The greenhouses at work froze last thursday, most of my tropical collection for work was killed, ti plants are mush,crotons even my rare ones are no more, a few small ones survived. I hope my sunshine trees and some of the older plants will live.The brugs were killed to the soil line.The temp was 16F that night and the system malfunctioned.brought all that cold air inside.A few palms survived many were terribly damaged.Gonna be a really bad year downtown this year.
see pic
It sounds aweful. You might be able to save some stuff though. I have seen some plants survive amazingly cold weather of course they look aweful for awhile but cutting off the rot and spraying fungizide will help out I am sure. How many hours was it at 17F? Extremely sorry to hear
Brian, was most of the night. I was off with knee surgery .The alarm system failed too.
Oh No!!!! I'm so sorry,If there is anything that we can do ,please ask.
What weird, whacky weather this year... a lof of palms bought the farm this past January in Southern California of all places where it got into the mid-20's for several days... record cold in a lot places.
Sorry for your loss. =-(
Oh Kyle, that is so sad. Maybe some of them will pull through.
Kyle, I am very sorry to hear of your loss. What a bad break. I hope you recover quickly. Please let me know if you need anything from me.
Erick
Kyles I am so sorry to hear about your losses. Please let us know if we can help in anyway.
Oh Kyle, I am sick over your losses there; what a blow. You are always so thoughtful and willing to share with us; I suspect many of us will be happy to share back.
Brian had some good advice, you might be surprised at what does make it. We will help fill in the blanks so Des Moine can look pretty again.
Hang in there buddy and take care of that knee. alice
wow, Kyle, you must have felt sick to your stomach seeing that -it makes me feel that way just looking at it. I am so sorry that happened. What a mind blower-I would never have seen that one coming where the air blower reverses. Usually it is the fear of the heater not working-had that happen a few times, but not at 16 degrees.
Kyle-
How sad!
If there are any EE that you need, just ask. I have lots to share. Xanths, Colocasia and Alocasia. All different sizes.
Just Dmail me. I mean it!
ROX
So sorry Kyle for your loss. This weather is insane. Your displays were spectacular. I've enjoyed all your pictures.
that TOTALLY stinks!! hope some will come back fast after warming up.
Kyle, Im so sorry to hear about the losses, I'm off home to Europe for 12 days. but when I get back i'll send you pictures of my crotons and just tell me which ones you want cuttings from, they're all yours. I have soome unusuall ones that will probably make you smile again.
Thanks everyone.Always feels like family when something goes wrong here. I will inventory things and see what we need. Many things may grow back, but may not be big enough for the displays. Time will tell. My hibiscus, ti plants and crotons were hit worst.My seedling heliconias bit the dust even the rare ones. :-(
So very sad to see any plant die, and to have so many all at once! My heart aches for your loss. But with all these wonderful offers of help, and all those good thoughts going your way, I'm sure that you will have beauty around you again soon.
I feel really bad for you.
Oh, that is a disaster....how shocked you must have been and most likely still in shock!!!! That has to be one of the saddest things that could happen to a person!!!
I believe if something like that had happened to me I would up and move to Hawaii or South America and not look back. I am really busy but once you get set up and ready for some new plants let me know I could send you some replacements as well.
SUX. Send me a Bromeliad list you want and I'll replace whatever I can.
Dave.
Oh man, I can't even imagine Kyle. I am really sorry to hear this. :(
Sorry Kyle
I know how you feel......
but I didn't have anything as awesome as yours
or as rare
If you need any thing I have let me know
I have some hibiscus,brugs,passi's
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Eclipse}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} You do such beautiful work. Things will get better, though. You have your friends in here to help you. :)
Did you ever look at your greenhouses and wonder if you shouldn't take things in a different direction, maybe with a different mix of plants/varieties? If you did, maybe now is your chance to do it. :)
Get that knee better. As others have said, you'll have some survivors. They'll need some tlc for a while, but if anyone can revive them you can. :)
-Joe G.
Oh my! I'm so sorry, Kyle! What a rotten thing to happen! Hopefully alot of the plants will surprise you and will come back! Take care of your knee.
:( Donna
I already talked to you about this terrible disaster yesterday on the Hibiscus Forum, but I sure want to say again how sad I am for you. What a disaster.
Thanks everyone for the offers of help.After work today I already noticed some plants trying to revive from the bottoms.So time will tell what grows.I'll keep everyone posted.
Kyle
Oh Kyle what a horrible thing to happen with spring so close at hand. Hope some are able to recover.
Brah...fus time I see dis...
What a heartbreak!!!
Let me know what I can do!!! Ti, Crotons, var. Hau, Hala (Pandanus), Crinums...WADEVAH!!!!
There is a lot for sale up the road....
Auntie Kalola!!!!
Auntie Kalola,
I be so meesed up wit dis whole ting.Still trying to see if da ti plants come back from the roots. Everything use to be big and full, now tiny and short.da menehunes got da controllers.
Mahalo nui loa
Da akamai haole brah.
Eh, Akamai Brah...
I have some Ti to cut back...big canes, mostly of the 'Cemetary Red'...can send 'em and they be good for June...Maybe. At least some color...
Let me know...the shipping might be a killer...but your city will know what to do, right?????
Kalola
Kyle,
When you start looking for replacement plants, D-mail me. I have a Frosted Pink brug, EEs, cannas, more. I can help.
Steve
:-)
Oh my goodness, Nooooo!
I'm so sorry. Please post a list of the plants you need. I have a smattering of lots of different kinds of tropicals. A few bananas, lots of brugs, a few passis, .....your flowers have always kind of set the standard for everybody else. If I have anything you want, it's yours.
If that ice cream banana is gone I should have a pup in a few months that I'd be glad to send. If I just knew what else you had, hopefully I'll have some of the other stuff also.
Kay
Kyle, with it being for the city do you think they may have insurance? I don't know why I didn't even think of it until now.
jeri, they are looking into that.Most times you can't insure the plant materials,too perishable I guess.we will see what happens.
I was thinking of the greenhouse coverage as a hold. Anything they will pay should be some help.
Kyle, I have a Vriesea (splendens) I can send, also some tis. One is rooted now (a Cameroon mini) and putting out leaves. Another is Red Sister, I have 2 in a pot and they need to be separated, they are big. Others I'll be cutting and rooting, a couple need dividing (Sunset and a few others). Also have some Adenium arabicum seedlings coming up and Guzmania pups coming along (pretty sure it's Guzmania Ice Cream). Too cold here to mail, we're being hit by that huge storm, but can send when weather warms up. PLMK what you want.
Beverly
Kyle - Jeri just dmailed me about this because I had this exact thing happen to me in December. And my heart just aches for you! Lost everything to a big ice storm, that took out the power on our property for almost a week. Fortunately, I did have business coverage, and the insurance company DID reimburse me for my plants. Plants = inventory, so they reimbursed, regardless of whether they were perishable. Anyway, my policy is a one-incident, maximum $5000 policy. Hope this helps.
Although the reimbursement was nice (it only covered about half of what I lost), what was incredible to me was that everyone on the hoya forum has been incredibly generous. Everybody not only offered in December to help me replace my plants, but they DID! In the last couple of weeks, I have received more hoyas from my DG friends than I can shake a stick at (not that I'm complaining.....!!! LOL). I see the Tropical forum is equally as generous, and hope you can replace some of what you've lost. I lost what tropicals I had in the freeze, but if you need a hoya, I have extras!!
Hope this helps - if you have questions about the insurance stuff, let me know!
Karen
Kyle,
You'll be surprised at what looks dead, then weeks later starts growing little sprigs...and eventually returns.
Roots and rhizomes don't freeze where I am, so we lose very little to weather. Maybe the roots on the plants you think you lost are still intact, and you may see some recovery.
