Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Hardy Tropicals for zone 5-6, 1 by Hikaro_Takayama

Hikaro_Takayama wrote:
Ok, Quick update on the plant situation:

All of my Yucca Recurvifolia sustained no damage at all! The scary part is, I planted two of them in Mid-October, although those two sustained Rabbit-related damage (this is the first time I've EVER seen Rabbits eat Yucca leaves), but are otherwise alright.

The Two large Needle palms suffered NO damage... Actually, the one that had a half-opened leaf looks like the half-opened leaf may have got fried, but it is otherwise alright.... And in REALLY surprising news, the two SEEDLING needle palms suffered no damage... other than that resulting from rabbits using them as winter forage (the uneaten parts of the leaves are OK, though)

The two Sabal minor 'Mc Curtain's are also just fine and dandy... No damage whatsoever, and both plants have mostly strap leaves (which are more V-shaped on S. minor), and one has all strap leaves, meaning that as they mature, they will be even hardier still.

The two hybrid trachys I got from Brian aren't looking so hot... Sorry, Brian, but I may have killed one of your palms. :( One of the two, and surprisingly, it's the one in the heaviest shade, appears to have SOME leaf damage, but is mostly OK... The other one looks like it may have gotten freezer-burnt pretty bad.

The two T. takils look like they may be dead, but we'll see....

Here's the most shocking observations from the freeze of '07: BOTH my half gallon Aspidistra elaitor (cast iron plants) took NO damage from temps getting down to 2 degrees, possibly even colder since they are in a shady spot under my bamboo grove... And here I thought they were just some tropical houseplant that would die the moment frost hit it...

The other one is that there is a gas station in Chambersburg, and someone who lives in Greencastle who have New Zealand Cabbage Trees (Cordyline australis) planted outside (the ones at the gas station are in containers to boot), and NONE of them suffered any major damage.... Looks like yet another "tropical" plant that is much hardier than originally suspected... All mine have been eaten back to the ground by rabbits, so it was impossible to ascertain the effects of cold on them... Brian, looks like I'll be buying one of your trunked C. australis when I go to your place this spring..... since they seem to be really hardy here, and if they have a trunk, then the dadgum rabbits won't eat them.....

In addition, my Poncirus trifoliata (Japanese hardy orange) DID NOT LOSE ITS LEAVES!!! (well, the one that didn't get half-eaten by rabbits, that is) Those things are suposed to be deciduous here, but I may either have an unusually hardy specimen or it didn't get cold enough. (only got down to maybe 0... My indoor/outdoor thermometer read 2.5, but the outside probe is hanging out the window, next to the house, so I'm thinking it's reading about 2 degrees higher than the acutal outside temperature... not to mention that it may be a bit cooler in the woods due to the partial shade provided by the trees).

I'll have to wait until spring to see if any of my Colocasia Pink China or C. Big Dipper survied, as well as my Yellow Lotus banana, Japanese hardy banana, and other herbaceous plants survived.

Here's a recent pic of one of my aspidistras: