oh no!..I remember your shredded hosta 🙁..

hope your roof’s ok..

was it noisy?..

Sherry I am happy for you that none were up and that you were not out in it. Hopefully that will be your one and only hail event. They are calling for a 100% chance of freezing rain tomorrow and a lot of it, 30-40mm (1.18-1.57 inches). Not fun.

There is hail in our forecast for today and tomorrow as well as heavy thunderstorms, damaging wind gusts (again) and possible tornado. Glad my pips are asleep too!

debra

It was noisy😳 only lasted 15 minutes, thank goodness! I think our roof is ok. My son does paintless dent repair on cars, he will probably be busy.

Sherry

Sherry..your son will be very busy!!!..

Here’s what we got last Sunday when temp suddenly dropped while it was raining. Hail was larger & went on long enough that it looked like snow on the ground & on Monday morning piles of it hung around in roof crevices & off pavement places. The blurry stuff in front of the big firs is hail coming down. Definitely not our norm - we should be in mid 60’s!

ETA - forgot to say that I’m in PNW - SW WA Vancouver

@sherrygirl zone5 N il I also neglected to mention that all of my hosta are pips already even in this chilly spring. I have 10 large leaf & a bunch of minis. I’ve already spread Sluggo around the pips. I see by the shiny trails on my pavers that the cold isn’t detering them from crawling out from under everything & I’ve had much better luck fighting them off by baiting early & often. I also have had hosta shredded by late season freak hail storms later in spring. It’s heartbreaking!!

Thank goodness I don’t have pips! Here’s what we got last night.

Today it’s melted and in the upper 60s, but lows at night are going to be freezing for the next several days.

debra

All this wet & cold weather nation wide makes it a pretty tough sell when talking with non-believers about climate change / global warming. 😉

I'm in DFW and we've had lots of storms, but fortunately, not much hail. Those storms went on to devastate Mississippi and and then last week, Arkansas. In a sense, I guess we are lucky. It's hard to think about luck when others are facing such loss, though.

bkay

We just returned from a vacation in St Augustine (wonderful!) to a cold snap with rain and occasional thunder. In past 12 hours, we’ve gotten over 1 inch of rain. Temps dropped from highs in mid 80s to highs in mid 50s with overnight lows predicted to upper 30’s for the weekend. So far, no hail or frozen stuff in forecast. Photos taken 11:30 am today. I have been waiting for the oak trees to leaf out before I place the pots throughout the garden in their shade.

utog..it looks like summer at your house!..

I can’t wait to catch up with you..

utog, are all of your hostas up or are you still waiting on a few?

Mine are mostly on par with yours, but I still have a few that are showing no signs of life yet. One looks like it might have been hit by voles, but other stragglers have no signs of tunnels and some are even in containers.

Ben, there are a few stragglers. I would say about 90-95% are up.

utog..isn’t it funny how hostas vary as to when they come up?..they keep us busy monitoring our garden 😂..

Striptease family that are planted in the ground are still sleeping, but awake in the pots. Brother Stefan and Atlantis in the ground are just starting to pip.

Phew the freezing rain was even worse than predicted. Over a million lost power. I just got mine back yesterday afternoon after being out for 8 days. Gee lucky me, I had a pole on my property snap off and had to have a company come in. The utility does not make repairs on private property. I have hundreds of trees down or damaged so a huge clean up. I am just happy to have power back and to see progress for some of you.

@peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada My gosh - 8 days! So happy you are okay though you do have a huge job ahead of you. Your experience is making me stop my whining over our record low & wetter than norm temps for this time of year. We are 1.5” more rain than norm for the year so far.

Sorry you had to go without power for so long peren.all. You have a lot of work ahead of you, but glad that you are OK!

oh Laurie 😪..what a mess..I’m so sorry..

humans are powerless when it comes to weather aren’t we?..

don’t work too hard cleaning up..

Peren, I am glad that you are OK.

OMG, Laurie! Glad your power is finally back on, that is a LONG time without it. So many downed trees……I can’t fathom that mess. I hope your gardens snd house are ok, sending a virtual hug.

Sherry

Thank you all!

KW Yes it was a long time to go without power but in the ice storm of 1998 we were down for 13 days. Both were horrendous. Please do not feel like you need to stop being upset with your weather. Everyone has a right to complain when things don't go their way and individually we all feel like our problems are the worst, it is only natural!! It must be hard not to be able to do what you want in the garden with it being so wet.

nhl I am just glad it did not affect you. It is a bit mind boggling when there is destruction everywhere I look. It is hard to see any good right now but I do count my blessings that we were not injured. Silver lining...

Ann thank you, it was awful. As a tree lover I am sure you can relate to how horrible it must be to hear the trees and branches crashing for days. It is almost enough to make you cry. You had the branch into your roof recently. It is so true that we are totally at the mercy of the weather. There is no choice but to watch it unfold. It certainly unfolded in an extremely costly way with the hydro pole snapping. Then I have a fellow showing up to take down some really dangerous trees. Ugh it is going to take a lot of time and $. The good news being rural is we will be having some great bonfires!

@peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada - Your positive attitude about the challenges of mother nature when she’s on the rampage is inspiring. All we can do is learn from our experiences, and hopefully take notes from what others go through, and be prepared as best we are able to be living ’off the grid’ for an extended time. We have ’go bags’ in a closet for fires which are seeming to be creeping always closer to urban areas each year and food supplies for the earthquake that for the west coast is not”if” but ”when”! Then, we’re able to relax & enjoy our sunny days which might take awhile but always do come! May you have many of them in your near future.

Thank you utog & Sherry I was typing when you posted.

utog I really appreciate your concern. It means a great deal to have our plant family have our backs in times of trouble.

Sherry that virtual hug is everything!! I love you lol!! Thankfully the house was unaffected. The shade gardens have quite a few large branches on them in two spots in particular. There was still snow to help lessen the damage to the plants. I will try to get to that tomorrow. A large ash fell right behind but not on the garden thank goodness. It actually makes me happy that you can't fathom the mess, because it means it has never happened to you. I am seriously sleep deprived from keeping the generator gassed through the night for the sump pump. The last thing I needed was to have the basement flooded. In a sunny spot in the garden I saw some Crocus were blooming. I was too busy to go & look but I will tomorrow. I need all the little joys I can find!

Laurie..the most important thing..thankfully you weren’t hurt..🙂

what a sad event..try not to stress..your attitude is great..

KW PNW Z8 & Ann I am quite happy and relieved that you think I am projecting a good attitude. I feel l am projecting doom and gloom lol!

KW I am glad that you are prepared with your go bags but concerned that you need them. You live in a marvelous location but with that constant caveat, kudos to you, talk about a good attitude. People are generally courageous and resilient.

Ann I will try not to stress. I do feel like I am decompressing somewhat.

Laurie..who wouldn’t be overwhelmed looking at what happened?..but we know that you’ll get busy and fix it 🙂..

I love this expression..”Don’t worry..Be Happy”

friends and family call one of my nephews and me “dreamers”..works for me Lol..

have a good day..👍

Laurie, Just saw your post now, Saturday……OMG!! I must join in with well wishes and happiness that you, your family and your home are all right, though exhausted…..understandable! The garden will probably survive if there was no direct hit. ☺️ I hope all is well as I do so love seeing your stunning garden and what is blooming throughout the season.

We had bad winds a couple of weeks ago and sooo many branches were down all over the city. Luckily we can get pickup by the city. It was so bad they just came out and started cutting and collecting the wood. Usually one would need to call, but there were many large branches that fell blocking streets.

Ann, I like your recommendation, “Don’t worry, Be happy.” Maybe Laurie, you can play the song, “Happy” and dance around a bit—-sometimes music and dancing is a mood lifter for me. Much love my friend!

debra

‘Fire Island’ of course Lol..

I think it’s cheerful so I posted this..🙂

Debra thank you so much for the very kind words! I was out looking at the branches on the garden today but did not want move them when I was alone. There is too much danger from above the area so I will do it tomorrow. Fingers crossed nothing got speared. Yes wind and/or ice can have the same effect. Please tell me you had no damage! Well I have certainly been listening to music and even dancing around with my dog a bit. I don't know girls if I am quite at "Happy" yet but I am getting there. I feel like I might smash something if I heard it LOL!! Debra much love in return my friend. It really warmed my heart seeing that. What a wonderful caring group!!

Ann your Fire Island looks fabulous and it truly is cheerful. It is enough to cheer anyone!

peren, so sorry you have to deal with all that. Sounds a bit like what we've experienced in the past with ice storms and secondary tornado damage (ie, prolonged power outages).

Spring is coming

Ben thank you. So sorry that you have had similar experiences. No matter where we live it seems the weather can create havoc.

utog oooh now that is a beautiful sight! I saw pips today but we have had unseasonably warm weather into the 80's. It is going to get cold again so I will cover them.

Sherry how about you, any pips yet.

Oh my, peren. My prayers to all those affected. I was in Ottawa on business back in ’98 just a couple of months after that episode and the devastation was horriific even then. I can only imagine this is similar. May cleanup go well for you.

tj

Yes, Laurie, i have pips here. All my hosta planted near the house foundation are growing! A montana is misbehaving again……worried about frost damage with the low temps predicted for Monday. I brought my potted hosta out of the shed this week, all have pips…they should be fine if it gets cold.

Hope your weather is better from now on…..I would love to hear some good news from you!

Sherry

I have many pips as well. Most just breaking the ground, but Liberty is up about 4” along with Lancifolia. Wolverine is just pipping up.

debra

tj thank you. We appreciate and will take your prayers gratefully. What a relief that your visit was a couple of months after not during the ice storm of /98. I am approx. 45 miles SW of Ottawa and it was even worse here. We had to cut 21 cords of wood (a cord is 4' high x 4' wide x 8' long) just to get out of our laneway. That was not counting the butts & crowns. Yes this storm was similar. Cleanup will be slow but I got the loose debris off the garden. Now I just have to wait for someone to chainsaw the huge trees draped over the garden. I am not up for that! Hey if you are ever up this way again it would be a pleasure to meet the gentleman & scholar that you are!

Yea Sherry! Hopefully that cold for Monday will be displaced. We all know how quickly the weather can change. Fingers crossed for you! The weather here has been just glorious and I was more than happy about that. The temps dropped today and by Wednesday it will be barely above freezing but that is to be expected at this time of year. I am blessed with a wonderful DD & S-in-L and spring will come!

Debra you must be thrilled and I am delighted for you! I am looking forward to seeing pics from your lovely garden.

KW PNW Z8 I saw a post from you that has since been deleted. I had just started to read it when a couple of fellows showed up with a bucket truck to take down some trees. I hope you repost it. You have had quite a life! I will say that you seem to follow natural disasters instead of the other way around. Just wow! The good news is you are here to tell the tales and after those experiences you have to feel like you have a guardian angel. Please share! I wish I had not been disturbed and had a chance to respond.

@peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada You’re correct that I deleted my post. I reread it after Sherry had read & acknowledged. But, after my reread I thought it might be too long & off topic so not of interest. Thinking about the storm & damage you’ve just experienced had sent me down memory lane remembering the horrible sound of large tree branches breaking all around from the sheer weight of ice coating everything. I thought too about other disasters & your comment about our ’Go Bag’ preparedness for fire & earthquake risks. My conclusion was that no matter where we live there are levels of chances for a natural disaster of some type so we just need to be as prepared as we can to help ourselves & then move on & enjoy our good days. You’re right about disasters following me! I was reminded of an old cartoon strip with a character who had a constant dark cloud over him - disaster followed him. I’m not quite that bad but here’s my list I came up with from early childhood memory & on.

Montana - Yellowstone earthquake 1959 -7.2 on Richter scale. We lived west at other side of the state but felt this horrific quake. I said I’d slept through that one. I think 29 died - campers in Yellowstone. Anchorage, AK 1964 - 9.2 magnitude. Much of Anchorage coast is built out over sand. We learned about ’liquification factor’ from that. Everything sinking into sand. Better building codes now. My family then lived in southeastern AK in the pan handle along Canadian border. My dad worked with ACS - Alaska Communications Systems,. We felt the quake & the fear in the SE island chain was Tsunami but we only experienced very high tides & shaking. As an adult, I lived in Omaha, NE (USAF spouse) . During our first year, January 1975, we experienced a 100 year record breaking blizzard that shut down the city & I-80 freeway for days. In May 1975, we experienced a tornado which caused 94 deaths & $3.4M damage - a lot in 1975 $$! On to CA & lived in No CA Bay area. The 1989 Loma Prieta 6.9 earthquake that happened during a MLB game & caused a bay bridge collapse as well as the 2 level Nimitz freeway pancaking. Many deaths and a true horror. I was driving home from work in SF on the 101 highway with little traffic due to the baseball game. Many drivers pulling over to check tires because the highway was rolling & we all thought something wrong with cars. Our radios had cut out so no info. I will admit to having sleepless nights after that one. In 2001, we lived in Seattle when the Nisqually quake, 6.8 on scale hit. Not near as much damage as could have been but I worked in DT Seattle in an old historic building on the waterfront. It was many days before we were allowed back in for work as all those old buildings, only some of which were retrofitted for seismic safety, had to be inspected. We learned cell phones don’t help when those towers go out!

So, that’s my long tale of natural disaster experience and I hope everyone isn’t totally bored! 😊 But, I had made reference to our disaster go bags which I think is a good plan for everyone. Because of the more frequent fires along West coast that are creeping ever closer to urban areas, we added items to ours. Last year fires were within 5 miles of us & we were on outside edge of evacuation recommended. Our Go Bags are in a closet by front door & include thumb drives with important house & financial docs, cash for power outages, sleeping bags, blankets. We have MRE type food, dog food & bottled water in garage. BBQ tank always full & car tanks kept at least half full too. No generator at this house in Vancouver. We had one in Seattle after a 4 day winter outage & then never needed it once! But, one of my sisters lives in St. Pete / Tampa FL area & they’ve recently had a Gentran generator installed for those hurricanes they get. For a generator, those are the way to go for lower maintenance.

Laurie - I think that’s your name - my wish for you is that each day is a bit warmer and your damage clean up progresses quickly. Uncovering & seeing your gardens and how things survived will be quite the experience & hopefully one filled with many happy surprises!

Kathy

KW PNW Z8..l saw your post but didn’t comment at that moment..you’ve lived through quite a few catastrophes!..I often write comments and later delete them..

I hate that GW puts a time limit to edit or delete comments..if you wrote it you should be able to delete it whenever you like IMO..

your experiences are an example of the unpredictability of life..

Kathy I am so glad you reposted. That is a horrific number of disasters to endure made worse by so much loss of life. My heart goes out to you. No wonder you had some sleepless nights after the bridge & freeway collapse, I am sure you were not alone. You have just about covered the gamut of disasters. My three (we had a derecho as well) pale in comparison. I live surrounded by forest so fire is a concern but not to the same degree that you experience. There are on average 7 earthquakes a year in my area but they are mild. You are an inspiration for overcoming!

I do not believe anyone will be bored for more than one reason. You have brought to attention the need for preparedness. That is a service to us all. Beyond that we are a truly caring bunch whether the issue is small or large. I do hope your cool weather and rain have let up. Thank you for the well wishes. I am one of the most northerly here so there will be plenty of pics to enjoy from you and others before I catch up...but I will!! Yes you got it right it is Laurie. You take care!

@peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada - Laurie - I had to look up ’derecho’ as had never heard the term. Surprised that I hadn’t heard it from weather watching but it does sound like a very scary experience with the wind strength & width of path! Puts me in mind of the Arizona dust storms “Habib”. I’ve been in one of those! Another fun experience while visiting a relative. On a personal note, I do have roots in Canada - more around Montreal where my paternal grandfather and his family emigrated from to Montana. My parents had attended a family reunion early 2000 or so at Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan. An early ancestor is buried there - Evangeliste Beausoleil - 1847 - 1935, along with 26 other relatives. They’re all part of the Sylvestri / Beausoleil clan. After my parents were both gone I had corresponded with another Beausoleil in Quebec about family history. He sent me many photos of places around his & his brother’s more northern lakeside home. Beautiful country. I have only ever visited the West side of Canada - British Columbia around Prince Rupert and south.

Kathy

Kathy when the derecho hit us I and many others had to look it up also. I hope to not hear that term again. We were relatively lucky but close neighbours were hit very hard at there home and their cottage miles away. A frightening phenomenon as you well know after being caught in a similar Habib.

It is a small world. So roots in the west and east of Canada. There is so much cross border within NA today and within that time frame. Perhaps one day you will want to travel to those ancestral spots.... I would be on your way to Montreal. I have a sister that has been in Va. for decades.

Laurie, I’m just seeing this now. What an ordeal for you! I’m sorry you had to go through that. I can’t imagine being without electricity for eight days! Or 13 in the past! Losing electricity is so isolating. And having to keep the generator going would be nerve-racking. (But good that you have one) I hope you were able to stay warm through it all. You deserve some decompression time! I’m glad you have your daughter and sil to lend a helping hand.

Ice is the worst! It does so much damage. My DH was trying to get home during an ice storm, and our street was so icy that I watched as his car slid past our house until it ran into a curb and stopped. He had a heck of a time trying to reach our house walking up the street on ice! Any patches of snow to walk on were life savers.

That’s terrible how many of your trees broke. Your gardens are so pretty with so many well thought out layers, including your trees. I’m sure it will still be beautiful but may be a bit different in some areas. I don’t envy you having to do that cleanup! I’ve had a few trees at a time to deal with and that was bad enough. Having as many as you do is a big project. But the plants will grow regardless of what’s going on around them and hopefully bring some hope of getting back to normal at some point in the not too distant future. Please, continue to be careful and not overwork yourself!

KW, Kathy, you’ve reminded me that my “bug out” bags could be more complete. I don’t have any important paperwork, and saving to a thumb drive is a good idea, too. In the summer of ’21 we had a fire so close that smoke was coming into my house! It happened so quickly. My first reaction was to calmly get my cat carriers so they didn’t get scared and hide somewhere I couldn’t reach them. But I was also glad to have my bags ready after I got the cats. Luckily, that portion of the fire didn’t reach us, but the smoke lingered for a long time.

These natural disasters can happen so fast and are very scary!

Sherry, good thread you started. All of us hosta lovers dread hail! It can wipe out a whole season if it happens at the wrong time. Our hostas are resilient and come back, but super disappointing when hail damages them. Let's cross our fingers with this radical weather we can avoid it. I'm still unsure how my hostas will look after so little water last year. But things are looking up with the wet winter we finally had!

Lisa thank you! It was an ordeal but thankfully I have a simple airtight woodstove that I use all winter with a backup propane furnace. The furnace was useless during the outage of course but at least I could make coffee and heat some food on the woodstove. I was also able to melt snow for flushing the toilet. The huge snow banks were a real plus in this case. The generator (borrowed) kept the sump pump working otherwise it would have been much worse. I will get my generator serviced for sure now. Complacency is not my friend. The feeling of isolation is one of the hardest to work through for sure but once you come out the other side of it you are just happy to have your family (and in our cases the garden to look forward to).

Yes, ice is wicked. It is a credit to your DH just being able to make it home. Thank goodness for the snow patches. I sometimes think those of us that live in a cold climate are crazy to do so but it has been illustrated here that no matter where we live there are challenges.

Smoke coming into your home had to be beyond terrifying! I am just so relieved the fire did not reach your home!. You have had a lot of challenges over the last couple of years with all the digging that went on around your home. I remember the big open hole on the street with a shudder. I hope this year that the upheaval is over and you will be able to enjoy your gorgeous garden without hindrance. I am happy you had a wet winter to get your season off to a good start. Please give an update. I miss seeing your inspiring garden.

It is heartbreaking to see all the tortured trees but little by little the visible areas will get cleaned up. There are parts of the forest I don' even want to look at yet. I feel badly for my dog. She has been on a hook or leash since it is too dangerous for her to be loose. She is surprisingly taking it like a trooper. Border collies don't usually take well to confinement, smart girl!

I also had to look up “derecho” as I have never heard of it. Sounds terrible! Apparently Milwaukee was hit by one in 2020. We were part of an area on the northern side of one that hit Iowa. Go figure!

debra

They are terrible Debra. Ours was in May 2022 and there were 8 deaths before it finished up in Maine.