From Bloom Day to Gloom Day

Yesterday was Garden Blogger Bloom Day hosted by Carol from May Dreams Garden. I posted some close-ups of my favorite blooms and they are beautiful, but there is also a different story to tell. One that is far from beautiful. As I sat on my swing yesterday morning drinking my coffee I literally shed tears over the state of my yard. I have worked so hard to provide a little beauty and privacy for my family and all of my hard work may be in vain if we don't soon get some rain. It is very sad.

I'm trying very hard to keep these things alive by collecting all of the water from our baths and hand washings, however I'm not sure if the soap and shampoo is good for the plants either. I use soap sometimes as an organic bug spray, so I'm hoping this will not harm them.

I have three of these dwarf Alberta spruces, all the same size, at equal distances along the side of my house, if this one dies it just won't look right. To replace one that is this large would be costly.
I think the grass is hopeless. Even if we do get rain, I'm not sure it would survive. We have always had difficulty growing grass here because the builder scraped away all of the top soil.

All of my recently planted trees are turning brown. There is a chance of rain on Tuesday and I hope we get it.