Sparkler

11 Feb '07 5:33 am

The heat in the last few days has been unbearable ,and we stay inside with the fans on .
However ,yesterday afternoon there was a completely unexpected thunderstorm -with wind blowing horizontally ,rain and lightening across the skies. When it stopped after about 20 mins ,Smiley and I went outside to have a look - branches have fallen down over fences ,fruit off trees ,and worst of all for me - my gorgeous 'Sparkler' has blown over .It is a small standard rose - the trunk about 50 cms tall,and a huge bushy head about shoulder height .It has small sprays of flowers and is a mass of snowy white all summer .Smiley helped me pull it up to standing - quite a weight ,and banged in two strong stakes to which we have fastened it .. .
Here's hoping !
Dixie

11 Feb '07 5:40 am

Smiley cutting hay in December . The poplar trees in the background are for shade and shelter as well as beauty for the farm .However the storm has blown many of their branches down - I don't have a digital camera ,so can't take 'instant 'photos.
Dixie

11 Feb '07 6:03 am

Sparkler is not only of a ..sparkling beauty, but a very brave creature! I have two standard Roses (: Fairy and Ville de Lyon), and I am very worried for them when it is windy and they are heavy in bloom...

11 Feb '07 6:07 pm

I'm crossing my fingers for Sparkler. There's (almost) nothing worse to a gardener than losing a favourite plant.

12 Feb '07 8:40 am

go go Sparkler! Give her lots of water dixie, *crosses fingers too* she will be ok Very Happy

Love your crazy-paving btw Wink

14 Feb '07 2:47 pm

Since I wrote ,we have been talking with neighbours - what hit us on Saturday was a tornado -it cut a swathe through our neighbours at the back of us ,and destroyed his stand of beautifulornamental trees ,through our place and across the road. We have inspected our place and there is destruction down at our pond - huge hawthorns have been uprooted and have fallen in the pond as well as willows ,so we are wondering how to clean everything up again ,as it is steep there.(and we feel very OLD just thinking about it ! )
Sparkler is holding up well ,and we have tidied up all the broken branches around the house.
Dixie.

14 Feb '07 7:50 pm

Go Sparkler! We are all cheering for you. Dixie - you poor thing! And your poor pond! This is not good news, and I know how you feel OLD when facing such a clean-up. I hope everything slowly gets back to what it should be.

15 Feb '07 2:13 am

Dear Dixie, I was so sorry to hear about the tornado devastation on your property. Living in what is known as "tornado alley" in Alabama, I have seen what even a small one can do. I also can sympathize with your feeling of being old in the face of cleaning up the destruction, especially of fallen large trees. Just know that you can tackle anything in small bits. Look at how Moosey managed to clean up her Wattle woods after the devastating winter storm last year. YOU CAN DO IT!

15 Feb '07 10:35 am

Im sorry to hear those trees were uprooted. I hope that you take it easy with clean up!
Prayers to you~!

15 Feb '07 11:52 am

I think some others of the forums here have experienced far worse storms than us .Smiley has been working this morning .- The problem is that when the trees were uprooted ,they are lying sideways with their roots and all the soil sticking up like a dinner plate (sort of) So he has to use his chainsaw to cut through the base of the tree ,so that the roots fall back down again one way and the tree goes the other. Standing in the middle is a bit scary !
Dixie.

Sparkler

Sparkler

shelter trees

Tornado

Go Sparkler

Sparkler

clean up