I'm about 5 blocks up hill from the evacuation zone.. cars there are underwater.. mine is across the street.. and will be just fine... unles a tree falls on it.. funny cruising for a parking spot.. there was spaces next to leaning trees but I finally found one in a clearing... the wind seems to be letting up... this is JT's Karoline... always in bloom.. with plenty of buds awaiting their time.. unfortunately it lost piles of them in the storm... but with it's vigor... I look for it to be full of blooms in a week or two...

sorry... the short clip of it being battered in the wind didn't load up.. it's off to the right in this still

Good to hear you're safe and so is the car! Karoline is beautiful, in spite of the rain and wind. Get some rest, you probably have lots of plants to pick up.

I hope that the plants recover well and that you didn't lose any.

too.

yes.. I have had a bit of bud and flower drop... maybe too much water .. or maybe it was the 100 + MPH winds they recourded on the Brooklyn Bridge... some 20 blocks away... I might sit a bit higher than the bridge is.. more up into it..
but inside... it's just prolonged paradise..

I'm glad you are safe so far.I could just picture that rooftop garden sailing off into the distance.

Well.. JT. it well might have..lots of stockade fencing was down.. around town.. the boards on them are touching one another...but my slats had a space and bamboo poles between the cedar boards.. and a space on the other side.. just to let a bit of wind through.. to lessen the opposition to the wind.. and prevent pancaking of the plants on the other side.. as the air moves up and over the fence and comes hard on the plants as the air fills in the low pressure behind the fence... all my planters and the 10 ' bamboo trellising.. stayed upright.... also.. in the first picture...the fencing and planter you see behind the umbrella.. from side to side.. is up off the roof.. it's a box beam that spans from side to side.. with the fence hung on the back of it.. not on the roof at all... but resting a foot on each end of it on the bearing walls on each side.. that's true on the back fence planter in the second picture.. the entire bit that goes across on te right side in the picture..soo all of that just rests on 1 ft on the ends of it and is other wise suspended in between.. to remove the weight of the 22 ft of planter and fencing on the front and back. from the roof.... amazing engineering if I do say so myself... [ and it's in it's 12 th year ]you can appreciate it.. but it well might have gone airborne.. in the 100+ mph ghusts that were recorded by the city some 20 blocks away .. it was just too long and heavy to even blow over...

I have a poor movie [ my first ] of your Karoline shaking in the dark as the winds picked up.. she was loaded ith flowers and buds.. as she has been all summer long... that's quite a brug you've blessed us all with.. strong and allways flowering... could you make me one just like that... that has blue flowers.. here she was after the storm.. just to the left of the skylight .. being held down by the hunk of marble on the planter .. and still holding onto a few buds... and lots of buds and flowers in the pile in front of it ..

sorry... this was Karoline some 50 days before... and flowered like that till Sandy came along
and it looked like the picture above

we did get wind... this is the street a block from me...on the other side of the park.. an English Elm...
my rfiend from the park is cutting it up... by hand... he does have an assortment of lovely Silky pole saws.. and some he'd made...that cut this brittle wood up like butter.. I offered him my chain saw but he refused.. seems the trip a mile away to home depot to get two cycle oil was too much.. this tree grew between a large paved play area.. and the street... neither of which is good for getting water underneath .. so the roots grew laterally in the soil inbetween... and it had no roots going under the playground or road... so when it went down it fell over the unsupported side of the root ball
it did miss the house across the street by a foot or so...
there was another tree in the park that fell.. it was growing in the open.. so it had no absent root defence... just a pile of wind... this tree sits next to a big boulder they found in the middle of the street a few years ago.. a few blocks away.. so when they dug it up this lady I know got it put in the park
so that's the wind we endured here up in my roof garden... and I stick up above the canopy of these giant trees... in really clear air... ... without much incident

I'm glad you are ok, Gordon!

Gordon says>>. strong and allways flowering... could you make me one just like that... that has blue flowers..

Sure.I'm working on it.Should be ready for release next week.I'm glad you made it through ok.Keep your head down and stay safe.There will be bad stuff ahead from desperate people.

well JT... I'm always on the look out .. made it through OK... driving in Manhattan with no traffic controls is a hoot... you need something real big with something around 50 cal mounted on top.. it will work real well for the later zombie invasiion you mentioned also..
here's a good news survival news item
Battery Park Turkey Survives... Our gal Zelda, the wild turkey of Battery Park, has survived Hurricane Sandy. The manager of the park's food kiosks spotted her yesterday and sent the above photo over to Gothamist. We're proud of you, Zelda, but not surprised

And Thanksgiving is on the way.

Well.. here's Karoline starting up after the hit by Sandy a few days ago..
and a few flowers inside.. from the fortunate ones moved inside.. before the 100 year storm

Love all the nice pics. Does anyone grow them outside? If you use pots, what type of soil mix do you use? Oh and a good recommendation on the best varigated brug.

Thanks,
Teresa in KY

Maya has my vote for the best variegated brug.. .AKA peach parfait... yes.. they grow well outside.. you're ikely too cold to do so there all winter long... mother in north AL gets hers to come back from the roots in the spring... everything above ground is toast after the winter ... I do have one that comes back here in NYC .. spends the winter outside in a container... but it has an exceptional and extreamly warm microclime... in front of a massive hot air vent
most any potting soil is fine... regular and continual feeding [ at least weekly ] is the big secret to their flowering... plenty of sun... and a large well drained container

Thanks, Gordon
I have heard Maya was a good one. One year I had my son's bedroom looking like a jungle! He is now in college so I am thinking about getting a couple again.