Hey Dablo! I haven't seen you in a while. I always like your photos. Your plants look great! How cold does it get there in winter? Can you leave your Amaryllis outside?

Yes, im doing'it good!
here are more picS:
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garden
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Flowering Nerines in November; Amazing:D
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they're still looking good after the storm(storm surge of 4 metres, almost a record! 15 metre of coastline is away)
but another one is coming sunday.
that's why i putted this one insidE:
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A nice Amarcrinum HOwardii with a fat bud:D

Hello, Dablo! Beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing them! The Nerines are gorgeous! What a wonderful shade of pink!

I have never seen Nerines before...beautiful! I wonder if I can find them in the states. Dablo, what kind of storms are off the coast? Sounds like Tropical or hurricanes.

Yes, the Netherlands can get some harsh winters alright; it might be one of those years where you can skate that 11-mile route! North Sea storms can do a lot of damage, too. I lived through a couple myself.

Beautiful pictures, dablo. You are doing a great job with your flowers.

Hi Dablo! Nice to see you recovering from your "hippeastrum disaster" a few months ago. I love your Nerines...very pretty!

Yes Dablo,

How are bulbs doing? Have you been able to save some of them?

How about this for fall pics. Pic was taken this morning by my hubby's friend on their drive up the mountains. A typical sight of the beautiful fall colors we have here...

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Hey Maria, I don't know how close you are to the Shenandoah but the mountain there looks gorgeous! =) I went there a week ago to enjoy the fall trees and buy some fresh apples. =) I'm looking forward to winter even though according to the farmer's almanac, we're going to be hit hard by cold and snow this year. :/

Great photo though! :)

Hey Pax...Thanks! I don't really know where Shenandoah is. I live right here in the foothills of these mountains (Cumberland and Appalachia). I have heard about that... of us having a bad winter. Last winter was mild with just like 1-2" of snow on some days. How was yours in that side of VA? I might as well enjoy these colors as much as I can before everything turns white, brown and green...LOL.

Hey Maria, how did you find yourself in the mountains in that particular location? Most people who I find that emigrate from another country tend to move to more populated (not the word I'm trying to use) but I would've thought you would've chose to live in a more urban area. Do you like it there? And do you ever plan to move? Our winter on this side was probably even more milder than yours! =) I know that the Shenandoah area (urban area), got hit harder since it's a mountainous area but the children in this side complained that they didn't even get to use all their "snow days" because of the lack of snow. I'm enjoying the colors of fall as well but I do get a little down when I see all the "naked" tries after they lose all the leaves....plus, having to rake for days on ends all the dead leaves is a bummer! :)

HI all, thanks for Reactions!
The storm from this week was from the remnaints of Hurricane Noel, on the northsea was the average windspeed 65 mph!

Sultan, I saved some of the bulbs, and I've got a tip from somebody to save my seedlings and I hope it works:=D

mariava, you're pic is beautiful!
Here in the forest is the main colour Yellow & Orange in Fall, but red is much more beautiful!

Daen

Beautiful fall color, Maria! I've been down the east coast in autumn, and the mountains are just wonderful, all reds and oranges and yellows! It seems less colorful here in fall than it was when I was a kid... global warming has affected everything... Northern Wisconsin is still colorful in fall... my parents used to take us up to Door County and we'd camp and hike... it was a lot of fun!

Raking is not my favorite chore... I try to wait until spring to do major leaf clean-up... and I let the leaves help protect the gardens over winter...

Pax...I had no choice but to live here. My hubby's job has to be placed in very remote and rural areas. We can always move if we want to but we fell in love with this place. You are very right about immigrants wanting to live in bigger cities where there are a lot more available jobs. I lived in Baltimore for a couple of months. I would rather live here and hear the birds singing than the sirens of police cars, ambulance and helicopters. :-)

Dablo...Thanks and good that you get to save some of your bulbs and seedlings. Stagnospora does die down with the cold weather.

Jodic...We do not rake leaves here. My hubby just go through the dried leaves with his riding mower. The shredded leaves would then serve as mulch/fertilizer to the grass.

We even have a few orange, red, and yellow trees here in California for autumn colour; nothing as spectacular as in the East, of course, but a vison nonetheless. It is like a mini New England autumn.

We are doing some brush clearing on the upslope on our property, so I check it now regularly, but everything is wonderfully green around here... There are some decidious trees in some parks, but most of the trees around me are green. Even the Jacaranda sits still and pretty full of leaves, and the California Pepper just brought some extra branches for us to litter the lawn even more. I wish though, Maria, I had such a wonderfully sunny weather as your picture shows. It is overcast for a few days now here. I posted some of my amaryllis bed pictures in another thread. You can see there that almost everything is pretty green yet. Only the Spider Lily starts to yellow and die back.

Wow Maria, I don't know how you do it though! =) I would be a little scared to live in a rural area, especially up in the mountains! I actually have a few fillipino friends that I meet up with every month or two and they usually bring over the bestest pancit, chicken adobo, and most crispy lumpias ever! =) I think it's beautiful that you enjoy living in the rural mountains though. =) Are there any intruders or wild animals that ever cross paths with your property? I too, enjoy the sounds of birds, streams, and trees. Luckily, I get my share of the birds and nature from a hiking trail in a woody area behind my home where there are some huge trees that have to be over 50 years old. :)

Maria, that photo is postcard perfect. Oh how I miss the changing fall colors. My first year in Florida (over 30 years ago) my Dad called from Michigan and asked me if the leaves in Florida were changing color for the fall. I said "Really, Dad-you ever see an orange palm tree???" He laughed, he never thought about the fact we don't get cold enough or frost.

Cindee,

That is really clever... Orange palm tree...

Paxfleur...Yup, That's what we're famous for or get invited to a party for...LOL! I just made 50 pieces of lumpia (Filipino eggroll) the other night which my hubby brought to a party at work. Took me almost 3 hours to do it.

Yes we are so blessed with wildlife here, but nothing dangerous. Deers, ground hogs, possums, skunks, turkeys and a wide variety of beautiful birds. Life is very peaceful here. :-)

I don't even know how anyone has the patience to roll 50 pieces of lumpias in those thin sheets of wrap. =) Do you ever wish you lived in a more urban setting? There has to be set-backs to living somewhere so rural! =) I can see how it could be comforting to know everyone in the neighborhood but geez, I think I remember you saying that Walmart was one of the main places in your area?

Sometimes I do wish I lived in a more urban place. Specially if I want to do some decent shopping (specially of Hippie bulbs). The nearest Lowe's or HD would be like an hour drive for me (Morristown, TN). The next decent city would be Knoxville, TN (1 1/2 hrs drive). But with the price of gas, ordering online is much more convenient. You'd get used to it after a few years and appreciate what you have.

Every place has it's own set-backs. :-) Only heaven is perfect..right? Here my family specially the kids are safer. We could leave our house and cars unlocked without any worries. Real Estate, utilities and food are cheap. On the other hand, healthcare sucks, no cellphone signal here in my area, no DSL, no 911 and no street names. And yes, we are so proud of our one and only Super Walmart.

Wow, I know that the state of Virginia is big but it just is so funny to hear you say that the closest HD or Lowes to you is in a completely different state! =) How are the houses built in your area? Are they side by side? Acres apart? Your neighborhood must be incredibly safe and sound for you to feel at ease to have the option of leaving your house and cars unlocked. =) But I guess you're absolutely right, everything does have it's setbacks. LOL, I'm not sure if I could survive without a cellphone signal! No 911? No high-speed internet? And no street names?! How do you give directions to your house? WOW! =) Do you have a filipino community there at all? For your kids to grow up and not forget their heritage, culture, and history? I actually lived in Hawaii for eleven years and the filipino community is pretty huge there so I grew up befriending many friends with filipino backgrounds and I always admired what tight-knit families and communities that they had. Everyone was always there for each other. =)

Cindee,

Some orange palm trees for you. I just made this pic from the two Queen Palms in front of our house.

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Queen Palms in front of our house

beautiful Pic!
I love palms, at home I have Washingtonia, Phoenix, Trachacarpus, Rhapis, Sabal, Chamaerops and some others.
in California I saw much queenpalms, Syagrus Romanziffonia.
I;'ve seed of them, but they don't want to sprout;)

Too bad. You could try Coconuts... Coconuts tend to sprout easier and give you a little palm. You just have to give them a lot of water... When I was Thailand, I was amazed by the Coconut trees. I wish they could survive in our zone...

Pax...Give them driving instructions using physical marks like Angus farm, gravel road, highway sign... Mapquest gets lost here..LOL! UPS and Fedex got everything figured out though. Thanks for the compliment on Filipinos. We have a small community here and we usually meet in the Sunday mass at the Catholic church in Kentucky (20 miles away).

LOL, well I guess it's pretty bad when even Mapquest gets lost! =) I'm so pleased to hear that there is a Filipino community within distance for support and gathering. I've seen pictures of your girls, they are the sweetest looking children and I hope they are able to grow up bilingual. =) I actually was searching "Amaryllis" a year ago and came upon a post of you saying that you had to leave your daughters in the Phillipines and that you found comfort in growing Amaryllis to overcome the sadness of being separated. I was deeply touched by your raw and honest emotion which resonated through your words. The solace that you found in growing amaryllis and the hope that it brought to you, awakened my interest in amaryllises again. I was sooooo sooo please and relieved when I saw that your daughters were in the U.S with you now when I came upon actively in this forum. My parents also immigrated to the U.S and although my siblings and I were all born here, I've seen first-hand the pain, sadness, and suffering between separated families in many communities of people from all walks of life. Your strength, love, pain, and the faith that you would someday be reunited with your family was such a inspiration to me and I wanted to say that to you someday because to me, you are the American dream. =)

OMG Pax...You are making me cry right now. Thanks for those every nice words. NOTHING can express the feeling of embracing your children after 6 long years of seperation. Yes it was time lost but a lifetime to cherish now.

Your story just really stuck home for me and reading it was almost like watching Oprah. I can only imagine the hollow and emptiness you felt for the six years of yearning to be with your children, it is truly like living without a part of you. I'm so pleased to hear that your hardwork, sacrifices, and preserverance paid off in the end. I always thought about you and your separation from your children whenever I heard Martina McBride's song "In My Daughter's Eyes", it's a really good song if you haven't heard it. =)

Oh yes I did and I love that song. There was this Mother's day that my children sent me an E-card with a child on top of a hill with Christina Aguilera's song "I Turn to You" playing. Now THAT made me bawling and shaking in tears!!!

Awww I LOVE that song by Christina Aguilera too! I'm so happy the family is all together now, I'm sure at first it felt like a dream. I'm sure the moment you saw the children walk out of the gates in the airport, it must've been a kodak moment. =)

It is amazing that family reunion takes so long in this country. They all say that family comes first, and it seems like they prioritize in everything except family.
I am glad, Maria, that you found solace in your flowers while you had the pain in your life and that now your daughters also enjoy playing around with your flowers. They feel that the flowers are special to you, and even though they cannot be switched for them ever, you found a common ground you will always be able to connect, no matter what. There is a saying in Hungary: One who loves flowers cannot be a bad person. I truly believe this. We've became such a tight little group here, it is almost a second family. I don't get as much attention of my old family as I get from you, even though you don't even know who I am.

I do know you soultan...:-)
Thanks!

Hehe, Maria,
If you knew me, you'd run away. :o)

OK soultan, what we 'think' we know of you, we like. That's why we keep hanging out with you. You don not give yourself enough credit, you are personable, funny and a good friend to talk plants with.

Stop doing that to yourself Soultan. You ARE a very nice and good person.

I never run away...

:o) You don't have to run alone, Maria. I could use some excercise... It is soo much sitting inside and working on the computers. This is not why the human race picked up the first sone-axe.

Hey all,
my amarcrinum is flowering now, it's smells great!
It's standing inside because we had 2 nights of 29 F i think
(-1 celcius)
here's the pic:
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daen

Oh Lord that is stunning!! What an incredible color. Thanks Daen! A real day brightener.

Wonderful look. When you look at it, it looks like some plastic flower... People can be amazed by this.