I am hoping that since many of my tropical beds are mostly bulbs, like the gingers and the elepahnt ears, that they will survive and come back next year just fine. My question is since I have a fence, shingles, tin, glass, and various peices of lumber from someplace on top of my beds, and this probably will not be moved for another few weeks, will these bulbs survive under a lot of debris still? The gingers I had in pots have died due to no water and are scattered all over the neighborhood, along with my greenhouse. Will they survive even though they were not ready to die back naturally? Should I try to water them and bring them back, or just let the bulb go dormant? The tops of some of them still show some green. In my new ginger beds, there are trees on top, and in the process of trying to remove the trees, they have been trampled by heavy equipment, so these may have been crushed. I can't get to the bulbs to dig them up yet since there are still tree parts on top. I know that some bulbs need to have the tops stay on for some time to strengthen the bulb, like daffodils. Guess there is not much I can do about them if they need the tops. but I just was wondering and hoping and thinking maybe they will be back better than ever next year. What do y'all think?
Saving some of my tropicals after Katrina
I'm thinking you still have a pretty long time before you get a frost or freeze.
Gingers are pretty tough plants.
I'd say even w/o getting watered the containers will come back.
I have received several in the mail as dry tubers and they easily re-sprouted.
We are doing construction and a tree removal here, though in FAR better circumstances,
and everything that got whacked came back stronger than before.
Years ago we found two beds under debris here after a fire we had.
They were buried for weeks.
We just gave them a little love and fert.
Next Spring no sign anything had happened to them.
We still have a fern that was on fire and thrown in the toilet.
It survived 3 weeks growing there. lol
I believe they and you will feel far better getting back to some semblance of normal.
Seeing green in all that distruction....................
Need EE's?
Let me know.
Ric
Roz,
So happy to see you are safe & well!!
I was wondering able all my Ginger in those nasty old Black Nursery pots too. Today
was the first day my Gingers got watered!!
I know I have bought ginger bare rooted & dry before. Do you think they may come back with some TLC?? I got all kinds from the MB sale last year, still in pots.
Would you believe?? My poor dried-out, broke up Plumeria are setting buds to bloom!!!
Oh, remember how excited I was about my new greenhouse (when we went to N.O. Sale)?? It is now down in the woods by the
creek, no saving it!!! Praying insurance will cover it.
When things calm down, we all need to have a girl day out. I'll be off work awhile, the hospital were I work (Bay St. Louis) had the first floor washed out.
Oh,I saw Janet yesterday she looks great.
Honeybee~Bonnie
Glad you're safe, Roz!
:) Donna
Henry, that is great news about the gingers - On the 27th of Aug, my friend and I went to the New Orleans Botannical Gardens sale and bought lots and lots of plants; unfortunately, the non bulb plants are crispy and brown, but it sounds like there is hope for the gingers. Honeybee - Bonnie, hear that? All may not be lost.
Henry, I think I may have lots of elephant ears return; in fact, I will probably have some varieties that I can share or trade with all of you.
Bonnie, not to discourage you too much, but my greenhouse is gone and my insurance will not cover it. In fact, the deductible is so high for hurricane related damages that it looks like I will have a 4000. dollar deductible on the house and the outside structures, and the shop, greenhouse, poolhouse and the hobby room in the shop are all gone. Nothing we can't live without, but doggone, I sure hate to hear about your nice new greenhouse. Mine was old.
Perennial Girl- Donna, Thanks!
roz, you bulbs will be fine. there is more danger of killing w/ watering kindness than otherwise. Best wishes to you.
Mississippi gals (and guys),
Please let me know if there's anything that I can do to help out. You will really need your garden for the peace it brings to help you through all of this. You're neighbors for me here in the Panhandle so please let me know if you need specific plants, bulbs, clippings, etc. and I will be glad to do my darndest to help. It's good to see that you're trying to "get back on track" by thinking about your gardens. I think it will be good therapy. My best wishes to you all.
Barbara
Hi Roz :)
Ditto on what Donna said!!
Eric
Roz, I know nothing about the plants, but I'm sure glad you are okay. If I can help you with anything that you need replaced, I'll be more than happy to mail stuff to you. Just let me know.
Shirley
You all just cannot imagine how much I appreciate your offers of plants, bulbs, cuttings, etc. It will be a long while before I can even think about planting anything; I am focusing on trying to keep what was there. Today is really the first day I have even given the garden much thought; there seems so much to be done, but it has been a very good distraction.
Thanks again to everybody.
Roz,
My Ins. Agent said my GH should be covered I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Good news about the Ginger, now we just have to find a pace to keep tem from freezing!!
My sm. 12X16 Gh did make, minus
the plastic. Hope we have time to get it back together.
Steve is working long hours 7 days a week right now.
Praying that Marie is OK with no damage. Hope we can all get together before I go back to work.
Honeybee
Great news about the greenhouse! You were so proud of it and it was so nice. I sure am glad you will be able to get it again. I plan to keep the bulbs in the ground, maybe with lots of mulch, and I sure have lots of pine straw, this year at least. We lost 24 trees, just in the part we use as our yard, the part we mow. The rest is woods, and I can see the street from my back porch now. So many leaves and trees are gone. I think most of the leaves will come back, just got blown off. I think it will probably fare much better than I can imagine. Like Henry said, he had things come back that should not have. I think we will find that true here too. For now, I just want to get it cleaned up.
Marie had damage about like we did - trees, some roof damage, some water inside, but outside structures pretty well gone, but they are all safe. Hope we can get together soon.
Roz,
Can you hear me crying!!!!!!! The Ins. Agent just called to tell me he was wrong!! It will not replace the GH!!!!!!!!!!
Honeybee
Roz, I always have ee's you can have when you get settled again or in the spring. Kyle :-)
Roz, I was so thrilled to hear you were okay!! If there is anything I can send, please let me know.
I was just talking to my insurance agent about greenhouse coverage and I was told it is covered under "additional structures". Does your policy have that listing?
Roz, I left about half my gingers out last winter covered with a tarp and they came back this year and last winter was a very cold one. There is one problem though, they do not bloom the next year as early and as well as the ones that I dug out, dried out and brought indoors. But, they will survive and maybe next winter you will have a green house. I do not have a green house so I just dry them out, put them in a box with perelite and plant them again in the spring. It is a lot of work but worth it. I love gingers.
Hope you know to contact the Seabees and they will help cut the fallen trees and pick up the debris. Had 7 guys working in my yard for four hours on Friday and they did not finish but have a church group coming tomorrow to help remove my demolished shed and finish with the tree removal.
Help is available if you know where to find it. If I hear of another group, would you like me to give you contact information?
Am glad you are okay. We will all get through this.
Hugs, Ruby
(((Roz))) So great to see a post from you. I don't know much about gingers but I think your ears will be fine. If not we will get ya fixed back up with them when you are ready. Heck lady half mine came from you anyway so they need to come home. I know how much you loved your palms and I am glad they survived. You know anything I have is yours. Hugs
Honeybee, I am so very sorry about your greenhouse. I was sure hoping it would be covered. My insurance company told me mine will not be covered, nor will my fence be covered. I hope you can salvage some of it. Our insurance company is supposed to come here next Tuesday, so I will know then how much I need to do. Or what won't be done just now. I am not happy at all with the mold growing, and keep spraying it with bleach, but we need to cut it out completely, and we will when the insurance company comes. That is the nastiest looking stuff.
Ruba, we are slowly but surely getting some of the trees out here. Lots of folks don't have sons and a husband like I do so we will be okay. My two sons are going strong and Billy is too. I am glad you got some help - I know you are alone there. If I can do anything for you, give me a call. I may have some stuff you may want to come dig and have. Sounds like your method with the tarp works real good, and I think that is what I will do.
In a hurricane zone, outside structures don't include a greenhouse; at least not on my policy. Don't include a privacy fence either. Strange - the insurance company requires me to have a fence around the pool, but don't cover it if it is destroyed. Hope I don't get canceled cause I don't have a fence - hurricane season is not over yet.
Mystic, I know you will give me anything you have, and I do appreciate it. I really think I will be surprised next Spring at the stuff that comes back. If not, you know I will hollar help.
Hey Roz!!!! I have been wondering and waiting for you to emerge!!! We have been so worried about you! It sounds like you have flooding in your house? How high did the water get in your house? Was it storm surge?
You know you can have any of my plants you want....soon as you get ready. I always leave my gingers and everything our and they come back every year. No greenhouse. Miss Vrginia is sitting right here and wishes you the best!
Connie
Just talked to Roz she wants me to let everybody know she is without a phone or internet again. Don't know when it will be back. She was using a neighbors phone to call. She just didn't want anybody to think she wasn't answering your post.
Roz,
My agent said it would have been covered if I had not listed Steve's workshop or if I had listed both Shop & GH. So Steve wins this one. Or maybe not soon or later he will have to buy or build me anoter GH. At least I had the big one for one winter season!! Maybe in a few weeks I'll be able to laught about the GH flying by the house during the storm!! Can't laugh at anything just now.
Honeybee~Bonnie
That stinks! I really feel for you guys. If it isn't one storm, it's the next and if they don't $^@#*(*@ you, the insurance company will!
When my neighbors tree fell and took out my fence, my fence was not covered either. It is considered one of those 'act of God' things unless you had a certified letter saying 'your trees are rotten and they are going to fall on my stuff'. LOL Of course if I paid my $500 deductible, insurance would pay $500 towards clean up. WHAT??
I wish you all the best in recovering your lives, homes and plants.
Badseed,
Thanks. We are Southern Gals & tough as nails. We will pull through this.
Honeybee
Hi to all, I got another phone line and just wanted everybody to know all is fine here. Honeybee, it just stinks about your greenhouse - if I can get a phone line long enough, I am calling you. Everybody in the Rita area, do now what needs to be done. Henry is right about giving a phone number or something to get in touch. I do not have a phone number yet, but I do not think I am in the path this time. Somebody is going to get it - it is so hot here today - in the mid 90-'s. We need a cool front.
Everubody, take care now.
Thinking about you girlfriend!
It's so good to hear that you are okay Roz. I've been thinking about you.
Honeybee, I would expect no less of you *southern gals*! :) I am glad to hear you guys will be spared this hurricane.
Susie, is this one going to hit you?
Heads up, Suzie!! This thing could go your way in the blink of an eye. Take all precautions.
They are issuing "evacuation passes" till 10 o'clock tonight(so we can get back in if we have to leave). Schools are talking about closing Thursday and Friday just in case. All RV's and tall vehicles have to be off the Island, I think they said tonight, but not sure, maybe tomorrow night.
I am 4 miles from the Bay as a crow flies, and 25 ft above sea level, but I'm definitely leaving if they say it's headed this way!
Hi Roz,
Glad to hear you and the family are safe. As far as the gingers and EE go.. last year, after Ivan, when I had so many trees crash down in the swamp garden I thought all was lost.. I didn't get around to getting the trees cut up and cleared out for another couple months.. then winter came.. and then spring.. and darn if the gingers and the EE's all haven't come back and with a vengence.. so all is not lost. If you have any that don't come back and I have it I will be happy to share with you.
Trish
Trish, that is so sweet of you, both the encouragement and the offer. From what everybody is saying, I believe it will be just fine next spring. A few months makes a big big difference in attitude too, so I will be roaring to dig in the dirt I am sure. Now I just throw up my hands, just too much to do. I talked to Bonnie- Honeybee and she feels about the same as me. We go out to start doing, but just cannot get into it. There is plenty of time to let the garden just rest a few months. Each day gets a little better; people are beginning to get back to as normal as possible. Soon as the schools open, it will be much better and they should be open by Oct. 15th at the latest, maybe as early as Oct.3.
SUZIE, LISTEN UP- the hurricane is a cat. 4 now and has a long way to come yet. If you wait til the last minute, you will be stuck on the road for hours. The traffic is going to be so backed up. Put your husband, daughter, and dog in the truck and head out. First fill up your gas tank in all the cars and run some water in all your tubs.
Roz, Bill is on the road so I have to board up everything. I'll probably start this evening. The gas tank is full, we have lots of bottled water and I'll fill the biggest bathtub with water this evening(sure glad it's clean, lol).
Now to figure out how to get myself, Lauren, Bleu the dog, two cats and a cockatoo in the car without Bleu eating the cats and "Elliot the bird" taking a bite out of everybody!
Don't worry if the tubs are clean or not - the idea is to use the water to flush the commodes. Put a bucket by the tub. Put extra stuff in your pool cause you may not have the filter running. We extra zapped ours before the storm, and we were able to actually swim for a few days after the hurricane- such a pleasure in the hot hot hot days after a hurricane in Sept, in the deep south withoug ac. Then we had to hook up the generator to the pool filter to run it awhile. We had 11 people in my house during and after the storm. so we really did love getting in the pool and at least getting the sweat off. You will not be able to run the generator all the time because gas is not anywhere to be found - electricity runs the pumps, and even with electricity, nobody has any gas. All the people at my house and on the other three houses on my road really enjoyed the pool. I would have stayed in it all day just o keep cool; please try to keep your pool going without the filter for a few days. You will need to keep checking it, cause you sure don/t want all that fresh water from the rain you may have to change the PH in the pool, and make it not so good to be in. If all else fails and your pool does not stay at the right level to be healthy, you cn always use it to flush toilets, but it is nust a pain to haul water inside from your pool every time. With eleven adults here, that was a lot. All three of our tubs were full, but ran out real soon. Just get out and do not wait until the last minute. Get yourself a credit card and worry about paying it later. If you keep waiting, you may have to go all the way up the middle of the US to find a place you can stay. If you can find gas, and can't find anyplace to go, come here. We still have the pool!!!!!!!!
OK OK CAT 5!!!! DO NOT STAY!!!
Roz, the local authorities are still saying "wait", we are south of the target area. I've got "sock it" for the pool plus extra chlorine tablets. We have a generator, I'm going to get gas in the morning. I filled my car up today and bought groceries. I'm going to turn up the cold setting on the freezer to make it extra frozen, I can always turn it back down if nothing happens(did that make sense? I mean if it's really cold, it takes longer to thaw)
If it heads this way, I'm going toward Laredo. That is where they are recommending we go, west. I know how to get there both on Interstate highway and on back roads.
Just do not wait so long that you cannot get out. This is going to be a bad one, it seems. I only hope it is not as bad as it sounds. Most of the time, nothing is as bad as you think it will be - let's hope this is the case here. Have you heard from Frannie?
Frannie emailed that they were going north, to her sister or SIL's house with Lisa's horse in tow.
Looks like Rita took a turn north during the night.