Jesse

Mine came back from the roots this past growing season,I did not mulch
it....but there is some mulch on the ground in that area you can see
it in the following picture just to the left of the Thai giant Colocasia.

I will post some pics of last years(2 years ago actually) and some more of this past summer later-

Paul - awsome! What kind of seeds did you manage to find?? If its a different kind then mine ill be up to swap, whether i get some or not..... Im going to be planting the seeds today ( I have 2 aerogardens on 16 hour timers so it should trick them into thinkin its spring and or summer), and its a fairly warm corner as well... Ill keep you all posted..

Up to 3 months to germinate ( apperantly a high germination %), but can sprout in 2 weeks in ideal conditions ( 70-80%, high humidity and indirect light ( spring or summer sun)

Jim - I Thought you had one. Do you remember if its the steroidial giant? Have you seen any pups pop up yet?? The one in that pic ( thatsx actualy the picture i was thinkingof when I was trying to remembr if you had one), Looks quite healthy. Thats about 2 feet tall?? Not bad for root regrowth! Im thinking of protecting parts fo the stem ( if all goes to plan) like most people protect basjoo, to get some trunk hight for the following year..

If im not mistakin.... thats the "shady spot" you planted a few basjoos youve mentioned correct?? Im just trying to figure out a spot for them. Seeing as I get the general same strength sunlight, and relitivly same summer temps, I should have to plant it in similar conditions here.

Some places its known to grow (off the top pf my head):
Iowa ( thats you jim :D), cincinati and clevlend ohio, zone 5 utah ( apperantly unprotected), arlington texas, north carolina and michigan.

Here's a hardy plant with some ornamental appeal!

is that "big boy" hosta?? Thats huge..... You usualy dont think of bigass plant when you think of hosta 😈

Jesse

I get a kick out of you and Erik saying that your climate is like mine-
is that what your saying 😉

I think my climate is as different from yours as Erik's is from mine 😯
as I write this,Erik is approx 15(F) warmer than me and mine approx 15(F)
warmer than you,Eriks the big winner as he is way over freezing,anyway,
not that important 😀

I have several different types of Bananas(including Basjoo) in varying degrees of sunlight-
my Tetrapanex (Steroidal giant)put out about 50 babies this past growing season
even though the mama was dug up and brought inside.

I think if you want some size out of this plant you need to grow it in a very large pot
the first season,bring it inside and plant out in the ground the second year.
I can't see them getting bigger than 3-4' here,I was thinking of protecting mine
but after seeing 50 pups decided not too!

Here are some pics -

After 25F

Here's a different one on the west side of the Bananas

When I first bought it

Same plant later that year(2009)in Sept

The same plant,overwintered and planted last spring...it didn't do to much,
one of the pups that sprung up basically caught it,to much root disturbance to
try and overwinter after digging up.

Mid June,the overwintered one is back further,you can kind of make out it's trunk.

Mid August-notice the overwintered one in back hasn't done much!

Oh well ,that's probably enough pictures!

SO they do grow fairly quick. Thats good to know. They send up suckers when you disterb the main root system. Hence why you had sucker fest when you dug it up.

As for potting it up for the first year, thats exactly what the sowing instructions said. Im going to try both. Why not??

You get some good size out of the leaves and it looks really nice as a lower growing plant as well.

Paul - sry i forgot, I got mine from seedrack....

I hijacked the thread! Barb- That is Hosta 'Empress Wu'. Grows to 4 feet high with 2' leaves. Hosta, like Rhododendron, when bred for certain traits, has a major role to play in an exotic garden. There are others that I will be trying, including Jurassic Park
T-Rex

Jim- Good info. I will plant any Tetrapanax seedlings that I get outdoors and hope for the best!

No problem Paul. Not my thread.

Sheesh, that's not just a big plant, that's one honking big picture...
You had me wondering for a moment what we were going to be looking at 😆

That hosta is breath-taking.
I can only imagine what one root/tuber costs :tongue4:
Impossible for me anyway...wherever we have a bit of shade, that's where the drying winds rip through.

Barb

Jim,
thanks for all the extra info. Yes, one to add for 2011!
I like Hosta but have had trouble keeping them alive through my summer heat.
I guess this gets to Jim's climate point....
--Erik

These grow in tennesee Eric, thats somewhat similar to you, and nothern texas ( closer to you even), so Im sure you wont have any problems. Like you said, try to keep them out of the sun ( even up here theyre conciderd partial shade plants) and especialy your winds. Then again, your supposed to keep musa away from winds too, and yours looked good..

they had a few types on PDN website, variegated, and steroidial giant last time i was there...

Thanks again jim.....

Forgot to mention that esp in a climate like Eric's an east exposure would be best.

If you have an area with dabbled shade all day that would also be primo!

Jesse

Good plan to try it both ways-

Paul those hosta are crazy. I think they only reason I stay away from them, is because they are more then overused here. Then again, i havnt seen anyone here with the big varieties. Lots of people plant them in a spouthern exposure here. Sure they grow a bit bigger and faster, but the growth looks stretched, and is no where near as lush as they are even in jsut a bit of shade

"Overused" is definitely an understatement here too. I don't know if anything else even comes close (trailing Arbutus?)...

However, as I said before, this hobby is about the thrill of growing what can't (or shouldn't). Great, none of us can grow Washingtonia unprotected... We still need those backbone plants to frame everything. Why not use a reliably hardy common (yet, with these giants out of place) plants if they are effective?

I removed the photo above. I had no idea that I had 'borrowed' such a large photo.

Well, i can say when i started this summer 09, i only wanted greenery, tropical esque plants. i have daylilies, weigelia, some iris... so things change when you get going, and i can assure you it will again ( even with my "dislike" of flowers, im adding more and more every year). I knwo tons of people with hosta, so i may steal some it i get the chance.

Since were on the topic of reliably hardy plants or shrubs ( say zone 4 - 6) what would you suggest? I know theres tons of rhodos that are hardy here, wegelia, roses, dogwood, service berry.....

Hardy AND tropical fakers... Hmmm. Too many to list.

I'll start a new thread on the topic with some of my faves. I'm sure it's been done before, but who cares?