Last modified:
July 17, 2011
Photo Gallery
Storm damage 7/7/2011
Two very wild thunderstorms hit the house, Thursday evening
7/7 and at 8 am on 7/11. The Thursday night storm 7/7 hit the house with
straight line winds of 94 miles per hour. This was a real fluke, the storm front
was entirely over Lake Michigan, with winds and rain spreading inland no more
than 5 miles. When the down burst hit the house all the trees bent down like a
hand was pressing on them and shaking them. This is scary when the bent tree is
over 50 ft tall. No twisting, so it wasn't a tornado that hit, but it was
a powerful wind. Had a one ton branch crash down in the front yard, but it
missed the house and missed my car. Lucky day. Oddly, we did not loose power.
The pictures below are from that storm.
The Monday morning storm knock out power for 750,000 people in
Illinois and at least 200,000 in Wisconsin. Big storm with an incredible amount
of lightning. The lightning was so frequent that it seemed to be a constant
rumble accented with ear splitting crashes. One 60 second clip has the sound of
3 lightning strikes that were within a quarter mile, the sound followed the
flash by less than 2 seconds. Unfortunately my phone camera did not capture the
deep bass roar of the storm, but it will give you an idea. Imagine the deep
rumble so loud and close you feel it in your chest as much as the ears.
3 or 4 near strikes in one
minute
one really close
strike, note the interference just before the flash
My father took up wood carving 5 or so years ago, in part to
keep his fingers nimble, he is 80 this year, and his dexterity hasn't slipped,
in spite of his arthritis. A couple pieces he finished this last month or two.
my favorite, a Green Man door knocker
Paph. William Ambler (wilhelminiae x rothschildianum)
Chaenomeles cv. 'Iwai Nishiki', Flowering Quince.
This is a new to me flowering quince, the cultivar is 'Iwai
Nishiki'. The flower is just under one inch across, so this image is much bigger
than the flower.
Paph tigrinum 'Windy Hill'
Got this plant from Marilyn Ledoux some years ago, of my 5
surviving Paph. tigrinum, this clone is a reliable bloomer. On this blooming the
petals are more curled than usual, which I chalk up to heat stress, as we went
from unusually cool to extremely hot this year, without the normal spring
transition.
Paph Magic Lantern (delenatii x micranthum)
When the cross was made, it was hoped to be the parvisepalum
equivalent of Paph Maudiae. This is a great cross, but most people still find
them slow growing, though Magic Lantern is definitely much easier to grow than
Paph micranthum. This flower has a natural spread of 8.2 cm, and has a nice full
form with a wide dorsal. I really like it.
Satusuki Azalea cutivar 'Waka Ebisu'
This cultivar is a soft pink, with random dark coral stripes
and occasional coral selfs. The plant is still a young whip, so the full
variation of color and form is not evident yet. It can produce hose-in-hose
flowers, which are one form of double flowers, but it does not always produce
them. Waka Ebisu seems to bloom mid-season. Nice small leaves for bonsai, it
will need a decade of growing to become bonsai. In the mean time, I will enjoy
the flowers.
Hoshi-no-Kagayaki
Hoshi-no-Kagayaki is a mid-season Satsuki azalea hybrid, often
used for smaller scale bonsai because the flowers are smaller than most azalea.
The smaller flowers and leaves give a better sense of proportion when used to
make smaller sized bonsai.
Paph Pink Fred (Fair Fred x primulinum
form purpurescens)
This is a really cute compact Paph hybrid. They will have 2 or
3 flowers in sequence per inflorescence, which extends their bloom season
nicely, upwards of 4 months or more. This is a first bloom seedling, in the
future it should improve.
Paph Prelude
Hoya thomsonii IML-1177
This is a really neat Hoya, very dark green leaves with
silver flecks, and fuzzy, coarse fuzz on the upper surface, dense soft fuzz on
the lower surface. It is a lax vine, not a strong climber, ideal for hanging
baskets. The flowers are few to an umbel, pure white and very fragrant. The
fragrance is spicy clove & cinnamon, with a sweet floral note that seems to
carry it. Fragrance is strongest at night. The two little flowers in the photo
were fragrant enough that one could smell them from across the room. The flowers
last a little over one week. The flower close up is not pixilated, the
¾ inch (2 cm) flowers have fuzz also. As
Hoya go, thomsonii is a intermediate to cool grower, it does not need
the heat some of the others do. It grows well in low light, to moderately
bright, it does not need intense sunlight to get it to bloom.
Had to prop the blooming stem up, otherwise the flowers looked
down at the floor.
Leptotes bicolor 'Lakeland' this is a real cute
miniature, and the flowers have a sweet fragrance too!
Leptotes bicolor, 2011 above, 2010 below. You can see
that the number of growths on the cork chunk has increased significantly in one
year.
below is the same Fumi's Delight photo'd in 2008
Miltoniopsis Lady Sigrid Karabelnikoff
photographed May 22, 2010, a really nice water-fall
Miltoniopsis hybrid by Ivan Komoda. this plant has the best flower of the 6
seedlings I have bloomed. Form and color are there, it has award potential if
shown on a more mature flowering.
Miltoniopsis Lady Sigrid Karabelnikoff
630-Jan-2010c.jpg)
