Tropicals & Tender Perennials: TROPICAL PLANTS AND GARDENS #131, 4 by Hikaro_Takayama

Hikaro_Takayama wrote:
Hello? Anyone still following this thread?

SO, just wondering how everyone's gardens fared with the unusually cold winter we just had.

In my case, a local nursery registered a low of -15 degrees this pas winter, and I've had both pleasant & unpleasant surprises: First of all, my Trachy that I've had growing in this area since 2007 or 2008 looks like it finally bit the dust: All but the bases of the leaves are dead, and the spear pulled. Additionally, my supposedly hardy Yucca rostrata also bit the dust (which is kinda funny, since my Common sage, which was planted right next to it, came through without a scratch), and all my Sabal minor "McCurtain" palms had about 80% leaf damage, but all have green, healthy spears.

In the pleasant surprise area, all my OTHER experimental yuccas, including the un-named hybrid I got from Brian's Botanicals in 2008 and both Yucca gloriosa Recurvifolia & Y. gloriosa "Lone Star" made it through with barely any damage at all, despite most literature saying they can't survive temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit... Also, all my bamboos survived, including the Sunset Glow fargesia and my Fargesia nitida.

I'm posting a pic below of the front yard, including the three types of yuccas that survived and my (probably) dead Trachy, with our Japanese Cherry trees blooming in the background. I'm also posting a close-up pic of the other Lone Star yucca planted near the end of the driveway that I took earlier this afternoon.

I'm also including some pics of the new bamboo I got about 3 weeks ago at Mid-Altantic Bamboo in Crewe, VA. I got 1x 5 gallon Ruscus bamboo (gets about 4' high, max) and 2x 5 gal Indocalamus tessalatus, which has the largest leaves of any cold-hardy bamboo. One of the Indocalamus tessalatus is already sending up shoots. :)