nancy, I promise you when I lived in zone 6 in New Mexico, I had a horrible time with no humidity and cold weather. Our worst growing problem here is I can have little outside any time of the year (except where it is protected with artificial means). Today is a beautiful day and no wind, but for three days our winds gusted to over 55 mph. Can you imagine why we don't have pretty yards..........just patios and inside plants.
I haven't given up on the idea of cutting beds but I would have to put up that black wind break fabric that lets only 40 percent of the wind through. So, once again, no one gets the perfect weather except maybe Hawaii and few foreign places (LOL)
What's blooming?
Gail, it has been windy before the fronts came. Gorgeous day today. Our yards grow fine, is it that the country gets less protection? The wind doesn't seem to do anything to our yard.
You are sitting in a suburban neighborhood with fences, Sally. If you want to see what 55 mph wind is like, please come visit me in the country. I couldn't drive any faster than 50 on my way to Sinton to the grocery store or I couldn't keep the car on the road.
I rarely see any great landscaping in Corpus on Ocean Drive because of the winds........
WOW Gail, another spectacular bloom day for you my friend!
I can't imagine winds like that!
Must hurt your face with the wind whips sand across a flat surface? Ouch!
Summer is right around the corner for you?
Meanwhile I gaze out the window at our 4 feet of snow and pray it melts by July *lol*
We certainly all grow in different climates and thus the reason why some plants do well for us and others don't.
I have yet to find an eskimo plant but I keep looking *lol*
GREAT pictures today everyone, thank you for sharing your beautiful blooms and color combinations! Certainly a wonderful view on the monitor :)
Kim
Yes, the fences etc, help during any cold times too! We always have green grass, very handy. A freeze is rare.
Kim if you ever find one of those Eskimo Plants keep me in mind..LOL..We still have snow on the ground too with more coming tonight ; (
Wow I couldn't even imagine living with winds like you all have down in Texas Gail and Sally.
I can't imagine winds like that all the time either ... sounds like winds we have from Tropical storms, which thank goodness doesn't happen often.
It isn't always windy like it has been.. We get winds before a cold front. In warm weather, the wind is less, but usually there, we are so close to the Gulf. Not great for the hair, but it is good to have moving air in summer. Cleaner air too.
Sally, are you and I going to argue over the wind when we live in two totally different places? I lived in Corpus Christi in the 70's on Catalina Street in Lamar Park 3 or 4 blocks from the water. My yard was very protected by the 8ft. fences and neighbors. I agree about everything you are saying about the weather in CC but I don't live there.
Because my brother is a farmer he has every gadget known to weather to determine ahead of time and , at the time, exactly what the sun minutes a day are, the humidity, the rain, the wind, etc. All the farmers belong to some fancy weather site so maybe that is why I am very aware of my surroundings at any given time. I don't have to go outside to find out what is happening...........just use the internet.
These winds wreak havoc on the farmers' land blowing the top layer of soil away. I have seen many a day when they have to jump on big tractors and start plowing to keep their soil on their land. They all help one another as I have seen all my cousins racing down to my brothers with their tractors ready to help someone else save their crop, soil, etc......
I am not complaining.........just explaining why I don't have orchids in the trees..........like people can do in neighborhoods.
I have heard about folks who live where there is a lot of open space ... winds are really something! If you have a surburban area with lots of trees and homes and fences etc. I guess they buffer the winds somewhat.
I bet high winds can do a lot of damage to fields blowing away the topsoil. I would think it's different if the crops are already rooted and sprouted? But, even tall trees can break off in high winds, or be uprooted as we see in hurricanes. One reason I love Palm Trees ... they seem to bend and sway in the wind.
Palm Trees do really well here and I have been thinking about planting more of them. You are right in that they can take the wind and bend down without breaking.
The other weather problem is that frost stays on the lowest points it can find. The main highway about a mile from here starts to slant from the highway all the way down to the creek. Since I am only less than 1/4 of a mile from the creek, that frost on any given night just loves to sit around my house (LOL).
I am determined though to find something pretty to plant outside that will take all this year around. Although Oleanders are hardly one of my favorite plants, they do seem to help in breaking the wind if you plant the really big sized ones. I am still trying to figure all this out and I have been in this house for almost two years..........still plotting and planning. Hope I get to do this landscaping before I 'croak'!!!
I am not arguing at all. :) I know it is crazy wind no matter in or out of town. I know it is more windy for you. I just hope we get rain soon! I had to take my little wind chimes down. I was afraid they would break the other day. They are ceramic little parrots, they look like my little parrot, Chipper.
Arrrgh! I keep losing my posts. Type something, go to PF and come back and what I typed is gone! Aggravating!
Anyway, let me try again.
I love Oleanders, we have a dark pink and a white one in the front yard that we planted after the 2004 hurricanes took out some large trees. We have a light pink one in the back yard that has been there for years. I just hate those creepy crawlie caterpillars that sometimes devour the foliage: http://woodypest.ifas.ufl.edu/333.htm
After the 2004 cane's we also planted 3 queen palms in the front yard. They were very small when planted and have grown so fast. Some people don't like the Queens for some reason but it's one of my favorites: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/183905/
Oh, I love wind chimes! I have quite a few on the deck and out in trees in the yard. About 4 years ago I was down in Ft. Lauderdale spending time with my mom and I went to Costco with my sister who lives down there too. I found these huge, long wind chimes and just couldn't resist buying them. They sound wonderful UNLESS it's windy! One time I had them on the south side of the backyard which is the side of the house our bedroom is on .... they didn't stay there for long ... even with the slightest wind they were sooo loud, we couldn't sleep. Hubby took them down and moved them to the north side of the deck! I didn't realize he had hung them at that end. Even though our next door neighbors house is a little distance away those things are so loud I know they must have heard them and their bedroom is on that end of the house. They never said anything but when I happened to be out back on a very breezy day I realized how noisy they must be on a windy night, so I took them down. Hubby stuck them out back in the shed. I'm making myself a note right now to get them out tomorrow and hang them in a tree out front! If we should have any real high winds I will just tie them together with a hair scrunchy!
I love all wind chimes. The tinkly little bells, to the wooden clackers! My sister gave me a large Wooden Sea Gull Chime for Christmas. It's on the deck ... and sounds kind of ok in the breeze, different than the metal chimes but not bad.
I like them when they barely chime, ha. I took mine down with the wind. No one can hear them but me. I am careful about that. I had a neighbor in Cal. and her chimes kept me up at night.
Our area of TX is really known for it's winds dirt storms and changing weather at the drop of a hat. Lots of days we have SUSTSAINED winds of 50mph. And that's not mentioning the gusts! And I live in the city- I know it's even worse with blowing dirt and wind out in the country.So believe me when I say I understand where you're coming from. One day I was emailing a lady in Portland OR. We were dicussing our weater. I told her the wind was really blowing that day and what the mph was- She couldn'r believe it! She kept talking about they're 'Big Wind' they had like 15 years before that preceded a storm was the wind they really had! LOL Do you Southern Texans have the blowing dirt? High humidity make keep that from ya'll?
Gail,
Here is a picture of my 2 little NOIDS side by side. I think they are both very pretty but the coloring is definitely different :)
Aren't they cute?
Here they are in better light which is a more accurate picture of their true colors :)
I LOVE the raspberry in them and the white throats :)
Kim- Those are beautiful!!!
Oh My ... Love those Strep's! Don't know why they don't love me back!
Kim those are both so pretty!!
Hi Ladies,
I hope to be able to post a few of my pictures tomorow... Could not do today as I spent most of it at the bank then the police station.... LONGGGGGGGGGGG day..... Cut a long story short my debit card had been used to buy almost 250dollars worth of clothes ... And to boot they are not even being shipped here... Bank ladie was very nice and stopped my card then spoke to the people on the online store that these people used my numbers... they were awful to her also... so then off to the police department and they were very nice and so was the bank just not the dumb crappers on the online store...Cop told me tonight he will work on it and he will try to see and find out for me where these things where shippped to...
Ok my tail of woe for tonight off to bed now...
Hugs,
Susan
Susan, what a day!!! I would be concerned as to who might have had access to my wallet to even get the number of my credit card.
What a nightmare for you Susan...That is one of my biggest fears : ( Hope all works out for you and they catch them!!
Lost my long post! Don't know what's going on but I type in a long post and then go to another page to copy something and try to come back here and my post has vanished! ARRRGH!
Susan, so sorry to hear about your day. It's so scary all the fraud that is happening nowadays! So many scams out there. Someone on the Florida Gardening Forum posted about this one recently: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/820217/
I know a couple of months ago we got a call from the company who issues our visa card to tell us our account had been compromised by a company we do business with quite often. They didn't say what company it was but I have a feeling it was Wal-Mart cause I shop there a lot, at least 3 - 4 times a week! This is a credit card we've had since 1982 and the one we use the most for everything from groceries to gasoline! Anyhow, they sent us new cards with a new account number and transferred everything to the new account and told us to destroy our old cards. It's amazing and so scary with the dishonest people in this world today.
A few years ago my friends daughter and son in law had a credit card compromised. Someone got the number and was charging on line gambling to the card to the tune of a couple of thousand dollars. Luckily they didn't have to pay it ... don't know it they ever caught the culprit either. It is just so scary, no matter how careful you try to be there are some who will still take advantage at every chance.
Gail, the culprits don't have to get into your wallet ... I think it was a store employee who got my number. With Susan, she said it was a debit card. We use debit and credit cards so much nowadays at all kinds of stores, there are some unsavory employees who just take what doesn't belong to them thinking they can get away with it.
A few years ago I heard of a scam happening and people being warned about using credit cards at restaurants. Apparently some of the servers would take your card to run it for your bill and they have some sort of little machine in their pocket where they swipe the card and it reads the number ... then later they can charge a lot of stuff to other people's credit cards!
Terrible! I know some day they will pay for their dishonesty! They will answer for the wrong doing. Seems like we are always reading about the elderly being taken advantage of and stolen from by caregivers. Such a shame!
Susan-SO SORRY TO HEAR THAT !
I recently went through the same thing. I 'caught' a guy hiding in the back room at work. I thought he was going to rob the store but managed to tallk him out of there. He said he was looking for a coke machine, and reluctantly came out of the back room. He even asked for change for the machine(which was outside!) and said he was going to see what his friend wanted to drink. It all didn't seem right to me so I went to the backroom again and looked around trying to see again- then saw my locker open! I looked in my purse and my wallet was gone. I called 911 and NOONE ANSWERED yeah. So finally called just the police line because by then he was of course long gone. They said he had hit a couple of other places doing the same thing. I cancelled everything but he still used my card my child support went on at a fastfood place for almost $30- never got it baqck.Then 3 months later my husband and I went to Amarillo TX for our anniversary, came back home to find out he'd been arrested in Amarillo at a hotel down the road from where we were staying the night we were there! Figure the odds! Anyway...Still haven't replaced my SSecurity card
This had to be someone who had access to a place I bought something from on line... I was told more then likely they hacked a site and took the numbers from there... Now I don't really what to do..But to morrow is another day and this one is about to end for me as I am going to sleep. See what tomorrow brings.
Lin all the AV you sent me are doing so well and if Ihave time to morrow I will take pictures of them all blooming... They are so pretty.... I can't thank you enough once again for sending them to me... Also Gail who had allot with me in the begining... I think I drove her to drink..LOL only a joke...
Ok I have another email to type then bed.,
Hugs and love to you all,
Susan
Oh my Goodness Diane! That is REALLY Scary! I know it's awful that he stole your wallet from your locker but Thank God he didn't have a gun and try to rob you. This world is just getting so much scarier every year! Makes me want to lock myself inside the house and put bars on the windows and doors!
Susan: So glad your AV's are doing so well. The few I have left seem to be struggling. They are all on the same reservoir pots they've been in for a year and seem to be taking up too much water. I need to re-pot them into new soil. I might forgo the reservoir pots. I like those ceramic self watering type pots I buy at Wal-Mart a lot better! May transfer the 4 or 5 I have left to that type pot and see how they do.
Sleep tight and I look forward to seeing your pictures tomorrow!
Hey, Susan, I drive myself to drink!!
Now that i think about it, Lin, three or four years ago I stopped to get gas on my way to my daughter's house at a Chevron station. I didn't miss my Chevron card until I started back home and stopped at the same place to get gas. When I called Chevron, they said that it had been used in 12 places around that same station in small towns for gas and a trip to San Antonio.
Thinking back, I knew the exact girl who didn't give me back my card, so I called the manager of that station and told him what had happened and where the charges were made. He knew who it was. My brother said I should have gone to the trouble to file charges against her. I never did, but that was when I decided to take out a security thing I pay 12.00 a month for. If anyone inquires into my credit for any reason (the 3 major credit......Equifax and the other two) I get an email immediately (like within 12 hours of an inquiry of any kind.......I can see where the inquiry was made). I feel so much better knowing that no one could do much damage for long. This particular company also will send you an email if the charges on your credit cards are not the usual ones I make. Don't ask me how they know what you charge but they do.
Gosh those are some really scarey stories.I just hate to hear that happened to you all.Lin is right..there are just wayyy too many bad people out there.Your stories are going to give me nightmares...
Gail I think I am going to look into one of those deals.It would give me at least a little peace of mind!
Yeah, the visa card we use most - they are good about calling us if they see anything unusual. Years ago my husband used to take a group of students every year up to Georgia during spring break to tour Delta Airlines, Lockheed and Gulfstream Aircraft co's. He would put all the charges on our card and the students re-imbursed him for their share of the hotel charges for their rooms etc. One year he was gone and I got a call from the credit card company questioning the charges. I know if we happen to be on vacation and make an unusual charge they call to check. I think that's great customer service! A few years ago at the time of our card renewal we had them do the cards with our photo on it. They sent us the paperwork that had a little square of the size of photo they needed, hubby took our pictures and downsized them on the computer, we mailed it back and within weeks we had our new cards with our photo. I sometimes think all credit card companies should do that ... but then I've noticed some store clerks don't even look at the card to check signatures much less the photo.
Well, Susan, I know it's not much comfort at this point- but at least with all our stories you might not feel quite so personally targeted. At least that's what helped me - I still felt violated as I'm sure you do
And yes Lin, I do thank God I was safe during my ordeal. Apparently he really got around and was a slippery individual. There were tools and knifes in that back room or he could have had a gun so yes it could have been worse!
I think the thing Gail is referring to is just credit checks when someone is inquiring as to credit. That won't help if someone gets ahold of your credit card number or debit card number and uses it to make purchases. I know you can buy credit protection on cards, with each issuer. We don't have anything like that. I've heard something over the years about if your cards are stolen and used you are only liable for the first $50 ... but if someone stole a wallet with 10 cards and used every card that's $500 you would be liable to pay! I try to only carry one credit card in my purse when I go somewhere but it's hard sometimes. The main card we use is our Visa which is in my husbands name and I like to once in awhile use my MC and a couple of department store cards to keep some active credit in my own name. I read somewhere awhile ago that you should keep two separate wallets - one in your purse with just a little cash (maybe $10-$20) and no personal information, and one you keep in a pocket that has your drivers license, credit cards and other cash. But, I never have a pocket large enough for a wallet. Maybe I need some kind of bra wallet thingy to stick some cash, my DL and credit card ... wouldn't that look cute, reaching into my bra when I need to pay for something? Think I'd get some stares? LOL
I never carry my Social Security Card with me! I know my number and DH's by heart ... those are at the bank in the safe deposit box.
That is so scary Diane! It just seems as though crime has become so common place anymore. Heard on the news yesterday about a Wendy's hamburger place in South Florida where some guy walked in and shot up the place, killing one and wounding several others! The guy who died was a paramedic who had gone back into the wendy's to get the toy for his daughter's kids meal. So sad. This evening on the news there was another story of an 18 year old college coed at Auburn University who they found shot dead somewhere and a few minutes later her car on fire on campus. Scary times we are living in.
Gotta quit thinking about all this. I'm going to watch t.v. for a little bit and then to bed.
I hope everyone had a good night. Look forward to more great photo's tomorrow!
Nite'
Watch Tv Lin- but just skip the news! LOL
Yes our world is getting to be a scary place..sadly
Talk to everyone tomorrow- all my friends here I appreciate SO much!