Darling girl, I am so sorry to hear about your brother.

Kathy

If you need fast growing high quality trees, I highly recommend 'Nanjing Beauty' bald-montezuma hybrid cypress. Very fast EVERGREEN grower. Supposedly, it can handle saline water better as well. You can get small ones cheap if you call Botany Garden Shop and buy them in bulk (5 or 10) for half price off in exchange for providing evaluation on how they do in your area later on. I planted one last fall in Houston at my mom's and it already grew 3 feet. It's possible that it could grow 3 more feet by fall making it 9 feet tall. I bought 20 to 26 inch Nanjing Beauty - 3 1/2 inch pot size and they're doable. The 6-8 inches size was too SMALL!

{{gwi:484017}}

I was told it is Nanjing Beauty at Dallas Arboretum and that it was only has been in the ground for 5 years when it was planted as 1g size. Notice that it was still evergreen in December of 2007 when I took a picture of it. I saw it again last year and it appeared to have grown quite bit, maybe 5 feet taller. Very fast grower...

Here is a link that might be useful: Botany Garden Shop

Tally girl, what does it all mean? A letting go time?

I'm so sorry to hear about your brother.

Such big deep challenges and change. A veritable tsunami.
Sending you lots of love and hugs through the ethers.

We only lost a hackberry that fell over. The rest of the trees had some damage and we got them trimmed.
We got a nanjing Beauty from DR. Creech from SFA, he was at the home & garden show doing a lecture & we were talking to him about bald cypress. There just aren't very many growing in our area, not sure if we are too salty, too far west of their range or what. But you just don't see them, not in the wild and very few in landscaping. My theory on the island is, like most trees they get blown down during storms. They prefer fresh or brackish water & a more inland location from what I have observed, yes, they grow around New Orleans but think, originally the city was further inland, lots of marshes used to exist. So the trees weren't ever growing right along the coast.
Nanjing beauty was developed using our native bald cypress by the Chinese, they have planted tens of thousands of them. We're anxious to see how ours does, we also planted a "regular" bald cypress so we can compare growth. When my brother finally gets his house done we are going to plant a few there, he gets flooded on a regular basis-every high tide there is water on their street, so that will really test them.

No idea what the city is planning to do yet, there is discussion about putting in "big" live oaks but with all the salt still in the soil and other issues that doesn't seem like a good idea. It was suggested to plant camphor trees-non-native, invasive, short-lived, messy; hackberry-native but short-lived, easily knocked over by high winds(ours was taller than the house so easily 40', crape myrtles-lots died in the storm. Palms have been suggested, most did fine during the storm-though someone is setting them on fire right now.

The trees are being sprayed orange at the bases to indicate they are dead, they've started already and some streets you drive down every tree is painted orange.
Tally HO!

Tally: I'm so sorry to hear the news about your brother, and about the loss of your neighbors. It amazes me that you can find the emotional strength to continue posting here. I hope things start looking up for you; you've had more than your share of disasters.

Well, I just hope you are spared any new storms this summer. That just might be too much to deal with.

I went through one hurricane in FL, when I lived there, and was fortunate to survive it, with only extensive damage to the plants, because at that time, frame construction wasn't permitted.

Then they went a few years with no storms, relaxed the building code, and voila......along came Andrew.

Time that folks recognize that living on the coast, is hazardous, period. Especially so, if you don't build to withstand the forces of nature.

Hope that you can get your life back, Tally, but you must recognize that as long as you are on the island, you will remain at risk.

There are dangers no matter where you live. California has earthquakes, fires, mudslides, storms. The midwest has flooding, tornadoes, ice storms. The East coast has hurricanes, blizzards, noreasters.

Right after Hurricane Ike one of the newspapers in Colorado published an editorial asking why we live here. The next week, in the same county, there was an avalance that killed several people, then a blizzard just a few weeks later that caused deaths. Not to mention Colorado has a problem with arsenic in the water and soil from gold mining. AND then they had some huge traffic pileup that killed a bunch of people. AND some tornadoes that killed people. Add to that mix wildfires, drought, landslides...
People in the midwest got a tax deduction for sheltering those who were displaced by the massive flooding, which caused a large number of deaths. They are in "tornado alley" and deaths and property damage from tornadoes happen yearly. There have been earthquakes in the midwest that caused deaths and it is predicted that the next "big" one will actually be in the midwest. The only natural lake in Texas was formed by a log jam that started with, drum roll, an earthquake in Missouri.

There was a newsreport about flood insurance, one house, in the Dallas area, had been flooded 5 times in a few years, the total paid out by flood insurance was well over 2 million dollars for this same house. There are also a lot of deaths every year, here in Texas and other parts of the country that are heat related.

What about Alaska? People die there from blizzards, earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis. Hawaii has tsunamis, hurricanes, landslides and they sit on a big fault and it is predicted they will have an earthquake that will split Oahu in half.

Pompeii is famous because everyone died from a volcanic eruption that buried them. So we rule out living anywhere in Europe. Or any coast, tsunamis, hurricanes, typhoons...
Then Asia, gee, all those people died from the tsunami, and of course volcanic eruptions, flooding, mudslides, blizzards, mercury poisoning, infections, viruses...
Well, maybe we can move to Australia, oh wait, they have droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, volcanoes, wild animals, crocodiles, diseases, box jellyfish....
Canada? No, blizzards, floods, tornadoes, wildfires....

Hurricane Ike caused deaths all the way to Canada. Ohio had areas without power for over a month. Yet, for some odd reason, it is only those of us on the COAST that get questioned about why we live where we do.

So why do you live where you live? I can run from a hurricane. And have. And will. People had FIVE TO SEVEN days notice that Katrina was on the way. We had several days for Ike. Of course it would help if they were better at predicting where the storm was going and a better idea on strength. Remember Galveston itself only had a few deaths from the storm, the death count was much higher in other parts of the country. And the people on the coast that died didn't evacuate. Rita had a higher death count from EVACUATING then the actual storm (1-kid killed when tree fell on the trailer he was in, in Jasper).

Tally HO!
When life gives you lemons throw them at the turkeys across the street.

You are right, Tally, most of us live where we do by choice. It could be the climate, job opportunity, family near-by or many other reasons, but we are here because this is where we need to be. I hope you are never faced with another hurricane that does so much damage, but have not the faintest doubt that you can handle it.
I am very sorry about your brother, and will be sending positive thoughts your way.

Thanks Carrie! Can you tell I'm fed-up with people going on about how dangerous it is to live on the coast while ignoring everything else that happens in the world? Especially insurance companies. I can't imagine not driving along the beachfront and watching dolphins and pelicans every day. Heck, I can't imagine a day without seeing a pelican.
Tally Ho!

We drove out to Bolivar last month and saw them burning brush. The beach was so desolate. I bet there are more people out today, though. The pelicans and dolphins were breathtaking as always. Nothing about their mood indicated a hurricane had come through.

You know, people die in car crashes and houses burn down due to faulty electric wiring everyday. If we really wanted a "safe" life we would never drive or use electricity. But we do those things, and live where we do, because the benefits to us are worth more than the risks.

Every tree that fell during Ike in my friend's yard meant he had more sunlight for vegetable gardening. So there is always a bright side.

Rock on!

So sorry to hear about your brother. This type of news really puts everything else in perspective.

You are so right in your post about all the potential natural and man made disasters inherent in each place. Many of those things are not as predictable as a hurricane.

"When life gives you lemons throw them at the turkeys across the street."

Amen, Sistah!

I'm so sorry to hear about your brother. And your living arrangements, for the moment, I'm sure are adding to the stress of everything.

SHRINERS IS GOING TO REOPEN!! The announcement was made today. Yeah!

The trees start coming down on Wednesday. Some of the wood is being shipped to Mystic CT to rebuild the 1841 whaling ship Charles W. Morgan. And the city is trying to figure out what to do with the rest, seems like 40,000 trees are dead on the island. Anyone want some oak?

With so many trees dead we all value the ones that are living. Some idiot is running around setting palm trees on fire!! It has been going on since May but is now occuring nightly. The lady at the resale shop woke up at 0630 with hers on fire. As dry as it's been it wouldn't take much to burn most of the island. These are big palm trees so they must be using something like flares to get the fire up that high. Several on 25th are burned. The guy down the street had both of them in his front yard set on fire, he luckily was home as sparks were flying onto his roof. 2 shrimpers leaving for work saw the flames, banged on his house and woke him up, they also grabbed the hose and were putting the fire out.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and support. I'm not too sure my brother knows what's going on. I'm going with him and mom to his appt in a couple of weeks. I know all the neurosurgeons here, he'll have surgery here if that's what is decided but I don't know where they are doing chemo and radiation.

AND we should have hot water this week! I'm more excited than Christmas. No longer will we have to load up everything and go in search of showers. Yeah! Now if the @#%#%%!!@##% insurance company would send me a check.
Tally HO!
Doing my happy nekkid turtle dance-there were these things in the sky when I came to work, I think they might be called clouds?

Sending you the showers we just got. I hope they travel down 45 from my house to yours!

They were out yesterday in my neighborhood marking trees. They measure the tree, make a note of the size, species and if any growth. Then they spray an orange dot on the bottom. All the magnolia trees across the street were sprayed.

I drove down Postoffice yesterday, west from 26th street, EVERY single tree is painted. The cutting has started. Noone is looking forward to the end. It is really going to change the landscape, it will never be the same in our lifetime.
Tally HO!

I'm so sorry about your brother, Tally.

I go to Galveston at least weekly and I saw some of the old oaks on Broadway were trying to come back. I hope they will spare them...give them a chance. Reason I say...there is a large live oak in the middle of a hay field near here. Last summer, it looked almost dead. Just a little bit of leaves on the tips of some branches. This year, even as dry as it has been, it has leafed out remarkably, and has about a fourth of the leaves it would normally have. I hope it will come back. Of course, dead...no coming back. Like you say, to lose those big trees, we will never see them replaced in our life times.

Oh, my. Sorry for all the pain. I just dropped into the Texas forum. I did a search on beachplant after I read this post. You sure have been through the wringer. We all tend to forget when it is not in front of us daily. I have decided when the big one hits here I will move(maybe-lol). Twenty years on the coast and it just gets hotter and drier here every year.

I went on a cruise last week out of Galveston. From the top of the causeway I could see beach were there was once houses and the high water line on buildings. Wow that was a lot of water.

I sure hope the rest of the year is smooth sailing for you.

Jim

Hope things get better for you - and you get that insurance check soon! So sorry to hear about your brother's condition on top of everything else. I don't blame you for living there. I grew up on the coast, and love it. I have often thought of moving there, just too stuck in the mud here, I guess.
Hang in there. You seem to be a strong person and someone that can handle the changes, as hard as they may be. Good luck and God bless.

Dear beachplant,

I was in Florida during hurricane Rita but I did not experience anything even close to what you are experiencing. It is hard to lose items that we care about. However, items can be replaced. I wish your brother the very best and hope he has a speedy recovery.

Rita
Rita Abend

Woo-Hoo! FINALLY! A check. Got money last Monday. The roofer has been there, tore off the new flat roof and replaced it-the engineer wouldn't sign off since she didn't know what the other roofers had done, and they fixed the hole the firemen poked in the big roof.
The electrician has been out and will put in plugs, switches, lights & ceiling fans after the sheetrock, tape and float and painting are done.

Got a bid and contract to replace the livingroom floor and put flooring in the hall and laundry room downstairs, they are putting it in next Thursday. Georgia Oak laminate.

Sheetrock on Monday

Tape and float on tuesday

Paint on Wednesday.

Getting bid Monday to replace burned bedroom floor and refinish rest of floors upstairs. Found the flooring at Antique Wharehouse to replace the burned wood, it's the same age as what is coming out >100 years.

Got self-stick tiles for the upstairs kitchen, they will put them down on Thursday. I finally got the old flooring scrapped up and hauled out of the house.

The carpenters replaced the burned wood and missing wood so the sheetrock can be put up, they also put on a new backdoor and a new back storm door.

The hardware is ordered for the front door and it is being worked on to make it fit. The door is old and big and they don't make them anymore. So we bought an old door that fits the house and is almost big enough. Easy fix at least. The new door is cool!

I've been shopping for lights, ceiling fans, etc. All we have so far are new lights for the back and side porch upstairs. I'm having a hard time finding a hanging light big enough! Off next week to a lighting store.

Spent the mornings before coming to work the last few days moving stuff so they can do the floors and sheetrock. That texture goes everywhere and the rooms have to be empty for the floors to be done. We're going to take out the staircase to put down the lr floor, then put it back while they build a new staircase.

The windows will be here August 2nd!!

Now the island-the trees are coming down, quickly, they work 7 days a week sun-up to sun-down. The contractor stopped letting people pick up wood the same day they started, they are trying to work something out. About 450 calls a day are being made from people who want to save their trees. Not likely is the official word but they will come out and look.

Murdocks is going like gangbusters, they have the roof on, most of the exterior done and are working on the inside, to open next spring.

The Moody retirement house on Seawall and 23rd is being sold, they had a lot of damage and can't afford to fix it, the long-term care side has been closed since the storm.

The Flagship is still empty and it looks like Fertitta has control and is trying to sell it.

The fight continues on the beach about what is and what isn't on the public right of way. A woman and her lawyers in California are trying to get the open beaches act overturned. She's been filing lawsuits and b#%@hing for several years now. Apparently she doesn't think that signing a statement that she could lose her property isn't enough. Interestingly when she was interviwed a few years back she couldn't find Galveston on a map.

UTMB plans to open the trauma center August 1.
Shriners is planning to reopen when they get staff back.

The public housing has all been demolished and the fight continues on what to rebuild.

The city announced plans to return citizens in the event of another evacuation. Basically there is no plan, let the contractors in and then "when it's safe" let the citizens in.

More stores are starting to open on the Strand and downtown.

The trolleys will cost $600,000.00 EACH to restore, the whole trolley system collected $11,000.00 in revenue last year while costing over $2million to operate. We all thought it was a stupid idea and too costly when it was passed and now if they scrap it they have to pay back the feds and if they keep it it will cost millions, which noone has.

The Lonestar Rally plans a much bigger event this year and hotels are already filling up.

Bret goes to the neurosurgeon this week.

We GOT RAIN TODAY!!
Tally HO!

Wow Tally! That's all really great news. The old floors and front door sound like they will look wonderful once they're in!

I'm praying for Bret.

Pam