Danger where you least expect it…

Big, beautiful, & old pecan tree that I’ve had trimmed more than once.

No, I’ve not forgotten this blog, but my easy computer access is no more.

For the next six months, I will use a public computer and while I thought the public computers would be available this past Saturday, they were not because of America’s Labor Day holiday.

At this point, you’ve probably heard everything you ever wanted to hear about Hurricane Harvey. The storm put a lot of people in danger, and unfortunately, the problems and dangers caused by Harvey aren’t over yet.

I feel blessed Harvey didn’t impact my little town (Palestine, TX) more than it did.  At one point, we were told we might receive 7-10 inches of rain.  Instead, we received somewhere around 2″ (about 5 cm).

Once the wind & rain passed, it seemed the danger was over, and most of us in Palestine went back to our normal routines.  I know I did.

However, while I don’t want to be a “Chicken Little” and say “The sky is falling!”, it sort-of did in my garden a few days after the storm.

I was scraping the chippy paint from the table you see below when suddenly there was a loud thud about 5 feet (1.5 meters) away.  What the heck?

At first, I was clueless.  What caused that sound?  And then I saw it:  A long limb had fallen from the pecan tree in the photo above, and it had fallen in the garden bed directly beside me.

I feel so lucky that the limb did not fall on my head, neck, or back. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been as bad as being hit by a hurricane, but it definitely wouldn’t have been good!

I’ve had this particular pecan tree trimmed, not once but twice. I keep an eye on it for dead limbs, but I never saw this limb up there.

The rain made many of my plants happy including this Lobelia Cardinalis (above) who finally decided to bloom.  The hummingbirds and I were ecstatic.

Finally, there is another less obvious danger that I actually invited to my garden.  It brings to mind hot breath and fire, and it’s a project I’ve worked on for about a month now.  It didn’t turn out exactly the way I’d hoped, but then again, nothing is perfect.

Therefore without further waiting, I am pleased to introduce Montague, my new Watch-Dragon of the Garden.

While I did not initially intend to put this dragon in a “house,” falling limbs make it a necessity.

My handyman knocked the dragon’s niche together and was extremely pleased with himself.  He said he’d never built anything like it before.  The niche has a few “issues,” but works for its purpose.

Currently, I’m waiting for my “Please don’t tickle the dragon” sign to arrive.

My hope for you is that all danger stays far, far away from your home, family, and your garden.  Be well!

 

 

 

 

 

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