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Hey is anyone growing ocotillo in a zone 7 or colder.

Aaron,
interesting plant but not one for the my area. Too wet!
How was the trip?
Any good pics of cactus, yuccas and palms?

The trip was great, and yes I did get lots of pics. I hope to post them up soon
Thanks Wes!

Tim,
Here is a pic of my Ocotillo.

nice Aaron. Did it survive last winter or is this a new planting? PS, nice faxoniana too!

TimMAz6 wrote:nice Aaron. Did it survive last winter or is this a new planting? PS, nice faxoniana too!

It is a new planting, it was only $19. It was from an area of west Texas that seen -5f a couple of winters ago. I'm going to cover it (no heat). I seen two big ones here in Boise Idaho(6b) that were in bloom, I was amazed, because I have tried them a few times before without any luck.

Probably too wet for ocotillo in my area

perhaps the Boise specimens are in a microclimate? You seem very exposed to wind.

TimMAz6 wrote:perhaps the Boise specimens are in a microclimate? You seem very exposed to wind.

The ones in Boise were in Town but out infront of a house in the middle of a yard. Boise is much warmer and yes not much wind. Boise got cold so who knows if they are still there. They were big and looked like they been there for years.

To cold for mine, even covered. They are leaking fluids and will soon be dead. That's ok, I will try again if I find the right ones.

too bad the cold killed your Ocotillo.

TimMAz6 wrote:too bad the cold killed your Ocotillo.

Thanks Tim.

The good news is that was the longest I ever had one live.

I hear ya...........most marginal plants seem to die in their first winter

I noticed some burn on my Eucalyptus's.........tomorrow should get above freezing and the next day is suppose to hit 50F so it will be interesting to see if the Eucs are still alive??

TimMAz6 wrote:I hear ya...........most marginal plants seem to die in their first winter

I noticed some burn on my Eucalyptus's.........tomorrow should get above freezing and the next day is suppose to hit 50F so it will be interesting to see if the Eucs are still alive??

So glad to hear it's going to warm up! Good news.

I hope the best for the Eucalyptus.

Uncovered my ocotillo today and it looks and feels alive? I have tried these in the past many times and they never make it through the winter most are dead well before spring, but this one is still standing and is still firm and still has green in the stems.
It was covered as are all I have planted in the past.
I will not hold my breath untill it warms up, but it is still a WOW.

I never know if something's on the way "in" or "out".
This winter wasn't as cold as last year, I thought.

Hope it makes it, Aaron.

lucky1 wrote: This winter wasn't as cold as last year, I thought.

Hope it makes it, Aaron.

Thanks!

I think the winter here was much colder, but your weather up there seemed mild to me?

Your winter was worse than last year's?
or just longer / earlier cold?

Yeah...we were mild-ish...for Canada anyway.

Barb

lucky1 wrote:Your winter was worse than last year's?
or just longer / earlier cold?

Barb

Yes...this winter was much worse than last winter. Over all it was bad, we had night after night of temps at or below 0f/-18c and day after day of temps below the teens f. And we have been below our avg ever sense.

But most of my plants made it, so not so bad.

In that case, Aaron, your stuff came through with flying colors.

Hi Aaron,

any sign of life?

TimMAz6 wrote:Hi Aaron,

any sign of life?

It's alive and growing! But than again sometimes yuccas will grow right before they die.

As of now it is alive and the branches are showing green in the stems and more every day. If the weather would hold on it will be sprouting leaves soon.

WOW.....that Ocotillo is a winner. I hope it keeps growing for you and next winter it will be even hardier?

TimMAz6 wrote:WOW.....that Ocotillo is a winner. I hope it keeps growing for you and next winter it will be even hardier?

I hope so. I can tell you this, I will wrap it up better next winter. Last winter I left a big gaping hole next to the plant in the plastic.

The plant is still getting wider and turning green.

getting wider and turning green.

Glad for you, Aaron.
And we'll remind you of

will wrap it up better next winter

in the Fall.
So you don't give a mouse a house.

Barb

I want to try them now!

TimMAz6 wrote:I want to try them now!

Here's where I got mine. So far the only half hardy ocotillo I have found.
http://www.cactusbylin.com/ocotillo.html

thanks Aaron........I may have to try one!

DesertZone wrote:Hey is anyone growing ocotillo in a zone 7 or colder.

I was just getting ready to ask this same question; then figured I would search first.

Aaron how is your Ocotillo doing? Still have it?

mlobato wrote:Aaron how is your Ocotillo doing? Still have it?

It died, just too cold here, but have I seen two big ones Boise ID, but I think the cold last year got them.

DesertZone wrote:

mlobato wrote:Aaron how is your Ocotillo doing? Still have it?

It died, just too cold here, but have I seen two big ones Boise ID, but I think the cold last year got them.

Dang. Thought about trying one; but my goal is to avoid plants that I have to baby all the time so I am not sure. Likely too cold here too.

mlobato wrote:
Dang. Thought about trying one; but my goal is to avoid plants that I have to baby all the time so I am not sure. Likely too cold here too.

You have a better climate for them, may not hurt to try one or two, if you can find them cheap enough.

Ya maybe I'll give one a whirl. Guess it couldn't hurt.

Aaron I found 3 cuttings of Ocotillo on the world wide web. Gonna try my hand at these. I'm a sissy, this is probably as much zone pushing as I'll do

I've read so many sites saying they are cold hardy anywhere from 15 and some sites saying 0, so I'll give em a shot.

So my plan is to plant them in pots with rooting gel until they form good roots and then plant them in the ground in a year or two. Does that sound like I'm approaching this correctly?

Bato367 wrote:Aaron I found 3 cuttings of Ocotillo on the world wide web. Gonna try my hand at these. I'm a sissy, this is probably as much zone pushing as I'll do

I've read so many sites saying they are cold hardy anywhere from 15 and some sites saying 0, so I'll give em a shot.

So my plan is to plant them in pots with rooting gel until they form good roots and then plant them in the ground in a year or two. Does that sound like I'm approaching this correctly?

I'm not sure, I have never tried a cutting before.

What temp/duration finally killed your Ocotillo? There are inversions that sometimes set in the valley in winter and are 2-3 weeks long sometimes of high temps in the med to high teens. That's what worries me.

Bato367 wrote:What temp/duration finally killed your Ocotillo?

It looked good all winter, it was in the late winter/spring that it started to rot. It was a cold winter, and I had it covered. I'm not sure what temps did it in.

Most plants can handle cold weather, most of the time it's the duration of the being frozen that kills them. So a zone 7 down south is going to much better than a zone 7 in Idaho. I would say if you find one from it's colder parts of it's range, I bet you might have a chance. They do survive the winters in Albuquerque NM.

Received my Ocotillo cuttings in the mail today. Put some rooting hormone powder on them to assist with growing roots. They were good specimens. Picture doesnt do them justice. They are fresh cuttings, and even have leaf buds starting to form on them. Came fresh from someones yard in AZ.

Well see how they do; time will tell. Wish me luck!

This will be a good test, and lots of fun to watch.

I can never figure out how deeply to stick the cuttings into the soil.

Yeah, you can see the buds.
Have you got a nice dry-ish spot for them, say, under an overhang, or a high spot in the yard?

Barb