Some palms are free at last-

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 4:20 pm

I blame it on this guy who sat over me and pressured me with his beautiful spring song!

Little Cardinal buddy

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I really babied the Princeps-it will continue to receive some protection....I want him to pick up right from where he is!

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I shoveled off quite a bit of snow around the palms to speed the process up-here in town where
there are more snow free surfaces it was 23F this morning while north of here in the snow fields
the airport was 10F!..........It makes a difference.

This morning-

This is the best the Sequoia has looked coming out of winter-should have a monster year..

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Little Takil(with spear-pull)in front and a B.Eriospatha

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What a mess,the palms are a little frazzled from being stuffed in their boxes last December...

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T.Bulgaria(s-pull),S.Louisiana and a Needle...S.Brazoria next to the container in back

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East side-

T-ferns were nailed by cold (not forecasted )-: )last fall-I wasn't sure they were alive but they actually grew a little bit over winter...new leaf-

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Healthy,happy little Tesan

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This spear on the biggest Fortunei was marked before I covered it-about an inch of growth over winter.

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T.Martianus

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Grew a new leaf over winter-started it last fall

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Waggie

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Later in the afternoon-low was 18F high of 42F today at my place.

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Palms still covered have spear-pull

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Some cactus...

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Graptopetalum Paraguayense is still blooming-

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Thanks for looking!

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 5:29 pm

Jim, since were in the same zone and in the midwest like me I want to follow your lead......but I'm the newbie! Have had the tops off of my 3 Windmills, 1 Mexican fan palm, and 3 Needles(christmas lights, protection like your cages still up.....ok to take down now??? if we get rain, then freezing temps won't hurt palms now?

Scott

hasty22 · Post by **hasty22** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:10 pm

Awesome pictures. Love the agave and cacti , well I love it all. looks really healthy.
Keith

chadec · Post by **chadec** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:32 pm

Looking good Jim. I am really surprised by all the spear pull.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 8:17 pm

sashaeffer wrote:Jim, since were in the same zone and in the midwest like me I want to follow your lead......but I'm the newbie! Have had the tops off of my 3 Windmills, 1 Mexican fan palm, and 3 Needles(christmas lights, protection like your cages still up.....ok to take down now??? if we get rain, then freezing temps won't hurt palms now?

Scott

I can't advise on that...the reason the bigger palms are uncovered is because I know they can take it as they went through worse last spring.

The bigger Trachys can take several days below freezing and rain and freezing temps-there is nothing lower than 23F in the ten day forecast here
so the bigger palms are fine,smaller palms can have problems with low 20s after rain/snow but with the shorter nights and a winter to harden off
they should be fine,I still cover the smaller stuff on the colder nights to be safe....no plans to uncover the Washy anytime soon...

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 8:24 pm

chadec wrote:Looking good Jim. I am really surprised by all the spear pull.

Thanks Keith

If I would have known how nice and easy the cactus would have turned out,
I may have made the whole center area a cactus garden they have really proved to be super tough and very easy to care for!

Chad

The spear-pull all happened last fall-not one has pulled over winter-it was odd how it happened.

I gave my palms a lot of Carl Pool fert,it is a slow release fertilizer and because it was so dry
quite a bit stayed in the soil,it finally started raining in October and they got a good dose while temps
stayed very warm then,it suddenly turned cold and we had a string of cold nights that was unusually long....

This caused a lot of the small palms to pull,even the ones on the porch that I had recently watered.

sashaeffer · Post by **sashaeffer** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 8:25 pm

Got it thanks. It's easy for me to put the bags back over the tops on short notice, so will do that. Talking about rain Saturday maybe turning into snow on Sunday, so will re-cover them for that event. We're almost in the clear anyway weather wise.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:33 pm

What a beautiful mess, Jim.

Ah, that Princeps is a stunner, so's the Waggie.

Glad you shoveled the snow away for the sun to warm the soil as air temps are ramping up.

The Sequoia always looks better when there hasn't been a lot of cold wind during winter.
And this is one of those winters.

The cactus hut contents are pristine...congrats on that.
You sure must be happy with the tree fern not only having made it, but throwing a leaf.

Well done.
Look forward to the next unveiling.

Barb

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:29 pm

Jim, it is always good to know that your babies have made another winter in a good shape! Every time you post the pics a new inspiration is coming in my brain and soul. Thank you very much for a such inspiration!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 2:49 am

Well done again Jim! We all know it wont be a mess for long

Is that giant Agave your original paryii?

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 7:41 am

Thanks Barb

You inspired me top shovel the snow off when you mentioned warming the soil-good plan!

Thanks Igor!

I just wish they were bigger so there was more to enjoy!

Jesse

The big Agave is the Havardiana-it is really a stunner in person,the pictures don't do it justice-must be close to 2' around!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 8:02 am

Yeah, that big A.hav...is a focal point in your desert garden.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 8:13 am

Its a monster for sure!

I probably should have potted up my variegated Aloifolia and brought it inside....
don't think it liked being moved in November and stuck in the cold all winter.

A little hard to water at this point!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 8:57 am

being moved in November

Now that's really pushing your luck.
I lost a $200+ y.rostrata Oct/Nov... digging it up again when I chickened out.
That hurt the wallet.

Inside stuff going under the roof on the patio soon?
I've been bringing last year's palm seedlings out onto a table under the roof which should be warmer than on the cold concrete.
Then back indoors at night.

But gotta remember that March can be cruel.
And April.

Barb

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 1:02 pm

great stuff Jim.......the Sequoiadendron made it through another winter looking great......it should be established now.

Love the T. princeps.......boy that's gonna take off this season.

That Trichocereus is a BEAUTY! How much will that grow this season??

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 5:24 pm

Barb

Thats funny....as these damn fungus gnats are flying in my face and around the computer I was just thinking
I would love to get these freaking plants outside-it really doesn't look warm enough for that anytime soon though....

I think the main issue with the Aloifolia is they need water...

Tim

Very excited to see what the Sequoia will do!
Looks like it will be a wet year this time around..

I am hoping for a half a foot out of the Trichocereus,hey-why not-the Cereus Peruvianus
grew over 4' of branches last year!....we'll see how well rooted it is after last year....

Yea,the Princeps-I really babied that one this winter-should really be spectacular this year,
there is another one in back in the cactus shelter that is only a little smaller-it looks perfect too
and so far the spear is solid in that one too

Tim

Are you getting much snow out of the current snow storm on the east coast?

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 5:38 pm

these damn fungus gnats are flying in my face and around the computer

HOLY JUMPIN' JACKRABBITS!
I just realized I haven't even seen a fungus gnat yet this winter

And I've got just as many seedlings/soil in the basement as last winter.

oh oh...sssshhhhh, so they don't wake up.

hasty22 · Post by **hasty22** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 6:42 pm

One question Jim . could you tell me the name of the big green cactus to the right of agave.thanks
Keith

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 8:31 am

hasty22 wrote:One question Jim . could you tell me the name of the big green cactus to the right of agave.thanks
Keith

Trichocereus Terscheckii -this is the one Tim and I were discussing...

If you mean the one on the right in this pic V

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sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:53 pm

Everything looks amazing! Diggin' that desert Biosphere dome you have going on there! One question: Will you cover your palms again at all if it dips into the 20's again??

bgodwin1987 · Post by **bgodwin1987** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 5:08 pm

Nice plants Jim. I uncovered my big Trachy in the back near the walk way and the lone surviving trachy in the front(voles killed the other 3) Also uncovered the needle palms in the front had 2 one got damaged by voles and the main trunk died

. Still have yet to uncover my 2 Sabal Minors. I noticed in my cacti garden that my Agave's are starting to grow again. I really like that ghost plant I have a pot of the stuff in my window thats going crazy going to take cuttings and plant them in my Cacti garden when it warms up more. Jim when is the best time to uncover desert plants?

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 6:48 pm

Looking good as always.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:30 am

Mike-

Unless it is going below 15F I will not cover them-looks like we will just miss out on the accumulating
snow so those kind of temps will not happen at this point over our snow free ground-hoping our luck holds out!

bgodwin

After 2 years of drought,things look wet again here,I may leave the cover up well into April as long as this
rain/snow keeps up-I wait until the temps really warm up and I may just roll the plastic back for a little
moisture when temps are warmer-but yea....probably April.

Thanks Aaron!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 2:26 pm

Bryce - for voles, you can try to use a ring of daffodil. They are extremely poison to small mammals (squirls, vole, rat). Basically they smell the toxins and generally stay away. This is mostly for burrowing pests (voles do indeed burrow do they not?), but ive read it can also be applied to digging mammals, such as squirrels. Squirrels only dig where daffodils arent in my yard. SLightly anecdotial of course, but there is some literature to back it up..

hasty22 · Post by **hasty22** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 3:40 pm

Jim , how many extension cords do you own. lol.
Keith

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:02 pm

I think there are like 5 going outside...but I only used 4

Safe to say our 2 year drought is over....after a couple rainfalls of over an inch
and 8" of snow followed by well over a foot,we have now received close to 3"
of rain the last few days...ALL the snow(except the piles).... gone now!

Pretty amazing to walk out the next morning after almost 2" of rain overnight
and see your car parked 3' from the curb because thats as close as you could
get it the day before!

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 6:08 pm

Thanks Aron! Happy spring

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 5:58 pm

Hi Jim,

sorry for the delay...........was up in Boston for most of the weekend and I'm catching up now. The snow depths were really variable in the past storm. It snowed for 2 days straight but not much accumulation during daytime since temps were about 32F outside. We got about 6 or 7 inches but areas 5 miles to the northeast got 2 feet. The snow bands set up and didn't move.....weird storm for our area.

InsanePalmNinja · Post by **InsanePalmNinja** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:03 am

just a warning it might snow again. You can probably keep it open for it was a little while though. I have to close up my the gradern again. My reaction to the nexts weeks forcast. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YKss2uYpih8

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:35 am

The bigger Trachys....... the Needles/ Sabals are staying out,they have been snowed on before
the little stuff will get covered............

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 6:03 am

PalmsNorth.com

Some palms are free at last-

Some palms are free at last-

Some of this years growth

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