Blown

Piece of Eden

Wind battering everything.  The capacitor bank on a nearby power pole blew, browning us out for thirty hours.  

Pots smashed:
Piece of Eden

Piece of Eden

Tuteur blown over
Piece of Eden

Succulents snapped off
Piece of Eden

One of the Dodoneas blew over, nearly plummeting into the neighbor's yard.  Dodoneas have relatively modest root systems, and don't hold on very well in high winds.
Piece of Eden

I will replace the Dodonea with this Pittosporum, a variant of P. tenuifolium with a cultivar name I've forgotten (no, not 'Marjorie Channon').  I've had the Pittosporum a while, intending it as a replacement for the Dodonea anyway--I just was having trouble tackling the Dodonea.  As it happened, the wind saved me a lot of work, for once.  The Pittosporum grew about a foot sitting waiting in its pot, so I'm hoping it's a reasonably fast grower. 
Pittosporum 

The brown-out was inconvenient (no fridge, no TV, no garage door,) but what I was most worried about were the Koi.  The brown-out meant we were getting about 60 volts instead of 120.  One of the pumps worked just a little, the other not at all.  However, because the pond water temperature was only about 53F (11 C), they were okay for thirty hours on that one barely working pump.  Colder water holds oxygen better than warm water.
three koi

Some plants seemed oblivious to the wind;  Geranium 'Rozanne', of course, being a ground-hugger:
Geranium 'Rozanne'

The Aloe flowers survived:
Aloe gariepensis

Rose 'Brass Band' was also fine, though ground-hugger it is not.
'Brass Band'


And my buddy the Mantis is still around!  Is she hanging on in hopes of a delicious husband?  
Mantid

After the wind, and some showers, the Fall Project continued, slowly.  Re-working the irrigation took so much time and effort, and then I discovered I also have a leaking sprinkler valve to repair.  But the path is finally in place.  I like the looks of it.  Looking north-east:
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And from the opposite direction, looking south-west:
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Beloved's help was invaluable.  I coudn't have done the path without his kind and patient help.

Since one of the tuteurs fell over, I dragged it into the project area as an example focal point:
Focal point

Yes, that's sorely needed:  focus!    I think that particular tuteur is a little small--but that's what was missing:  focus.  Now if I can only focus and complete this project, and not, like, blow it. 


Geranium 'Rozanne'





Comments

  1. Another wind storm? Wow you've been hit hard. How are the Agave bloom spikes?

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  2. Whew, can't do much about the elements. Sorry to see you got attacked by the winds, what a pain in the neck. I hate when potted specimens fall and break, they always looks so disheveled. Best of luck with the cleanup!

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  3. Thanks SGP, I've got most of it cleaned up. Hopefully no more wind for a while.

    danger, Agaves are just fine--I think that's one reason I love them--the wind doesn't seem to hurt them.

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  4. Your path project looks just brilliant. Hope the weather starts to behave itself and no more damage ahead for you. I'm very envious of your koi - so beautiful!

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