SEATTLE HAS WATER ISSUES AS WELL

Here I am in Seattle, WA visiting my daughter and her family. Let me relate a funny story that happened many years ago when she first moved here and gardened for the first time.
Being the Master Gardener, I, of course, got tons of questions as this was her first experience doing these things on her own. One of the first questions was about some shrubs she had in the front yard that looked pretty sad.
"What's wrong with these shrubs?" she asked. I looked and for all the world they looked like they were suffering from drought! But, hey, this is Seattle we're talking about. It rains here ALL the time! I was stumped.
However, that afternoon, she was treating me to the Seattle Flower Show! I don't know any garden show that doesn't have a Master Gardener booth available to the attendees. So, I grabbed a few leaves, stuffed them in my pocket, and off we went.
As we entered, the first thing I saw was the Master Gardener Extension Booth. Hurray!
I pulled out my little leaves and handed them over with the query, "What's wrong here?"
They looked and said, "They're thirsty!" Hey wait a minute...this is Washington, where it rains ALL the time. HOW can they possible be thirsty? There's no drought going on here that I know about!
So, I got the explanation. It may rain a lot here (in Seattle) but it is a very light rain. Very rarely does it rain HARD, for a LONG time. So, the water doesn't permeate the soil. It just goes into the top half inch or so. The roots get none of it!
So, you see? Even in Seattle where it rains ALL the time? You need to water your plants with a soft, SUSTAINED, soak! So, pay heed, no matter what the weather...unless you've had a few VERY heavy SOAKING rains...WATER your plants before winter sets in!