My favorites are the olives and the giant chicken. 8)

Yea, I have a problem with a "marker" near the plants to show how tall they really are : )
That 2L Pepsi bottle was good idea, but someone will think it is advertising: no it isn't!))
So I decide to use Philip, but he became bigger from week to week and is not constant marker 🙂
So, maybe I'll need to find some fictile cat or duck for the role :))

.......
Looks like a good climate for trying some cactus 😀

BTW

Are you growing any Bulgarian Trachys?

The second question - yes, I have 4 in OG, and 2 already killed, but...no, no by freeze but the dryness in summer 2 yrs ago. And that's the relation with your first question: in summers the ground became dry in few(3-4) days on upper 100's F heat... Only last summer I put automatic every-day watering (some kind of hand-made drip irrigation) and the results are excellent. The soil in this location is VERY sandy.
Promise to put some photos this week.
I have 5-6 another BG Trachys in pots, but they are going to prepare for next spring in OG(planted in deeper pot, to gain).
Notice: I'm not talking about that one above in this tread because when I bought it in autumn 2008 had not ANY IDEA of Trachys, another palms and its hardiness, so I'm not sure what origin it is. Although she survived 2 winters already, incl. last "infernal", though with some help from snow cover and this with particular damage only. So, who knows, maybe it is this form. The future will give the answer 🙂
Whether or not, I'll stop the experiments with it, at least until others(proved from that source, BG origin) will grow enough to form some "architectural" palm-effect 🙂
And maybe when they succeed to produce some seeds, some of that seeds will add another one 1 or 2 degrees hardiness... Hope) And hope will live to test that 🙂
P.S: Cacti - almost: Planted some Agave Americana near the solid(concrete-stone) fence(wall?). His parent-plant was beautiful 5ft plant in nearest village and few winters it owner protected him with some light PE-foil. Died last February(2012), and think this wall will give some help to protect him. Grows very fast in my soil and summer conditions.

I have a Bulgarian Trachy...it has pulled the last few winters but is coming back real nice now.

I like the form of the Bulgarian Trachys and look forward to seeing this one grow up.

A.American...just not that hardy-interesting that one made it for a while there,
I used to see some about 2/3rds of the way down in Mississippi,they were over
6' tall and had to have seen some cold because the record low around that time
was 17F and they were still there-probably about it for A.Americana low temp-wise
in the east.

I found more plants I have in OG, more interesting, and with impatience I'm expecting next spring to see them survived. 3 winters - still newbie. About Trachys. This form, BG, seems to give some hope to be "the edge" of expansion of its species in lower zones, 7a why not even 6, but the little plants really show big individual differences in their hardiness. So, unfortunately I must have few to gain chances to survive... That parent plant - 25 and more yrs old, in Plovdiv Historical Museum(I must check the article about it in Donov's forum) REALLY survived -20C/-4F in Feb.2012. That brings the conclusion, for me, already there's no challenge to grow that subsp. in southern lower and hilly part of our country(7b and on a border 7b/7a).
The next challenge is "clear" 7a with try to 6... I'm talking about no-protection growing, even good passive protection "inserts" that Trachy in 6. Contrariwise these -23C in the previous February probably would kill older plants if I had some of them, BUT(!) little ones, as sample in this tread would be survive, so if the frequency of these severe winters are less than 1 per 7-10 years, the species will establish, with some remarks, of course.
In my case, the previous winter in "deep" 6th zone was in the far 1950's. There is a hope.:)
Hope I'm not bothersome(annoying) with that long explanations 🙂

September update:
Trachy:

Jubaea 1+ Ensete:

The same Ensete at the end of May:

that Ensete is gorgeous what are your plans for wintering it?

that Ensete is gorgeous what are your plans for wintering it?

Would be nice, but probably - not. Because I can dig and winter it in a basement. The case is I have too many palms to protect actiive(heating) and this house, my grandparents'is build in 1950's is with...hm... weak electricity system - so in case of strong freeze they will need totally aprox. 1.5-2 kilowatts power supply. That is OK theoretically, but I'm not living there and it's not sure I'll react quickly enough. So, the plants what can be placed back in basement will be placed there: I'm sure Ensete will do it better than - of course, Palms 🙂 In November-december I'll post photos and descriptions of winter protection. Too different winters we have - from (almost) Mediteranian to almost siberian 🙂 . The second type is rare, but pROBLEM IS never cannot be sure what will be the next 🙂
Regards.

oooh, nice Jubaea!
Looks very well grown.

Barb

Hi all! 🙂

A recent report from my place:

Biggest of Trachys I own(approx 1 ft stem):

Olive tree(have them 4 in OG):

Butia(no protection, just snow):

And summer memories from 2012 with hope to come back soon as possible :))

WOW, I hope they make it. 😀

Good job Ivo, that cock 😆 or chicken..

Greets dida

Nice photos, Ivo! Have you heard of the olive cultivar "Vassilika"? It's supposed to be hardy to zone 7a or so, and is apparently from the Black Sea region.

Good job Ivo, that cock 😆 or chicken..

Greets dida

Thanks! : ) It's a hen (was - now she is in a better world, but her kids are alive : ))
That Orinoco - too, I hope his rhizome will survive this relatively mild winter(here, in SE Europe, you know).

Nice photos, Ivo! Have you heard of the olive cultivar "Vassilika"? It's supposed to be hardy to zone 7a or so, and is apparently from the Black Sea region.

No, sorry, I did not. But I'll ask the most experienced here about this cultivar.
That ones, on a photos upper, are result of 15 year-and more selection from Kiril Donov and with another 2 or 3 cultivars, which are expected to be the most hardy(incl. 7b - for sure). Of course, I'm sure there are another varieties, but so far i try in OG only this (Elite 1) and а unnamed french cultivar.
I am ready to plant another 3 - Kalamata(Kalamon), and another 2 Greek varieties, I forget their names :))
But they will be in pots and semi-protected conditions in OG, south-southeastern of a penthouse(Google suggested 😀 - maybe "shed" is better word?) : There "quasi"-zone is, as sample 1.5 or even 2 zones higher. In a company of one Feihoa and 2 or 3 citruses - lemon, Washington Navel maybe and a Pomello(depends of the space there).
The idea is to have more cultivars to give possibility to cross-pollination. After all I'm not in Greece and maybe closest another Olive tree is 100 miles to south from my area, and the self-pollination is uncertain 😉 - course, aesthetic effect of these beautiful plants is first, but I plane to have my own olives(fruits) too! 🙂

Yes it was a rather mild winter here also, except january which was very cold and windy too, more than 10-15 days -4c -8c and more non stop.