If you thought this summer would be a great time to buy a bunch of trees or shrubs, gather together a hoard of your favorite annual and perennial flowers or completely revamp your landscaping, my heart goes out to you.

Or maybe you planted your vegetable garden just like you’ve done for decades and the carrots didn’t germinate and you had to replant your beans a time or two, or  your tomatoes are full of blossoms but little or no fruit to show for it.

I know how you feel. I’ve been hauling sprinklers and hoses hither and yon, carrying  buckets and watering cans to the farthest corners of my yard, where the hose doesn’t quite reach and where I’d decided in some psychotic fugue state fueled by plant-lust to put  something that wasn’t even close to being drought tolerant.

Even if all you’re valiantly trying to save in this seemingly unending Hades of incredibly hot and dry weather is a wilted pot of violas or an enervated  clump of crocosmias, consider this column my condolence card to you.

Summer is a great time to plant ornamentals, and the optimum season for most, though not all, of your veggies. After all, the nurseries are full of great finds and there’s always a place you could shoehorn in that new shrub, isn’t there? And usually there’s rain at some point.

Okay, it’s sometimes on the day of the church picnic or the garden wedding you’ve been planning for six months, but be glad there’s at least a dollop of moisture.

And there’s usually a bit of cool weather from time to time in the summer so when you do have to water your garden it doesn’t just evaporate like spit on the soleplate of a steam iron — for all of you who still remember the days before permanent press and wash  and wear.

That was then, but this is now, kiddo.

The point I’m trying to make is if you were hit unprepared for our record breaking temperatures and lack of rain, then now is the time to make sure you’re ready for the next bout. None of us can be certain what the next years’ weather forecasts will entail, but a lot of good scientific minds out there are predicting changes ahead. Whether that change is immediate or more distant isn’t the point. Even if you aren’t affected, everyone’s kids and grandkids down the line may very well be.

Invest in plants that are drought and heat tolerant and move existing plantings only in the spring or fall. Install rain barrels on your downspouts to collect water for those dry periods that will occur. Group your plants so that the heavy drinkers are together to save wasting water on less thirsty plants. It’s harder to keep pots hydrated, so plant what you can in the ground. If you’re a veggie gardener, experiment with more varieties you can grow during the wetter and cooler parts of the year under row covers, clouches or cold frames.

By the time you read this it may have rained. Even so, it may not have been enough to do any good for your sorry looking petunias and the rhodie that gave up the ghost.

Believe me, I’m so sorry for your loss.