing that I haven't reordered. Flying Pink Saucers is one that jumps to mind as well as Raspberry Twist, can't recall the others off the top of my head. I know I reordered Coral Magic, First Lady and Mrs. Fern Lough as well as Green Lotus. I've had both Green Lotus and Green Halo for 7 years and neither has ever bloomed although both come up every year, I assume they're the correct root! Since they've never bloomed I can't be sure. I looked back at where I got them from and wasn't surprised to see a seller that has been a very poor performer for me, haven't ordered from them in 4 years because almost every root they sent failed. That would be an interesting string but I bet sellers would HATE it. A lot of failure/success probably depends on the differences in climate between the seller and buyer as well as the care that is taken in planting. I'm the first to admit those first few peonies that I receive every fall are treated much better than the last few!
