Hi Carol, Thank you for the kind thoughts :) Hail this big sounds like a heard of horses when it's approaching and when it hits-it sounds like a dumptruck dropping a roadbed above you. It wasn't over with quickly,either. In some ways we were so fortunate. We didn't lose any windows because I've replaced broken storm windows with Lexan over the years. My jaw did drop when we got the first repair estimate, a full 1/5th of the value of the house ! The greenhouse is not covered under the homeowners policy so that is out of pocket. I have it covered with 20mil plastic as that is all I can find right now.Roofing supplies are out of stock cause the damage was so widespread. Hi plant_guy, When Lexan is back in stock I will be using it! I had been using 2 layers of the ribbed polycarbonate with a spacer and an inflated layer of 20mil plastic sheeting over it. I expect to replace the sheeting every year or 2 but not the polycarb. So far Charisma and White Christmas are gonners,they turned into mush.The seedling that looks like Pink Impression has survived surgery and the rest will probably be ok in time. The bruising is deep into the bulbs and I'm keeping a close eye on them. We did get a break with the last round of storms, just rain & thunder :) Lora

I LOVE cold weather, but NOT a FREEZE that messes up my plants! I don't need any more of those, either. Laura, you were very lucky. It was down to about 36 here the last time! I was MAD as they predicted 42 for us, and it went much lower. Maybe they got my area mixed up with YOURS? ;o) I left everything out except those steenkin' little wimpy Ruby Siam bananas, which have not grown even ONE inch and are still green, except for the parts that are all burned from the FIRST freeze of the year. Treefrog, I don't know what your secret with those is, but mine aren't for diddly! I keep hoping that when the warm weather really arrives, they will start to do something, but not so far! Marcia

Lisa, When I was reading the "White Water" thread, I was wondering if your gorgeous peonies were floating downstream, petal by petal, so I am glad to see you cut them before the rain arrived. Your flowers are so gorgeous, as always! I love seeing your photos. The boys won't care about the flowers being pink--they're graduating! We might be the state gardening forum with the most weather threads---but is it any wonder? Surely we are the state with the most volatile weather? It is hard to be a gardener in every region---we know every region has various weather and climate challenges. Honestly, though, does anyone else live in a state that has baseball-sized hail and tornadoes in their forecast 5 out of 7 days all spring long? If you listen to the daily weather forecasts in Oklahoma during severe weather season, you'd be tempted to give up on the ideal of even trying to garden here. Luckily, a lot of us are hard-headed and go ahead and try to garden any way. You can't let a few little things like huge hail; high winds; tornadoes; severe thunderstorms; destroyed plants, buildings, trees and power lines; recurring flooding (day after day after day); washed-out bridges and roads; etc. stop you from having a beautiful yard and garden. LOL Of course, we all know what follows rain in our gardens.....mosquitoes and other pests, fungal and bacterial diseases, and mounds of fire ants popping up all over. And, sadly, once summer arrives, the weather will be a lot more boring.....sunshine and heat, sunshine and heat, sunshine and heat for days and weeks and months on end. That's why my favorite months in Oklahoma usually are April and October because they are fairly mild (and warm--not hot and not cold). Of course, the rain started in earnest here on April 29th, but we won't hold that against April. Finally, it isn't just the gardeners who are being driven crazy by the weather. Down here in southern OK, the poor marina owners and other business people located on the shores of Lake Texoma must be pulling out their hair. After the epic flood damage that occurred in 2007 when the lake reached 640' and water began flowing over the top of the Denison Dam, they have spent so much money to rebuild and remodel businesses destroyed in 2007. The new Highpoint Marina Cafe is a case in point, and the name "cafe" might be misleading because it is a large restaurant. Anyway, they just opened in a brand new building built to withstand flooding (to a certain extent) a couple of months ago. This week, though, they began moving out all their furnishings and equipment, hoping to save it from the impending flood. One of the managers said "yes", they did build it to withstand flooding, but they didn't expect to be flooded the first year.....they figured the eventual flooding was way out there down the road some year. Instead, here it is. And, of course, while they are closed down, they're not making any money. And it isn't just the business owners. The parks and campgrounds are flooding and damaged and we taxpayers pay to repair those, year after year after year. Well, all those Texans who spend their summers at Texoma (on our side of the lake too!) help pay for the campground repairs with their entrance fees and tax money too. At least at both our area lakes (Lake Murray in Carter County and Lake Texoma), the Texans outnumber the Okies 10 to 1, but that's all right--we'll take their tourism dollars ! Dawn

But one gets higher rates of interest in Sanford banks!!!! I have a sneaking suspicion that FDIC insurance wasn't the first thing on these investor's minds when they made their deposits.