Our temperatures were in the teens last night and our power went off in the middle of the night while we were asleep so lots of my plants in the greenhouse bought the farm and the Epis and suculents and hoya, and orchids were inside my house bit the dust and mush this morning. The power just came on a little while ago so basically everything I have collected all year was for nothing. Since we didn't get a snow storm or heavy rains with ice all over the trees, I wasn't expecting trees to go down or power to go off. I had a kerosene heater and oil lamps for the greenhouse but they were not lit and by the time we woke to find no power, it was morning. The damage was done. I guess it is just not ment for me to have all the tropical plants here in this area. Forgive me, I'm just a bit down totay.
Tropical Garden #61
We are on the way down...was 46 when I got up and now it's 44. Dear, oh dear.
So sorry to read of the devastation you guys have to deal with. This will be a year to remember, and not fondly.
Dave, your pictures are a welcome relief from nonsense here. That hawk is great.
vossner, did you have goldfish? I had them freeze in a small pond in Rochester, NY and in the spring they 'woke up.' Go figure.
Let's at least keep warm hearts and we will get through this.
Hap
Mekos, we cross posted. That is horrible. But, don't fret, consider this a new start. There are plenty of friends on Dave's that will be glad to give you another start if and when it gets warmer and if WE have anything left. This is so sad for all.
Hap
Yes, the philos will definately recover...they surprise me
Ahh Mekos, I am so sorry to read this and I think alot of us our just down right discouraged right now. I know I am! I just don't think I am going to be seeing any of my E.E's poke their lovely "ear's" this Spring.....sure hope I am wrong! I have never seen this pond completely frozen over but it is now........It's been super COLD here for too long.
Everyone, stay warm and wishing everyone's plant's the best.
Ice skating anyone;-0
Mekos: Hang in there ... Spring will come and when the weather warms up maybe we can have a thread where folks list what they lost from this extremely cold winter. I will gladly share if I have anything anyone is interested in!
Rachel: Wow, that is a beautiful scene but I'm glad we don't have that much ice! Am I seeing a crack in the ice on that pond? Be careful out there!
Well, I'm not gonna worry, at least we are ok and something might put up from the roots and if not, I'll worry about that then.My sister brought me an orchid this morning that she had got me for Christmas. It's in full bloom.
My son is living in our summer cabin on the river and colder there than here, and his heat went out last night and froze up his water pump and he's been all morning trying to thaw it out. So this could have been much worse than it was. I'm not as upset as I thought I would have been. They are just plants and there are more to be had one day. It will all work out. I still have a greenhouse full that are still ok and really not gonna worry.
I had a friend in tears on the phone this morning, just too overwhelmed with trying to protect everything she has collected.
In the case of her many plumeria, I suggested taking cuttings of the ones she cannot replace. I did that myself with about 20 of my best ones. The potted ones are in the garage, and the rest is on their own out there....
The plumeria forums last year were buzzing with people trying to help others replace what they had lost in the (California) freeze, and the year before it was Hurricane Katrina. Those of us who are fortunate to not lose plants will surely be happy to share and I agree, we should start a thread in the spring for this purpose.
You know what I saw here to protect plumeria in the ground was pipe covering..that foam pipe covering on the branches.....seemed like a good idea.
LOL, yes indeed, which is why I dismissed it right away...
It's pretty depressing reading of all the damage. It's bad enough when there's a disasterous event. But to have something ongoing like this is really the pits.
RJ, how's your tree fern coping with all this?
I hope someone does start a thread ,then when it warms up, we can help each other out. I have a couple of plants to donate Mekos, after the weather is warmer. 30 here at the moment, when the sun starts going down it is going to get cold again. When the Electric goes out there is a lot of damage. Prayers are with you all.
Hap, my fish were mosquito fish and cost about 25 cents each. I would be delighted and grateful if Mother Nature protected them and they'd wake up...but I'm not holding my breath.
Tropicbreeze, the only thing keeping me warm are your pics. pls keep posting.
Boy, are we gonna need a Tropicals co-op, lol.
It's been raining so much here it's hard to get any photos. Unless I dig out some of the old ones.
Corymbia ptychocarpa
Hibiscus tiliaceus
Crinum angustifolium
Crinum uniflorum
This one's just finished flowering.
Nervilia holochila
I've got some old ones to share too. This is from last month, wild morning glory vine growing through the knock out roses.
Tropic, I love that Nervilia, very pretty. I've never heard of it before, I'm going to have to google that one to read about it!
This is from last month also, Hoya wayetti bloom
This only flowers in the dry season
Dendrobium canaliculatum
Lantana with a Long Tailed Skipper having a sip
Another from the dry season
Cymbidium canaliculatum
Love the Dendrobium with the blue sky backdrop!
I just went out into the yard. It's only 34ºF ... it has not made it out of the 30's today!
Even after a few hours of sleet today, the Knock Out Roses are still in bloom ...
Looks like we've got a bit of activity going here, should get everyone warmed up. Probably overheated my end. Predicted to get to 35C today (about 95F) despite the rain. With all the humidity and no wind yesterday the AT was 43C (about 110F). I'll see if I can channel a bit through.
Dutchlady, only my white Frangipani are flowering now, the others are all leaves.
Lin, my Hoya "Kapit Borneo" had its buds up and ready to burst into flower again, but last nights rain dropped every one of them. And I have that same Lantana, but only a similar looking butterfly. Well, Skippers all look fairly similar.
Cycas armstrongii, they're still carrying seed now.
Some people grow a certain type of rose here, called something like floribunda. It's the only one that'll grow here, provided you take special care. A lot of people who come up from down south complain that they miss the roses.
These flower/fruit nearly all year round, Ficus racemosa.
Carpentaria acuminata
Wow, lovely photo looking up into the canopy of that Cycas!! Sorry to hear about your "Kapit Borneo" losing all the buds to the rain, that has to be frustrating!
That Lantana in my photo is very invasive here in Florida ... spreads like crazy, gets thick and woody and is hard to dig up. The Butterflies, Moths and Skippers love them and the blooms are pretty but it can be a pest plant.
This photo is a Noid Plumeria from October. I had about a dozen Plumies a year ago but only have four left. I pulled them out of the ground a few days ago and wrapped roots and all in a blanket and put them on the porch. I'm hoping they will be okay after I replant them in another month or so.
Another Noid Plumeria
Livistona benthami
I just love the view looking up into the tree canopies! Nice Livistona. We have a couple of Livistona's that grow here in Florida too, one is considered a dwarf ... can't remember which they are.
Another winter view of the Sugarberry Tree
I took a closer look at your Lantana, looks like mine but mine's the prostrate one, is yours the bushy one? Mine doesn't spread like the others. The taller Lantana is a disaster here. It's taken over a lot of the east coast. There's some areas of it here but generally they've got it under control. One of my neighbours has the bushy one and I've pulled out a few plants in my place that must have been from seeds spread by birds.
Bush at Howard Springs.
We have a lot of native ones, just locally there's L. benthami, L. inermis, L. humilis, L. rigida. More than half of Livistona species come from Australia. It's amazing where you find them. It's a pity I can't show this photo full size, but the palms there are L. v ictoriae.
The invasive form of Lantana we have is the Lantana camara: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/578/ it gets to be 4 feet tall and very wide. The flowers are pretty and I love that it attracts the butterflies but hate that it spreads everywhere, and the birds drop seeds everywhere!
Oh my goodness, what wonderful scenery. You live in an absolutely beautiful country!
Cleome species.
That 4 foot Lantana is what's still grown in some gardens but I've found is invasive. The worst one that's taken over the east coast grows several metres high and forms dense impenetrable thickets. The butterflies and birds love it. That's why it spreads so much, always pollinated and the seeds always spread by the birds.
Ficus platypoda climbing a rocky stairway.
