I went out to shore up my v tapioca, and discovered wind gusts had already snapped my largest cassia alata. I wonder how these plants reach heights of 30'. Oh well, I'll be cutting the 2 broken branches into a million pieces and rooting them. There's still one remaining branch over 5' tall. Hope Irene has the decency to give me some rain to go with the wind;-)
Bummer .. never had problems with branches breaking off .. I wouldn't have thought they'd be brittle but apparently they are.
My v tapioca is also very brittle, MmeX. Wind gusts this morning snapped one side completely off. Other cassias are completely blown over. Will wait to upright them when the winds die down. All this and not a drop of rain - I am so bummed!
I agree - bad Irene!!
Before she hit, I cut back a few tall plants that I was worried might snap. Don't know if it helped, but at least they weren't uprooted, which was another concern.
My husband also cut back tree limbs that were close to the house and my greenhouse.
Barb
Smart preparations, Barb. I'm so pleased your yard wasn't turned upside. I broke down the snapped cassia elata and v tapioca and now have many cuttings thriving in water. The leaves on the cassias still close at night, and the flowers look happy and unfazed. They would probably make great cut flowers. I'll be putting them in a perlite/peat moss medium soon. Meanwhile, I'm doing lots of watering...
My husband's family has been here since the 40's so this wasn't his first (or 10th) rodeo. He suggested I cut back some of the taller plants to prevent them snapping and doing damage or slapping against the house, which with my mexican bird of paradise (Caesalpinia mexicana), that would have been the front window.
Glad you're getting new plants out of it. Fall trading time is fast approaching!
Another upside of having to move all the plants is that several were in need of potting up, which I hadn't noticed.
Barb
Well, your husband's family are definitely hurricane veterans! Love that mexican BOP. My cassia and tapioca cuttings still in water.
V tapioca cuttings
This is my remaining tapioca. Expect it to grow at least 10' tall;-)
And another one bites the dust....
