My Yard Update — And I Need Some Advice … – Page 2 – Cold Hardy Palms – PalmsNorth.com

wxman · 2011-04-02T20:29:23Z

Well, I don't know if you guys have been anxiously waiting for a FULL yard update from me... but I have to tell you -- I have been anxious to provide this update! I finally uncovered the trachys last Wednesday for the last time and today I spent the ENTIRE day today out in the yard cleaning up the beds and -- yes -- creating MORE!Spring has sprung as today was partly sunny and 50F and looks like we'll be seeing more 50s and 60s next week.Now on to the advice I need. I am looking to create the ultimate tropical jungle up here for the summer, so I need some advice on some leafy, fast growing -- and tall plants. I don't care if they die in the fall, just need them to grow fast. If I can store them for the winter, even better. Castor beans are out. I have a 3 year old that likes to put things in her mouth unexpectedly and I don't want to go down that path. If you remember from last year, I had musa basjoo, ensete maurelii and black magic EE's out in the bed by the sidewalk. I had a circle bed that had musa orinoco in it. Here are a few pics from last year to familiarize yourself.Today I enlarged the circle bed to an oval bed and I created a new circle bed on the other side of the maple tree.Here is what I have in my arsenal to plant in the front yard thus far:(4) musa basjoo (5 ft tall)(3) ensete maurelii (4 ft tall)(3) musa orinoco (5 ft tall)(1) musa orinoco pup (1 ft tall)(1) siam ruby (3 ft tall)And finally, here is how things look today. Remember, the only protection the little trachys had was a poly box with 100 mini Christmas lights each!!!Entire yard, looking SE.Closeup of corner, still looking SE. The trachy on the left is the one that had spear pull. No others had spear pull. Closeup of oval bed, still looking SE.Now we're looking NE at the other corner of the yard. New circle bed in the background.Closeup of circle bed, looking NE.Here's my oldest trachy, planted in July, 2008. Bulletproof.The other large 'leggy' trachy I planted June 2010. Hopefully it starts growing out of its legginess.My thoughts are to put an ensete maurelii on each corner between the trachys, plant the musa basjoo in the middle by the sidewalk (where they were last year), plant the musa orinoco in either the oval or circle bed -- maybe buy thai black bananas for the other ?? The only bed that is spoken for is the bed around the maple tree. That is a perennial bed with burning bushes, hostas, ornamental grass, caladiums, etc.Thanks for the help and sorry for the novel!

canadianplant

(@canadianplant)

Posts: 2398

Famed Member

Holy hell...... The one i took the cutting off of never has that many flowers 😯

"The definition of insanity, is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results" - einstien

Check out my new Blog! http://canadianplant.wordpress.com/

Posted : 07/04/2011 1:54 pm

Paul Ont

(@paul-ont)

Posts: 1385

Noble Member

Jesse- Maybe it gets dinged by the cold? I know when we had that year with -32C with little to no snow, mine was almost barren in the spring!

Posted : 07/04/2011 2:12 pm

canadianplant

(@canadianplant)

Posts: 2398

Famed Member

It hasnt flowered yet ( tons of buds though), i meant in past years. Even after winter 09 - 10 the super mild one it wasnt that large or that flower covered. Then again, its jsut an uncared for hedge plant....

"The definition of insanity, is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results" - einstien

Check out my new Blog! http://canadianplant.wordpress.com/

Posted : 07/04/2011 2:13 pm

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My Yard Update -- And I Need Some Advice ...