Drought triage

Almost 2 weeks ago our gardens got 1.5" of rain, and nothing since all the while baking in what is for this area extreme heat.  And remember that rain came after nearly 3 weeks of no significant rain.  Some tough decisions will probably have to be made.  Big investments in new trees and shrubs require the insurance of watering, but small investments, like our kitchen garden, which is doing so poorly anyways, make the triage easy.  You can hardly blame the wildlife for eating things they should leave alone; they are having a hard time finding good fodder, and the Phactor is watering his garden to grow some vegetation.  Their misunderstanding is understandable.  Still this may be the second year in a row, and the only times in his 40+ years of gardening, that the Phactor managed to harvest no zucchini!  It's still rather hard to believe.  Maybe the F1 will feel sorry for us.  A few very drought sensitive plants have already given up the ghost; this area has always been a bit too dry for them, e.g., Clethra alnifolia, even when planted near the end of a downspout, some whimpy blueberries, an unestablished azalea.  And the Phactor refuses to ignore some pet plants, although in general they are doing as well as anything else (e.g. Scaidopitys, a new weeping hemlock).  But there you have it.  Tough choices to be made, but unlike the farmers, at least we have choices.