After the Storm

As most people are aware, Texas got a lot of wind and rain last weekend, courtesy of Hurricane Patricia.

The predictions were pretty grim, and we were expecting the worst, but luckily, the storm downgraded and we didn't get hit as badly as we feared.  We didn't get flooded (although some roads were closed) and we didn't lose power.

Still, that didn't stop folks having a little fun on the internet at our expense!  (I can't talk, I shared this one myself on Facebook :-)

So after the storm, I took a stroll round the garden to see how everything had fared and was happy to see that other than some drooping Milkweed stalks, everything was fine.

I also got a pleasant surprise when I saw that the rainfall had encouraged my Angel Trumpet (Brugmansia) to bloom.

It has been in a container in that same spot for at least three years and this is the first time it has bloomed for me.

There was also speculation on the internet about how Hurricane Patricia would adversely affect the Monarch migration as they would be passing directly through the area.

Well it seems that our local Monarchs found somewhere safe to hunker down during the storm and have been seen the past couple of days, fueling up on the Vitex and laying eggs on the Milkweed before they head south.

I also read an interesting article on AZCentral.com, Hurricane Patricia: How Monarch butterflies faced down the storm and it seems that butterflies flying through Arizona, in the direct line of the storm were pretty darned smart.

"But those butterflies shifted their flight east, away from the hurricane’s track, according to the Mexican national agency tasked with tracking them.

The butterflies “changed their route from west to east and have taken refuge in the ravines” of the country’s eastern mountain range, the Sierra Madre Oriental, the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) reported."

Isn't nature wonderful?

I've linked this post to Today's Flowers, hosted by Denise at An English Girl Rambles.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.