One more day!!!

Rubtherock · Post by **Rubtherock** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 8:30 pm

Until I post pictures of the palms that recovered (washingtonias, Pindo, European fans) and post the new picks of the dozen new palms I've added including 12 ft sabal palmettos and some very big windmill plams.....

Hope everyone is well and you're having a great growing season. First time I ever seen Crape Myrtles bloom in May. Here in Charlotte they never bloom before July if this is any indication as to how warm the spring was....

ROBRETI · Post by **ROBRETI** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:51 am

Hey, Rutherock,

Crapes are among my favourites and have just planted four in my South Canadian garden. I guess they might not even reach their flowering stage, being so much North here, so do you by any chance have some pictures on them that you could share with us?

Take care,
Rob

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 5:59 am

Everything here is about a month in advance too....Hope it lasts throughout the summer and doesn't peeter out too early.

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:42 am

Everything here is about a month in advance too....Hope it lasts throughout the summer and doesn't peeter out too early.

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:58 am

Can't wait to see the pictures. Everything is growing great here too, my crepe is very full and should flower in a week or two I would guess.

Bill

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 7:54 am

My crape myrtles haven't flowered yet but are growing well.
My main flower surprise was the early Brugmansia, but that has been inside.
Hibiscus moschoetus will flower any day now after regrowing from the ground.
A Canna (Tropicanna) that regrow from the ground is getting ready to flower, too.
We have had soil temps in the mid 70soF for quite a while. Basically, a great Spring!

--Erik

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:25 pm

Your day is up!!!!

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:28 pm

BRUGS are blooming here too mine are Jamaicans yellow and pinks big leaves.

Bet my washies are bigger

Bill

Rubtherock · Post by **Rubtherock** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 8:11 pm

Here we go..... The two big Washingtonias came back from death. A couple of the European fan palms came back nicely as well. The Crepe Myrtles are pictured below and are proof positive pruning/butchering Crepe Myrtles is NOT necessary.

Note in the last picture one of my two Red Abysians looks rough. The one not pictured looks equally bad or worse. Is this due to too much sun???

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 8:18 pm

At last!
I've been looking forward to these.
In short, you're a week or two ahead of me here in OK. Canna and Crape myrtle have not bloomed yet but are close.
Most of all I loved the details of the HD "needle palm" as I also bought three from them early in Spring when I was still spooked by this past winter.
Looks like we made it!

Well, back out to the pool for one my swim before bed. I have another round of weeding in the morning.....
--Erik

ROBRETI · Post by **ROBRETI** » Sun Jun 13, 2010 6:29 am

IT is great to see these established plants in their beauty; mines are almost seedlings compared to these. Also, nature is so much ahead of us. The crape myrtle is in full bloom!?!? Isn't it 'Natchez' by any chance? And those trunked plams, wow!

Quick question: are these plants still exotics in your neighbourhood, or are they being introduced in masses?

Thanks a lot for posting these pics, really.
Rob

Rubtherock · Post by **Rubtherock** » Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:23 am

Yes. Crepe Myrtle is a Natchez. First year I've seen it bloom before Mid July. They started blooming by the end of may this year. There are a couple palms around town. I've seen a couple Sabal Palmettos and a couple small windmills, but not much else. I haven't seen any washingtonias in my county other than mine. There are quite a few banana trees in this area, but not a lot of anything else. Thanks!!!

Rubtherock · Post by **Rubtherock** » Sun Jun 13, 2010 9:06 am

So, Bill, were your Washys bigger???

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:22 am

All I can say is wow.

ScottyON · Post by **ScottyON** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:01 am

Holy smokes man!! You went all out!! Love it!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:29 pm

Beautiful.
Feel like I've been on a short vacation looking at those nice pics.
Love the palms!

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:44 pm

Totally Awesome Job! Love what you've done with the place this year, you got the exotic bug for sure

Be careful that bug spreads quickly.

I was just teasing you with the washy comment to try and get you to post faster

Mine might be bigger

Trust me I went through a ton of work to get them there though! You'll pass me for sure this year, unless I get nutty

Killer work!

Bill

Rubtherock · Post by **Rubtherock** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 6:51 pm

Thanks Bill. I've studied your winterproofing picks and will take heed next year after almost losing my Washys... They held up as well as could be expected for temps in the low single digits and little protection. The rootballs on mine weighed several hundred pounds but seemed to shrink once I got them in the ground. I had a backhoe for both the Washys and the sabal palmettos but we put the three new 6' windmills in ourselves. (see first pic above). My cousin owns a landscaping supply company with two branches on the Carolina Coast. We traded out work for him giving me three of the sabal palmettos and I got the three 6' windmills in SC for $145 each. There are several places selling them for three times that amount. I got the small washy Alexandro is planting in the picture for $30 at Home Depot. I couldn't believe they had them here locally. I also bought several others including the windmills and needle palm for $30 each while there. They had them marked half price for some reason. No queen plams this year after losing two beautiful 12 footers last year. Too much money for basically an annual palm....

Good luck to everyone. We're going on a cruise next week then taking the kids to Disney, Universal, etc for a few days.... No telling what I'm going to bring back tied to the top of the Sequoia. My wife gave me a firm no when I asked if I could pull behind the covered trailer. LOL.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 7:21 am

Is that your Abyssinian in the last pic?

Have you checked for spider mites?

How long has it been planted?