You're lucky! Not your poor tree and the plants underneath. I have heard many stories of lightning strikes and property damage over the last few years.It's scarey and amazing what lightning can do.

I am so sorry for the loss of your Silverbell. We've had ours for just four years and love it so much. It's the tree we sprinkle with water on hot summer evenings so that the hummingbirds can take baths on those big leaves. And the bees! Is it possible that every single one of those blossoms are filled with bees? I would miss it terribly if something would happen to it.

That wind last night was something else, wasn't it?

Linda: I feel your pain! ;-) We lost a couple of old sugar maples (the DH didn't realize they don't thrive in the deep South) several years ago and I've had to redo most of the front yard from shade plants to sun lovers. After the second tree died several years ago, we got a 15-20 foot willow oak to replace it. The man brought one of those trucks with the big four-blade scoop, dug a big hole and carried the dirt off in the scoop. Later he returned with the oak tree lying on top of the truck with the root ball in the scoop. He dropped it in the hole, which, of course, fit perfectly and that tree never missed a beat. We watered it the first summer and now it's probably 30' tall and looks like it's always been there. The azaleas under it got enough shade to survive and are thriving now. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't nearly as expensive as I was afraid it would be. The savings on air conditioning on that side of the house made up for some of it.

Sorry you lost the silverbell. The other things may be salvageable, but trees don't do "renewal pruning" well.