It's an interesting growing season this spring and summer given our drought. Instead of aiming to have my plants thrive, I am trying to have them survive. My small front lawn is getting watered less than once a week. (Don't tell my husband, but I've wanted to get rid of the lawn for some time. He wants a lawn). Needless to say it's not very happy. The rest of the landscape is getting watered about twice a week. The last week I've been taking stock of how things are going. I want to see what I may lose, what will survive and what is, surprisingly, seeming to thrive.  This information will be helpful on choosing what to replace the lost plants with down the road. I have two holly trees that are not faring well.  One, I think, I will probably lose.  Several things are doing okay but not thriving; my butterfly bushes in both the front and back yard look stressed. They will make it though, as will my lavender.  My Lilies of the Nile, Agapanthus, are blooming their hearts out but the foliage definitely looks stressed.                                                                                                                                                        

Several plants look great through it all. My Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus, is blooming profusely and I have to continue cutting the shrub/small tree back. The Grevillea is thriving to my husband's dismay, he hates it because of its prickliness.  The hummingbirds and I love it because of its flowers. My Egyptian Sage which I believe is in the Perovskia genus, is blooming and growing.  I am surprised at how well my Fern Pine, Podocarpus gracilior, has done.  It remains lush and green.  As expected, my olive and pomegranates are weathering the heat and water restrictions without much difficulty.  The Shasta daisies bloomed well though they look a bit ratty now. The Euphorbias are fine as are the Agaves and the New Zealand Flax, the Phormiums. In the future I will want to fill in any empty spots with hardy plants that thrived during this drought.