Question
hi, there's no experts in the "trees" category and I figure if you've been gardening for over 20 years maybe you have some advice.

we have not had a drop of rain in almost 2 weeks and the temps have been 85-103.

all my garden plants are wilting even though I water them twice a day every day.

the one I am most worried about is my baby dogwood tree. It is a little over 24 inches tall, and before this drought had bushy leaves on it. Now it is wilting and every day gets worse and worse. I water it twice a day like the rest of my yard.

should I stop watering it? what do I do? the leaves aren't turning colors, they are still green, but are frail and wilted.

Help please

oh also it is planted in partial shade, it gets only a few hours of direct sunlight every day

Answer
Hi Desirai,
Thanx for your question.  Yes, I see Jim Hyland is on vacation until the end of the month so I will try to do my best.  Actually, this one isn't hard.  The extreme heat is what is getting to your little dogwood.  Dogwoods are generally found growing under the canopy of larger trees.  They don't mind reduced sunlight at all, especially in the Deep South.  If you already have it in partial shade then it must be the extreme heat.  I lived in the Panhandle of Florida for severla years and I remember one year it got up to 98篎 and a lot of stuff started getting droopy.  Is your soil pretty dried out and cracked?  The watering every day will help this little plant survive until the rain returns.  That's about all you can do for now.  You've got it shaded and you're watering.  It's just too dadblasted hot right now.  I hope this helps.
tom