Here is one of the bananas.
Tropical Garden #89 - January 2011
Bananas are what's for breakfast!
Are those apple bananas?
They are known here as Hawaiian Apple Bananas. Elsewhere they are called Brazilians.
....and they are yummy! I bought them at every farmers market we came to.
Oh, I've never heard of the Apple Banana ... had to google and read about it and the taste sounds really yummy!
Ardisia: That photo of the Breadfruit tree is great, I've seen a few down in South Florida and sure wish they were hardy to zone 9.
I think I lost both of my Banana plants ... the one in the yard rotted at the base and I'm not sure it will re-sprout. The one in the pot that was in the pool area got hit hard by the cold temp's too, even though it was covered with blankets. I'm hoping the roots stayed warm enough with the layer of mulch but will have to wait for warmer weather to find out.
Dave: it looks like the new addition to your house is coming along nicely! Like Debra, I agree that is a pretty Aphleandra sinclairiana. That's a new one to me, the only Aphleandra I'm familiar with is A. squarrosa ("Zebra Plant") that we find on occasion in the local garden centers. Oooh, tell us about that Fractal Dragon! Is that digital art, a painting? It sure is a nice design and I really like the colors too! Beautiful inflorescence on that Draceana fragrans! Wow, that Philodendron radiatum growing up that tree is gorgeous, I'm not familiar with that one and it's really nice! I'm surprised if they're invasive that folks aren't cutting them and selling them through mail order ... but with the regulations, fees and certification etc. needed for shipping plants it's probably too much of a hassle.
I keep going back and looking at that photo of Dave's Fractal Dragon ... it would make a beautiful stained glass window!
You are braver than I am, my bananas are just out there, ugly as can be, and I am afraid to go near them. I have no idea if they are alive under all that mush or not.
Someone told me I should cut them off at the base after the first frost and cover the stump with mulch but I did not take that advice and I may be very sorry.
I like the fractal dragon too.
Thanks for the photos of the Philodendrons Dave. I especially like radiatum as it is a spectacular Philo. to view at the adult stage. I recently viewed a tremendous specimen of P. melanochrysum from someone living on the Big Island. Pure eye candy to this gal.
Rita, the leaves on your Monstera are huge and I am so very sorry that you have lost some plants from the freeze. You are going to have to let us know which ones and perhaps some of us can help with replacing them for you.
Thanks Debra and yes, those are blooms on the Peperomia. Your Nancy's Revenge looks like it is going to be just fine and yep they sure do bloom too. You know what your doing when it comes to plants;-)
Lin, nice photos of a sunset from your yard. I enjoy viewing sunsets very much.
After the fog finally burned off this morning we had a really pretty day with temp's right around 70º. This is a Sabal palmetto (Cabbage Palm) in my front yard showing our blue sky today.
The berries/fruit of the Cabbage Palm:
Once we are for sure finished with cold weather I have a lot of landscaping to do. We have Dandelion's growing throughout the lawn, this is one of many:
I have two Nandina domestica, one in the ground on the east side of the house and two others in containers on the north side. This is the one on the east side:
This is one in a container sitting outside by the fence on the north side, still showing pretty fall colors:
All of the Tree Philo's have been hit by winter's cold again this year. This is a single P. bipinnatifidum on the north side of the house all by itself, looking pretty pitiful showing the cold damage:
I love that Nandina. Awww, poor philo.
You know, I have no idea how tropicman brings in his huge bananas every year, but he sure knows how to get them to the banana stage. Gosh, I miss seeing him and his wife. I turn into such a recluse in the winter after work.
I have something up, I can't figure it out. Looks like a water plant. weird. I will post pic tomorrow.
Has anyone heard if tropicman is OK? The flooding in Australia appears to be spreading and doesn't he live on a river or some type of waterway?
Lin, I think the P. bipinnatifidums will eventually be OK but I am worried about our Monsteras.
Don (Tropicman) lives in Wichita, Kansas USA - he's Debra's neighbor! If I was his neighbor, I'd visit and learn his tricks to growing such beautiful tropicals in a cold zone - he's amazing!
When I lived in Lee's Summit, Missouri, I wasn't aware of Don (or Debra) and their wonderful plants. Now that I live in Florida, I try to recall some of the lessons he's given over the years to grow beautiful tropicals.
oops, sorry, I knew that. Duh, I was mixing him up with the DG'r from Oz. I have been having senior hours rather than moments lately, lol Just too much nasty weather, I need to get outside and play.
Gosh, Ardesia, I was thinking the same thing..That I need to get outside, but it is too cold and nasty. It is really ugly out in my back yard right now.
I was worried about the other tropic DG'r too. I heard the floods were horrible. I hope we hear from them that they are okay.
LOL - wait until you are 60+, Ardesia! I have CRS disease SO BADLY I can't remember my own grandkids names - I call them each others' name all the time.
It's starting to warm up here in NW Florida - 65 and sunny today - I have plants budding and popping up all over my yard - hope the cold temps at night (20's this weekend) don't zap the foliage.
LOL, I can't remember when I was 60 but I know it wasn't recently.
LOL!
That is wonderful news, Rachel. Thank You
Well the weather has been much more "Florida" like, a bit of a cool snap coming here this weekend, but nothing so terrible like in December. There's new growth popping up on alot of plants, so I hope we escape any more hard freezes. It was so nice yesterday, and I couldn't stand looking at one of the Canna beds so I went out and cut down all the brown growth. I'm going to redo that bed anyway and take some out so not really a big deal for them.
I was wondering about Tropicbreeze also, it's been so bad there.
We've fortunately gotten a bit more rain. Yeah !
Gagirl, your little baby Jewel Orchid is making a bloom !
There's no worries where I am from the floods. In fact, at my place I'm below my average for rainfall this wet season. Just about 40 kilometres away they're getting record rainfall this wet.
South east Queensland is facing the mamoth task of mopping up now, Victoria is currently evacuating towns in the path of the floods. A lot of the flood water is going inland so there'll be plenty of towns going under water progressively over the next 6 months.
And a word of warning about insurance companies. Many people insured for flood are now finding themselves not covered for damages because the insurance companies are claiming it wasn't a "flood", it was "rising water", and that wasn't covered by their policies????????????
One of my plants enjoying the wet weather.
Woohoo MJ, Looking good!! Mine is blooming also. It has 7 or 8 blooms. I will try to take a pic later.
Tropic, so glad you are not affected. So sad for all those people that have lost their homes and then to have the ins. companies abandon them. That is so typical, you think you are ok and then they come up with some little 'terminology' decrepancy.
On a lighter note, there is a Home and Garden show a couple of hours from me this weekend and I think I will go. Definately to see the garden stuff, but we are also building a house and I need some ideas, because I am SO lacking on the interior design/visioning of the inside of my house. We kinda came up with the plans ourselves so there are no 'plans' for the inside.
Zig: I'm glad to hear that you are okay and the flooding hasn't affected your place.
I am so sad for those who have lost family and friends from those devastating floods. It will take a long time for folks to recover from such a disaster, there are many who have lost their homes and all of their possessions. There's not only flooding in Australia, but also Brazil and I saw on the news yesterday that there's flooding here in the U.S., in Oregon.
Martha: Please don't tell me we are due for another cold snap! LOL, I just moved most of my plants back outside yesterday and boy was my body feeling it by late afternoon. We went to a basketball game last night and I guess it showed because a couple of folks asked if I was hurting. My almost 63 year old body sometimes feels like it is 93. I told my husband I was NOT moving plants in and out ever again and he said "but what about when we have more frigid weather the next month or so?" I am hoping we won't have any more really cold weather but he said he will take care of moving and covering the plants if the temp's drop again. I still have a ton of cleaning to do on the deck and the back porch ... leaves and debris everywhere. I knocked over more than one plant yesterday and there's soil and bark etc. around. I guess I should get busy but I just can't seem to get motivated. We have company coming this weekend and I need to get a few things done inside as well but we are having another gloriously nice day here so it's hard to stay inside!
A few of my plants back outside enjoying the fresh air and sunshine:
Hi Everyone!!
The sun is shining here, after another very cold night.
I enjoyed all the pictures and comments, especially Metro's. Philodendrons,that is the best next thing to visiting them in person. Thanks!
The Aphelandra Sinclairiana is a new plant for me.(love it) The hunt is on!
Joeswife, I am glad to know that your Nancy's revenge bottom is still firm. I was giggling today while checking my bottoms. I found a few mushy ones and pulled them out hoping to dry them off. It is hard for me to keep them dry when they are planted in the ground with everything else that needs watering.
RacheLF, thanks. I will have to wait until spring to see exactly what I have lost, a few just lost their leaves. Hopefully, after a while they will recuperate.
ardesia, those breadfruit trees are awesome, I have a few in my neighbors yards in Belize. They will get too big for my little yard, I do have a Sea Almond tree that is cool looking . I love breadfruit chips!!!
tropicbreeze, we are glad to see you dry and well!! Thanks for checking in.
mjsponies, I hope that your weather continues to be nice and warm. What are your plans for your canna bed? I bought a couple of Dwarf Cannas last fall that I am anxious to plant this spring. If they prove themselves, I will replace the tall cannas.
GAGirl1066, I would love to see your Jewel Orchid in Bloom. Remember to take your camera to the Home and Garden show.
plantladylin , I always enjoy your pictures! I can't take my eyes off the pool in your last picture. I put off getting one when the kids were home because they had too many friends. Now I wish I had one.
This is what I worked on yesterday, the old pole rotted and I had to replace it with a bigger one. It is a 8' old cedar post wrapped in burlap, buried about 1ft in the ground. I think that I did a good job, now I will have to make 10 more. LOL
It is time for a new Thread! Anybody interested in starting one?
Rita is that picture of the red flowers a jatropha? I have never seen such full flower heads on mine.
Rita,
Here is the jewel orchid
close up of the bloom
Here it is last year
awwwww pretty!
Thanks GAgirl. Unfortunately the flooding isn't over. There's going to be an official enquiry, looking into warnings amongst other things. Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley were hit by an "inland tsunami". Insurance companies are going to come under scrutiny as well. About time.
That Jewel Orchid looks the same as one I had. The feral pigs kept hitting it and I'd clean it up and repot. Finally it disappeared completely, maybe a pig chewed it up or buried it too deep. Since I put in an electric fence a couple of years ago there's been no pig problems so maybe I should get another one.
Lin, it's still our wet season but thankfully nothing I can't cope with. Was thinking, can't you use one of those trolleys for moving those large pots around? You can even get those tripple wheeler ones that can go up and down stairs.
Rita, it's definitely nice to be able to sleep with dry feet. I have a breadfruit tree, but it's growing under a heavy canopy of tall trees. So it's getting tall and spindly, no side branches. If it does still get fruit in the shade I'll need a fireman's ladder to pick it.
mjs and Paula, after seeing both of your pictures of this particular Jewel Orchid, I am looking very forward to mine looking like that too.
Lin, you have some nice plants out there by your pool and Rita, that Philo. looks real good climbing up it's new cedar/burlaped wrapped pole. It's hard to beat Cedar for it's durability.
Tropic, thank you for updating us concerning you and how things are going in parts of Australia. It sounds like it's going to take quite a while before some are able to get their lives back in some type of order. The Anthurium that you showed is one of my favorites, but yours definitely looks better than mine. Great growing and thanks for showing it.
Tropic, what is that heart shaped leaf in your last pic.........I want one !
Rita, actually I have two Canna beds. Both large ! The particular one I'm digging up is next to the 'wash rack" where we groom and bath the horses. It's about 12 feet long and 3 feet deep. This particular Canna that is in there get's about 6 feet tall, and has gorgeous Red flowers. I'm going to leave a few of the rhizomes there, but thin it out as I want to put some vines and something else in there too. It gets partial morning sun, and full on afternoon sun there. I'll have rhizomes to share if anyone wants some. I've got another area with Canna's in it also, mixed with Rose Mallow's, Bog Sage, and a Native Holly tree, which I can't remember the name now. It's a low spot in by the back pasture fence line so normally a great spot for things that like a lot of moisture. It was so dry here last year tho that most of those Canna's didn't bloom real well, and it's too far away to water very easily.
Here's one of the Canna's growing there, noid, I grew from seed I got in a trade.
GaGirl, I so excited about my little Jewel Orchid. I can't wait till it grows up like "momma"!
Rachel, you'll love the Jewel Orchid, the foliage is gorgeous which is what drew me too it in the first place.
We've had a pretty nice week, and even got more rain which we deperately need, but now have 2 nights of freezes due then a little warm up. Just enough to keep the poor plants confused. I do have some Salvia's, Agastache Apricote Sprite, a MG, and a few other things blooming in the greenhouse, and the Phal's are setting spikes like crazy in the "plant room" (that's an extra bedroom that's been commandeered, lol) Iochroma is still setting new buds too.
Debra, How are you holding up with the weather ?
here's the Tall Red Canna
