Thought I'd share a few pictures - some wind damage :-( some of the fire in our neck of the woods, and some of the remarkable beauty of hibiscus and their will to bloom. I've got a heck of a lot of clean up and repair to do over the next several weeks..
I really like this first picture of a hummingbird against the smokey sky...
karen
The sky was trying so hard to overcome the smoke.
You can see how messed up the plants right here, but look at all the blooms on Mango Tango.
I have (had) two gorgeous Bloodleaf Bananas and a nice sized Alocasia (to the right), you wouldn't know it now though would you?
Vicious attack dog, Sadie, is surveying the gross damage to her formerly stunning Magifique. She didn't like the weather conditions one little bit, and spent most of the time curled up on DD's snuggly bed.
Woops, wrong picture, apparently the smoke has gotten to my brain ;-)
Karen's beautiful roses? Not any more...
This used to be quite lush, with Colocasia's Nancyanna and Illustris, a Red Sister and Kiwi ti, and a lovely Mini Ballerina hibiscus. They'll all grow back, right?
On the plus side, our moving some hibiscus, brug and plumies next to the house helped to save these plants - Cinnamon Girl is still looking pretty good!
A lot of my smaller potted hibiscus look like this now :-(
Georgia's Thunder was sort of protected by a shed, and she sure TRIED to bloom.
I think this picture is kinda cool - it shows how the wind was moving the fire.
An eerie sky - so much for the beauty of Charles Grimaldi...
It's hard to get a good picture of fire burning when it's windy, but you can kind of see the fire on the hill.
Crazy wind uprooted lots of trees just like this - some of the roads were blocked to the University (we live kinda behind Cal State San Bernardino).
This was just a couple houses up from ours.
Eeeeeek! It's a ghostly looking Amarantha live in the flesh (face almost as scary as fingernails - it's a vision you will rarely see, lol) driving between fallen trees on Northpark Blvd. Needless to say the all area schools, including the college are closed until next week.
And today the winds have calmed, it's been a bit cooler and blooms are sure trying hard to be beautiful. Voodoo Queen has seen better days ;-)
Creme de Cacao, having been sheltered by larger plants, had a pretty good looking bloom today!
Cajun Blue hid behind a Roebellini and did pretty well once I picked her up off the ground. The plant got fairly munched, so I'm surprise the bloom is so pretty.
Also a surprise was this Belle de Jour bloom - what a welcome bit of beauty!
I know these aren't hibiscus, but it was a nice surprise to see Daylily Lavender Blue Baby greeting me early this morning as I went outside to assess the damage.
Kind of a weird shape, but I'm sure glad that I got the Black Dragon also up next to the house.
And this last picture is to honor the brave and hard working firemen that saved our area, while so many others were lost.
Thanks be to God for saving all of our hibiscus family members.
karen
Karen and Cindy,
Are you sure those winds were only 65 mph? The damage it caused looks more like a Cat2 hurricane wind, which is over 100 mph.
At 65 mph, I wouldn't even bother bringing in anything over a 12" inch pot. I wouldn't even take my wind chimes down.
I can't believe the devastation these winds caused. Or is it the smoke?
I am also posting this on Karen's thread.
Just glad everyone is safe, and your houses are fine. Everything else will grow back, with time.
It's great that some of your hibbies are blooming even after all the destruction--shows you that plants really have a will to live! Looking at your other plants too I think a lot of them will come back, they just lost their leaves in the wind but I bet you most of them will come back for you--I'll keep my fingers crossed!.
Karen So glad to hear that your home is still standing. My aunt who's older (living in San Diego) can't stop crying when she looks around at all the demage and ash - she's thankful she still has a place to call home but I told her as you have avidly shown here - you have to seek out the little bits of things that show hope & gratitute for everything that you do have and to look at signs of good things to come.
Gosh, that fire was too close for comfort, I'll bet. In a couple of months, you probably won't recognize your plants. They will again be lush and more beautiful. You are so lucky, even with the damage.
Yes, I do feel very fortunate indeed. We have made it through two major fire situations (even though we didn't get evacuated out this time) in the last three years. If all I've lost is flowers, leaves and branches I am indeed more fortunate than a lot of people. My heart just cries for those who have lost their homes...By spring my yard will be beautiful once again :-)
Ivana, looking for positive bits is the most anyone can do in any situation :-) I'd rather look at the bright side, and at sometimes unrecognized beauty, and have a sense of humor even about tragedies. Being miserable takes more energy and is nothing but counter productive ;-)
Liz, I told my DH - "see, God wants me to have more hibiscus", lol - yep, thats me working it haha ;-)
My best to your aunt...
karen
Hi Karen,
I see you are looking at the bright side of things (LOL) I really hope you are feeling better. I know it's been rough there!!
Take Care,
Robert
Karen,
Since you and I have sooooo many of the same plants, keep watching mine, to remind yourself how beautiful your yard will look in about 6 weeks :)
Here's another positive thing to look at - I hear hibiscus and roses love ash - your plants will be show stoppers in a couple of months! :)
Wow, Karen, you got hit by the wind much worse than we did down here in San Diego County! Our hibiscus lost a lot of leaves, but none of them are stick plants. The worst for us seems to be that the smoke did something to the leaves that made them turn yellow, so they're falling off slowly. We're using lots of anti-stress stuff on them, so hopefully we'll get them in good shape in the next month or so before winter hits. I think Cat is right - you must have had hurricane-force winds! But Liz is right - they'll surely come back. I'm counting on ours pulling through this! Hey, Ivana, it's true - hibiscus do love ash! Maybe all our hibiscus will be more gorgeous than ever from all this ash! :-)
Stay well, Karen!!!!!
