I'm new. N Europe (Riga) Zone ~5b, 3rd year experimenting

DarkNight · Post by **DarkNight** » Fri May 29, 2015 7:53 am

Hi, guys.
I love cold hardy broad leaf evergreens and other exotic plants.
I'm trying to make a nice collection in my allotment for a third year.
This is what I bought yesterday - some sort of Agave (no label), Leucothoe, Pachysandra and Ceanothus americanus - concha

Here is my allotment. I have various evergreen plants there already from the last year:
like Pieris, bergenia crassifolia, Prunus laurocerasus, Musa Basjoo (I dig it out every autumn though),
several Rohds, Buxus, Ilex, Yucca and some other species I can't remember.
I'll list them later.
All of them proved to be cold hardy this winter with no shelter.
This winter was mild though - a few days down to 5F, mostly around 10-15F for 2-3 months.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri May 29, 2015 12:16 pm

Looks great-welcome to PalmsNorth.

I think your Agave is A.Americana var 'Marginata'

chadec · Post by **chadec** » Fri May 29, 2015 12:22 pm

Wheather your agave is americana or salimaina I can't tell from the photo, but either way it will not hardy beyond 20 degrees F. Good luck with your garden. Don't give up because something dies. I can't name how many plants I have killed before I actually suceeded.

DarkNight · Post by **DarkNight** » Fri May 29, 2015 2:14 pm

hardyjim wrote:Looks great-welcome to PalmsNorth.

I think your Agave is A.Americana var 'Marginata'

Thank you.
Ok, so, it's not worth trying to leave it outside.
Nevermind 20$ wasted

DarkNight · Post by **DarkNight** » Fri May 29, 2015 2:20 pm

chadec wrote:Wheather your agave is americana or salimaina I can't tell from the photo, but either way it will not hardy beyond 20 degrees F. Good luck with your garden. Don't give up because something dies. I can't name how many plants I have killed before I actually suceeded.

In 3 years I've killed so far one mussa basjoo.
I'm sure my list will get longer, because this year apart from Agave Americana I added 2 wisterias and a Chionanthus virginicus for their flowers.

chadec · Post by **chadec** » Fri May 29, 2015 3:42 pm

Here is a photo of wisteria I took a Biltmore Estate.
<a href="http://s1209.photobucket.com/user/chade ... 5.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc3 ... 144625.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 2012-04-08144625.jpg"/></a>
Here is mine.
<a href="http://s1209.photobucket.com/user/chade ... 3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc3 ... 082133.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150518_082133.jpg"/></a>

Mine is still young, but hard to contain.

DarkNight · Post by **DarkNight** » Fri May 29, 2015 11:56 pm

Nice, where are you from? What hardiness zone?

chadec wrote:Here is a photo of wisteria I took a Biltmore Estate.
<a href="http://s1209.photobucket.com/user/chade ... 5.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc3 ... 144625.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 2012-04-08144625.jpg"/></a>
Here is mine.
<a href="http://s1209.photobucket.com/user/chade ... 3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc3 ... 082133.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150518_082133.jpg"/></a>

Mine is still young, but hard to contain.

chadec · Post by **chadec** » Sat May 30, 2015 5:35 am

I am in North Carolina, US. I am rated zone 7b, but the last 2 yrs we have had temps at 0 or below.

DarkNight · Post by **DarkNight** » Sat May 30, 2015 1:44 pm

chadec wrote:I am in North Carolina, US. I am rated zone 7b, but the last 2 yrs we have had temps at 0 or below.

Ok, thx, I may have a chance with wisteria then

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat May 30, 2015 3:43 pm

DarkNight wrote:
hardyjim wrote:Looks great-welcome to PalmsNorth.

I think your Agave is A.Americana var 'Marginata'
Thank you.
Ok, so, it's not worth trying to leave it outside.
Nevermind 20$ wasted

They are pretty spectacular when they get some size.
Low 20s(F)or less and the clock is ticking though.

If you have a cover and some X-mas lights for when it
gets colder than that,it might be worth it to cover .

chadec · Post by **chadec** » Sat May 30, 2015 4:06 pm

You will need to provide excellent drainage too with the top few inches of pure gravel. I would recommend a raised area so winter rains stay off the roots. And dig down deep and amend the soil with plenty of pea gravel.

DarkNight · Post by **DarkNight** » Sun May 31, 2015 1:03 am

Thx, guys, I'll follow your advice and see what happens.