My
garden used to be lush and green and shady. You
can see photos of many of my flowers here.
Then came 2004 - the hurricane season that we will never
forget.
Here
are some photos of my house and garden taken right before
hurricane Charley. Charley didn't do any damage, but
roll over the photo to see what it looked like right
after hurricane Frances.
My front yard - it's
a tiny little cottage, but the shade trees and garden made
it nice.
The wind came from
the back of the house, so the lattice work was spared and
the front of the house was sheltered enough for the dog to
make bathroom breaks. The cat wasn't having any part of it.
This tree on the north
side of the house is leaning towards the camera because of
hurricane Erin, many years before. I looked out the window
during the storm and saw it leaning even more, and being
rocked by gusts of wind.
I knew it wasn't going
to make it.
The same side yard
from the opposite direction.
The round Ficus tree
by the back door hand been blown over, too, but I got it
staked back up before taking the "after" photo.
My shed was old and
rusty, but it did keep my yard tools dry.
Luckily all the trees
missed the house, but this tree did land on the shed - at
least it kept it from blowing away like so many others did!
The back yard is where
I have - or HAD - the garden tub to cool off in, shade cloth
overhead for shade, and most of my flowering plants.
The banana trees had
a pod of bananas just getting ready to fruit.
It didn't help anything
that there is a huge construction project going on right
behind my house. The raw sand sandblasted the house and garden.
My patio area, looking
south.
My patio area, looking
north.
The framework held
in there really well.
The garden tub, with
waterfall. It's great for cooling off on a hot day, and my
nephew loves playing in my "little pool".
The fire pit, for cookouts.
Here's what is left
of my last shade tree. It lost a few large branches, and
the top broke off, but I may still get a little shade out
of it this summer.
