Hi Rox...

I'm so sorry to hear of these losses...

I pray that you all don't lose any more trees and valuables...

Hope you and Simi are doing well.. Thinking he is out staking all of his trees...

Thinking of you all..

Take good care,

Laura

Mahalo Lovely Laura,

I think he said he lost a huge non-plumie tree out front and almost Bill Moragne... so sad...roxanne

Roxanne, Laura, thanks so much for the concern (and Roxanne, I'm hoping all your plants do well this weekend and get missed by that devil wind!)

I found Bill Moragne this morning after a big gust, and it looked twisted and grim and ready to fall. I was able to turn it and get it back up. I increased the staking and that green staking tape, to the point where it looks like Bill M. has been teepeed! It was a real scare though, I love that tree. The colors on the blooms have changed again, and I wanted to post more pics, but I worry I'm like the parent with a 2-mile long billfold of their kids' pics!

I was going to use bungee cords to tie the trees in front of the pool fence - until I saw a gust nearly knock the fence over!

Better not tie them there, I thought.

That the biggest problem, these gusts take something down in seconds and you never know where they are going to hit!

I walked into another part of the yard and noticed that there was something different. Yep, the 9'x12' tree that branched on the other side of the fence had fallen. I couldn't lift it, and when I called people over, they concluded it was unsavable.

If it was a plumie, I could have saved a 9' cutting. But it wasn't.

I had to go to work but put the webcam back on Bill M, so that I could monitor it. But when the camera went out, I asked to go home! Been here since, providing extra staking, tying, bungeeing, praying, etc.

Last January, a sudden gust blew down a 13' silk floss tree I had planted a year earlier (and had grown 5 feet in that time). It was almost a straight cut - left only an inch of roots. It wasn't as huge as the tree that fell today, and I figured it might have a 1.01 chance (out of 100) of surviving. I put it in a pot, tied it to the fence, and didn't expect much. In about April, it started sprouting branches and leaves! Couldn't believe it. In the summer, I put it back in its spot, and it's bigger and better looking than ever now. But no such luck today.

The pool guy came by when I was gone. I think he turned around and left when he saw a thousand or more leaves in the pool. Anybody see the movie Hurricane a long time ago, about a hurricane in Bora Bora? It looked like a messy disaster here, but on the positive, all the plumeria blooms that had fallen in the water looked pretty cool. I should have taken pics! Roxanne, you could have taken some great photos!

But that's all you're getting of Bill M., Devil Wind, that's all! - just the blooms on the water! And stay away from Roxanne's house, too!

I don't know if threatening the wind not to do something works, but hopefully, at least it won't hurt!

Wish me good luck, this is supposed to last through the weekend!

So much wind...so little time... roxanne

WOW you guys are really getting hit. I had no idea! It's funny how we'll make a dive and hurt ourselves before letting that tree fall over. Must have been a sight to see the blooms in the pool. Leaves not so good! You guys sound like us when you find out at 11pm that temps are dropping unexpectedly and your outside trying to get the plants in. Boy do we love these plants! And now storm Karen heading in. When will this crazy weather end.
Take care all.
Peg

Sorry double post

This post was edited by pcput on Sat, Oct 5, 13 at 0:47

Hope things calm down soon. A 40mph gust can ruin lots of things in a hurry.

Thanks Peg, thanks kms. I've set up bed by the back yard tonight (inside - I'm not crazy!), just in case. Got my extra stakes and tape ready. And hopefully the morning won't look too bad. Dan, hope all us well. Allison, do you have heavy winds now in Riverside?

Yup, Simidude and Roxanne, we have had gusts up to 65 mph so it hasn't been fun. My husband and I were outside yesterday morning desperately tying down the new shade structure and filling empty big water containers with water to buttress the plumeria that weren't supported by the long wooden boxes my husband had made to keep plumeria from falling over. I did cut some of the lower leaves off the bigger plants so the wind won't have as big a target. The plumeria in the ground look completely unfazed by the wind, Zacatecas didn't lose a single leaf. How many more months of this do we have to get through? Ugh.

WELL, I am afraid we have till May to put up with these possible east winds. Some are much worse than others and this ones take the cake for the 1st of the season.

Over night 1 of the 3 Mele Pa Bowmans went over, pot and all okay. My huge Kevin's Red in a pot is still over and looks okay, but my rooting Samoan Red from Derrick was just leafing out and is really loose. Think I will yank it up and repot. Curious if the egg is broken.

So, score for now is: Wind =5 and me=0 roxanne

Do the Santa Ana winds always come from one direction? That helps I think.

When we get a tropical storm, first it blows from one direction, then it slowly changes and blows from another direction as the circulation of the storm moves up the coast. Hard to stake for that scenario!

Maybe cooler with rain will be a welcome change?

We usually get them from the East for 3 days and then gale force off the ocean (WEST) for the next 3.. sadness.

Everything (except the tree that fell yesterday) is still alive this morning. They're all taking a beating right now, though.

Allison, you have it worse! Hang in there!

great idea Allison on taking some weight off the tree. roxanne

HELP!!!!! Just found my new Kauailani in the rocks with all the salt water from the hi/lo tide all over it. I guess it went for a ride last night. All limbs but 1 broken off. What should I do ? I have flushed it thru with garden hose to try to get the salt water out. Or is it like a BIG Epson salt bath? Should I yank it and repot it tomorrow? Winds go till 6 p.m. tomorrow night. It was nicely rooted, but what now? Mahalo, roxanne

How terrible Roxanne! Hope Tally will chime in with some idea's as she has dealt with that.
Glad your making out ok Simi!
Peg

I've survived with only minor damage and nothing broken (sorry Roxanne\George!!). There are some benefits to having a small collection in small pots I guess. I moved most everything into the garage in advance to keep my little ones protected. My singapore was left out and it looks like it went a few rounds with Mike Tyson but servived with no broken limbs. The wind did manage to bend some small palms, and I had a number of other plants with wind damage but nothing too bad this time around. FIngers are crossed for one more night but it looks like we're done with the worst of it.

My daughters soccer games this morning, now that was interesting!

Cheers!
Dan

Here is a link that might be useful: Bent Palm

Thinking of you guys..

Reminds me of our hurricanes here with those huge nasty gusts!!

Simi, Allison, Dan and Rox... I am praying these winds will subside and you guys can manage with the rest of the clean up. We here on the east coast as well as others that experience Hurricanes, can understand what you are going through.

Rox... You flushed your tree really well and I'm sure that will help, but if you really are worried about how much salt water filled the container, you could always bare root ( if you want) to get rid of the salt water build up in the soil. Then repot in fresh mix. This is up to you and how much you want to do to help your tree.

Tally has had experience with flooding and her trees in the ground.

Hopefully your tree will recover.

I hope things have calmed down just a little for you guys,

Keep staking Simi!! I also think removing some of the leaves is a good thing..reminds me of what we do to our palms ( mostly in Florida) we call it a " hurricane cut". This means they cut the fronds off of the head of the tree so that the wind will not take the tree down. This is done in preparation for a forecasted arrival of a nasty hurricane. The fronds will always grow back.

Good luck everyone!!!

Laura

Thanks Laura, I will look into lifting it tomorrow. roxanne

Thanks so much, Laura. You mention palms, a frond from one of the palms snapped this afternoon and fell on Dutch Orange. Broke a couple of inflos, but the plumeria is fine. Got very lucky there. Lost a few palm fronds. Given that my palms are so young and have so few fronds, losing one frond of only 2 sucks! It's very quiet now, but a lot more wind is predicted (hopefully milder!)

My pool is a wreck too. I just spent a few hours lining my plummies up against the wall to help stabilize them. tightened up their tape, adjusted bungie cords, and pulled off leaves. Doing what I can in the face of 'debil wind.' =)

I hope you guys are done with the winds now! What a mess!

I didn't know that the Santa Ana winds can be so destructive. And our plumies have those huge leaves that just get sucked up in bad weather. Sorry you guys have to deal with that!

Jim Little pointed out that plumeria that get blown down in hurricanes in Hawaii tend to grow back even stronger :)

Rox, I think you just rinse as much salty soil off as you can and repot. The plant should be fine afterwards, especially if you get some warmer days in the next month.

Thanks Jandey, I have done just that. This time of year thru April we can get these once a week in a bad year. Last year we only had 3 really bad ones, let's see what this year brings. Off to a bad start though. Hope your garden is happy, it sure looks it....roxanne

George and Rox- I feel your pain. I once had a beautiful large bushy Princess Victoria (about 9'). I came home to find all the branches broken and the main stem broken to about 8". All the parts had baked in the 90+ day so I could not save one. I know friends who snip most of the leaves off their plants at this time of year just to avoid the Santa Ana damages. Luckily, this year, the winds came all around but were manageable at my house. I had no damage. Lucky.

Bill, that's a heartbreak! Glad all went well this year, though. You just never know where the big gust will hit.