It must have been pretty bad. We had several thunderstorms back in August that did the same thing. The rule seems to be that when the garden looks its most beautiful, that is when the sky will fall. On the positive side, there haven't been any recent hummingbird postings complaining about conditions in your garden - perhaps they are being nice and contacting you directly. If they get too testy, just point in the direction of Mexico.

Let us know in a couple of days whether the garden recovered its shape. It's depressing to see months of work all jumbled up in a couple of hours. Each year I add more stakes and wires to the garden, and every late summer I tell myself that next year I'll get the supports in earlier, way before they are needed. I'm planning a garden party for right after my funeral, because that will be the time when the garden is finally perfect.

Penny - That must be so frustrating to clean up after those kinds of winds, but it sounds like the little birdz are still thriving and anxious to feed. Mother Nature can be so devestating at times, but generous at other times.

Another thought is the garden will never be perfect. I can't imagine that there won't always be some other plant that I want to try next year that will make all the difference. Ruth

You know my post seemed so trivial after I read y'alls replies but it also made me think of what the Katrina victims were thinking when they went back to their homes and saw the wreckage. As frustrated as I felt we can only imagine the anguish the folks along the coast are facing. Yes, many of my plantz have toppled and yes it is very dishoveled but I do still have my gardenbeds and my little ones do still have bloomz to frequent and this minor frustration too shall pass.

Penny