Nice plants and yard. I have wanted to grow Crepe Myrtles from seed but never have. I have a large Crepe Myrtle in my yard my grandmother planted about 20 years ago, well now its like a tree. It produces a lot of seeds though. I really like those Southern magnolias too they are one of my favorite trees.

Thanks Bryce. I bought the zuni last year and a bunch of seeds feel in other pots and started growing. I was surprised so we decided to try to save a few sprouts.

Wow, Jeff, crepe myrtle seed to blossom in such a short time?
Good work.

Like your plant selection and yard.

Nice magnolias...that'll have all the magnolia-nuts here drooling.

Barb

Thanks Barb! The crepe myrtle seedlings were more or less an accident.
My Southern Magnolias still haven't seen a normal central Illinois winter yet so I'm still apprehensive. There are alot of big Southern Mags here though so I know I have a chance. We seem to be real close to the edge on the hardiness range for these. I've seen some that look like our winters took a toll on them. They can be somewhat hit and miss here. Then I've seen some totally exposed to wind and winter sun that look great. I've only spotted 2 Edith Bogues in Springfield.

Southern Mags are pretty common down here. There are many large old specimens of the species type which is generally less hardy than Edith Borgue or Braken's Brown Beauty. I have several on my road and there are a lot of large one's on the SIU campus in Carbondale, some of these are Braken's Brown beauty and Edith Borgue and some of the species type.

Yeah, Carbondale is only about 3 1/2 hours away but it may as well be Mars as far as certain plants that can be grown there compared to Springfield. It was depressing to see all the crepe myrtles disappear as we travelled northward. I would imagine you guys could even grow needle palms there without protection.

Yeah iv noticed the change of plants as well. I think I could probably there are people in St. Louis that grow needle palms without protection and thats farther north than where I live. I planted 2 large needle palms this year and I have several seedlings.

Looks awesome!

love the Mag's and the Mimosa,gives it a nice southern feel.

Thanks Jim! I'm hoping it'll start catching on here. Although it seems like every year I see more mimosas around town.

Jeff,
You have some way cool plants. How well does the mimosa do during the winter?

Aaron: The mimosa does fine. They actually are somewhat naturalized here. One guy's yard was so full of seedlings that it looked like grass, though that's not common. Mine's only been in our yard for 2 winters. But the first winter was really cold and it had about 1 inch or less of tip die back and easily recovered. I've heard that there are mimosas that are only hardy for up to zone 6 and there are mimosas for a zone 5b maybe colder. This must be the mimosa found around town. If you wanna try some seeds I can try to get some from around town, they are easy to germinate you just have to scratch them a little. Plus they seem to be pretty drought tolerant once established.

By the way Aaron, that Yucca Baccata you have is pretty awesome too. I'd love to be able to grow something like that.

By the way Aaron, that Yucca Baccata you have is pretty awesome too. I'd love to be able to grow something like that.

If you want and try one, pm me your mailing address. That is if I can dig you up a good sucker. 😉

Thanks Aaron, but I've got so many plants that have to go inside this year, we're wandering where we're going to put them all.