October 29th, 2012: Louisiana Iris 'Wood Violet' (Iris ) by sharondippity

The Bloom of the Day for October 29th, 2012 was Louisiana Iris 'Wood Violet' (Iris ).

View the bloom of the day here: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/botd.php?date=2012-10-29

Really!! A great picture and so clear and detailed. I was in CA all last yr and missed my Louisiana Iris blooming so am looking forward to this next yr. I hope mine is as beautiful as this one is.

Great photo and another great blue, Kell.

Hope you loved your stay here in California, Marti!

Thanks Pirl. Big, bold and blue! LOL.

I am a bred, born and raised Californian. I moved to KY with my sister when my health wouldn't let me work anymore in 2009. My move back to Calif was at the request of my DIL, her parents and my son to help take care of my GS and save my son and DIL some money for babysitters. ($160.00 a week). My move back to KY this year was at the request of my DIL who decided that she did not need my help because the boy obeyed me and not her. But than again, when I draw a line in the sand and say don't cross it or else and the line gets crossed, I will carry out the or else. She will not and the boy now almost 6yrs old walks allover her and she can not understand why. OH WELL!!!!!!!!!
I'm working at putting my garden here back in order and cleaning out all the weeds that were allowed to take over. I'm back fighting with the pokeweed and poison ivy.

That is so sad, Marti! I think you told me this before. DILs can be a tricky thing! Hope you get your garden back to what it was!

Sorry for repeating myself. Please delete my post.

Has anyone heard from Pirl? I think Southold might have been hit badly and Pirl lives on the water. I have family nearby there and they tell me they won't have power for 10 days at best.

Really sharp photo. My Iris never bloomed this past spring, guess we didn't get cold enough over the winter last year.

That is too sad Sunkissed! I hope they all flower for you this year.

Alice, Pirl expected her power to go out. Hopefully I will hear from her soon. She was thinking her house would be OK as high as it was. Lets hope so. 10 days is such a long timn to go without power.

Kell, please let me know if you hear anything. My nephew is a volunteer fireman up there and he is still evacuating people this morning. So sad and it is cold up there now on top of everything else.

She had planned to make it over to neighboring town to a library to check in, so hopefully she can do that soon. She is on the side away from the Long Island Sound, so hopefully she is OK! Though neighbors had flooding even before the storm hit.

I was looking at photos of my hometown of Rumson, NJ last night. I just cannot believe the damage. It was a direct hit. The beach club we went to every summer is gone I think. Sea Bright is destroyed. And of all times, my kid went to Philly and got stuck. He gets to fly out tonight finally. So many people in so much trouble. Breaks my heart.

Did you get any of the storm where you are?

Good to know she plans to check in. Nothing but wind here and it was not a bother as the storm passed by here, it wasn't until it hit NJ that the wind really started up down here. My nephew tells me there was a mandatory evacuation in that area and they do not expect power anywhere on the island for a while.

My niece is in Philly and thank goodness they have power, BIL and SIl from the Jersey coast are staying with her but they had a hard time getting there as most of the roads were closed. Rumson took a terrible hit, that whole area was under water. It is hard to believe a couple of the tunnels and subways are still closed.

Great no problems where you are!

Pirl was not evacuating. She said no need to. I did see some areas in her town where people were told to evacuate but not hers. I tried to get her to evacuate myself but she felt no need as of the morning of the storm. By then she said there was no way out even if she wanted to.

My son should be landing in SF any minute now. I can't wait for him to be home. Hopefully we will see him this week.

Sea Bright is a thin buffer between Rumson and the ocean. The river surrounding Rumson met the ocean over Sea Bright so Sea Bright is pretty much gone. Where are your in laws from on the NJ shore?

My inlaws are down below Tom's River in Waretown, just far enough off Barnegat Bay to be OK. They are in a new neighborhood so there were few trees and only had what would be considered minor damage to their home. Long Beach Island, across the bay, took the brunt of the storm in their area. Last night they were still evacuating people from LBI.

Hope your son got home safely. My DIL and the grandkids are living in the Sacramento area for the school year. She is getting some educational certification out there. My son flies out (from FL) for a week each month. One of these days I may even get out there.

Have we had this conversation before, Alice? LOL

My Mom is buried in Toms River with her parents. Her Dad built a summer house in Beachwood with his own hands with some help during the depression. I wonder if it survived Sandy. I tried to see how Beachwood was doing 2 nights ago but didn't get much info. Glad to hear your inlaws escaped Sandy's wrath. It would be great to be able to zoom in online to an area in real time. Then again, all privacy would be gone so I take that back.

Hard way to be married! That is a long trip to take every month! Don't come in summer, Sacramento is so hot! My son is back and I will have dinner with him Friday. I can't wait!

I am getting worried about Pirl. I had expected to hear from her by now. I so hope their beautiful home was not hurt and incredible garden under salt water. The day of the storm Pirl was out there planting 400 alliums.

The north fork of Long Island is so narrow at Southold, I am just hoping the water did not overrun everything. There is no power out there yet, it is still pretty bad. I have seen some pictures of my nephew's neighborhood and the destruction, he lives well off the water, is terrible. Huge trees just tossed all over the place - usually through homes.

She is 2 miles from the Long Island Sound and 14 miles from the ocean. She felt the water damage if any would be from the Southold Bay or/and the Great Peconic Bay which is right next to where they live. The south fork protects them from the Atlantic and is usually more in harm's way. If the ocean crossed over to meet Long Island Sound, they are in real trouble. But I have not heard that happened though I do remember the news talking about the great surge of water going into the Long Island Sound. That I guess would be problematic if it had no where to go once it was in there.

Though perhaps if lots of trees are down, she just can't make it to the next town. Or perhaps the next town has no power also. Nothing to do but pray everything is fixable!

All these poor people. Did you see the show on Staten Island tonight? They have nothing including no food and no one is helping them. And Bloomberg appears to be more concerned with some marathon they said then with their plight. I can't imagine having no food, no housing, no belongings; all destroyed. People were begging not to be left there.

One of the biggest fears prior to the storm hitting was the surge that would enter both Peconic Bay and LI Sound. Because of concerns for my family I had been glued to the TV and that area was frequently mentioned.

I too was stunned to see the Staten Island coverage. The media folks just forgot that place, I think the spots they show on TV are the ones that get the help asap. I remember when Hugo hit no one had power so no one knew who else was impacted. But, considering SI's location you would have thought........

It is so heartbreaking to see these situations. I know I can give to the Red Cross (and I have) but I wish there were something more I could do. I have been trying to get my 76yo SIL to come down here, she has no power either and it is cold. But, there is no way to get her here because the roads are such a mess, she can't get out of her own town and the airports near her are still closed.

Hi again Alice. I still have not heard a word. Arlene said she would contact me as soon as she could. I am thinking it must be a real mess in Southold. I am so hoping they were not flooded. I can' t imagine her lovely garden under salt water.

On a sad note, my bother's home in Rumson, NJ fell down. Sheesh! It is just a huge place on 4 1/2 acres. I am so shocked. They are not even near the ocean side but by the Shrewsbury River and back up onto the Rumson Country Club.

So many people still are still suffering over just basic needs. I can't stand to see the news. I guess these relief efforts on such a massive scale just do not go well. I read the Red Cross has even run out of water. I hope everyone who can is supporting the Red Cross or other charities.

This is the outage map for Long Island, Southold is on the north fork, out towards the end, where the it gets very narrow. You can see there is not a lot of land between the bay and the LI Sound. It is so heartbreaking to think of what these folks are going through and it is so cold up there now.
http://www.lipower.org/stormcenter/outagemap.html

I am so sorry to hear about your brother's home. The sad stories just keep coming. My BIL has "refugees" staying with them for an extended period. These folks lost everything including their cars.

My 76yo SIL on Long Island does not want to leave her home. It is in a lovely neighborhood but she is afraid of looters. I have been trying to get her down here so she could at least stay warm but she is being stubborn.

It is getting cold too there. Just so bad! I have been reading about all the looting. People are posting pictures on Twitter of what they steal. That is more reason for your SIL to leave! At 76 they would hurt her to get what they want! I hope she finally decides to go!!

I agree but...... some old ladies are stubborn LOL (not me of course)

In addition to donating $ to the Red Cross I hope people will consider donating blood, there is a horrific shortage in the northeast right now and local chapters are sharing all the extra they can bring in.

Pirl emailed me this afternoon from the library. She is fine. No flooding, no damage. Her electricity was only out 1 night. But her computer died! LOL. I never thought of that happening. She will email again tomorrow and hopefully will have her new laptop by then too!

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank goodness!! Tell her we were all worried and glad she is alright.

I will! Though I am sure she will back here today too! She must have gone nuts with no Internet.

"Nuts" is a good word, Kell. Even with the new laptop with the very confusing touch screen and Windows 8 to compound the learning process, I sit here at my second home in comfort: it's called the Southold Library!

We were fine thoughout the storm but my fingertips are burnt from bleaching everything in sight and cleaning like a crazed person. I've also been going through old garden articles. "Old" as in black and white photos!

We've survived the two storms and I pray I will survive the laptop.