oh I just noticed you are from Seattle area. You get like tons of rain right? I could have a lush yard if we got rain. I did have a few years ago before our drought started. We have experienced some breaks from the drought but it keeps coming back. I have gone to native plantings now so things are looking up.
You will probably be amazed to hear that we don't get very much more rain than you do.
Austin gets about 33 inches per year, based on a couple sources on the web. So, how much does "Soggy Seattle" get? 37 inches. Yes, only 4 more inches than you get!
Here's a table that will surprise you:
Average Rainfall for major cities
Seattle, WA 37.4"
Boston, MA 42.53"
Houston, TX 47.84"
Miami, FL 58.53"
New York, NY 49.69"
Washington, DC 41.80"
How is that possible? Simple, while you get "Gully Washers", we get "drizzle", "mist", "heavy fog", "showers" and, occasionally, "rain". Picture the difference between a hose and a mister, and you get the idea. (By the way, you've heard the old story about eskimos having a lot of different names for "snow" in various fashions. Well, in Seattle the terms "mist", "drizzle", "showers" and "rain" are all used by the local weatherman to mean different things, ranging from tiny bits of rain wafting through the air (mist) to regular old rain. We also see Thunderstorms, with Heavy Rain, but they're not that common.
What we really have more of than most is cloudy days. That's where Seattle is in the lead. This table tells the tale:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762183.html
Look at the "days" column and you'll see the difference.
San Antonio - 82 rainy days
Seattle - 155 rainy days
That's the real difference! Not how much rain we get, but how often it's cloudy...