Laura,

Looks like you've got a lot of work to do LOL! Better get busy!

We here in South Florida had some of Irene's outer bands pass over us today...there were some MAJOR wind gusts at times. All I could do at work was think, the inflos! The inflos! haha it nearly killed me! All inflos survived, luckly...whew.

Seriously though, what we had today was nothing compared to what is possible for the mid-Atlantic, where I grew up and my family still lives, over the next few days. Good luck and stay safe!

Love the Lani and Celadine pics too!
Greg

Wow your Lani is so pretty. Mother nature is so unpredictable these past few years. I hope nothing happens. Wouldn't know what to do if I had that many plants. Good luck!

Talk about a ton of work!! Im just bringing in the plumerias with inflos and leaving the rest outside (tied up, or maybe layed on the ground, I havent decided). My tallest plumeria is over 5 feet across now so I will have a really difficult time taking that indoors and I might have to put it in my garage and hope its safe there.
I also plan on taking in my Desert Rose, plumeria cuttings, and possibly my queen palm which Im almost positive would get ripped apart if I left it outside in the storm.
Tell us how it goes! Hopefully no one gets too much damage!
-Alex

Great looking Adeniums. Prayers sent, & keep us posted!

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for you conceren...it really makes me feell like we all not alone in dealing with this hrurricane, Much appreciates from all of the kind comments and prayers, i think we willl need them.

Printmaster,

II love my DR's too! I did leave out the biggest one i have. If i find time before the storm hits, i wll post an interesting colleage of pictures of before i trimmmed and after this spring on my four DR's.

But for now, here is the big "bad" boy!! LOL

Take care and thats for your prayers as well!

Laura in VB

Curious to how you have the greenhouse anchored down?

Best of luck...I know we are busy here making sure our people in the Tidewater are prepared and the Recall Bill is correct.

Laura, it makes my back hurt just thinking how you have to pick all of them up and put them in the house. I can understand though because they are your babies and you have been taking care of them for so long. Here is hoping Irene will pass quickly and that damage is minimal. Will be thinking of you and others who are in the path of Irene.

Kuan

Oh Laura, I had to laugh about the eye rolling thing! I think my husband's eyes would roll right out of their sockets, and I only have less than 8! I hope you can find room for all of them! Keep yourself same!

Leslie

Hi Laura! Looks like a lot of work! But i don't blame you, I would try to save my plumies too especially the inflos!
Your Lani is beautiful! I also saw what looks like a collection of Epiphyllum cuttings in a couple of the pictures? I also collect Epiphyllums! They produce spectacular flowers! But those are easy to protect as they are not loaded with leaves like the plumies.
Hope all of you in the path of Irene will be safe, and hope it passes quickly without inflicting a lot of damages.

Hello Everyone,

Greenhouse is anchored down and riveted to 2x6''s on the perimeter then anchored to a concrete foundation that was dug deep and then layered with pea gravel. We followed the instructions when we bulit this structure and Sunglo says it will hold Hurricane strenght winds....we shall see!

I will tell you that it doesn't even move in any bad storm...i joke and say that that will be out emergency shelter if need be!!!

I feel confident that it will be fine for my trees, but i cant stop the build up of heat at this point in time. The automatic fans cant keep up with trying to bring in the air and keep it somewhat tempered...so its only making the fans hot and i dont want to burn up the motors when i know its inpossible to cool it down. Ii cant even keep the vent open during the hurrican, because it will rip them off. Just with the door propped open during the day...you can see pic of the therom needle buried at 120*...they would fry!

I might even tape them down just in case the wind might lift them anyway....HMMMmmmm good idea!!!

What type of people do you have here in the Tidewater area? If u dont mind me asking?

Tweetybaby, (Kuan)

Ive been at it all morning...and it looks like i havent started...LOL!!

My back will be sore im sure....but i did have some relief last weekend when i did treat myself to a wonderful back massage...Wish i could have another now!!! LOL : )

Im pretty strong and can handle it, but i will be careful, and i will have some help from my grilfriends!!!

If they dont show up soon, lol i will be done!!!!

LOL...everyone is going crazy here...you can feel it in the air...

Thanks you all for the kind comments...ill keep u updated if i can stay on line...ill probably go offline tomorrow...but ill take pics and share after i can get back!!!

Take care,

Laura in VB

Oh, no, Laura's in a frangipanic!

You'll have to plumeriarrange your house to fit everything in!

Seriously, though, hope you all in Virginia stay safe and that the power stays on for you!

benn losing powere on and off..

lucky right now...

the eye is over us right now..

haven't lost any palms yet

boat is about to come off the lift in the backyard

jet skies are floating off of the llifts..

high tide is a t 9
flooding is the problem and wind gust are up to 75 plus..

take care

Laura in VB

Oh Laura! Thanks for the update. I have been thinking about you, Karen, Dave, and all the others that are being afected. I am hoping all of you will be safe and take care.

Andrew

Just want to let you know I have been watching your town show up on the hurricane map yesterday. We are thinking about you. Good luck. Jennifer

We all have been watching films of Virginia Beach and Norfolk and are hoping for your update. Looks like it was quite severe. Waiting to hear. Bill

Laura, I'm with Bill and everyone else: if you have power, access to a computer and a few minutes, please, let us know you are okay!
Iso

Hey guys,
I did here yesterday evening. She said that she thought she was thru the worst. She also said that flooding was bad but her only casulty were her glasses. Apprently, she walked out the water and lost them. She told me that there were only 2 fatalities she knew of....one from someone driving and the other I cannot remember.

I hope that helps a little...I have not heard from her since.

Andrew

Hi all,
I haven't heard from Laura but at least it wasn't as bad as they were predicting. I was lucky here as when ever a band split it would go either side of us. We only had limbs down with no damage, just lots of clean up today. It was worse where Laura is as she is closer to the beach front. A lot of people are without power but we lucked out there too. I do know she was to fly today so it could be she can't get to a computer yet. I hope we hear from her soon. Hope all others made it through with minimal damage. Peg

Hoping all is well by Laura! I guess she could be having a power outage (I know some people here who have to wait 3-6 days before power is restored and the storm was worse in VB than here in NYC).

Im glad the storm wasnt anything too extreme. I have seen Noreasters do more damage than this Hurricane did and I think that things are recovering fast around here.

-Alex

Beautiful photos of some very nice plants. Good luck to everyone during this hurricane season.

The way I see it...my boat and jetskis have insurance. My plumerias don't.

Laura, are you out there?? Any word from Laura?

We had been away in the Mid-West and were watching the storm on TV. It killed me to be away from home for this. If power was lost I couldn't be home to run generator and power the sump pumps (= flooded basement), upright small trees I'm nursing along, etc. I didn't have time to tie everything down to the deck rails. Now I regret that I didn't start earlier.

Fallen plants all over the deck and some plumeria branches broken off. 4" of needed rain though. We were quite a ways West of eye, so didn't get but the edge of the storm, thankfully. And water issues don't usually begin until over 6" of rain.

I suppose if we had been home we'd not have slept, as worst of the winds came in middle of night. Our daughter would have woken up and without power, not much to do. So, it was all for the best probably.

Dave, good to hear you're okay, and are at least in an area that has power.

Andrew talked to Laura and she's okay, traveling today, maybe.

Alex and Peg, good to hear all's well with you.

Looks like New England flooding is the worst of it right now. Is Meyermike around?

Hi Jenn,
IF you go to the Citrus forum Meyer Mike posted there. HE said that they did have flooding. He posted pics there also.

Andrew

Hello Everyone,

We are still without power...
Things are a real mess in my area...trees down but the house is fine.
We are fine....
Plumies anr doing great too! LOL

I did bring inside evrything... I glad i did..
The greenhouse held like a charm...no damage to it either.

All you hear in my area is generators...

I had to go to work today anf fly, so that is why i can post now...im in PHL wit lost of flights cancelled...we are trying too get all of the stranded crews back to the correct domiciles so things can get back to normal.

I do go home tonight and i know the power is still off...

So i wanted to post i quick note to say that everything is fine here...just alot of exteroir damage.

NO ROOF DAMAGE !!! Thankd goodness..we just had a new roof put on last eek...Whew!

Thats everyone for asking about us...

I certainly appreciate you all asking about me...YOu all are wonderful people and i cant express how much it touched me to have u wonder if im ok...

Thanks again,

Take acre everyone..i hope to be back up ojn line soon....

im off of work forthree days...so hipefully ill have power again soon...

Im glad im working today, so i can see whats happening in the world....very frustrating to not be in touch with the outside world...LOL

We do have generators..they are hooked up to the ref. and a few other things..its like camping in ur house!!! LMAO

XOXOXO to you all!!!!

Laura in VB

Glad to hear you have survived!

Hi Laura, good to hear you're ok

Laura,

So glad to hear you had no flooding at your home - because you're so close to that canal! You were wise to bring plumerias inside. They're so top-heavy and the rain and wind can break off branches easily. I had several breakages on my plants. I suppose I would probably have laid them all down on the ground sideways if I had a threat similar to yours.

My neighbors have a whole-house generator which runs on natural gas. It powers their entire house and turns on automatically as soon as power goes out. Really nice! It's quieter than the portable gas generator we have. Costs thousands though, but really nice if you have frequent or prolonged outages! I have no idea of the cost of operation. I don't think natural gas is quite as efficient as gasoline. So as long as the natural gas continues to flow (if you have natural gas in your neighborhood), it's a great way to go.

We just have a portable generator and it's rather noisy. And those extension cords running everywhere....and it takes a while to set up. It needs a constant supply of gasoline, so you have to have fresh gas on hand. If stations sell out, or can't pump, you're out of luck! And you can't really store gas for long periods of time as it breaks down. Nothing beats electricity!

We do have a gas stove top so are still able to cook if power goes out. Of course there's always the grill too. LOL! And during bad winter storms, we have a gas fireplace insert which can really pump out the heat. We kept our home at about 69 degrees during a prolonged snow event.

Laura, so glad to "see" you again. Thank goodness for generators so at least you will be able to have a fridge and some other important appliances. It is weird not being able to see the world since you are so used to connecting to it. Thankful that Irene is now gone, your roof is fine and all plumies are doing well. Hope things will slowly get back to normal. I'm sure we will see you more while you are off work. 14 days --- wow, that's a lot of time off. :)

Kuan

Hello Everyone...

I HAVE POWER!!! YES!!!

Kuan.

LOL i only have 3 days...i wish it was 14 days off...i just had vac so i think my employer would have issues right now...LOL!! Thanks for all of your concern. I hope all is well with you.

Dave,

Ii agree tha those generators are wonderful. Most new homes here have them built in already, but the older homes just use the portable generators, its funny that you mention that. We were all talking about the ones that will run your whole house..my neighbors just had theirs installed last week. It worked like a charm for them. But pricey....it does cost quiet a dollar....running from about 5-7 thousand. That is some serious change....

But as we get older and cant keep running around outside and get the lines, gas and do the natural routine, then that will be the time to consider something like that.

Actually, i think my DH really enjoys getting all of the "guy things" ready..LOL and i get all of the other things together. IT kind of becomes natural when you start to prepare for a hurricane when you have been through so many. ( SAD TO SAY)

But we do live in an area that is prone to them , but i love being here at the beach, so what to do?

I did take some pics of all of the Plumies inside...YOu all would have laughed ur buns off at watching my DH roll his eyes listening to the crickets at night. LMAO!!!

I would here..."Laura...HERE IS ANOTHER ONE." Then i would just act like nothing, and catch the little critter and put himm back outside like its a natural thing to do...Doesn'teveryone have crickets in their house during a hurricane? LOL!!!!

ALL is well..thank God!! I have all of the trees back outside, watered with B-1 ST and Foliage pro..i added the extra B-1 and ST to help with possible shock! I figured they needed something to calm their nerves too! LOL

Im glad that i didnt leave them out, because they would have been shredded to pieces...I did have my Royal Hawaiian bloom while inside. : )

Ill make a new post of trees inside then back out again with new " Irene" blooms....LOL

Hope u had a great trip dave, im sure you were worried about your house and everything outside. Makes for a nerve racking feeling when you are soo far away.

Jen, LOL "Oh, no, Laura's in a frangipanic" SO true!!!!

I really was..that was the first thing to be loaded inside. along with the epis and the other "special" trees/plants...since my kids are out of the nest..these are my babies now, they had to come inside..."not even a question" LOL!!! You would have been right with me helping me, i know that already!!! We would have ben having an "Irene" Plumeria loading party!!! Forget "Hurricane parties.." LOL its "Plumie time.."

ALex, Jen , ANdrew, BIll, Ericka. Iso. Sunseeker, Jen (TX) Peg, KMS2 Kltamps, Dave, Dave P....thank you all for all of your comments....i hope i didnt leave anyone out, but i wanted to say that i just love being around all of you guys and gals...you all are really a great group of people and i cant thank you enough!

Ok, i'll stop.... LOL I do want to share how packed the house was..it will make you all smile...especially when you think of yoru "other" wondering where the next "critter " will come from.... LMAO!!!

We all love mother nature, thats why we are here...so you all understand...

Ill post pics later...i need to head outside and continue the yard clean up..if i dont..ill get the "eye rolling" again... : )

Take care everyone..

Laura in VB