Tropical Plants and Gardens #118

Thank you everyone, for the warm welcome! Your plants are all gorgeous! Makes me want lots of new things!

I did get one new thing in the ground yesterday. Over the holidays, I had purchased two amaryllis bulbs from a nursery where I am a frequent customer. They are good people. They had started blooming last week and as they finished opening up - nope, not the variety I thought I had bought. I returned them and with my credit, I finally got the Red Abyssian Banana (Ensete Ventricosum) that I have been wanting for a very long time. It's an ornamental banana for anyone who is not familiar. Really, it is a much better use of the money since I have plenty of amaryllis. I got a really good-sized plant and I got him in the ground yesterday. Planted him with lots of organics - black cow, peat and bone meal. I saw him smile at me when I got all done. Will get pictures later. I'm SO excited!

How do we know which plants are a "her" or a "him" anyway? :)

Ardesia, what are your favorite nurseries in the area? I'm always trying to find new ones/good ones.

I have been wanting a cutting of Begonia odorata var. alba forever. You may all just have tiny babies, but if anyone ever has enough length that they could part with a cutting, boy I have lots of things I could trade.

Carol in Jacksonville

Carol, it's supposedly available for trade here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/trading/search.php?search_text=PFPID:92161

Carol, my Begonia plant is still a bit small to take a cutting, but in another month or two, I might have a stem big enough. If not, this fall for sure! I think the more mature stems root the best off begonias.

As to the him or her question, LoL! Scientifically speaking, I think all bananas are both i.e. they have male and female parts on all the flowers. Some plants especially fruits (best eg. is papaya) do have male and female plants and you must plant both to get pollination. But as far as what we "call" our plants on the forum here, I think for me I call it a "her" if it's pretty and delicate but a "him" if its something big and robust.

I got an amaryllis on sale after the holidays last year in a broken pot. It's been languishing in the garden, until just a week or so ago, here came the bud. I had no idea what it was, but turns out it's a double orange/peach flower! Yay, I didn't have one of those before.

ATTENTION!!! PLEASE!!!! I have probably a hundred bluish Purple Bearded Iris I need to get rid of because of my Tropical plant sickness! Please d-mail me if you would like; say, 10 or more!

LOL, Drew - you sound desperate! If no one wants them, consider donating them to your local garden club for one of their projects.

Sorry, I love bearded iris, but can't grow them here . . great flowers and fantastic foliage - how can you want to ditch them? Maybe roust out an acre or so of your lawn and replace it with a mass planting of them? They are pretty easy care and drought tolerant. If you plant them close enough together they choke out the weeds, too!

When I say get rid of, I mean, to give to a local garden club Master gardeners or something like that. I would rather give to you guys though!

beautiful plants and flowers. I am jealous.
I have been ill, but feeling better now. Sorry I couldn't call you back KayJones, I was with customers all day and today was H&*LL, Son came over and moved a lot of the big stuff outside, was 77 today and has been that way all week, I am keeping Charlies room lit up, tho, for the vines I am afraid to try to untangle and some of the Philos are rooting and leafing and stuff. I just don't feel well enough to go out and work much.
Maybe tomorrow I can go out and watch the birds for a while and contemplate where to put my EE's and brugs.
My amrarillis Moonlight is budded up. Morning glorys are all a bloom downstairs, perfect for seed collecting and not getting them mixed up. Begonias are making bud things. I am leaving chalice vine inside since it likes that west window so much. Joe and son need to put up a couple of my trellis's for the passis. The three flowers on the calico pipe vine have dropped off now. should I try to untangle it from the passi and the sticotcardia and move it outside>?

I sure hope you feel better soon Debra.

Drew, I will take a few of the Iris's and I will send the Calla to you this week.

Deb, I certainly understand - I've been quite busy myself, unloading the greenhouse and Florida room, re-potting everything and getting it situated outside. Take care and know I love you!

Carol forgive me for not answering you about JAX nurseries. Been busy with gardening conferences and workshops. My son lives in Julington Creek and I love the Hagan Ace Hardware near his home, it is on San Jose, There is another Ace on the same road but their stuff is not as good. I have found some terrific tropicals in Hagan's greenhouses. I wish I could remember the names of the nurseries in St. Augustine, Scott is usually driving and I just focus on the plants. LOL There is a wonderful native plant nursery in JAx, it is called Native and Uncommon Plants and it is on Ortega. They are only open by appt. I believe, You can google them to find out.

I found these tillandsias at a MG Symposium the other day. They don't show up well in this picture, I'll have to find a better background.
The colors are nice and bright in person.

Hi Kay, Thanks for pointing me that way. Actually, I did check the exchange list first and as I recall, none of the options were workable. I either didn't have what they wanted or one person, I think, is not in the continental US.

Aredesia, you are right! Both Ace Nurseries on San Jose are on the top of my list. I have found great plants at both locations. The one farther south has a bigger selection but the northern one, closer to I-295, seems to have better prices. :) But you DID tell me about a nursery with which I was unfamiliar - Native and Uncommon Plants! I have never been there, never heard of it! I love to try new places, so thank you SO much! Their website says that they are open from October to July and are open by appointment only from July - October. It is a long drive for me, but I will in the area sooner or later. I really appreciate the info.

Carol

This message was edited Mar 22, 2012 2:51 PM

Welcome Carol (Mangogirl) and I am sorry I missed your post earlier concerning nurseries in St. Augustine. I can recommend Leonardi's Nursery which is located at 902 Anastasia Blvd. and another one (sorry I can't recall the name) but it's on the same side of the road and not far from Leondardi's. I also like, Complete Garden Center and they are located at 2400 US 1 South. All three sell a great variety of quality and healthy plants. There are more in St. Augustine as well but these three have always been my first to shop at while visiting.

Hallooo . . . ? ? ? Let me guess, everyone's got a huge case of Spring Fever and is out playing in the garden? It's beautiful here in the mornings and evenings, but already I'm having to do short shifts in the shade if I want to work outside in the afternoons. Phew! A wonderful bonus, though, we have had rain for two evenings in a row which is really unexpected for this time of year. The jungle is advancing already!

Deb, hope you are feeling better, and that spring is still there - here's one of your 'babies' Stardancer x pod 2 with 3 buds! This is really early for a new-ish plant to be blooming, wouldn't you say? Any idea what color I should expect? They'll probably be in full bloom next week while we are away, and the house-sitter is a guy so he won't even look at them. Just hope they last until I get home!

I also have 6 flower stalks coming along on my agapanthus, about a month earlier than usual! Got a start yesterday for a variegated agapanthus called 'Silver Moon' - can't wait to see its foliage although it most likely won't bloom until next spring. Anybody growing this?

This message was edited Mar 22, 2012 6:52 PM

Hey Elaine!

Hey Drew, have you moved your jungle out of the garage yet?

LOL...trying to catch up since spring "sprung" a bit ahead of time. For the last few winters we were still worrying about frosts about this time. So I have piles of clipping to load into the utility cart and haul to the burn pile and more that needs trimmed and trying to get stuff in the ground.
Can't take everything out of the greenhouse yet as not all the tree's are leafed out and don't want them getting sunburned.
Or I'm cramming into shady area's, which are not plentiful around here as it is.
The upshot is the only green I see on the radar has been parked over the farm since about 4:30...
YEAH !!

This message was edited Mar 22, 2012 4:46 PM

I am here.. still coughing but at least it doesn't hurt. The Rains have stopped finally, have been water vacc'ing the basement. 6 inches in three days. I am glad it is stopping for a while, not that we didn't need it, but it is coming again next week according to weather man, so need to get things situated downstairs for the next flood LOL
VERY PROUD of those buds. They aren't gonna open until u get back, I can tell. Can't wait to see what they look like. You do good growing brugs, Elaine.

M m maybe they will hang on until we get back IF the weather front that gave you all that rain gets this far south and cools us off a bit.

Here's an 'Easy Does It' rose that decided to be mottley. Wish I knew how to make them do this all the time, I really like it. Red pentas are interplanted with the roses. It's going to look really garish if they all bloom at the same time some day.

In And out due to the rain A lot of things that were in the ground are going crazy from these highs in the 80's.

Rachel,

Thank you! I am adding them to my car list! Haha, yes, I do keep a car list so that when I am have an errand on another part of town, I can check to see if there are are any nurseries in the area. I don't get down to St. Augustine very often, but now it looks like I have a reason. :) Thank you so much for taking the time.

I found Leonardi's Nursery: http://www.leonardisnursery.com/
I think the next one may be Southern Horticulture?: http://www.southern-horticulture.com/
And the last one - could it be The Greenery Garden Center? Can't find a website.

Got a Red Abyssinian Banana (Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelli') this past week. Put him in the ground and I am so excited. Been wanting one of these for a lonnnnnnng time. I read that they are fast growers. I gave him lots of good stuff in the soil and lots of love, so I hope he will be happy. He is only about 2 1/2 feet tall right now. Well, it appears that I can't add photos to this post. Will post them in a new one below.

Carol

Here's the new Maurelli banana!

Carol

Hey Carol; Thumbs up on the Maurelli! Try the Glacum too! It will get Massive down there! Here is a picture of mine in the Charlotte area.



This picture around the first of Sept. last year. Around 18" in dia. at base.
I planted it less than 2' tall around the first of May.

This message was edited Mar 24, 2012 10:20 AM

Forgot one.

Homer, That's GREAT! The photos tell the story - WOW! Did you plant it with a lot of amendments? Fertilize it every week? It is just a beautiful banana. Did it survive your winter?

Just Googled it - I assume it is an Ensete Glaucum? Cool banana!

Carol

This message was edited Mar 24, 2012 12:23 PM

Carol...Leaf Mold Compost very little cow and chicken poo; Every other watering around 25% recommended strength water soluble ferts.; Zone 8b or above I am thinking little, to no mulch. I am 7-b and did not want to chance it. We are Z-7. Yes, E.glaucum.


Debra,(AAArghhh) Thought this might please you. At least one of the Brugs. is doing really well!
Highlight Marker for scale.

This message was edited Mar 24, 2012 8:34 PM

This message was edited Mar 24, 2012 11:21 PM

morning everyone. welcome mangogirl. i have been catching up and not posting alot of pictures because i still cant figure out how to upload pictures from the ipad? so i went outside to take some pictures the old fashioned way.
the begonias are all still flowering i wish the computor had a scratch and sniff option for the b.odorata

i have quite a few mangos. the squirrels hang out in the michelia every morning. someone said to hang mothballs in fruit trees when they are about to ripen and it keeps them away? has anyone tried it?
i got a few new plants from logees. randia, bovardia, potatoe tree, tomato tree, begonia potpourri

I wish my odorata would get growing...maybe time for some fertilizer...

Hoya and Passi coccinea

LOL, I fertilized my odorata after our last round of posts about it, put it out in a sheltered spot and and now I can't find it in the jungle.

I found the B. odorata and it is just setting buds now but the stems are surprisingly thick and sturdy all of a sudden. Funny thing about fertilizer - it works!

The butterfly amaryllis are happy this week, after I planted them in the ground I was worried about their hardiness but they did fine. Not that this winter was a good test.

Oh, my, Alice - that Amaryllis is breath-taking!

Hi guys, a quick note to the alumni here....put my new address / details here.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=9058532
Now, I'll just be an envious lurker on Tropical forum!
rj

RJ, my heart hurts for you - I know yours is very sad. I will bet you will start tropicals again, so keep us updated, and if we have anything you'd like to have a start of, just put out the word.

rj, Yea..... I say that probably influenced for decision... I think I heard the gears turning when she said that!

Where is everybody? I know there is tons blooming, but I guess like me you all are too busy pulling weeds, planting new things, and drooling over all the new plants you wish you could buy! I am at the coast right now, my daughter is on spring break. i would rather be at home working in the yard, but at least I can work in this yard too as long as the pesky sandnats stay away. We are going shopping today for a easter outfit and of course, Ill have to stop at the nurseries also...daughter won't be too thrilled!

I have come to the decision that I must downsize. Where we live now, I don't have that much shade and I am limited to where I can put all my flowers. Sooooo.....I will be offering some things before much longer, I am debating on whether to list them in the classifieds and try to get something for them, but we'll see. I've got to be able to put everything in the GH this winter. I left so much inside at the other house, I could have filled up another 12x36 gh.

I'm here, glad you are spending time with your Daughter, Paula.
these were in bloom downstairs last week..

I haven't gone anywhere! Life is VERY busy right now. I'd say, make a list of what you are going to 'get rid of' and email it, along with size and price, to each of us and let us have first dibbs on buying from you!

I will definitely give those of you that are interested 'first dibs'....then whatever is left over I will put on 'classified'.

Just to name a few: 5 ponytail palms, varg. rubber tree, hardy hibs (3 in. ) white anthuriums, walking iris, couple of moonlight philos, and lots more. I will make a list when I get back home.