Pics of my place.

Thought I would share a few photos of the displays here. I have been working on keeping the place weeded. It has been a rough summer.

I have had a few problem with patches in the displays. Some plants for what ever reason did not preform well while others just out grew everything.

Already dreading winter !!!

Wow, a lush garden for KY. How much water, fertilizer, and compost do you figure you use?

Beautiful!
So what do you do in the winter?

Woooowwweeee! Are all those in pots? Looks absolutely gorgeous.

Wow! That is beautiful.

Around 60% percent stays in the ground usually mulched and partially protected. The rest are cut dug up and stored in greenhouses.

Gor-geous!
I'm just curious about something....you have EEs, which are shade lovers, and cannas, known as sun lovers, in the same bed. How do you do that?
Roberta

I grow everything in full sun even Caladiums and Colocasias. They have always done well here I believe a good feeding of epson salts can help prevent leaf burn. I do see some damage on extremely dry hot non humid days if we get over 95f. Usually the damage is not to bad and the leaves are replaced with new leaves quickly. I think humidity will play a huge role for growing them in sun or shade.

Looks great Brian. I am growing Alocasia and Colocasia in a south west facing part of my yard which gets some hot sun. So far so good. I water them nearly every day in the summer. How much epsom salt do you apply to each Alo/colo?
Is the plant in the patch in pict 2 a Siam Ruby? Do some specimens just perform poorly?

Brian,

Just beautiful, beautiful! I was wondering about the planting space. You just have designated area where you just plug in the tropical plants in the spring? I can see why you are battling weeds.

Charmaine

It makes sense. Wouldn't work here, with 4 inches of rain a year!

dave, just sprinkle the Epsom Salts like you were feeding the chickens. Not too much, not too little. I swear by it.

Christi

I always love seeing your garden pics. Been trying to create my own version here (after reading that thread from last year) - will try your mulching methods this winter and hope for the best. I've got a few zone 9/10 plants I'm hoping to keep alive. I managed to keep pothos alive last winter outside, so there is hope.

You did up most of your bananas or just cut them off and mulch them? I'm still debating what to do with my Cavendish and pink fruiting bananas. I'm sure the basjoo will be fine.

Brian, I have to tell you- photos of what you can do are a good portion of why we were able to make the decision to move from South Florida back to Kentucky. You give us all something to aspire to. I could not wrap my head around leaving all my tropical favorites and when I saw your gardens I knew I didn't have to.

We have been so consumed with shaping up our property that we have not yet begun planting our "tropicorner", but I have it sited and three quarters designed, and an indoor growroom where I already successfully overwintered all the orchids I brought back with me. When we do dig that first shovelful it will only be after a thorough review of all your threads and photos.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Brian, thanks for sharing pics again this year. I always like seeing your place and hearing your trials. How did the water troughs work out? I too am incorporating things I've learned from you into my own place. Being in zone 5, I'm a bit challenged as far as hardiness, but that's never stopped me from trying before. Cearbhaill, you have a place for sale in FL?

I have been looking into moving to Florida myself. It would be a big move but worth it if I can work year around on my projects and nursery. If your in the area you should stop in. It has really grown up for the summer. I have a lot of new stuff coming along as well. AuntB I am working on a lot that maybe able to take your winters. It should be interesting to see how this stuff preforms.

I will post more pics soon. Thanks.

Absolutely wonderful pictures, Brian. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see more. What is the rippled looking alocasia in the first picture ?

Every year I swear I am taking the drive up to see your place, but just haven't done it yet. Sure hope you don't move to Florida. If you did, how would you check the lower zones for hardiness ??

Bonnie

Bonnie, he could send them to me.... ;) for testing..

The rippled Alocasia is Borneo Giant. This was a huge plant that I layed the trunk down in the soil to produce a large clump or plants. As for testing the plants. We will still have a family operation up here to check out zones for us as well as a larger company who has been helping me in my work. They have people across the US. I will be under contract for a lot of this stuff so some of the testing maybe out of my hands.

So if you cut an EE trunk off an older plant and lay it down, it will sprout all those? Wow, I'll have to try that for areas that need thickening up. Do you need to bury it half way or anything for the best results?

I bury it about half way or all the way. The eyes on the trunk will suddenly start pushing out new plants. It will also start forming new roots and plants from the underside of the trunk. The top section can be removed and planted as is and is quick to recover. Just be sure to watch for rot.

Gosh Brian, having a company to grow things out seems to take some of the fun away from you... but you do things on a much bigger scale than us, so it is nice you have help that way. Now if you need someone to grow out any of those gorgeous brugmansia like you posted last year....we need a Brian Williams brug.. I haven't been able to find your amorphs in the pics you posted, there was one behind the office I think.. you said it's hardy there, I bet it is HUGE again this year. Brian I was through Louisville earlier this month, DS and I were having issues with his car, so I very regretfully opted to stay on the road. (we made it home and the car is repaired, but I'm sure kicking myself now) We thought the tranny was going out so I wanted to get home before that happened. It's not that far to Louisville, I'm for sure planning a visit toward the end of next summer (if you're still there, if not, then to FL). I might have to get a stool and just spend a day going from area to area soaking it all in (heck, give a water hose, may as well be helpful)!

Thanks for the tip on the EE, I'll give that a try next spring with some of mine getting a little leggy in their pots. I definitely have to put some Red Abyssinian Bananas in the ground next year too; I acquired one too late this year to give it ample time to grow.

Do you leave the Abyssinian's outside with a good mulch or do you treat them as annuals? I've heard they don't pup, and I'm not sure how hardy they are, so I'm curious as to how I'll keep them going year to year. Any tips on that?

Lovely Brian..as allways.. such a wonderful and diverce family you work with.. as you said dreading winter weeks ..I know....weeks of preperation.. It does make a souhern hurricane seem like a nice gamble.. you only have to work if it does get you... you've got no win with winter.. there..
you've seem not to have a zone posted.. what do you figure you are there...
absolutely stunning... Gordon

Just a note on Florida and storms...

We moved here a few years ago, and just happened to find a place we loved that's a bit inland - about 30 miles or so from the beach.

It rains almost every day in the summer - you can almost set your watch by the afternoon thunderstorms - and most of my tropicals love it! I've found a little bit of planning in the garden goes a long way. I planted EE's, caladiums, cannas, etc. in the lower-lying areas, that tend to collect more water. Plants that don't like that much water - bogies, mandevillas, etc. - are on a slight incline, where the excess water runs off. It works out great!

I haven't lost any plants to hurricanes, except for some mandevillas, which I planted our first year here in an area that collects water. I've learned a lot since then. It's not that we don't get hurricanes - in 2004 alone we had 4 of them - but they lose some strength coming inland, and careful planning when designing the garden will help protect them.

I guess the bottom line is that if you're planning to move here, chose an area that's inland, away from the flood zones. Your insurance will be a lot cheaper, and your plants will be a lot happier, even though it's a bit of a drive to get to the beach.

Steve

AuntB your welcome any time. The place is looking pretty good this season if you are in the area again due stop in. As for the Ensetes I have had little luck over wintering them here in zone 6 KY. The best luck I have had is if you cut the trunk at 3 foot and mulch heavy the rot will usually not hit the main growth point by the end of winter. So spring you must go out and cut out all rot specially in the center of the plant this usually means cutting the remaining trunk flat to the ground. If the spring weather is good they will sprout back from the center, in some cases they will produce more than one plant and tons of new ensetes will form out of the center meristem producing a large clump of new plants. So the answer to the Ensete question is they will not survive unless very well protected and that rot is removed in spring. It's a risk but if you dont have room inside I would suggest trying this out.

As for Florida I was looking at Ft Myers inland. I would like to find 10 to 20 acres reasonable priced LOL. I have also been looking at SC not as tropical but I may have a bit more help and support their. My cousin is planning a move to Costa Rica and has been trying to talk me into moving their as well. I hope to see how well his move goes and will be visiting him once he is settled in. I am not sure if I could leave once I visit him!!

Brian,

We bought in the Tampa area, and now I wish we had looked further south, in the Naples/Fort Myers area. It's warmer there - we get frost 2 or 3 nights during the winter here. Naples is beautiful, but a bit more expensive than where I am.

Hetty (Dutchlady) lives in Naples. She'd be a good person to get info from, if you're thinking of moving there.

Steve

Well, I'm over in St. Pete and the newest zone maps call us zone 10a instead of 9b. I have been here since 1971 and have never been through a direct hit, thank goodness.
Have only had to protect my plants from frost a few times in the 18 years I have been in this house. Lost probably a few of the more cold sensitve tropicals but normally there is no damage either a few brown leaves, mostly on the taller banana leaves. Unfortunately, there is no large quantity of land available in this area anymore and what you can find is outrageous in price. Unfortunately, the further south you go, the more likely you are to get hit by the tropical storms or hurricanes. For some unknown reason, they tend to go around our peninsula. I'm sure one day our luck will run out but until then, I'm staying put.