Jump to content
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT LOGGING IN ×
  • WELCOME GUEST

    It looks as if you are viewing PalmTalk as an unregistered Guest.

    Please consider registering so as to take better advantage of our vast knowledge base and friendly community.  By registering you will gain access to many features - among them are our powerful Search feature, the ability to Private Message other Users, and be able to post and/or answer questions from all over the world. It is completely free, no “catches,” and you will have complete control over how you wish to use this site.

    PalmTalk is sponsored by the International Palm Society. - an organization dedicated to learning everything about and enjoying palm trees (and their companion plants) while conserving endangered palm species and habitat worldwide. Please take the time to know us all better and register.

    guest Renda04.jpg

Jubaeopsis Caffra in freezing Los Gatos


Mauna Kea Cloudforest

Recommended Posts

This is a beautiful jubaeopsis caffra that didn't even blink an eye from a solid week of nights around 25 to 28F temperatures. This is simply a spectacular hardy palm!

20131215_154557_zps74138c02.jpg

The yellow petioles really give this a coconutty look:

20131215_155258_zps6c718493.jpg

20131215_155253_zps79fc6bf0.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I planted two last Summer that I got from Tejas Tropicals. They're healthy and sailed through this last freeze. Can't wait for them to gain some size, this is a good palm for Central California.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Axel, your last two photos are making me queasy :sick: you gotta fix the focus on that camera. Fix it and then show us your two babies :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent....wanting one more and more.....did they see frost? Axel, are they PT members? ....they should be.....got some neat stuff including free range meat/poultry products if they had it in stock. I know Phil has some larger sizes but don't know if shipping a larger plant with soil is cost prohibitive.

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I don't think you should judge a plants lack of hardiness based on seedlings and smaller plants. If that small palm is still alive at 22 F. or (-5.55 C.) then I would say a larger palm would survive lower temps. This has got to be the coldest hardy coconut lookalike palm....it would look even more like a coconut if the trunks were cleaned of the boots and it was limited to a single trunk. IMO....mule palms and other Butia cocoid hybrids do not look like coconuts.

Also....depends what your definition of cold hardy is?

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

My jubaeopsis is making it through this brutal winter on the gulf coast just about 20% browning after a night at 23. Of course, I covered it with a thermal wrap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Yes in the southeast we get quick artic blasts that leave as quickly as they came. Then it returns to being warm and pleasant. I have a jubaeopsis caffra that I grew from seed. As of yet I have not been brave enough to let it see anything below 28. I have read from many sources that they can survive 22 degrees so I am hopeful. My lowest temp hasn't been lower than 26 over the past eight years until this year and it hit 19 and then bounces back the next day with a low of 38 and a high of 57. It is now 73 at 7 pm and it was 19 last week. It could be a good prospect and to me it is the most attractive and interesting palm that resembles cocos that is just my opinion though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes in the southeast we get quick artic blasts that leave as quickly as they came. Then it returns to being warm and pleasant. I have a jubaeopsis caffra that I grew from seed. As of yet I have not been brave enough to let it see anything below 28. I have read from many sources that they can survive 22 degrees so I am hopeful. My lowest temp hasn't been lower than 26 over the past eight years until this year and it hit 19 and then bounces back the next day with a low of 38 and a high of 57. It is now 73 at 7 pm and it was 19 last week. It could be a good prospect and to me it is the most attractive and interesting palm that resembles cocos that is just my opinion though.

Jubaeopsis might be quite a stretch in Georgia, isn't it 8b up there? Los Gatos is USDA 9b, we're talking about exposures in the upper 20's with occasional mid 20's. 22F is the kill temperature, so you don't want it exposed to that, it's not really a 9a palm. Maybe with the right microclimate it might work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coastal Georgia is 9a.

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The USDA map used to list us as 8B then when they revised it we moved up to 9A but honestly nine out of ten winters we don't see temps below 26 and that is being pretty conservative. The GulfStream affords us allot of protection; now the duration of cold periods will be longer than in Central Florida but we also bounce back at least twenty degrees during these events like Central Florida. It is humid here but not as humid as CF, I witnessed this when I was in Orlando a few weeks ago and also before Thanksgiving. I have grown Australian Livistona in a field by my house for a decade and they have done marvelously this includes Marie, Decora "decipiens", and Australis. What I have found is that soil type is very important. My soil is a type is sandy loam with good to excellent drainage. Strangely enough peaches don't do fantastic here because we don't have enough chill hours. We see around 500 or less on average yearly and peaches require more. West Georgia meets these requirements. If you travel two hours away to middle Georgia and then Atlanta which is four hours away the soil type and composition changes very drastically and really so does the weather. For example it was snowing in Atlanta a week ago and we didn't really even see any sleet or ice. Now it has snowed here before like back in 1989 but we typically experience the same weather as say Jacksonville Florida. It is typically warmer here than in Tallahassee Florida but less humid in the same token that is why I think that some palms that don't do well in Florida might do well here because for all the similarities there are slight differences such as soil and lower humidity levels and slightly less intense summer highs. This is by no means absolute but it is just what I have observed for the past thirty years since I became an exotic plant addict. There are many factors that affect how any plant does in any given area.

Edited by palm tree man
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The USDA map used to list us as 8B then when they revised it we moved up to 9A but honestly nine out of ten winters we don't see temps below 26 and that is being pretty conservative. The GulfStream affords us allot of protection; now the duration of cold periods will be longer than in Central Florida but we also bounce back at least twenty degrees during these events like Central Florida. It is humid here but not as humid as CF, I witnessed this when I was in Orlando a few weeks ago and also before Thanksgiving. I have grown Australian Livistona in a field by my house for a decade and they have done marvelously this includes Marie, Decora "decipiens", and Australis. What I have found is that soil type is very important. My soil is a type is sandy loam with good to excellent drainage. Strangely enough peaches don't do fantastic here because we don't have enough chill hours. We see around 500 or less on average yearly and peaches require more. West Georgia meets these requirements. If you travel two hours away to middle Georgia and then Atlanta which is four hours away the soil type and composition changes very drastically and really so does the weather. For example it was snowing in Atlanta a week ago and we didn't really even see any sleet or ice. Now it has snowed here before like back in 1989 but we typically experience the same weather as say Jacksonville Florida. It is typically warmer here than in Tallahassee Florida but less humid in the same token that is why I think that some palms that don't do well in Florida might do well here because for all the similarities there are slight differences such as soil and lower humidity levels and slightly less intense summer highs. This is by no means absolute but it is just what I have observed for the past thirty years since I became an exotic plant addict. There are many factors that affect how any plant does in any given area.

While I have a dislike for deciduous plants, that dislike is not strong enough to not grow peaches and other delightful fruits that have the funny habit of loosing their leaves in the Winter. I can point you to plenty of incredibly delicious peaches that will more than thrive on 500 hours of chill. In fact, there is a peach called "tropic beauty" that requires zero chill, it doesn't even loose its leaves in the Winter, but it's about as hardy as a king palm that way. All the peaches I grow fruit on about 200 hours of chill. Look them up in the Dave Wilson catalog.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually Axel that was a very excellent response "exactely what I was looking for really" and there is no way in which I can correct that response. If such a fragile fruit as a peach can grow in so many climates in so many different locations out of what one would perceive for its "norm" to be even it it "drops its leaves in the winter for a few weeks" In the same token why do we all believe palms to be so tropical and so fragile, yes indeed many lose there leaves when it gets chilly but so do oaks and maples and they are extremely hard to kill. Now my box woods look like " pardon the expression cr@.. but my dypsis decipiens look great. lol That being said, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that many of the palms that we are experimenting with will return and grow back stronger it is just the law of nature. Not all of them will but certainly there are examples among even crownshaft palms that can survive the frozen tundru. I have grown many plants for years like "olives and guavas" that I was told would simply "not grow here" and they have thrived and not headed the warnings of the seemingly more educated masses. Perhaps they just did not realize that they were in the wrong local and would shrivel and die if you had told them? ;) Everyone thinks that the south is so cold but we have more native species of palm and cycad than anywhere else in the continental US. Apparently at some point in our history we did do something right climatically.

Edited by palm tree man
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually Axel that was a very excellent response "exactely what I was looking for really" and there is no way in which I can correct that response. If such a fragile fruit as a peach can grow in so many climates in so many different locations out of what one would perceive for its "norm" to be even it it "drops its leaves in the winter for a few weeks" In the same token why do we all believe palms to be so tropical and so fragile, yes indeed many lose there leaves when it gets chilly but so do oaks and maples and they are extremely hard to kill. Now my box woods look like " pardon the expression cr@.. but my dypsis decipiens look great. lol That being said, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that many of the palms that we are experimenting with will return and grow back stronger it is just the law of nature. Not all of them will but certainly there are examples among even crownshaft palms that can survive the frozen tundru. I have grown many plants for years like "olives and guavas" that I was told would simply "not grow here" and they have thrived and not headed the warnings of the seemingly more educated masses. Perhaps they just did not realize that they were in the wrong local and would shrivel and die if you had told them? ;) Everyone thinks that the south is so cold but we have more native species of palm and cycad than anywhere else in the continental US. Apparently at some point in our history we did do something right climatically.

You are not going to find anyone on this board that will discourage you from growing any palm no matter what your climate is. But you will get a dose of reality from many folks, that's just so that you go into this all eyes open and have the best chance for success. You have enough heat in Georgia that you can afford defoliation on palms and coughed up spears. I can't afford it here, low heat = slow recovery, so growing deciduous palms here is a no go. For you, growing deciduous palms is only a no go on slow palms. Unfortunately, Jubaeopsis is a case in point, really slow even with heat. This sounds like a great title for a new thread: deciduous palms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It really does man, a terrific horror film really. You are a great guy Axel and I understand and I also understand that not everyone is on a body of water which decreases the damage and the chance of killing frost. I have followed this discussing board for a very long time and the fact that I have caught the attention of you and Alice is a feather in my cap and I hope that I can achieve the level of wisdom and temperance that you both have attained. I am being honest here and I know that not everyone has a backhoe like I do and has a greenhouse, etc. in case mother nature takes a turn for the worse and gets nasty. In the south gardening is like growing crops it is all experimental and it is all about timing. A plant or crop is either tough enough to endure our worst in order to enjoy our best or it simply is not. You both bring logic and order and reason to this forum and I bring the "what if" I have lost thousands upon thousands of dollars experimenting with palms but for some reason I cannot stop because I truly believe that some palms like other plants have varieties that are better than others. I will in no way try to influence anyone to grow anything that I would not grow for example I would never try to grow any variety of king palm even the "Engi variety". However I feel that Dypsis D can and will make it and it has proven itself in Georgia on the coast since 2003. Caffra has survived in Jacksonville Florida since around the same time; I have seen it. In the same token I am uncertain about Jubaea "pure strain, unhybrid" and also parajubaea" in my location not in my state which is the largest state in land area east of Mississippi. With all these things being said I have a great deal to learn and I am a very respectful and eager student. Thank you for your kind and almost instantaneous response. I hope that you have a great evening.

Edited by palm tree man
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It really does man, a terrific horror film really. You are a great guy Axel and I understand and I also understand that not everyone is on a body of water which decreases the damage and the chance of killing frost. I have followed this discussing board for a very long time and the fact that I have caught the attention of you and Alice is a feather in my cap and I hope that I can achieve the level of wisdom and temperance that you both have attained. I am being honest here and I know that not everyone has a backhoe like I do and has a greenhouse, etc. in case mother nature takes a turn for the worse and gets nasty. In the south gardening is like growing crops it is all experimental and it is all about timing. A plant or crop is either tough enough to endure our worst in order to enjoy our best or it simply is not. You both bring logic and order and reason to this forum and I bring the "what if" I have lost thousands upon thousands of dollars experimenting with palms but for some reason I cannot stop because I truly believe that some palms like other plants have varieties that are better than others. I will in no way try to influence anyone to grow anything that I would not grow for example I would never try to grow any variety of king palm even the "Engi variety". However I feel that Dypsis D can and will make it and it has proven itself in Georgia on the coast since 2003. Caffra has survived in Jacksonville Florida since around the same time; I have seen it. In the same token I am uncertain about Jubaea "pure strain, unhybrid" and also parajubaea" in my location not in my state which is the largest state in land area east of Mississippi. With all these things being said I have a great deal to learn and I am a very respectful and eager student. Thank you for your kind and almost instantaneous response. I hope that you have a great evening.

Tejas tropicals sold them last Spring. I bought two specimens and they went from bare root straight into the ground and they didn't miss a beat. If you like this palm, give it a go, but don't let it fry. Protect it from the more severe cold snaps, and you'll eventually get a big clump that might be able to afford loosing some fronds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will do that Axel thank you man. I hope that I didn't come off too brash; I have followed you and several others on here for some time and know that you are very knowlegable. Some times I get on a rant about our weather and how people grow plants that should be seen in New England here and don't grow exotics that actually like the heat and humidity. Thank you for the tip on Tejas; I will Google the nursery and give them a call. Caffra of any size can be tough to find sometimes. Thank you again and I hope that you guys have had a nice day so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Daniel, Thanks for the props...but Axel has alot more experience than me...he has got tons of fruit tree varieties and I believe he was into those prior to his love of palms.

I would really like to hear and see your D. decipiens...I am about to order a bunch this spring, and since our growing conditions are so similar it would really be inspirational to see someone who has had success. J. caffra is also on my wish list....I'm not sure Tejas Tropicals are doing palms anymore?

What do you guys think about growing Jujube, or a raisin tree...for fruit?

I've been planting Magnolia grands along my north on public property on the other side of the fence. Now I need something that can give me really tall canopy fairly quickly. After our last cold events, I'm looking towards dicots these days to give me some frost protection. Would be an added bonus if it had edible fruit. Sorry for going off topic.

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alice I know that they sell them at Ty Ty nursery, but I have only bought bamboo from them and a few pomegranate trees. They look really cool but I have as yet no had any experience with them. I have a few lemon trees and pecan trees. What I use mainly because I have grown them is Loquat. It is an evergreen fruit tree fairly hardy and the fruit actually tastes pretty good. They have an exotic and tropical look and tend to look good with bannanas, cannas, tree philodendrons, etc. They are easy to find and grow at a reasonable rate. They probably aren't exotic enough for you but they could provide some protection for less hardy plants. Paw Paw is an interesting choice if you want to go native and their fruit is tasty as well. On the Dypsis, I initially had a tough time with them until I realized how they absolutely hate having their roots messed with and back in 2002 I had no idea at all that they were so ginger. Lets say I lost twenty four out of twenty five that I ordered form a well known nursery in Southern California. I made the mistake of having them shipped bare root to save money and I still regret that mistake to this day. I started my palm addiction at an early age because I spent the summers down in Ponce Inlet Fl. It made such an impact on me that I would beg to bring palms back when we came back to Georgia. My first non native to our area was actually a cycad zamia furfuracea. My Grandfather grew tomato plants commercially and distributed them all over the southeast so the love for plants, soil, and sunshine was inherited. I really love exotic fruit trees let me know how your Jujube do and where you found them. Thank you again and I hope that you have had a nice evening.

Daniel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The USDA map used to list us as 8B then when they revised it we moved up to 9A but honestly nine out of ten winters we don't see temps below 26 and that is being pretty conservative. The GulfStream affords us allot of protection; now the duration of cold periods will be longer than in Central Florida but we also bounce back at least twenty degrees during these events like Central Florida. It is humid here but not as humid as CF, I witnessed this when I was in Orlando a few weeks ago and also before Thanksgiving. I have grown Australian Livistona in a field by my house for a decade and they have done marvelously this includes Marie, Decora "decipiens", and Australis. What I have found is that soil type is very important. My soil is a type is sandy loam with good to excellent drainage. Strangely enough peaches don't do fantastic here because we don't have enough chill hours. We see around 500 or less on average yearly and peaches require more. West Georgia meets these requirements. If you travel two hours away to middle Georgia and then Atlanta which is four hours away the soil type and composition changes very drastically and really so does the weather. For example it was snowing in Atlanta a week ago and we didn't really even see any sleet or ice. Now it has snowed here before like back in 1989 but we typically experience the same weather as say Jacksonville Florida. It is typically warmer here than in Tallahassee Florida but less humid in the same token that is why I think that some palms that don't do well in Florida might do well here because for all the similarities there are slight differences such as soil and lower humidity levels and slightly less intense summer highs. This is by no means absolute but it is just what I have observed for the past thirty years since I became an exotic plant addict. There are many factors that affect how any plant does in any given area.

One of these days I'm going to make it down to Coastal Georgia. I traveled to Savannah when I was a kid, it was beautiful!

It seems like some of the Sea Islands are even warmer than Jacksonville. I remember when I lived in Gainesville the area immediately to the northwest of town was always colder than some of the areas much further north, like Valdosta. The Suwannee River valley is just a massive cold drain. Tallahassee isanother world climate wise, even from Gainesville. The record low there is -2..Farenheit! :bemused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Steve, you are absolutely right Savannah is a pretty city with a great deal of charm and personality that all its own. Victory Drive with its row of ancient Sabal Palmetto, River Street, and all the charm or the Victorian District. You can start at the Savannah River and see how the city grew and expanded inland and how the architecture changed. It is a cool place to go on a palm hunt as well, there are some really old CIDP there and the very first adult Butia Yatay that I ever saw is downtown. Looking on the map I know it doesn't make sense in some respect, but you are absolutely right there is a cold trough and Gainsville Florida is as cold as or sometimes colder than Southeastern Georgia. Our highs on the coast for this week are in the upper sixties and seventies and nothing lower than 42. A friend of mine played on the golf team for FSU and honestly when I would leave my house in the morning to visit him I would be wearing short sleeves but when I arrived in Tallahassee at lunch I would require a jacket. I saw the same trend when I would travel down to the Gator Bowl. Tallahassee has to be in one of the coldest sections of Florida. I would often base my palm experiments upon what had already survived in both Tallahassee and Gainesville. The sea islands always stay pretty warm and pleasant; I have seen a Dypsis Decaryi seemingly surviving just fine on Jekyll Island. It was a real shocker for me, many sources have traditionally listed it as a zone 10 palm though I know of folks with them in 9b. Lots of people buy Ravena Rivularis here form chain store and leave them in large planters on their patios and they surprisingly survive. They do not care for frost at all though. I protect mine every time it drops below 32. It is really amazing at what a difference the Gulf Stream makes and the Atlantic, look for what it does for our friends in the UK.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

www.justfruitsandexotics.com

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I too am considering loquat for canopy. Only problem is the amount of red wasps they attract. I HATE wasps. I'm also considering Chinese ligustrum, though they can be invasive. I have some live oaks planted too.... but when you start in a new subdivision, on what used to be a sugar cane field.... you have a while to wait for some kind of canopy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Doc this is the least attractive canopy option but it is going to be incredibly fast and will survive just about anything. The southern long leaf pine. I had a neighbor with huge trees around his house and he never had to protect anything unless it really got severely nasty. When I was a builder though I know that some subdivisions have covenants against these types of trees and then you have issues with neighbors. You need something that grows relatively fast and stays green. Foxtail ferns and garden plants that normally would go dormant or burn did not in his yard. When they get old they are terrible to have removed though. We have native cherry laurel trees that transplant well and could be free if you know a land owner with them on his or her property. They stay green, can be attractive, grow fairly fast, and are easy to maintian in shrub, hedge, or tree form. Wax Myrtle can also be a good wind break or a small tree. Any other ideas guys; I myself have large oaks and I planted loquat. Thank you for the link by the way David.

Edited by palm tree man
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Loquats are great....can't say enough good things about them. They take a long time to get big. Sweet bay Mongolia might be a consideration. They got a great shimmering silver back to their leaves that look great in the wind. Trunk looks nice too. Silver dollar eucalyptus looks good but not sure if things can grow beneath. Also I plant just about every avocado I eat. One day it will pay off I hope. Have the Gainesville variety and store bought hass and mexican varieties which are supposed to be hardier.

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys. I have considered all of those for canopy except pine trees. I won't go there. Sweet bays look tropical to me. Never heard of cherry laurel I'll check it out. There is someone on this forum that has a fruiting avocado that survived this arctic vortex. I am gonna get a graft of it one day! I'll leave it to him to speak up about it..... He might have fifty people at his house begging for bud wood!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Avocados are a real winner too; I didn't even think about that and the varieties you mentioned are suppose to be pretty hardy. I might be visiting the grocery store tomorrow. The silver dollar eucalyptus is a very nice tree too and they are very hardy. I have one planted next to a rose garden with exotic varities of day lilly and there does not seem to be any problem with competion for either water or nutrients. There is a really cool Eucalyptus that is reputedly hardy in zone 8 to 10 delglupta. It is a really beautiful tree, they tend to be pricey though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Daniel, Thanks for the props...but Axel has alot more experience than me...he has got tons of fruit tree varieties and I believe he was into those prior to his love of palms.

I would really like to hear and see your D. decipiens...I am about to order a bunch this spring, and since our growing conditions are so similar it would really be inspirational to see someone who has had success. J. caffra is also on my wish list....I'm not sure Tejas Tropicals are doing palms anymore?

What do you guys think about growing Jujube, or a raisin tree...for fruit?

I've been planting Magnolia grands along my north on public property on the other side of the fence. Now I need something that can give me really tall canopy fairly quickly. After our last cold events, I'm looking towards dicots these days to give me some frost protection. Would be an added bonus if it had edible fruit. Sorry for going off topic.

David, I've been into palms and fruits for about the same time. I got interested in parajubaea because it was a fruiting palm. After my first dive into the palm world in the 90's along with tropical fruits, I rounded out my gardening skills by trying to grow more deciduous fruit trees. The nice thing about the deciduous fruit trees is that they provide such an intense sensual experience with both their Springtime blooms and the delectable fruit they bear. It's a different kind of experience that tropicals just can't provide. It's nice to live in a place that gets enough chill for many fruit varieties yet is relatively free of hard freezes. The only other places like this are New Zealand, Tasmania, Northern Portugal and Northern Spain, and the tropical highlands 2,000 meters and above. If I lived in the tropics I would still try to grow the low chill versions of apples and peaches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fruit trees always have a place in my garden. Growing up on a farm, you tend to appreciate plants that provide substanence and what a gift they truly are. I have a nice fig orchard that I enjoy as well as some pomegranate, lemon, and pear trees. Palms are my first love but I honestly just love plants in general and will never turn down a free plant or try to give a good home to one that has out lived its welcome do to progress. You have an amazing climate; if I lived there I would most definitely have kiwi palms everywhere. They are such beautiful trees with so much personality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TropicDoc, I would advise against planting Cherry Laurels. I don't have any, but others have told me that in our climate they quickly re-seed everywhere and take over your entire lot and your neighbour'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They aren't as bad as minosa but they can be a problem unchecked and controlled but that would be five to ten years down the road. There are at least ten on my property of mature size and I have more of an issue with native oaks, pines, gum, and poplar. The seedlings pull easily from a flower bed and dry out quickly if not replanted in our heat. I have butia, sabal palmetto, and serenoa repens seedlings in my flower beds. From what I have read from complaints from tropical locations such as Hawaii that would classify these species a noxious weed. Honestly repens is everywhere around my home so I might think twice about replanting the seedling but then do it anyway because I love the palm. Now wild berries are a pain in my behind and thorny to boot; despite the fruit they do receive herbicide when I find them. A weed is simply a plant that we have not found a use for yet. :)

Edited by palm tree man
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Daniel, Thanks for the props...but Axel has alot more experience than me...he has got tons of fruit tree varieties and I believe he was into those prior to his love of palms.

I would really like to hear and see your D. decipiens...I am about to order a bunch this spring, and since our growing conditions are so similar it would really be inspirational to see someone who has had success. J. caffra is also on my wish list....I'm not sure Tejas Tropicals are doing palms anymore?

What do you guys think about growing Jujube, or a raisin tree...for fruit?

I've been planting Magnolia grands along my north on public property on the other side of the fence. Now I need something that can give me really tall canopy fairly quickly. After our last cold events, I'm looking towards dicots these days to give me some frost protection. Would be an added bonus if it had edible fruit. Sorry for going off topic.

David, I've been into palms and fruits for about the same time. I got interested in parajubaea because it was a fruiting palm. After my first dive into the palm world in the 90's along with tropical fruits, I rounded out my gardening skills by trying to grow more deciduous fruit trees. The nice thing about the deciduous fruit trees is that they provide such an intense sensual experience with both their Springtime blooms and the delectable fruit they bear. It's a different kind of experience that tropicals just can't provide. It's nice to live in a place that gets enough chill for many fruit varieties yet is relatively free of hard freezes. The only other places like this are New Zealand, Tasmania, Northern Portugal and Northern Spain, and the tropical highlands 2,000 meters and above. If I lived in the tropics I would still try to grow the low chill versions of apples and peaches.

Fruit trees always have a place in my garden. Growing up on a farm, you tend to appreciate plants that provide substanence and what a gift they truly are. I have a nice fig orchard that I enjoy as well as some pomegranate, lemon, and pear trees. Palms are my first love but I honestly just love plants in general and will never turn down a free plant or try to give a good home to one that has out lived its welcome do to progress. You have an amazing climate; if I lived there I would most definitely have kiwi palms everywhere. They are such beautiful trees with so much personality.

I envy you both guys! Probably you have enough space and adequate water resources and never face the cruel dilemma I do, palms or fruiting trees. I used to have also fruiting trees, which were bringing every year an enormous harvest, so big that I was not able to gather and use all of it. Many fruits were lying and rotting on the ground. I have kept only a couple of tropical fruit trees and still I face same problem, mainly because fruits do not ripen all at one time but gradually. I still wonder whether rotting fruits on ground have an impact to the good or bad on soil consistency regarding palms. Anyway I have managed to make this year jam and syrup from Guavas produced in my garden.

post-6141-0-26735900-1391674008_thumb.jp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice Jelly! I think pineapple guava grows well here. Loquats grow very well in my climate, but if you do not get the fruit off of the ground, there will be lots of wasps. Wasps are a major problem here. Many people have wooden play structures for their kids and the wasps make nests all over them. The last thing I need is more wasps!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am going to make an attempt at growing pineapple guava this year. My seedlings should be about ready to plant out; they are suppose to be good for the lower southeast and gulf. That Jelly looks delicious, I know my daughter would love it for sure. She loves guava and mango. Unfortunately I have not found a variety of mango that I think would survive here long enough to fruit. I might be wrong however and will keep searching. Doc let me know how your jubaeopsis far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...