finalee!

Well the ole pearly gates flowered yesterday! With a little added bonus.

Here's the bonus! I think is flying saucer.

Jon

Looks like a blue star mutation; I have however had these when growing them close to flying saucers and where I have kept the seed see flying saucer here

they look awesome Jon glad it finally bloomed. my blooming season is almost over here as the cold temps are starting to set in.

Glad you finally got your Pearly Gates Jon. I like it and your
Blue Star type

Jackie

Jon - BEE autiful!!! I love your mutant Blue Star. I hope you get lots of seeds from that one!! I want a few! I am really curious to see what future blooms look like on that vine!

I hope you have time in your buys schedule to take a more photos for us! :-)

Hey! Thanks all. Think/ hope best to come! The weather is begining to deteriorate rapidly now, with yet another typhoon forcast! This one looks realy nasty! Just hope it stays away from me! I had another flower today with just
the faintest hint of blue, not even worth a photo! But lots of promising buds for tomorow. I should say that my
pearly gates was a transplant, In the container were two plants growing very close together, I think one of them is the mutant! No complaint from me!
What a wonderful group of people you are!
Thank you so much.

Jon

Jon - Not happy to hear about the typhoon. I will pray it stays away your community! Keep that camera ready as I hope you can get photos when the blooms really start their show! Be safe during the bad weather!

I think I'll be lucky to have my mg survive this typhoon Becky, looks real nasty!
I wish I could just roll up the garden and keep it safe. LOL!!!

Jon

Jon - Be safe!!! I saw the typhoon on the weather website and it looks bad! Praying for you that you are safe and that your home and garden is not damaged. Keep us informed as to how you are doing please. The typhoon should pass by late tomorrow?

Looks very nasty and about to hapen! Hunkerd down, shuters closed, what more can you do?
Worried here, we are! I just hope my family and friends are ok! Gardens can be replaced.
This looks like it could be one of the worst to hit mainland Japan for a few years! I pray we don't get to much
damage, or loss of life! I know these things can cause serious damage and this is a real strong one, bracing for it
right now! Keep ya posted.

Jon

keep safe Jon...

Hoping everyone comes through all right

In my prayers Jon...

Hi Guys, Thanks,
Well after a wild night the center is just approaching us as I type! Can't hear myself think.
No idea what, if any damage as it's still quite dark and I have all the shutters closed.
Scary stuff!

Jon

Jon - Praying for the safety of your family and you! I am amazed you still have power to send a post. We always lose power here during hurricanes! Hang tight and keep checking in with us!

The most dangerous thing after a bad storm like this is a downed power lines. Be very, very careful when walking around outside once the storm passes.

Hi Guys, Becky the power did go down shortly after my last post! Thankfuly it's working again.
The house has survived, as have we. I guess wev'e been very lucky as some areas have been badly damaged.
I have not been out of the house to check locally yet, as it's still very windy.

The Garden is a complete write off, mashed to bits! My mg has been shredded and is hanging in tatters,
To add insult to injury, a slug has eaten my newly germinated mg seeds! GRRR!

I know others are far worse of than us and my thoughts and prayers go out to them.

I thank you all for your kind thoughts.

Jon.

Until this evening I had no idea just how lucky we have been! Our neighboring town, just 10 mins drive away,
was hit by a tornado causing huge damage! The town is where my wife's clinic is for pregnant woman.
So far 2 people have been reported killed! Devastation everywhere.
It's still coming in on the evening news, OMG!

Edited to add this link.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/



This message was edited Oct 8, 2009 7:14 PM

glad your safe Jon, 118 people injured too....

Thanks Colin.

Jon

Jon - I am so glad that you and Akie and your son are safe. Definitely a nasty typhoon that hit y'all. Gardens can be replaced, people can not. You are all safe and that is what matters! {{{hugs}}} to you, your family, and the Japanese people affected by this awful storm. Do you know how high the winds got during all of it? They list them by category 1-5 here. 5 is the highest. We sustained damage in 2004 from 2 hurricanes and the winds were between 115 - 135 mph. Made a mess of things. And the rain brought lots of flooding which I imagine is what you are seeing. Be safe! Glad to hear your electric is back on. :-)

Thanks becky, Here they give wind speed in meters per second, this one was hitting 55 mps, too much math
for me to work out,LOL!!!!!!! Of course the tornado that hit our local town is quite a different story!
I'm not bothering over the garden as it's nearly autumn. Start again in spring!

Jon

123 miles per hour.... :-s

Colin, I just knew there would be some sucker to bother to work it out! I could'nt be asked! Lol.
So Becky, where does that place our typhoon on your scale?
we took a break today and went to our local beach, first time for my son, he lovd it!
Perfect weather, sunny and & 78 F. We all had a lovely day!
That's what life's about. I just wish you could have seen his face when he first saw
the ocean. Tonight he is just full of it!

Love all,

Jon

my head just works it out Jon... he he :-) glad you and your family had a great day at the beach... this is the bit where we English usualy moan about the weather... but we very rarely get anything like that! my heart goes out to you....

Actualy Colin, typhoons of that strengh are quite rare here too, thankfuly! LOL.
Here's a pic of the mg vine after the storm!

Jon

Two days pass and I cannot believe the power of these plants to survive!
They have won my heart and respect.

Jon

Colin - Thanks for the conversion! 123 mph ... that's a pretty intense storm!

Jon, you were lucky you didn't have more damage. I heard the Phillipines had a lot of deaths. Nasty storm!!! Is there another one forming out there in ocean? How's your community?

That's neat that your Pearly Gates had some blooms after all the damage! They are determined plants and the bloom buds don't get easily discouraged either! :-) What a nice surprise to see blooms! :-) I hope the weather stays nice and no more storms this year! :-)

We've had a very quiet hurricane season. Not over until November 30, but we have been knows to have storms in December. I am not expecting any serious threats this year. :-)

Glad your family is safe Jon. Love your bloom with just
a touch of blue.

Jackie

Hi Guys and thanks, In true Japanese fashion all the community have all got together clearing up, you would hardly know there was a storm now! Glad you liked my bloom Jackie; I called it my one-o-clock flower.
Becky, I think your right there is another storm brewing! The Philippines is a mess my thoughts are with them too.
I hope no hurricanes come your way.

Jon

Jon your weather makes me not want to complain about mine!! Glad you are safe!

Thanks Ronnie, today is really lovely, 75 and sunny! No complaint there! It's the second time this year the
garden got flattend, but what can you do? No good complaining just have to get on with it.
I do worry about my family and the house, typhoons, floods and earthquakes LOL!

Here's my little son at the beach.

Jon

Jon - That photo of your son is the cutest! Boy! Is he ever an adorable little man! Is that reddish-brown hair he has or the reflection from the sun?

Again ... I am so glad you are safe. I am watching that new storm. I never thought I would be watching the weather forecasts for the other side of the world and fearing typhoons because of friends there! I think we have a little toooooo much in common, Jon. I think we could both go without having severe tropical storms! LOL! We get flooding here, but probably not as bad as you do in Japan. You have it much worse though with the earthquakes. I do NOT like earthquakes one bit!!!

I can't tell you and your family enough ... to stay safe. Prayers, prayers, and more prayers that the good Lord puts a protective bubble around you, your family, and your community! And may those tropical storms blow away to somewhere else ... may they go out to sea to fizzle out ... I sure hope so anyway!

Oh my he is a handsome one isn't he!!

Hi Becky, yes that is his hair color, my mom and sister have red hair although I'm blond / grey.
Akie has very dark brown hair, so I reckon he's a mix, LOL.

Funny you should mention worrying about the weather in other places, I have many friends all over the world
and keep an eye on all of them! Don't worry Iv'e zipped up our protective bubble!
Earthquakes (big ones) scare me the most, they can strike anywhere at any time. Japan is a word leader in
earthquake resistant technology, we now have an early warning system in place that gives us around 15 seconds
to hide! All in all it's the price we pay for living in a wonderful country. There really is nowhere on Earth I would
rather be.

Jon

Takes after his dad, Ronnie!

Thanks,

Jon

Jon - ROTFLMBO! (rolling on the floor laughing my behind off!) I KNEW you were going to say that! LOL! I'd say he's got the best of both his mom and dad 's genes! :-)

Hi all, well the latest typhoon looks a weak one and set to miss us, thank god!
Glad you got a laugh Becky!

Here's some pics of my pearly gates / blue star?
Most of the blooms have been white, just the odd few with a touch of blue.

Jon

Jon - Well, will you just look at those blooms! For some vines that have been through a typhoon, I'd have to say they are making a very nice recovery! And ... every time I see another area of your yard ... the bells go off in my head ... that wall and that short fence ... PERFECT for more JMG vines. You could place some long retangular containers on the ground and train the vines right up the wall and the fence! Cover that whole area with green vines and tons of blooms! :-) See how my mind thinks! Of course, I do have an obsession with vines, so everything looks like a place to grow them to me! Hee, hee!

I am relieved to hear that the current typhoon does not appear to pose a threat to you! But don't let your guard down. Keep an eye on it anyway.

I say that because we first got hit in 2004 by Hurricane Frances. She did her share of damage to us and our community and quite a bit of the east coast of Florida. Just a little over 2 weeks later, Jeanne moved across the Atlantic Ocean from the African coast. She was badder than Frances, but all the weather forecasters said that she wouldn't hit Florida. And would probably head north and not be a threat to North America. Well, guess what? That wicked hurricane did a loop right out there in the ocean and came right at us. No one was expecting that to happen and she slammed us hard. Believe me! She did some major damage and my community looked like a battle field when she left. Total destruction. Our homes were already weakened from Frances. Jeanne came in and finished the job. We had serious damage to our home. I will never forget that year. Luckily, the loss of life was very minimal in the USA, but Haiti lost over 3,000 lives! The damage in the USA is what had many of the homeowners insurance companies wanting to pull out of Florida. And then the following year, Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast states and brought major destruction. So I don't take any storms lightly these days, nor do I underestimate their unpredictibility.
http://csc-s-maps-q.csc.noaa.gov/hurricanes/viewer.html?QE=NAME&ATLBASIN=1336
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Jeanne

Jon, I get nervous every July when we start watching the tropical depressions forming over the waters. It keeps everyone in Florida and the gulf states on their toes.

I laughed about your remark because I have 3 kids. Not one single child looks like me! My oldest looks like my ex, his deceased father. My middle son looks just like my husband. And my daughter looks exactly like my sister who looks nothing like me! LOL! If they didn't look so much like their dads or other relatives in my family, I'd think they were switched at birth! Seems I went through all the work of growing those babies and raising them after they were born and none of them had the decency to look like their MOM! ;-P~~~ LOL!

This message was edited Oct 11, 2009 8:41 PM

Becky you've read my mind! The entire wall is going to be planted with mg's next season, the wall is about 30'
long and shaded until around 11 am, then blasted with sun till late afternoon. I have decided to grow them
directly in the ground as the soil there is perfect, well drained sandy loam. I'm planning to make a 10'
frame to grow them on. At the opposite end of the garden I'm growing clems as it gets the sun all day.

Akira is a lot like me as a baby (a little tike!) LOL!!!!

Weather forcast, I check two or three times daily!
Interesting thing about Japan, many of our older houses including mine, have very heavy tile roofs
and so are very resistant to high winds. The downside is they are more prone to collapse in strong quakes!
All of the large windows in our house have metal shutters, not bomb proof but good in bad weather!

I'm really pleased with my pearly gates, it looks so pretty from the living room window, the blooms just glow
with the sun behind them.

Thanks,

Jon