Hardiness success stories

Very promising! lol Beautiful ginger, and the selluom looks nice and healthy, too, thanks for sharing (this is turning out to be a really good thread)...maybe next week I can take some baby pics of my new stuff to save for comparison later

Since I was out there with the camera, I took some more pictures-here is one of part of the front gardens. It is not a good picture-it doesn't show anything really. Its hard to get it all in one picture and show anything of interest! Maybe I should do smaller gardens....less time with the pick axe!! lol

thanks, here is one more of one of the side gardens, I am still working on filling in the back garden

VERY impressive, heading out camping, ya'll have a great weekend!

Trop, I am a bit further West then you were probably thinking but in California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada oleanders grow like weeds. My DH's aunt and uncle have pink, red and white ones that line their entire property of 4 acres in Reno, NV. So I am sure they can handle both your heat and cold there. I have seen them on the coast of California and along the beaches in Mexico also so they can handle the humidity and the salt.

Oleanders are illegal to plant in public places in my county now. They are the highest contributor to our enormous pollen count and most people have an allergic reaction to them when handling them. So be careful.

Tigerlily, I love the flower bed pictures. Beautiful color...

Carat, Oleanders can be iffy in the Carolina midlands and above. Some years they do fine, others they do not. Frequently they freeze to the ground and it takes forever for them to come back.

I have one here that is invasive down here along the coast and it is too tall for me to deadhead the seeds. However, as a rule they are not much of a problem in this part of the country. My prettiest ones never seem to self sow.

Well I had some pictures and questions for you experienced folks---

I planted these basjoo (they were together in a small pot) this spring--they've really grown into each other. I know people hack them back every year, but since they're somewhere between 8-9 feet tall wasn't sure how much.

How much should I mulch them?

And will I ever be able to separate them?

see how the trunks are all into each other?

Has anyone tried to overwinter xanthosomas outside?

...or am I in total zone denial?

This one's a little taller than me--so roughly a bit over 5 feet. The trunk is really stout so if it's possible...it's gotta be strong enough

Here's the leaf, can't tell how big it is for sure, and I didn't bother to measure it ...(guess size isn't always important..lol)

This is a much smaller basjoo, and I'm concerned it won't make it and debating bringing it in

It's around 3 feet high,the trunk isn't that stocky

OK, I know shampoo ginger is iffy anyway, and mine did not grow very big--this is the smaller one (the bigger one being not much bigger)--maybe 2 feet high and only produced a couple of stalks

anything I can do to keep them going?

this one's next to the GH, so I imagine that it will get a little heat and protection--just not sure if they're "woman enough" to handle winter

This message was edited Oct 3, 2007 3:14 PM

I'm not sure if this velutina is developed enough or not, but really worry about the three pups.

Should I divide them?

kinda feel like they have no chance

i have wintered them over outside but mine is up against the house and we use wood heat so the ground dont "freeze" there so i am not sure if that is why or not but i do have some at my down spout in front of the house that isent as close to the house as the others and they come back for me every year if i can get some batteries for my camera i will take a pic and show you,but i still think it is because the ground stays warmer ,so if you could try one up against your house and see how it does

so you've wintered xanths? sweet....mine's not close to the house, though...sigh

This is a terrible picture of a special crinum 'Sangria" that I planted not too long ago. The stalk is only as big around as a pencil--I'm not sure it's big or established enough...

I'm feeling that way about a few crinums so any crinum advice is so totally appreciated

OK, I think this might be last...

This is a variegated luna hardy hibiscus hybrid (looking pretty rough now) in a large pot--not sure if I should plant it or if I can leave it

Last question..lol

How much do y'all mulch your curcumas?

well if it isent hardy to zone 6-7 i would bring it in,unless you have enough to bring one in and leave one out and try it and see i have a blue sage/salvia that is for zone 8 and it comes back for me every year but i know why it makes new plants on runners so you know what of the runners are protected somewhere in the garden lol and it is around the house as well so that might have something to do with it too lol i bring all my cucurmas in

That's what I'm talking about moretz, lets hear more of that zone pushing spirit, not that "bring it in" stuff...lol. This year, what I'm leaving out (in almost all cases) I also have back up

good for you that is the best way to find out what will make it and what wont but in some cases we dont know how the winter is going to be,one year we could have tropical like weather and then next year have 6" of snow lol yeah right lol i do it your way if i have enough to leave one out side and bring one in then i do and that is how i have done it,cant wait to hear what makes it for you,
if you do plant stuff outside right now i dont think it would get a good root system to even try to make it through the winter,next year start planting things outside in early sept or even earlier so it willget astablished before winter,i heard that it takes 2 weeks to get rooted down but i wouldnt do that for the ones you arent sure of i would give them at least amonth to get rooted in good

I appreciate that moretz, I'd not heard the two week thing before

Hey Tropicana-another zone denial lady here! lol I don't know when was the last time I thought I was in zone 7-not when I am buying plants, I'll tell you that!!

I would leave them all in the ground and mulch heavy-esp the ginger.

The velutina is going to throw up massive amts of stalks for you next summer-so don't worry about any of those babies making it.
I have the Sangria and it did fine coming back in the spring, and it was a first year planting like yours-but I would mulch it heavy. Mine is 3 times the size right now from a yr ago. All of my crinums have come back, and I have over 10 or more types, so I think they are pretty reliable.
I would not try to divide your Basjoo now, because to divide it, you have to dig the whole thing up (to do a good job-not cut into one of the corms). Bananas do tend to grow close together-do you not like the look or something?

Just went and took some pictures for you-
here is a clump of my basjoo with the stalks close together-I am not going to do a thing to them

tigerlily, thanks for the advice...don't have a problem with how the bananas look, they seem to like each other just fine. I had read that the would compete and not do as well planted on top of each other like that

one thing I want to add is that I know the soil is not good here either--somethings I tried to amend, but my gosh, I'd need 10 truckloads of manure, loam amd compost to get it how it should be

Just keep mulching and that will help to build up the soil/break up the clay...I am the laziest gardener! lol

Here is the velutina-this is a garden that hardly got any water this summer and it looks bad, but you can see (I hope) how large the clump is from one stalk last summer. Looks like crap-huh?? lol I hate droughts with a passion

here is a shot of the side garden-it got more water

this is weird-not sure that i ever saw this before-it is a baby iolone growing out of the trunk of the one that fell over this summer.

here is more of the side garden

very nice! you even have those cute lil pink bananas, too! can't wait to see those, I got an ice cream banana this year, so maybe one day edible fruit

thanks for sharing the garden photos, it would be nice to see everyones pics before it gets cold :)

oh wow, and there's more! I'm going to have to look up iolone

here is Buddy-sorry -off topic I know, but if I take these pictures, we are going to look at them! lol

Awwww! who cares about on-off topic unless you're an anal person anyway


show us more!

this comes back for me every year

this does to but not sure what it is lol some kind of rudbeckia i think

want some pansies?? lol this is what most of my water has been going toward-have had to buy a tanker ful of water every week that past few weeks..this is just a small amt of them. Did I mention how I hate a drought...

this is some kind fo rudbeckia as well and it comes back for me too lol

Those are gorgeous! That blue is beautiful:)

here is my daughter's baby lol

Tropicanna: I know I'm a zone warmer than where you are, but here's my 2 cents anyway. ;-)
I have a Xanth. Lime Zinger that I left in the ground last winter. It had been chewed to the ground by ducks when it was only a foot tall so I thought it'd be toast. I'm z8 but, we had some freezes. It came back just fine. Didn't get very big - but I'm chalking that up to the duck damage preventing it from getting enought nutrients and grow time before the end of last season.

My Musa Basjoo comes back each year and seems to double in size, it's against a north wall.

I mulch all of them the outdoor aroids and tropicals the same way. Just a bunch o' pine straw in a wire cage around the stalk. Up to about 6-8 inches or so. Seems to work. They die down, but come back bigger the next season.
I 'm with Tigerlily because I am also "lazy" when it comes to doing all this change of season stuff, so the less I have to do to protect, the better! :> BTW, my basjoo is in solid clay with about 4" of actual top soil.
So far, so good.
Deb

I don't grow many tropical looking plants but I have to put in a plug for Hardy tapioca- the one PDN sells. It has thrived for me and looks good even in this drought with very little extra water. My hedychiums all look terrible and I don't think I'l get any bloom this year(from well established plants). On the other hand I have a Brug that has come back the last 2 years at least and I think it would bloom if we got any rain now. Go figure.

Edited to say that the Brug has had no supplemental water at all. The only reason it's still in the ground is I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet.

This message was edited Oct 4, 2007 6:50 AM

None of my hedychiums have bloomed yet, most are late bloomers so my fingers are crossed

Deb, good to know about the zinger...not ready to risk that one, but I have a jeoquinii that's about 5 feet tall that I'm gonna leave--there's two of them together andd hopefully I can split one to bring inside.

I'm gonna try using big pots filled with leaves....the cage stuff sounds like something I'd kinda have to mess with at least initially and I'm too slack for all that...lol

I have more questions I remembered yesterday, but slept on it and can't remember..lol