PALM CITY, Fla. — Many parts of our viewing area are still hoping for more rain to fall, especially on the Treasure Coast.
Drought monitors show Martin County is still in a severe drought situation.
There are hundreds of plants at Pinder's Nursery in Palm City, and some are more drought tolerant than others, meaning they can survive without as much water.
Ian Pinder knows his way around the family nursery.
"By mixing all of these together, you can create a Florida landscape," Pinder said.
Pinder knows which plants need less water to grow, and which ones are ready for the rain.
"We went into this dry season without those winter rains and it’s really made a difference," Pinder said.
Pinder said he expects to run pumps and irrigation systems more often this time of year, spending more money on electricity. But this season seems drier than most.
"We have to run the irrigation two to three times a day to keep the plants wet," Pinder said. "If it’s blowing, they dry out faster. When it’s hot, they dry out faster. So any rain we can get and not have to run pumps and irrigation saves us money."
"Definitely a drop in the bucket compared to the drought and the prolonged dry conditions we’ve seen for so long," said Cory Pippin, the community relations liaison for Martin County Fire Rescue.
Pippin said that while the half an inch of rain recorded in the area Wednesday didn't do much for the drought, it did help firefighters.
"The rain yesterday did lessen the chance that any kind of wildfire could spread out of control quickly," Pippin said.
For now, Pinder will do what he needs to do to keep their plants healthy.
"I'm hoping we’re going to get those afternoon thunderstorms rolling in everyday," Pinder said.
Pinder said it was just his birthday a few days ago, and all he wanted for his birthday was more rain.
