Agreed, Kay. I hope their power is back on. Clean up can be disheartening, especially in heat. Just hoping they are able to salvage the most important parts of their gardens and seedlings.

Thanks for all the concern. The power is back on (75 hours off--a record for us) and the cleanup has begun. I don't want to bore you but here is the extent of the damage, as far as we can tell at this point.

1. We had 8 pine tress in the windbreak snap off in the middle of the trunk. That leaves only four left. There might have been 16 or 17 originally. Bob read that eastern white pines are prone to do that when they are mature. There were two more white pines by the road that snapped as well. The pines will be cut down as soon as we can arrange a tree service to do the work.

2. One nectarine tree and two apricot trees either were uprooted or snapped off at the base. One native plum was already damaged and suffered further damage.

3. Two maples and a tulip poplar tree lost big limbs.

4. One pine tree crushed the pool fence. We hadn't opened the pool yet so it remains to be seen if the cover is damaged.

5. The greenhouse suffered some damage.

6. As far as the daylilies are concerned, two beds of named varieties were crushed by the pine trees. Two beds of selects were also crushed. Bob and I have selected a couple of those to be lined out for introduction in 2025. I am guessing those plants will survive, but now we have to wait to get stats on them.

Our non-select seedlings are ok. They were all on the northwest siide of the windbreak. The trees all fell toward the southeast side.

On a positive note, the silver maple closest to the house that is old and in bad shape just lost a limp. If it had fallen, it would have fallen on the house. It will be cut down as well.

Bob was actually amazed at the Thuja 'Green Giant' he had planted on the northwest side of the pines. They are a fast growing evergreen that is good for windbreaks. They suffered no damage at all. We will plant more of them to make up for the loss of the pines in the windbreak.

We are truly ok. We have decided to shift our focus this season to cleanup and restoration of the beds as we downsize. The only hybridizing we will do is some of the special programs we have just started. We have so many selects in the beds it won't do us any harm to take off a year.

I tried to post a few pictures, but I think this post is too long. I'll try them in the next comment.

Nancy

Here is a photo of the northwest side of the windbreak. There were five smaller pines on the left side of the tall pine on the right. All of the debris is on the other side. Most of the seedlings are on this side of the windbreak.

Here is a corner of a select bed. Most of the bed is crushed.

This photo shows how the trees just snapped off.

That's enough destruction for today.

Good to hear the power is back on! I’m betting once you set your priorities it eliminated some of the stress. Hope the rest of the season is uneventful and some good seedlings are discovered.

Sherry

So glad to read your power is back! Being without electricity in July is no picnic, especially when its tied to your water. It's just a shame so many of your select seedlings were crushed. I imagine that's where your cleanup begins. At least your newest seedlings were unharmed. It saddens me that so many trees were lost in this one storm. I imagine it will take some time to cleanup all the debris.

Debra

I am so glad your power is back on. Those daylily beds are ever so sad! And losing your fruit trees is sad too. Obviously there is an awful lot of work to be done. I am glad the tree next to the house did not fall.

kay

Clean-up will start in earnest on Thursday. Professionals will be here to cut down the trees and clean up all the downed limbs. It will cost a fortune but it's too big a job for us. The fruit trees was no great loss. The apricot and the nectarine bloomed too early and most of the time we didn't get any fruit. Now we can plant something else where they were. I am thinking grapes and blackberries.

Will your insurance help? I know it was costly to have the big tree that overhung our house, but I am so glad it is gone every time it storms. I hurt for you when I see the tree on the daylilies.

kay

Your pictures take me back to a couple of weeks ago and our the storm damage here (some downed trees are still sitting at people's curbs waiting for the city to pick up). Sad sight to see the daylilies crushed, but sadder still would have been the house from the Silver Maple. A wise move to take it out now. And what a blessing you have your power back on. I'm glad you both came out safe. .........Maryl

Nancy: Happy to hear your power is back but sad to see so much damage. Hope the daylilies will come back okay once the trees are cleaned up. Take some time to enjoy the day with family.

Julia

I am sorry for all the damage you have. I pray that you can get it cleaned up quickly and cheaply.

Brad