Hey John,

Have you been to the Flower Farm in South E. Kelowna? They have lots of trachys with four to six feet of trunk. I think they have dropped the prices for their end of the year sale. 😀

Regards,
Jay

Hi Jay , thanks for the info. Could you give me directions to where the flower farm is ,as I tried the phone book with no luck?
Thanks again,
JOHN

Hi John,

They are on Berard rd. If you follow KLO rd heading East you take a right on Spiers rd and they are just down the rd. You will see some Kelowna Flower Shop signs along the way. Easy to find. They have about 30 big trachys out front. A couple of months ago they had a couple of 12 - 13 foot trachys but i think they have been sold.

Regards,
Jay

Hi Jay. Thanks again for the info I will go and check them out . Nice to see other nursuries with palms besides the tried and true.
Best regards,
John

Your welcome John. 😀 Let us know if there are any screaming deals on those trachys.

Regards,
Jay

Jay I was wondering if you had any pics of your Musa basjoo growing this year ? I just bought some seeds for musa sikkimensis " Himalayan Banana" not as green but as cold hardy for zone 6a I plan on germinating them in dec so they will be ready for spring 2006 is this to early to start them for next spring? I also bought some cold hardy orange seeds "poncirus trifoliata" I think you made a website for someone in the Carolinas? and was wondering if you had any info or any experience regards to this orange tree? I can`t believe how many sub tropical plants can over time adapt to our climate. Time will tell which one`s thrive here. I have done some investigation for cold hardy bamboo to use as a wind break and privacy screen .Seems to me that a wind break will help protect palms and yuccas during our jan feb cold snaps and add a tropical addition to the cold hardy garden. I plan on germinating all of my palm seeds soon so that when I`m 80 I can pass the trees onto my grandkids LOL.
BEST regards,
JOHN

Hi John,

I don't have any recent pics of my banana plants. December should be fine for germinating musa sikkimensis. Maybe even in Nov. One of my musa sikkimensis just sprouted a couple of weeks ago and i had started germinating them about eight months ago.

I designed the website mckenzie-farms.com for Stan in South Carolina. He's a great guy who knows his citrus. 😀 I haven't had any luck keeping poncirus trifoliata seedlings alive. I will have to try a different method or get a bigger size plant. I do have a kumquat plant i picked up from Art Knapp for $20 which is doing pretty good. In the fall Art Knapp usually sells off all their citrus plants for really cheap.

Don't know too much about bamboo but they sound interesting. I guess that's part of the fun watching your palms and exotics grow over the decades. 😀 I just wish some of them would speed it up a little. 😀

Regards,
Jay

Hi John and Jay
I too am a bit of a fan for cold hardy bamboos.
Only problem is their rhizomes? About a mile from home in Christchurch New Zealand there is a nice clump of bamboos by cycleway.Problem is their roots or rhizomes are growing through the concrete and making quite a mess.
Looks like they might need some way to prevent the roots from spreading.
Their invasiveness could possibly disrupt the roots of the plants they're there to protect!
Mind you I would still like to try a Plyllostachys Nigra!!
Cheers: Ian Mc

Hello ianmc from down under 😀 I have done some serious investigation on cold hardy bamboo and can control the spread of rhizomes by using a trench with plastic sheeting 3ft down angled at 15 to 20 degrees towards the center of the bamboo clump in a circle to keep it from growing like wildfire. Some of the bamboo strains are very cold hardy and will do very well in our zone 6 to 6a ,by the way the temps here were 34c 94 f the way summer is supposed to be hot and dry. I am looking forward to next year when I can plant some of everything ,bamboo , palms with protection?,Yuccas, musas, cacti, oranges. I want to see my neighbors heads spin when they see what can grow here , maybe I`ll start a wave of sub tropical gardening? 8)
John

Thanks John
Now all I need is someone to dig a 3ft deep trench in our heavy clay soil!!!
Enjoy your summer.We are looking forward to spring.Snowdrops are in full bloom and our Trillium is through the ground.
Cheers:Ian Mc

Hey Ian,

How's your winter been so far? Hopefully not to cold and i hope your plants are doing good. 😀

Regards,
Jay

Hi Jay
June was fairly cold with heaviest ground of minus 9.1 Celsius and quite a hard air frost of Minus 6.1C.
July was very mild and dry for the time of year.Hardest ground frost of minus 8.3C and only 8 successive days of ground frost compared with 22 successive last year.Global warming?!!!!!
An old Echium Pininana is sprouting new leaf flushes so this could be interesting.
Washingtonia Robusta seems to be growing.
Have both W.Robusta and W. Filifera.
Cheers:Ian Mc

Hi Ian,

Good to hear everything is well. I love washys. Would be great to see some pictures of them someday. 😀

Regards,
Jay

Ian,
Seeing your temps you seem to get colder than what I experience here in Lower North Vancouver however I can not grow any species of washingtonias. Is your winters dry? Ours are not! We have dry warm summers and wet mild winters.
Just curious!