TROPICAL PLANTS AND GARDENS #131

thanks ardesia for the update on them. very interesting.

Jan

Thank you everyone. I am blessed. Alice mine is. Blooming also. Beautiful plants. I just love them

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. :)

I'm here in NE Mississippi. I lost approximately two dozen Jade, four dozen Aloe Vera, a bunch of Schefflera and Rubber Tree plants, two, multi-trunked Madagascar Dragon Trees, and a huge Peace Lily. My greenhouses were full and I had no place to put them. Our unusually cold winter did them in.

I'm in the process of moving out most of my tropical plants. They will go under large oak and cedar trees and will remain outside until October/November. I will put about 600 plants outside.

Ken

Ouch! That sounds extremely painful! Sorry about losing all your plants!

One thing I might suggest, if you like dragon trees is Cordyline Australis: Those things are almost hardy even up here (I know some people who grow them like perennials around here), and they are definitely rated for your zone....

Thanks for the suggestion. The only reason I had the two Madagascar Dragon Trees was because they got too large for my next-door neighbor. They over-wintered the two previous years, 2012-2013, outside and did fine. Since they were "free", apparently I did not value them as much as my orchids, bromeliads, plumeria, etc.

Ken

Minor update: MY ZINGIBER MIOGA "SILVER ARROW" SURVIVED!!!!

That's right, at least ONE of the true gingers I planted survived -15 degree temps last winter, and just started poking up out of the ground.

Unfortunately, still no word on the Zingiber mioga "Dancing Crane" plants I also planted last year. If they didn't make it, I'll just see about ordering more "Silver Arrow" to replace them (the Silver Arrow seems to be generally hardier & more robust anyways)....

yellow magnolia

Ooooh, how pretty!

That's a gorgeous flower color. Our state flower is the magnolia but ours are white. I have a half dozen on the side of my driveway and they are about a week from opening. These are all dwarf magnolias and grow very slowly. They are perhaps ten-twelve feet tall and were planted approximately five years ago.

Ken

thanks kay

Perhaps you guys know where I can find a Musa Ingens?

Well it was suppose to be peterson's gold but don't think that is it!!!

What ever it is It's sure beautiful!

Randy, Going Bananas does not list that one but they may still have it, you could always ask.
http://www.going-bananas.com/index.htm

"Perhaps you guys know where I can find a Musa Ingens?"

I know where you can find them, I got lots of photos while I was there. But, at the same time realised that without a tropical montane climate there's no chance of growing them.

now now my good man... dont say such things where i can read it..
heheehe
if i could get M.ingens.. i know i would do WHATEVER!!!! to grow them seasonally...
i thought u knew me better tropic..??? hehehehe...lol
now if u really do know how to get any out of PNG.. i want 4 plants....
i have gone to all kinds of trouble to grow amorph titanum...i am willing to go to
even more extremes to get a M.ingens growing successfully...
that said..???? thanks so much for your putting up with my ribbing tropic..
but..u know im dead serious on growing a M.ingens..

spoke with gal from going bananas..WONDERFUL lady!!! unfortunately
going bananas was unsuccessful in growing musa ingens..sigh :( to alkaline soil,
to hot,to much sun..
not to worry..i am determined !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dave, I'm just trying to remember the altitude the M. ingens were growing. From memory somewhere around 1500 metres. The area is also about 8 degrees off the equator. Those areas have neither high nor low temperatures and humidity is constantly high. The sun is very intense there but plants survive because the humidity is so high. Compared to M. ingens, titanums are extremely easy to grow. And the fact that titanums are such tiny plants by comparison helps to make them much easier.

We can't import banana plants or seeds here. Our banana industry is very big and politically very strong. They claim introduced banana materials of any sort could introduce diseases. You're not even allowed to move banana plant material around within the country. And there's strict control over plants in the nursery trade. That's why there's so little variety here. We do have a native one, M. banksii, not here but on the east coast.

im sure to protect your nanner industry is reason for such protective measures..
im hoping one day..would like sooner than later..:) find a source of M.ingens..and give it a go..
the heat wont be a problem here.its our humidity.. were pretty dry.. mmm.its a desert..lol
but that as part of my challenge.. i hope to one day get some..and try my gardening skills/insanity
on growing them.. :)
i truely appreciate your insight,and wisdom on growing many of these tropical plants.. u r right there..or within a few hrs flight from many of these plants native growing areas..
lucky u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time to resurrect or start a new tropical wondrous garden thread!