microb's blog: Where have I been?

I don't know. Really no blog since end of November. How time flies.

As I review what have been achieved I have to weave in the results of a strong wind storm that went though our area about 10 days ago. Scary stuff.

The Sunken Garden - This garden was created by thinning out small trees and leaving the "mother" trees to provide some partial shade. During the past few months I have been in the process of adding plants and gravelling paths to overcome mud that is unavoidable in this lowest part of our total garden area



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The pathing project is almost complete. One section is a loop trail and I can see both ends getting closer and closer. New plantings include Calatheas, pothos, heliconias, etc.

Then along came the windstorm. 50% of the mother trees ended up horizontal with roots torn from the ground. Luckily the leafy tops of the trees fell into the forest on the outside of the fence so I just had to cut the tops off just clear of the fence and let them stay where they fell. Then I just had to trim up the trunks ( seen along side the path) Very little plant damage but now a lot more light





Forest pathways - The windstorm left a lot of twigs, small branches and other debris in the way of an easy walk. It took a couple of days to rake the entire system and set it back to near normal.

Woodpile Garden - I had just started laying bamboo poles along the edges of planned pathways. Could not believe my eyes after the storm to see one large bamboo pole, that had been on the ground, pointing up at a 45 degree angle. A large clump of trees had been blown down causing the root ball to be forced up under the path and that's where it will stay for a while. I will leave the trees laying where they are and cut away the roots to clear the original pathway. The trees fell to the right, another clump of trees on the right fell parallel to the path and landed on top of the original clump so its like a huge pile of "pick-up-sticks"

Back 50 garden - after the storm where the 100ft bamboos reside. Tips of 60ft high new bamboo shoots were on the ground. 40 ft up at least a dozen bamboo canes were broken off at right angles and hanging their leafy tops down to the ground in an arch. Further up in the garden area a large trunk of a pine tree had snapped off bringing with it a branch of an
African Tulip tree.
A week after the windstorm a large branch of an ironwood tree surcumbed and fell to the ground missing our water tank by 4 ft. This one has been cleaned up as it was so close to the back of the house







Too much drama in my life this past few weeks. Stormy wet weather throughout December has finally past and this last week has been clear blue skies and sunshine. Here is the top of a 20ft Australian tree fern against the blue sky.




Water lilies are still blooming




So on we go to orchids. The guy that takes care of the orchids at the zoo got a heads up that an orchid nursery in Hilo was out of business and the new owner was levelling the nursery. I was told the greenhouses were the size of a tennis court and the orchids were being given away. There were truck loads coming off the benches. I can handle only so much so I took three large garbage bags full. I now have orchids tied to ferns and trees and in pots. you can spot the orchids on the ferns and trees in the above photos. Here are the pots. Most are cattleya orchids and show no sign of blooms at this point. They will take a year to get established but I have promised not to ignore them and went out with fertilizer in a spray bottle today to give them a good start. So on the first of each month I will test run the generator and fertilize the orchids.





Rain and wind caused a troublesome roof leak into our hobby room. Had to climb out one window and then reach out with a pole tipped with Henry's roof patch to seal the screw head. I'm not happy walking on sloping metal roof. Next rain shower leak was still there. Guessed the wrong screw took a second try. You know how it goes - third times a charm. Well I'm still waiting to prove that, as it has not rained since the third attempt.






And for those readers who like to see where we live here pics down the street, up the street and our gateway from the street










How did this pic get here. Should be up top with the other pathway pic

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