It began unnoticed by most people but I knew I had never seen my Japanese maples wilting in April and was already wondering when the rain was coming and why it was so windy.  The only rain before spring was back in January, plus a little snow during the Super Bowl held in Arlington, Texas.  There was less than a tenth of an inch in March and all the maples were already growing.  Temperatures in April were well above average and regularly in the eighties to low nineties and the soft growth was also soaked in the sun because the oaks I use for shade didn't want to leaf out until they had some moisture.  It was impossible to keep most azaleas blooming more than 5 to 7 days as the dry warm wind just ruined the flowers.  During mid-April thru mid May the winds continued but we did manage to collect over 8 inches of rain for our only wet period of the long Texas growing season.  During April and May the winds were howling 30 miles per hour and on average about 3 days of each week.  May ended with 3 straight very windy days and 97 degrees highs.

The perfect anti-storm became apparent in June when we saw only two-tenths inch of rain.  The 3rd week of June was all above 100 but even worse was the 5 straight days and nights of non-stop howling winds, all above 30 miles per hour.   A line from my notes says "Save as many trees as possible."  It also says "Not much growing, even the pruning scars from 6 weeks ago are not healing over at all."  By the end of June all growth had stopped and the trees in pots were losing some of their lush green chlorophyll.

July started hot then got record hot.  Insects like red spiders were leaving the dry surrounding forest and began attacking my trees to stay alive.  Other insect, like fire ants, stayed deep underground and were not seen on the hot surface.   During July there was not a drop of rain and temperatures soared to over 100 degrees every day.  Nighttime temperatures were consistently setting records and it was below 80 degrees at night only twice the whole month.  One night the overnight low was 85 degrees.  The winds had subsided but the damage was becoming more evident every day as by mid-month some of the native oaks, elms, and cherry laurels were already turning brown.   My red oak and corkscrew willow died.  In an effort to help our small Japanese maples we repotted every one of them with some fresh mix and a bigger pot so that they would not dry out as quickly.  I was spending every hour of every day rationing our limited well water supply to keep things going while also trying to find some water for our many maples in the ground which were also in need.

August was even hotter as every day except one was over 100 degrees and we had only a half-inch of rain.  We regularly set a new high overnight temperature record and this took a tremendous toll on my Rhododendron collection.  There were wild fires very close to Metro Maples and a half dozen homes were destroyed but somehow we didn't get burned down.   We are always short of water during droughts so we added new reverse osmosis pumps to purify our deep well water to supplement our dwindling shallow well water.  More oaks were turning brown and we noticed that some small burnt maples were not recovering as usual but were just dieing.  Later I would learn the real reasons for their demise.  Native ragweed were now dead along with most pines and Arizona cypress that I had planted.  Even the native Eastern Red Cedars were now gone.  I made a trip to East Texas and noticed it was worse out there and surmised is was because their trees have not been conditioned to a major drought like mine have.  There were also some horrible losses in my azalea collection as a few respired to death or dried out too much.  I moved all my valuable new Shantung test plants yearlings to some shade underneath the Maple Knoll 'Fire Dragon'^® as a precaution which could have saved their lives.  The dry sandy soil was soaring daily to 140 degrees and the temperature inside the black growing pots was up to 120 degrees.   In the clay soils of Dallas the cracks in the soil were big enough to lose puppies or to put your boot in. Several other of my important plants also were tucked deeper into the forest for protection as even morning sun was too hot.  The hottest 10 am that I recorded was 96 degrees.  The two hundred new Shantung grafts of my newly filed patent maples were hand watered every day and this not only saved them but they even continued to grow all through the summer.

The average high temperature at Metro Maples from June thru August was an amazing 102.7 degrees and the total rainfall during that time was a paltry seven-tenth of an inch.  The total number of 100 degree days was a whopping 77, or 9 more days than the previous all-time record at DF/W airport in 1980.  And in case you need reminding the nighttime temperatures, which control respiration rates, were at unprecedented levels.  Many mornings I awoke at 5:00 am and the temperature was eighty-eight degrees.  

Finally September arrived and we got some relief.  It finally rained and after working 220 straight days in an effort to save the farm I was able to take a day off.   There were some horrible losses in my collection from the 6 month perfect anti-storm, but the benefits gained from this life and death struggle far exceeded them.  A few azaleas and most Rhododendrons were lost but the irrigated Japanese maples and the more drought tolerant Shantung seemed mostly unaffected.   In September I realized that most losses were actually my fault,  from a combination of poor watering practice,  the use of insecticides in extreme heat, or from over-fertilizing combined with a lack of sufficient water.   The willow that died was due to an early July chemical application in combination with the extreme heat.  The stress from the chemical also probably attracted even more bugs.  

So in conclusion, if I had it all to do over again, I'd still do the same thing again.