House Front
Front Yard
Here are some before and after pictures of the house. Above: how it appeared when I bought it. Below: after putting in the new landscaping. I have since changed the pink azaleas to Red Ruffles because they are much more hardy. The pink ones were sickly during the hot summer months. I have added an irrigation system. This really conserves water by watering each individual plant instead of the entire surface area of the beds like sprinklers and soaker hoses do. I have also added beautiful hybrid hibiscus and sago palms to the landscaping. I'll post updated pictures when they bloom this spring.
Here are some new pictures with the red azaleas - Spring 2006. This year is not a good year for the flowers because of the hurricane last September.
Ready for Hurricane Rita 2005
I was very fortunate. I received very little damage from Hurricane Rita, the eye of which blew over my house on September 22, 2005. This entire region was hit hard. Western Louisianna and Sabine Pass, Texas, which is 10 miles my south, were all but wiped out on the coast. The Port Arthur and Beaumont areas received alot of tree and roof damage to homes and businesses. This damage extended inland all the way to Nacogdoches, Tx and beyond. Hurricane Rita was overshadowed by the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina, but it will go down as one of the top ten costliest hurricanes to ever hit the U.S.
Hurricane Ike 2008
Hurricane Ike is the third hurricane to hit Port Arthur in the last three years (Hurricane Humberto, a category 1 storm with 85 mph winds, hit us in September of 2007). Hurricane Ike's winds were not as bad as Rita's, but it had a huge storm surge that affected many communities in this area. Click here for more details.
Christmas 2007
I obtained my hybrid hibiscus from Hibiscus Place. They have beautiful plants for a fair price.
I purchased my drip irrigation system from The Drip Store. Their systems are affordable and easy to install - my system took about 4 hours to set up and it waters about 75 plants.
Updated November 2, 2008