A Bone-Dry September's Wilting Toll

Steve Dubik, a horticulturist who teaches landscaping at Montgomery College, said gardeners and landscapers are frustrated by wilting shrubs and stressed trees. There's no point in fertilizing to prepare plots for the spring, he said, because the soil can't absorb the nutrients.

"I was sitting with my master [gardener] students, and they are all distraught," said Dubik, who works as a horticulture adviser for the Montgomery County Cooperative Extension.

Dubik, who lost one of his beloved Daphne shrubs, which produces delicate white flowers around Valentine's Day, said he has encouraged his students to buy some colorful mums in pots so they'll have "a little hope."

Warren Howell, Loudoun County's agricultural marketing manager, said corn and soybean production was good this year because of early rains. The problem, he said, is that dying grass has forced farmers to dip into hay supplies early to feed livestock.

The federal agricultural disaster designation allows farmers to seek low-interest loans, Howell said. He said the situation has not become dire because hay is available and there's enough water in streams and lakes.

The "silver lining," Howell said, is for vineyards. Grapes are thriving in the hot, dry weather, and the fruits promise to produce fine vintages.

Virts, who remembers droughts so serious that streams dried up and hay was scarce, said he's confident that nature will sort itself out. For now, he said, he's more worried about taxes and fuel prices.

"September was dry. August was dry. But it's a long way from a disaster in my mind," Virts said. "I've seen it a lot worse."