YAAAYYY we finnaly get to see your pics!! Very nice.. Looks really dry in the background, must be really, really hot where you live! That sable is amazing!! Just how tall is it?? The pindo is also very nice!!! Have you thought about making a video of the yard?? I find it gives you a great perspective on things!! Thanks for the update..

Scotty,
thanks for looking.
Yes, very dry. We don't have irrigation for the pasture. However, much of the dying vegetation there is thanks to 2,4 D we are spraying to kill broadleaf vegetation so that grass can grow. Personally I hate grass but horses love it so I put up with it.
As for weather, it is horrid. Tulsa set a record high low of 85oF this morning; it is 103oF right now. Soil temps are nearing 90oF. I know some of you envy my zone 7 winters but none of you would want to be here this time of the year.
I'll try to figure out how to take video with my new cell phone (source of these photos). Forgive me in advance. As for right now, despite the heat I have to run outside to chase goats out again. --Erik

These are great . Thanks for sharing. Looks like they have been through some hot days...Ugh!! It has moderated here finally, 80s and low 90s only finally. 8)

Scotty,
thanks for looking.
Yes, very dry. We don't have irrigation for the pasture. However, much of the dying vegetation there is thanks to 2,4 D we are spraying to kill broadleaf vegetation so that grass can grow. Personally I hate grass but horses love it so I put up with it.
As for weather, it is horrid. Tulsa set a record high low of 85oF this morning; it is 103oF right now. Soil temps are nearing 90oF. I know some of you envy my zone 7 winters but none of you would want to be here this time of the year.
I'll try to figure out how to take video with my new cell phone (source of these photos). Forgive me in advance. As for right now, despite the heat I have to run outside to chase goats out again. --Erik

Love a grilled goat! 😆

Mike,
I've already made arrangements with a local butcher. I can mail you frozen cabrito if you wish! They'll taste like Hibiscus, Forsythia, Rosa, Camellia, Hamellia, Ipomea, Aucuba and basically be the most expensively fed chevon around. --Erik

Sounds Deeeeeelish!

Erik nice to see the Sabal still doing well after the transplant. I wish I could get one that size for the price your wife paid. Watch it take off next year after it gets it`s roots under it second year.I hope my 5 gal planted S. louisiana look as well as your Sabal in 5 years. 😀

John

Looking good!

Erik,
You have a big collection going there! I hear you on the heat of the summer there it looks really HOT! Every time I see your weather sticker your temps are way up there in the uncomfortable zone. Good thing you have a pool right, but I bet that's in the 90's too 😯 Do you have to add water often?

I have one question for you. Is the trachy you had in the ground last winter the one to the bottom right of picture number three? if so it did a nice job recovering 😀 How are your Birmingham's doing from John in Tulsa?

I hope there is some relief from the 100's for you soon.

Looking good, keep up the good work!

Bill

Bill,
the overwintered Trachy is indeed in photo #3, but it is between the gazebo and the post with Campsis. It started a good recovery in Spring and then stopped. I am counting on it taking off again in September.
The Trachy you referred to was a cheap one from a local HD. It has been doing well and is part of a Trachy bed.
The Sabal "Birmingham" are actually from Mike Papay in NC. I'll get a photo up those seedlings up. In brief, 24 of 32 seeds have done great. I also have 3 seedlings from the Ft. Worth Sabal minor doing well also.
John,
I am also relieved that the Sabal are doing well. The two small S. mexicana were purchased in Dallas last October and spent the winter indoors. They are on their second leaf. A horse got in and thought they were grass (hurt my feelings!) but gave up after one bite. The large cabbage palm has one new leaf and a 2nd spear coming fast. New petioles are shorter than the old. Current overall height is about 7'/2m, with no trunk. Looks great to me. Still no idea how to protect for winter (whatever that is!) but I'll be asking for ideas eventually.
Scotty,
the pindo is my real pride. I've had my tiny avatar pindo in the ground for three years but each summer it merely replaces what it lost over the winter. I protected the heck out of the new large one (thanks!) and it has grown much faster this year than I expected. Probably doubled in overall size.
Paul,
thanks for the comments. Time for photos from you.
--Erik
P.S. it is very hot. Lows of about 85oF, highs about 105oF. Windy. Soil about 90oF. Think about that if you ever consider moving south....

I see it now! Like you said once you cool off some it will get going again, you'll get good growth until Dec. easy.

Couple more questions. Is that sabal by the lantern the mexicana? if yes how many fronds has that put out? Also do you dig up your mexican
patunias or just chuck them? Just curious because I have a bunch of them.

Bill

Wow, you've looked closely.
I didn't put up a photo of the Trachy bed specifically as it doesn't look all that great. I can photograph it though.
The Sabal mexicana by the lantern is one of the two cheap ones ($15 at end of season sale in Dallas; labelled as S. texicanum which I think is funny). It is putting out its 2nd leaf now which looks yellowish. Might be time to fertilize again? Any advice?

Mexican petunia: great plant. I hope you promote them and sell a bunch.
Wife bought them as annuals three years ago. All our friends in Belize grow them as ornamentals. She found them at a local nursery up here and brought three home. With no protection at all they came back as perennials and spread.
This winter was pretty cold for us and so only one clump is doing well (photo #2). It was right next to a Musella lasiocarpa which was killed, so I rate it as at least as winter hardy. Two other clumps by the gazebo have struggled. Minimal growth and no flowers. I think they are getting too much shade from the new cabbage palm.
Anyways, promote Mexican petunia as an annual that might be able to overwinter. Up there, try a heavy mulch and I'll bet it comes through in a sunny location. I do also dig up a bit each year to bring in so I can get early flowering in late spring when it is back in the ground.
--Erik

Keep it all watered man.
If plants don't stress to bad in the day/heat they can really take advantage of
those high nightime lows.

You may want to consider putting a ring of edging,mulch or mounding the soil
around your big leaved tropicals-probably not what you want to be doing in the heat!

I really shouldn't talk,I haven't even been looking at mine lately because of the warm temps. 🙂

Anyway,just think the EE's and Bananas(at least)would benefit from having standing water or
at least if you could direct it to the roots with no run off-the EE's would benefit from standing water in your heat.

Good luck Erik,doesn't look like it's cooling off anytime soon-next week MAY be the hottest of the summer.
We get a "break"until Sunday-maybe-

Looking good!

Thanks for the suggestions, Jim. I get great advice here.
Mulching: I did not do nearly enough this year. I bought one "scoop" (filled pick-up bed) but it was not nearly enough. I need at least two more.
Water: I admit the EE have not gotten their fair share as I focus on palms. I guess I take EE for granted and it shows. Bananas have been getting a lot of water but man, it is so hot. The Mexican petunias Bill noticed are not being watered and yet still look fabulous. I suggest you try them.
Goats: First thing I saw out my bedroom window at dawn today was a goat. They are even starting to nibble palms (needle, Phoenix r.). W is helping as she knows how mad I am. She took two goats to a friend's house yesterday to help them control weeds, and this morning she installed a more powerful electric fence charger for me. It cost more than any palm tree we have. I told her I hope to smell singed fur.
Weather: the one nice thing about high humidity is the brief rainshowers that result. We just had one, and it brought temps down to 85oF fast. Not enough water to make a difference but it sure feels good. I'm about to go outside and enjoy the garden while I can. --Erik