More pictures-again(-:

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:19 am

What a spring here,already averaging +13F over last April...!

Cactus first-

I put the phone there for scale-they almost ate it! JK

Almost every barrel cactus is loaded with flowers!

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I think about 17 barrles etc,are getting ready to bloom.

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I always forget this thing is even here....but....
my T.Nanus was the first to recover from spear-pull-never would
have guessed it would be this one,as I mentioned,I always forget it's there!

Little green part in the center is the spear pushing up.

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Petasites japonicus(var) has really spread out this year...
you can also see the blooms.
Rajapuri next to it to shade it.

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Many surprises this year with the mild winter and warm March...heres 3 that made me smile(-:

1.Gladiolus-zone 8?

I have never seen them survive here over winter,much less come up in MARCH!!!!

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2.Rose Mallow coming up in March is unheard of here.

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3.Butterfly bush-if you look behind the Sequoia
(which BTW was completely undamaged this year),upper right hand corner
you can see a Butterfly bush.
These USUALLY die back to the ground and then grow to about
6' here during the warm season.....these did not die back
and have kept shoots alive all winter-this year it will start
from 6'

Also(3.1)look at the Pampas grass,it is already a foot tall!
Usually it comes up in late April/May.

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A few other pictures of springy Iowa.

Saba(foreground)is really taking off-Redbud in distance.

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Anyone know what this flower is????

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Honeysuckle

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Washys have really taken off-one of the leaves is already 3' across.

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Lilac and Crabapple.

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Black Bamboo is refreshing it's spring cover.

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3-4 weeks ahead of last year(-:

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Yucca hybrids from Tim(Mass) and Kory's(Mn)on the right.

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Tetrapanex steroidal giant coming up-anybody want some(-;

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Cactus getting bigger is nice but this guy is getting tough to move without one of us getting hurt (-:

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These big leaved Castor bean plants get big leaves right
out of the bean!
By mid summer leaves can be 42" across/plants well over 12'.

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Palms

Overwintered Princeps....good year to try it,can't wait until
it recovers from spear-pull....it will be a beauty!

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Nainital and Fortunei-both have grown over a 1/2 a foot(spears)in the last week.

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All new growth on this Abyssinian,almost a foot so far
and almost 2 months ahead of least year!

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You know it's been a warm March when a Madagascar palm starts growing!

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2 palms I am really looking forward to watching develope..
Chamaerops Volcano X Chamaerops Cerifera from Max Cola in Italy.

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Fortunei from above.

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Little T.Tesan hit the ground running...
planted a few weeks ago it has already put out(another) it's second divided leaf.

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Some Trachy seedlings,Tesan,Manipur,Takil,Nova,Winsan,Princeps
(from Garry,I guess they all are(-;)and S.Lisa,S.Brazoria.S.McCurtain.

Also my poor little spindly Thai giant

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Thanks for looking!

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lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 9:42 am

oh man, Jim, where to begin

First, your ID question:
Flowering Quince
http://landscaping.about.com/od/gallery ... quince.htm
If it draws (your) blood when you prune it (like mine does), that's it.

Just pruned my butterfly bushes back ... not a hint of growth yet here.
Yours are easily 1.5 months ahead of mine.

That Redbud is a show-stopper.

You've got LILACS already blooming ????

And the Washy...fabulous!

The only thing I'm with you on for timing is the Big Mama seedlings

Everything looks fabulous at your place.
I want to come over.

Barb

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:09 am

Jim- You've got me by perhaps 2-4 weeks. The Lilacs here are pushing out their flowers, but none are close to yours. The redbuds are just starting. Magnolias are finishing (because of the recent freeze, not because they were ready to be done). Forsythia is still going...

Everything looks ready to leap. Well done!

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:45 pm

Great update Jim. What is the bamboo-ish looking spear coming up in the Washingtonia photo? Your Ensete is HUGE! I'm glad to see your recent cold/snow did not cause much damage. What's your secret getting your Washy to start growing already? Any sign of new growth on your Sequoiadendron?

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 5:19 am

Jim, I'm so jealous watching your spring full bloom! But I bet Barb and me will be laughing in a month when a real spring will come over to our places... There is still some snow as at my place well as some stone solid ice in a pond. And I have no pictures of nice looking plants to share with you guys yet. Sorry...

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:07 am

will be laughing in a month when a real spring will come over to our places

But then, Jim will be enjoying SUMMER.

Tomorrow's forecast is for snowshowers.

I might print Jim's photos and glue them to my house windows.

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:43 am

You guys crack me up!

That sucks that it has been so cold there,I look at you all's weather stickers and -it's just ugly!

Thanks for the I.D.Barb,scarlet quince.

You have good eyes Tim

The shoots coming up are from the Bamboo planted over there,they are already a foot tall!

barb

The Butterfly bushes are already 6',they picked right up from where they left of last year!

You may win out on the yucca seedlings,mine were dug up by a ******* squirrel!

**** suckers!

Sorry,I have been watching Spartacus,so I am a little unruley these days!

I will send yoy some more pics if you want,we had your weather last spring!

This is the warmest March I could find in 42 years of records-8F + over the warmest March I could find(avg 44/64F)

the warmest I could find was March 2000,when it was 36F/57F but that does not even compare
to this month which is close to 10F over the previous warmest March-UNBELIEVABLE!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:32 am

have been watching Spartacus

so that's what's the matter with H

I've tried tearing out my flowering quince because I HATE thorns and the dog gets it in her paws.
Low branches sprawl across the ground continually.
Already pulled out and burned all the pyracantha.
But both quince and pyrac keep coming back from the roots

re the squirrel, use a rubber band to attach strips of those mesh bags (that onions come in) to the top of seedling pot.
Works great while seedlings are below rim edge, i.e. seeds too.
After that, need a pellet gun.

Despite my love of animals, I'm thinking of a pellet gun for the woodpecker on the chimney top, and the squirrel too.
Turns out the squirrel is invasive, and replacing our native squirrel (which I've never seen).
Will probably just end up blowing out my windows.

Barb

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 7:26 pm

Hi Jim,

the bamboo-ish looking culm is in this photo.........it looks like it's 6' tall already.....what is it?

<img src=http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 ... -12024.jpg>

regarding squirrels............I create a 'jail' around my juvenile plants so the critters won't get to them....it seems to work.

Yucca recurvifolia x thompsoniana seedling:
<img src=http://s19.postimage.org/qi96khu4z/IMG_1961.jpg>

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:38 am

Not these squirrels Tim!

They would break right in and out!

I was thinking more along the lines of what Barb said....but you have to catch them in the act.

Tim

The Bamboo is Phyllostachys bissetii 'Dwarf' -just guessing on the dwarf part....but it's not very tall

The leaves were hardly damaged this year but it was not cold......

This thing is tripling it's coverage this year and some of the spears are 3' + already.

In regard to the Washys,I am a big believer in getting the mulch moved back and
the soil warmed up as soon as is practicle.....I would have never thought they would be uncovered
for almost the whole month of March!

Anyway

Once the soil temp @ 8" hits 60F they begin to grow vigorously...Trachys etc, as well.

It was really amazing to see these jump when those temps were reached,I believe this is why
palms,Bananas etc,can keep growing in cool fall temps that will not get them moving in spring........

the soil is still warm at the lower levels.....

The tips of the Sequioa are starting to move and some of the lower/inner branches are slowly coming alive.

Usually it does not move until May....

I am with you on the 3' of growth this year.

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:52 am

I can't get over how green everthing is there. Here?...Tomorrow the forcast is snow!

All that cactus and agave look so nice.

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 9:00 am

Jim,
I've never had Glads overwinter even down here. Basically, you had what would have been a normal to slightly mild winter for way down here at 36oN.

This Summer is going to be fantastic. Keep the photos coming.
If you want a photography project, maybe choose a spot on your porch railing where you could set your camera, pointing the same way each time (maybe mark with tape) and take a weekly photo. Then put them together at the end of the year as a time-lapse video? I suggest that as I think you will have the most amazing growing season.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 10:12 am

Great camera idea for the time-lapse, Erik.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:58 am

Thanks for the idea Erik

Just wanted to let Tim know that the Sequioa is growing now

,just noticed that this morning.

Should be easy to measure growth as it is at exactly 5' to begin the spring season.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:06 am

Hi Jim,

keep us updated on the Sequoiadendron...........I bet 36" of growth this year!

Mine in Rhode Island grew at this rate:

April 1997: 6"
April 1998: 7"
April 1999: 1'-8"
April 2000: 3'-4"
April 2001: 5'-9"
Sept 2001: 9'-4"
Sept 2002: 13'

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:29 pm

Awesome shots, Jim! You are at least a month ahead of my area!

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 7:32 am

The Abyssinian broke loose it's roller yesterday

Six weeks ahead of last year-April 1, 2012

Heres what it looked like on May 9, 2011

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 8:39 am

Jim- If you have dated shots from last summer (and previous ones too) it will be interesting to see how it performs this year comparatively... methinks you'll need a forklift to move it by fall!

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:05 pm

Maybe so.....

If you look close at the 2 pics,it is actually smaller this year!

That is because of the drought last summer/fall and the scorching heat.

I really only watered it enough to keep it alve as I could not stand the heat

Another thing you might notice is that in the pic from May of 2011 it is no greener
in the background and in fact may be less green than it is right now here!

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:10 pm

TimMAz6 wrote:Hi Jim,

keep us updated on the Sequoiadendron...........I bet 36" of growth this year!

Mine in Rhode Island grew at this rate:

April 1997: 6"
April 1998: 7"
April 1999: 1'-8"
April 2000: 3'-4"
April 2001: 5'-9"
Sept 2001: 9'-4"
Sept 2002: 13'

Thanks Tim

Looks like it really took off once it hit 5',right where mine is

I think a lot will depend on how wet a season we have......

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 7:28 pm

We average 4" every month of the year.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 7:25 am

TimMAz6 wrote:We average 4" every month of the year.

We had about 4" last June-Oct!