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desertdave

Does anyone know if palms, or certain species of palms, can grow near black walnuts? Black walnuts (Juglans nigra) put out an allelopathic compound known as juglone, which in the amounts that mature black walnuts put out, can kill many species of plants, such as tomatoes and rhododendrons. On the ot...

desertdave

That is sweet. I haven't seen that one before. Looks like the ones I found along Main St. in Boise that I posted a few months back. This one almost looks like a fat Cordyline, imho. Makes me want to grow one. BTW, while I am out taking pics of Boise area palms, etc. I will take a pic of a fairly lar...

desertdave

A few updates about palm tree plantings in the Boise area: :D - Nampa: The two large Trachycarpus palms at the entrance to the Honda dealership are alive and seemingly pulling out of last winter's damage pretty well. Sry I forgot to take my camera when I went to Nampa book shopping the other day but...

desertdave

Nice Zamia. I have a question though. Do Zamias produce pups (like Cycas)? My brother and I are growing Z. furfuracea (I think that is what they are; my brother bought both of them and he said they were sold as "Cardboard Palm". I know they are Zamia of some sort.) I can send pics if you w...

desertdave

W. robusta fronds are also generally more rigid than W. filifera fronds; filifera fronds are usu. quite flexible. That puppy is a robusta, probably a pure breed one. My robustas' petioles are largely green as well so that is probably not the best indicator. Plus mine get cotton threads, so that does...

desertdave

If anyone knows, which of the following evergreen oaks would probably be hardiest in zone 6b-7a? I am considering purchasing one or more of the following: California's canyon live oak (Q. chrysolepis), the Southern live oak (Q. virginiana), and/or Europe's Holm oak (Q. ilex). I had three Q. chrysole...

desertdave

I also love the snow on the palms look, esp. Trachy's. Canaries also look really cool with snow on them; I remember a couple of years ago seeing some shots on the Weather Channel with snow on the Canaries in Vegas when they got about 6" of snow. Is the tree in the fourth pic a Cordyline? Whatev...

desertdave

I drove by the Nampa car dealership with the palms a few days ago to check on the palms, and browse at cars for a second or two... Too bad for them a new Accord is out of my price range... Anywho, the little ones (1-2 gallon size) are all dead; they died in December during that inversion (low at my ...

desertdave

Those are some massive grape vines. I have never seen any that thick before. Too bad they don't hurt the box elder... I have heard that box elders have been outlawed in some cities, b/c they snap so easily and become extremely weedy. Do you do anything for the vines (fertilizer, soil amendment, etc....

desertdave

Definitely give that a try inside. I guess they get huge in their native jungles so yah you may have to bonsai. Keep us updated!

desertdave

Has anyone in USDA zone 6 tried crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia spp.)? Surprisingly I have not seen any here in town, despite some people getting brave and planting Southern magnolias, bamboo, even the (very) occasional Trachy. What are some of their requirements? Are they reliably hardy?

desertdave

How difficult would it be to cultivate Musa basjoo from seed? I would love to try growing them but the prices I have heard for small seedlings are a bit high, esp. since I bought about $60 of Rhododendrons yesterday. Also where can one find seed for cheap for them? Are there any bananas that might b...

desertdave

Honey locust is so overplanted in Boise. They are as ubiquitous here (and in many other communities) as Washy's are in LA. Makes me wish that Washy's grew here... Maybe someone (me?) should try Chinese pistache or some of the other tougher street trees that they use in California here. Honey locust'...

desertdave

This spring I am going to redo a flower bed underneath a large pine tree, with rhododendrons and maybe an azalea or two. Also I plan on landscaping an area along my neighbors' new fence (one that I didn't want), with some Philadelphus lewisii (Idaho native mock orange) and maybe some Rose of Sharon ...

desertdave

Rhododendron roseum from what I have heard is one of the hardiest Rhododendrons on the planet. There may be even hardier cultivars of it. Here in much warmer and much more southerly Boise, it seems to do ok in partial sun; up there in Edmonton the low sun angle should make a sunny spot just fine. It...

desertdave

Not necessarily going to speak for everyone else but sounds ok a topic to me... I have never had luck germinating sugar maple but from my experience with other maples (I started my tree growing life with a silver maple, also red maple was the third tree I grew from seed) it should start pushing out ...

desertdave

Boise's hottest day ever, at the airport site, was 111 F (44 C) in 1960. In recent years I have seen airport readings as high as 110... The hottest my thermometer has seen in 10 years was 108, it has seen that about six or seven times, including three days in a row, four? years ago. Dry, too, like I...

desertdave

I heard they may have threatened lawsuits against Dave's Garden, etc. due to the sheer amounts of jeers against them on those sites. I have, though, heard recent reports from some people that have had some luck with them. People change, so can companies, but I am not risking my money on it...

desertdave

I will try to grow both. I will protect the heck out of them esp. at first. The W. filifera would prolly be more of a challenge even if winters stay like they have for the last decade or so, winters may be just getting too wet as well as warming up. Trachy's seem to like wet-winter areas, and heck t...

desertdave

This is an inspiring site. It has encouraged me anew to try to grow some palms here... I wonder which would survive longer here, a well protected Washingtonia filifera (I have heard they do fairly well in the Tri-Cities, Albuquerque, and other dry, cool-winter, hot-summer areas) or a well protected ...

desertdave

I would say it's up to you. That said, coconut palms are not cold hardy at all; I have heard of them dying at 35 F. (Anyone that knows biology, how can a plant freeze to death at above freezing temperatures?) On the good side, they love heat and humidity. From what I understand Kansas can be quite h...

desertdave

People tell me "You can't grow rhododendrons in Boise!" But I can and do. Generally I plant hardier varieties usu. to about zone 5 or 6; the zone 4 Rhody's (PJM, etc.) do not appeal to me, and the zone 7 varieties do not seem to do well here. (Other plants hardy to zone 7 do fine here for ...

desertdave

I am curious what some of the hardiest Eucalyptus are, and how hardy they are on average. Also, generally do they resprout from the stump, roots, etc. if their tops are frozen? Also on a related topic are there any Eucs that might take to the indoors, possibly as bonsai or a slower smaller growing s...

desertdave

My brother bought a cardboard palm (cycad) for his dorm room a few weeks back. Of course now half of the guys in his hall have one, and now so do I since he bought me one as well. Your cycad sure looks like one of those...

desertdave

Maybe we can pray that TyTy has heard their complaints and may be beginning to straighten up? They (say they?) have a lot of species, palms and other stuff (they have a whole bunch of other stuff on there, including many Southern natives) that one cannot find too easily other places. Then again some...

desertdave

How well do Canaries do inside, generally? This is assuming a sunny room. I am thinking of trying some of the Canaries I am growing for such a life.

desertdave

Thanx to Jay for starting this sub-forum. I think it will be an awesome addition to PalmsNorth. Now that I have given my props, I would like to start this sub-forum with a fairly obvious question. What is your favorite indoor palm and why? I am kind of partial to the Chinese fan palm (Livistona chin...

desertdave

I think that indoor palms may be actually a good idea for a new sub-forum on here. Many of us enjoy growing palms/tropicals/subtropicals indoors as houseplants.

BTW, I am curious, how would one grow a coconut from seed?

desertdave

I wonder sometimes, after hearing these latest revelations from TyTy on this and the other message boards I frequent... Sounds almost like a male Hooters now... Hooters is babes and booze, maybe TyTy are trying to do the hunks and palm trees thing. On the other types of plants they "sell"?...

desertdave

That is about as scientific a test as you could try. That one Robusta will tell you a lot about that soil. Keep us informed!

desertdave

Good point, the best looking Chamaecyparis here do get partial shade. Then again, most people plant them in partial shade here; they probably saw them in Seattle, etc. and figured that partial shade would imitate those solar situations to an extent... Austrian pines do well here... if watered. They ...

desertdave

From what I have heard, you would have a higher rate of return with the Bellagio than with TyTy...

About the Nanorrhops, I have not tried it but I think it would be a good try here in the Boise area.

desertdave

My last post about Kansas's silt he got for his palms reminded me of something. I cannot get a good batch of compost to save my life! Does anyone in any hot dry climate have suggestions? Most of the suggestions I have read are written by garden writers in the Mid-Atlantic states, for Mid-Atlantic ga...

desertdave

That stuff would probably be good to mix into your garden soil, esp. if it is a sand or clay soil. Be sure to mix plenty of organic matter in as well. My favorites are peat moss and cow manure but I know some ppl object to use of peat... Compost is supposedly better but I cannot get a good batch of ...

desertdave

I actually like Alaskan-cedars. One of the few conifers I truly like. They are native from SE Alaska to about the Portland area from what I understand, and they line the freeways in the Seattle area. There are also a few planted in yards in the Boise area. The grass probably provides a lot of the hu...

desertdave

I commend the Arbor Day Foundation for their efforts to assist and improve urban forestry and wildlife habitat. That said, I have less than glowing feelings about them as a nurseryman, esp. when it comes to their 10 free trees deal. Maybe others have had better luck than me, but both times I bought ...

desertdave

That is a cool little palm. Too bad they are not hardy; those would make the neatest accent plants! Of course I have a general fondness of the Phoenix genus overall...

<pipedream> A big Canarie in my front yard would look so freaking awesome... </pipedream>

desertdave

Limber pine (Pinus flexilis) is actually becoming somewhat popular in the Boise area. I do not know a lot about the species except that it grows more slowly than the western white pine (P. monticola) that it resembles to an extent. I am guessing that it may be more tolerant of heat than the Idaho st...

desertdave

Yah I have killer squirrels. They used to dig up my oaks to pluck the acorns off of them, but once I started removing the spent acorn when the seedling had grown a bit, now they seem to attack everything I grow from seed, often by cutting them down. Maybe they snap them by trying to climb them? Dunn...

desertdave

I love arabesque scenes like this... what a sharp contrast, looking at the boreal forests across the water, through your palms and Cordylines...

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