Cactus starting to bloom and misc pics from the yard.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat May 15, 2010 1:54 pm

ScottyON · Post by **ScottyON** » Sat May 15, 2010 2:06 pm

The cactus looks great Jim! Looks like your palms are rebounding nicely!!!!!!!!!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat May 15, 2010 2:16 pm

Great colors on those cactus blossoms.
Nice variety too.
Is that a jade plant (or echeveria?) behind the first pink-blooming cactus pic?

Your front bed looks great already.
A miracle really considering it's early.
Looks like the ice plant loves it there too.

Yup that blue agave really stands out...spectacular.

Sequoia amazes me.
And your Naini Tal, alive and well, thank goodness.

You're off to a great start.
By September, your plants will be spilling into the street.

Barb

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Sat May 15, 2010 3:49 pm

Looking good Jim!

Those lime colored flowers are really different, I like em. You filled the cacti bed in nicely with all your new stuff.

Nice fort-wag recovery too. Great score on the blue med fan, I kind of wish I took better care of mine now. Nothing
some tlc can't fix.

Great job,
Bill

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun May 16, 2010 9:16 am

lucky1 wrote:Great colors on those cactus blossoms.

Is that a jade plant (or echeveria?) behind the first pink-blooming cactus pic?

Barb

Probably some type of variegated Ech Barb-
my sister sent me a bunch of stuff from Cali
and I haven't looked this one up.

Jubaea · Post by **Jubaea** » Sun May 16, 2010 7:03 pm

That's a nice cactus garden. Is that an E. hordius in there as well?

The Echiveria thing looks to be an Aeonium 'kiwi'.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun May 16, 2010 7:23 pm

I think you've got it Jubaea!
Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon May 17, 2010 7:22 am

Jubaea wrote:That's a nice cactus garden. Is that an E. hordius in there as well?

The Echiveria thing looks to be an Aeonium 'kiwi'.

Yes E.horridus in the dark colored pot,I think your right about
the Aeonium being "Kiwi" too-good call.
Probably needs to get a lot bigger to know for sure but I don't
think that will take long.

I wonder if they are as hardy as the Graptopetalum paraguayense
you can see next to the A.havardiana.

Jubaea · Post by **Jubaea** » Mon May 17, 2010 8:59 am

I wonder if they are as hardy as the Graptopetalum paraguayense
you can see next to the A.havardiana.
[/quote]

I have Aeonium haworthii then non-varigated form of A. 'Kiwi' and it is one of the easiest to grow. From what plants I have seen of A. 'Kiwi' it is not as strong as the non-varigated form and it sometimes rots if it gets too much water in the center of the plant. I'm assuming that these will be dug up in the fall and relocated inside or in a greenhouse?

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon May 17, 2010 11:40 am

Jubaea wrote:I wonder if they are as hardy as the Graptopetalum paraguayense
you can see next to the A.havardiana.

I have Aeonium haworthii then non-varigated form of A. 'Kiwi' and it is one of the easiest to grow. From what plants I have seen of A. 'Kiwi' it is not as strong as the non-varigated form and it sometimes rots if it gets too much water in the center of the plant. I'm assuming that these will be dug up in the fall and relocated inside or in a greenhouse?[/quote]

G.paragauyense survived the winter in the cactus enclosure

If there was one plant I would have bet on to be toast at 25(f) let alone 0(f)!
Grapto would have been it,this plant saw AT LEAST single digits,if not ZERO!-repeatedly-

This was quite a surprise as the leaf structure is VERY watery,this was the"good"
surprise of the winter.

I will do the same thing with A.kiwi I did with the Grapto..........
leave some out and bring part of it in for winter.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon May 17, 2010 2:12 pm

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Tue May 18, 2010 6:18 am

Those cacti flowers are amazing Jim.

I remember the first time I saw your post on your cacti, and before I knew anything about cacti, I thought you altered the photos to make them look like that!

Bill

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue May 18, 2010 6:54 am

Bill-

Yea,
I know what you mean,especially the 5th pic in this sequence,
looks like it is glowing-it actually does look like that close up too!

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Tue May 18, 2010 7:57 am

Jim- Looks like your trig is going to bloom too! That is one of my favorites, but, mine has only bloomed once:(

I see that you've got lots of Echinocereus planted, didn't you read the guide books? The minimum temperature those are supposed to handle is 41f!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue May 18, 2010 9:44 am

Jim
Spectacular show of color.
Passersby must stop and stare at your garden specimens!

OK where is that last pic? Thought you lived in an urban area.

Barb

mnpalms · Post by **mnpalms** » Fri May 21, 2010 4:23 am

Looking great Jim! It seems we have finally turned the corner with summer weather now. 90s in the forecast this weekend even! What a strange spring we have had here in the midwest. Still overall I think things are in good shape and a month early in general. My bananas are finally starting to look good. Trachies are growing noticably, etc. I have a red yucca which is already flowering and has 3' flower stalk. Roses are opening too. My triple y. filamentosa in front has put on over a foot of growth in the last 2 weeks. I can't believe how fast that thing is growing this year!

Has anyone visited the Holiday Inn in Des Moines lately? I'm dying to know how their trachies fared...

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Fri May 21, 2010 6:07 am

Mnpalms,
does your red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) over winter? Mine does, and looked good even when most everything else did not.
It is also flowering this year!

--Erik

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri May 21, 2010 6:53 am

Barb-

That picture is from the Summit Lake area of Mt.Evans Co.
The elevation at that point is 12,830 feet I think the summit is
14,256?

Paul,
Most of my Echinocereus are from Kelly Grummons
of Colorado and are z4-z5,there is a E.Salm ssp.Obsceriensis
in the right front corner that is only hardy to maybe upper 20s that I will dig up-
if I remember!-I think it has orange colored flowers

Kory,
very cool May so far in contrast to April's +7 above avg
-the next ten days will change that!

So far in May about-8f below avg with close to 6"of rain!

This is awesome when you add the 10 day forecast that's coming up!

http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/a ... nday/52556

The Bananas should explode along with EVERYTHING else with this heat!

B.T.W
My H.parviflora is also sending out a monster bloom stalk!

Haven't heard anything yet about the Iowa Trachy,guessing there are fried,
I did come across this video-it's 2 yrs old-we know these palms are in heaven!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_FipsbshqI

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Fri May 21, 2010 7:18 am

Jim,
you'll be 10oF above me on Monday! (use zip code 74008).
Yes, your garden will shoot up by Memorial Day weekend.
--Erik

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri May 21, 2010 8:02 am

TerdalFarm wrote:Jim,
you'll be 10oF above me on Monday! (use zip code 74008).
Yes, your garden will shoot up by Memorial Day weekend.
--Erik

Yea!
That's pretty crazy eh!

97 on Monday

My Bananas,Sabals and cactus will be
confetti after they explode into growth from those temps!

mnpalms · Post by **mnpalms** » Sat May 22, 2010 4:39 am

TerdalFarm wrote:Mnpalms,
does your red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) over winter? Mine does, and looked good even when most everything else did not.
It is also flowering this year!
--Erik

Red yucca (not actually a real yucca, aka "false yucca") is a zone 5 plant. It will winter here too without protection. Mine was planted early this spring so I don't actually have over-winter experience with it yet. I must have planted a good one though since it is already flowering! This plant is only slightly less hardy than y. filamentosa which makes it through my winters without problem so I feel pretty good about it. I'm actually amazed with how much growth I have seen from both these species so far this year.

Yeah Jim that first part of May really sucked. We didn't get quite as much rain as you, but still quite a bit. This latter half of May looks to make up for the below average trend early on. 80s and 90s highs with 60s and 70s lows from here on out. Actually we have been back above average for the past 8 days now. Take some pictures today, then at the same time next week and compare...

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Sat May 22, 2010 6:00 am

I remember reading about the holiday inn palms last year, if I recall right all of them died. The person who sold the palms actually replaced them too

I'm pretty sure they didn't go as crazy planting them this time.

I wonder how the new ones made out?

Bill

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat May 22, 2010 7:11 am

Kory wrote
"Take some pictures today, then at the same time next week and compare..."

Great minds think alike,Bill and I were just talking about that yesterday/
I think I would wait 10 days since the 10 day is all 80+/last time I looked-
an hour after I saw them saying 97 here for Monday they had already lowered it to 96!
So,not really that warm after all !

Mr Bill-

Pretty sure they replaced ALL of them
They put up these ugly ass silos made of corrugated aluminum
or some such nonsense.
Firemarshall Bill wouldn't let them use X-mas lights.........

They are most likely toast.

Here's the last post I saw on these.

From,I believe,March?

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load ... 11569.html

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat May 22, 2010 10:29 am

Great that you're all getting such nice weather.
We've turned cool again with frost forecast tonight (and yesterday), so all the plants were dragged indoors again.

Corrugated tin silos for winter protection...sheesh, what are those people smoking?
Didn't look to have a roof either.
Talk about throwing money away...

Enjoy the heat guys.
Barb

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Sun May 23, 2010 7:21 am

That is really kind of a bummer about the Iowa trachys. That one is fried pretty good! The only chance it has is a good root base if they didn't all get toasted to.
The guy really needs to invest in some insulated boxes like wxmans if he every expects them to live. If they mostly all croak he might be done at this point.

So did you take those pictures Jim? Your temps are still very favorable for huge growth this week. Maybe even better now the high 90's is pretty stress full on the nanas. They'll love the high 60's at night though for sure.

Bill

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Sun May 23, 2010 8:00 am

I sure like the idea of palm trees around a hotel in Iowa.
However, planting them in the ground makes no sense unless they are going to contract with someone like Jim to take care of them.
In Switzerland, many hotels have big palms. They are in huge wooden boxes on pallets. Each winter, a forklift comes to load them on a truck which takes them to a heated warehouse. In Spring, they are taken back to the hotel. So, my idea (not that they asked) is that they do what Swiss hoteliers do. Basically, what many of us do, just on a bigger scale.
--Erik

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun May 23, 2010 8:15 am

TerdalFarm wrote:I sure like the idea of palm trees around a hotel in Iowa.
However, planting them in the ground makes no sense unless they are going to contract with someone like Jim to take care of them.
--Erik

Or Bill

Bill your right about the temps,last night was only in the low 70s though!
This early warmth and humidity really leaves you dragging but the plants love it!
Some of the Bananas grew an inch in just a few hours

mnpalms · Post by **mnpalms** » Sun May 23, 2010 9:06 am

Same here with the temps! 71f was the low last night. I had to break down and turn on the air conditioning this morning... 90 today (already well into the 80s this morning) and dewpoints in the UPPER 60s! Looks like at least a week+ of this weather...

Barb- Frost!?!? Bummer. I hope you guys snap out of it quick. We nearly had a frost in early May, 2 nights in the upper 30s. Was a shocker since we had not had a frost since mid March. All of April was actually May/early June weather here. Now we are experiencing August...

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun May 23, 2010 12:12 pm

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun May 23, 2010 12:14 pm

Yea,low 70s here last night too.

It was already in the mid 80s by 9:30am

Overcast and 100 degree heat index!-just think if it was sunny!

Oppressive humidity after 6+" of rain this month with dew points in
the high 70s

I am wilting

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sun May 23, 2010 8:30 pm

Very nice

Was that the purple form of cordyline i seen? It never ceases to amaze what you can grow "up north" with a little luck, ingenuity, and mabey sacrificing a lamb or 2 LOL.

I have to say, the sequioa blindsided me. I didnt think someone would try one even in zone 6 let alone 5. But then again, theres people who grow ginko biliba in Edmonton Alberta ( actualy rated zone 2), they get below -30C every winter. Or actic tropical, who grows butia in utah. Or the guy who grows trachycarpus in bulgaria, who i belive doesnt protect em.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun May 23, 2010 9:04 pm

Yea Cordyline Australis(possibly red star),the one you probably saw is a new planting(this year),I
also have one that has died back a few years in a row now but always returns from the roots.

The Sequoia has really kicked it in to high gear now,I think it's grown about 6"
so far.

With this heat the Basjoos and Orinoco's are growing anywhere from 4-6"
a day.

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Sun May 23, 2010 9:48 pm

I spent all weekend in the garden.
he biggest surprise was seeing that the Cordyline australis is alive!

I bought a small one as an annual and planted it in poor soil last June. It looked fine all summer, but I ignored it after the first frost as, of course, they are annuals.
Today when doing some tidying up I saw that it is alive and sending up some new foliage. Amazing. I'll buy some more this year and treat them with more respect.
As for watching plants grow, the champ today was the little traveler's palm W bought off ebay, shipped from Hawaii. It is in a pot on the patio. It suffered a few weeks ago from lows in the lower 40s.
It loved this weekend and grow a new leaf just over this one weekend.
Her tiny Royal palm, also in a pot on the patio, also grew noticeably this weekend.
--Erik

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon May 24, 2010 6:02 am

My basjoos are JUST starting to get goin, its been cloudy fer the last 2 days, but were forcested to get some heat, humidity, and some sun, so i should see some growth this week. he fertilizer works witht he weather, when its warm, and moist, it kicks into high gear, and it also stops working in the winter, and continues in the spring hen it heats up.

So far, this year is awsome:D

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon May 24, 2010 7:23 am

Yea,the fertilizer is affected by soil temps,then plants ability to use it;active growth.
The 2 go hand in hand

Be interesting to see how big your root hardy Cordyline gets this year Erik,mine too!
I wonder how many times they can sprout from the roots before they decline.

Mine also changed their growth habit,no more long fat leaves,much more slender like a small yucca.
I will double cover this next winter to see if I can save more foliage,they are VERY sensitive to moisture
and cold together as the bud area and new leaves are very tender.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon May 24, 2010 9:32 am

I bet if you used an inulated wodden box, witha heat cable, or even a compact flouracent bulb for the worse part of the winter will make it survive, and even possibly thrive the winter. If im not mistakin, i belive the bigger they are the more hardy they are also.

I havnt even heard of these growing back from roots. Banana, bamboo and yucca, ya. Makes me wanna try one up here. There onsale fer 2 bucks a 2 foot spike, i should grab a dozen of em and try my luck LOL.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Mon May 24, 2010 11:38 am

Based on these cordyline regrowth reports, maybe we've been too hasty ripping them out.
I still remember Erik's soil temp of 40F in the middle of winter under all that snow, which is obviously in its "cold tolerance".

Great you've got a traveler's palm!
That'll be fun to watch.

Barb

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon May 24, 2010 1:01 pm

A buddy of mine, came on msn ( from NC), and was all excited abou this plant hed jsut seen. Said it was the collest plant hed ever seen, he called it a multi banana. So me, not thinking, thought he was licking toads, or somthing of the sort. So he shows me a pic of a travelars palm, and i laughed at him.

THis kid can name off hundreds of medicinal herbs, aroids, aserids and all kinds of plants, and plant info in general. I told him a bit about it, and hes trying to get a few for his house ( indoors of course). Goes to show that theres always more to learn.

mnpalms · Post by **mnpalms** » Thu May 27, 2010 12:38 pm

Jim-
I read in another post of yours that you are growing itinerans this year. How are they doing and when did you plant them? Also how big were they when you planted? I wonder if they live up to all the hype though...

I was curious enough about the species myself that I've ordered a pair. They come 18" and bare-root and I'll get them on Tuesday. The seller is very reputable and I know they are real itinerans for sure. I've bought other bananas from her in the past (basjoos, etc) and she is a great seller. I have a 60% shade spot picked out for them to go once they are re-rooted in pots for a week or so. I can't wait to see what these do...

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Thu May 27, 2010 1:00 pm

canadianplant wrote:A buddy of mine, came on msn ( from NC), and was all excited abou this plant hed jsut seen. Said it was the collest plant hed ever seen, he called it a multi banana. So me, not thinking, thought he was licking toads, or somthing of the sort. So he shows me a pic of a travelars palm, and i laughed at him.

THis kid can name off hundreds of medicinal herbs, aroids, aserids and all kinds of plants, and plant info in general. I told him a bit about it, and hes trying to get a few for his house ( indoors of course). Goes to show that theres always more to learn.

Kory

Mt Itinerans arrived March 7,I think I planted them around the first of April.
They take a beating early in the year(esp this year!)we had 14 days(or so)with humidity below 30%
and lots of warmth and cool/sun.
They were less than a foot tall when planted but are coming around now.
I have one planted in a slightly shadier spot and one in more sun.

I have read a lot of seemingly conflicting info about shade vs sun and cool vs warm growth.

We'll just have to see for ourselves. I will try and get a pic of them soon but like I said,sun and wind
have been tough early on for all the nanars-like to see what you get when they arrive

PalmsNorth.com

Cactus starting to bloom and misc pics from the yard.

Cactus starting to bloom and misc pics from the yard.

Will Jim hit 100oF first?

Re: Will Jim hit 100oF first?

Iowa hotel Trachies

Re: Iowa hotel Trachies

Cordyline

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