Hurricane Irene Pt2

We are alive, well, and the house and vehicles are fine as is good old Harry who got used to going to bed at 8 PM.

Thanks, WC, for your call - you are a sweetie and you can give me the $20.00 anytime. Thanks to Allison, Louise, Pixie, OutlawHeart and all others who were concerned about us and praying for us. The winds here were much more damaging than the not quite 2.5 inches of rain. They were clocked by local greenhouses at 71 MPH.

The amount of trees, young and old, uprooted or destroyed by the winds was horrific and hard to believe. One tree downed blocked a neighbor's driveway and the town removed it as the storm subsided but they didn't remove other split trees on narrow streets that could have killed anyone walking or driving by. For the first time I'm very disappointed in the Town of Southold.

Fallen limbs have created deep holes in the "grass" so every step has to be taken with great care. Fallen branches are everywhere and Jack's been to the dump with the contents of two refrigerators and their freezer compartments. A landscape team of five guys was here two days doing the clean-up and they were wonderful.

I do thank God it wasn't worse and if I hear one more crybaby on radio I do believe I will scream!

We did have major garden changes due to the storm as evidenced by this before and after photo:

oh wow Pirl.. I am glad to hear from you.. and that you are safe.. but wow what a mess.. so sorry babe

Wow what a difference...

Looking back if you knew it was going to be that bad would you have evacuated???

I am glad you are OK, too, Pirl. Your poor garden!

Thanks, Allison.

No reason to evacuate, Jen, and no evacuation plans were instituted for our area. No flooding at all and no roof damages to be seen (no roofing trucks on any of the roads), so we remained in place just as our neighbors did. Not one person left.

Thanks, Cat. Far too many lilies may have been lost. The Crape Myrtle had a limb from the tree crush it but maybe it can bounce back...but can I?

Oh course you can!!!!! Pirl i have faith in you, and everyone here to come out better for this. It may mean moving hoards of hostas now. But think of it as room for lillies! :) i feel like i should go on tour as a motivational landscape cleanup coach. Weeding and cleaning up and down the east coast.
So glad you're safe!

Devastating, but the most important 'things' are still safe and with us, - that's what's important.

Welcome back Pirl, regards to Jack as well! ☺

This message was edited Sep 1, 2011 9:12 PM

Hey WC, is that some kind of twisted metaphor? :).............Hank belongs to Louise, Jack belongs to Pirl

Eagle eyes Huh, .. first another $20 I gotta dish out and now I got the eagle eyes on me..
- Boy, this storm has been terrible! (lol!!)

Pretty quick edit ^_^

Welcome back to the world of hot showers and cold refrigerators, Pirl !

Hot showers, real ice, and AC are heaven sent.

I have a sign that says it all - The important things in life aren't things.

When a neighbor's full time residence in Manhasset was robbed of all jewelry, TV's, etc. she said she didn't lose a thing because she still had her husband and her three children. I'll always be grateful for her outlook - it's a great lesson in what is important in life.

you got it!!

It's proof that we don't all have to suffer the losses to learn some of life's lessons.

Great to hear from you, pirl! Glad you guys are okay. How long were you without power? My brother got his back last night. Trees look a mess, but luckily no one was hurt!

Oh Pirl so glad to hear from you! So sorry everythings a mess but sooooooooo glad you Jack & Harry are safe!!!

Thanks, Victor and Celeste. The messy part is hard to avoid seeing and trying to imagine an all sun garden is much worse. The older I get the more I want the shade.

We were without power from 6 AM Sunday to 11:30 Wednesday night. I'm thankful the nights were cool so we could sleep but the nearby generators made it rough.

There is a real benefit to being born with the last name of Zuegel. I got used to being last to be called on in school, last for anything that went alphabetically. Mentally I figured we'd be last to get power and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't the case. Someone does have to be the last one and I hope they are as grateful as we are to have our power.

Here's my little shady spot...former shady spot!

More room for lilies?

So many lilies were ripped out of the ground as the workers removed branches that got caught in the lily foliage! There are all of two very tiny leaves left on one clematis and another (so far) is missing until I can get down with a soft brush and go hunting for it. I had, and still have, potted lilies with corresponding signs in the ground for their placement but all those signs were ripped out by either worker's feet or wind or branch and limb removal.

I'll be overjoyed if I can find Stunning and Firestar.

The potted lilies will just have to wait another year before I can see what is lost and where the potted ones can be placed. I'm fine with that and fine with the waiting but missing the shade is a real problem for me. I just can't take the heat. In the meantime I'll use an umbrella in a cast iron stand to give me some protection and move it as needed. It's all minor compared to real suffering, being without roads and bridges like Vermont, being flooded out of a home, or other disasters resulting from the storm.

Seeing how the bark was ripped from limbs was a real eye opener.

What a mess, Pirl! But now you can start planning anew.....my son wants me to cut down what's left of my maple that was split by the microburst in June, but, like you, I need the shade for the back of my house. My shade garden is not so shady anymore!

It's a dilemma, for sure, Marilyn. There's the shade for you but the danger you or someone else could be hurt if a limb falls. Nature made the choice for me.

It's too soon for me to plan since I have so much to clean up yet and I'm heading out now.

Don't get too depressed....the gardens will be back, more beautiful than ever.....

In less than a years time, Arlene will have that area looking flawless and you'll never know anything happened !
That tree stump is just begging for some creative touch...and she'll do it. Just watch !

Have someone give you a table with an umbrella for Christmas. they ought to be able to find one on sale this fall. :)

Birdbath top on the tree? or clematis draped over it?

Until next June, when the lilies bloom or are missing, I can't plan anything. Right now it's just cleaning up and trying to make it look neat.

JD is my strength, my encouragement and he's eager to believe I can make the impossible happen. Let's hope you're right, Mike! I'll give it my best shot.

We have a table with an umbrella, Lucy, but I need shade for the spots where I work. I keep moving the cast iron base around to avoid the sun and it's working fine but not the same cool shade of a tree. I'd never be able to change the water for a birdbath that's 4' tall but that's an idea I have used in the past for stumps that weren't ground out.

I am making painfully slow progress.

Hang in there, pirl! One thing at a time.

Isn't it weird that Katia is two letters shot of Katrina?!!

So glad you are safe.I worried and checked for you daily. We just had heavy rain and a few dead branches down, We did have a party on the 27th which Irene did not attend.There are pictures in Canadian gardening of the event.There are advantages to a full sun garden. Take it easy and get help cleaning up your garden.Greetings to Jack.
Went out to the lake yesterday to check DD's camp.So many good memories .I'd love to do those years all over again!! JOY

Happy to see Pirl has checked in--even though I don't know her personally--it did concern me with Irene passing through. Can so understand about the shade garden giving away to sun! When I lived in Gainesville, Fl I had a beautiful area in the back of our yard that was a shade garden. Heavy rains one year caused several of the large older trees to ever so slowly lean over and become uprooted leaving me with sun. Adjusted to that then moved to this house in 2005 and have had to recall all my shade garden knowledge. Guess life is a continuing education for us.

After nine hours of work I can see more progress than I thought I could accomplish in one day. By the end of the weekend I should have photos that don't make me upset.

Thanks, Joy. Glad to hear the party went on as planned and you didn't get the blast from Irene. I'm sure many of us have a few years we'd like to live over again.

Abbisgramma - thanks for the good thoughts. Life is always handing us challenges and experiences and it's up to us to cope with them. Enjoy your shade!

just don't overdo it Pirl.. it will get there.. we all know you will make the yard beautiful

My last nine hours in the garden would take me back to June. ^_^

I promise to stop at 12 hours a day, okay?

Funny, Victor! How much time was spent on the pool?

1000X more than time spent IN it.

Even if you only have half of the flowers next year, your garden will still look 'Marvelous", like some guy used to say on TV. Do like I did long time ago when I realized that I made a big mistake, alowed my self to cry for 3 days, then I rolled up my sleeves and did something about it.

I think we gardeners spend half our time figuring out how to defeat nature and the other half how to work with her. The Great Compromise. I also hope Katrina, minus the r and n, will turn to the sea that bore her.

I hope that storm dissipates and the most we get is some rain but only if we need it, Louise. Currently I am battling the Houttuynia, the dreadful deer and the storm damage. Hope we don't have a hippo invasion!

Joy - I didn't shed a tear. I was numb with shock at the sight of the damages. The closest I came to crying was reading a very touching post by someone today on a clematis thread. DG friends are life savers in so many ways and I thank each one of you for being so supportive and so encouraging.

Victor - is the pool in working order now?

Ohh, the poor deer! They must be hungry! I forgot all about them, such cute animals... I hope they all made it through the storm!

I'm sure you are not concerned at all w c.

You're funny WC. I have to tell you, on my way home from work I drive through a state park. I always look for the deer that have come out to graze. It is the most peaceful minute or so of my day, so long as they stay in the park :)

Actually I have no problem with deer. Used to see them out in the fields when I flew my model airplanes in Fla. Always liked the idea of them running 'free'. Find it unfortunate that human development has left them no room in their natural habitat. Many people stop their cars near where they congregate and allow their children to feed them apples by hand, taking pics of them while they do. DW always points them out when we go hiking in the more secluded areas around here. I respect them and keep my distance, I feel they belong here, more than the people transplanted into their domain. - You'd be surprised, we both love and respect animals. - and if a dog or a cat is trampled by one we also understand the deer cant afford to have it's legs injured by a domestic animal, it's a matter of survival. Unfortunaetely ecomomic gain for prized land and the demand for expansion by humans have left them and many other wildlife with nowhere to go.

- But I'm not going to bang a drum, I realize the reality of the situation, and also realize my sentiments are futile. So I express my sentiments in an indirect manner so I dont seem like I'm a crusader for an unpopular cause. - especially where the majority are interested in how many flowers they have as opposed to the balance of the ecosystem in general. - that's where I stand - not that it matters. ☺