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A few photos of my yard


metalfan

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I have some pix of stuff in my yard. Please don't expect to see a lot of palms, cuz most of my palms are greenhouse residents!

I live in the part of FL that actually does freeze, (who woulda thunk it?) so my landscape is designed to be "sustainable"...i.e., everything can freeze to the ground and come back up the nest spring without being lost.

2006Pooldeck.jpg

"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes"---SliPknot

 

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which alpinia is that from the second photo?? ok, just realized those orange flowers are actually hedychiums?? do you got A. purpurata "tahitian"?? that´s a striking one.

love the bromeliads, seems like some neo. matchpoint (??) in the last photo and others...

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Gina,

     Thanks for giving us a little tour of the property. I noticed two things. One, you love the tropicals as much as I do, and two, your garden is well laid out and no weeds!! Very nice.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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leomx,

I do have Tahitian ginger, but I grow it int he greenhouse, along with A. purpurata "Ginoza". I have the regular red A. purpurata in the yard, I protect it in winter.

I have over 400 different bromeliads of all genera, I grow a lot of neoregelias, Aechmeas and Nidulariums outside under canopy, the rest I grow in the greenhouse. I also have almost 400 orchids. AGain, greenhoused.

In the yard I make use of many many different gingers...Costus, globba, hedychium, alpinia, Kaemferia, and zingibers. Also all differnt types of bananas (edible and ornamental) and many many different Colocasia, alocasia and xanthosoma. I also have the "usual suspect" like Tibouchina, clerodendron, etc etc. I have a few shots of up around the greenhouse that I need to put into photobucket yet.

"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes"---SliPknot

 

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This is stuff growing up right around parts of the greenhouse to kinda soften its "utilitarian" lookDSCN5231.jpg

"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes"---SliPknot

 

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Magnificent landscaping. Where in Florida do you live (approximately)? There is yearly frost where I live but not necessarily yearly freezes. I have tried to plant my landscape too so that most of it should be able to grow back from the roots (a lot of palms excepted). As far as palms, I have planted a lot of Dypsis lutescens because I think they can come back from the roots. Most of my palms unfortunately will be toast during the next big freeze.

Parrish, FL

Zone 9B

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Hi Gina,

Great tropical look you have created.  I always enjoy seeing pictures of your plants....I even enjoyed once growing one of your plants.  I bought a Costus barbatus from you about 2 - 3 years ago.  I had it in my old house.  Here is a picture of it with the flowers.  Do you still have any of these?  I might be interested in getting more for my new place on Apollo Beach.

BackyardMay25th2005005.jpg

BackyardMay25th2005006.jpg

Thanks.

Jeffrey

Apollo Beach, FL

zone 9b/10a

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(metalfan @ Jul. 16 2007,21:36)

QUOTE
I have over 400 different bromeliads of all genera, I grow a lot of neoregelias, Aechmeas and Nidulariums outside under canopy, the rest I grow in the greenhouse. I also have almost 400 orchids. AGain, greenhoused.

Whát?? Can´t imagine all those broms together!!!!!! Sounds like heaven.  Niiiice.

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LOL Jeffrey I am glad that you have had success with Barbatus! I am unfortunately out of the plant selling business, but I still trade (especially with fellow Floridians).

I do still have Barbatus out in the yard. I took it out of the greenhouse because it tends to be huge growing and sprawling when left to its own devices in a perfect climate. I had canes growing sideways all over the place that were 8-10 feet long.

"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes"---SliPknot

 

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Gina,

Your garden is awesome!  I love all the tropicals and I didn't see any grass.  Yeah!

BTW, got your PM and my response was rejected.  We don't have that plant.  We have been unsuccessful with it except in the ground.  You can sometimes find the 4 or 6 inch pots at Home Depot in the section with all the small tropicals.

Palmmermaid

Kitty Philips

West Palm Beach, FL

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Really nice garden, Gina. Something to strive for.

Best,

Ania

Ania

Houston, TX

zone 9a

"God in his wisdom made the fly

And then forgot to tell us why"

-Ogden Nash

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Thanks guys!

Kitty, I got your reply and replied...

I am not talking about what you think I am talking about, LOL. That is the "palm look alike" that they call "Jungle Drum". I actually have one of those and mine has done very well, I have had it for 5-6 years.

The "Potato Chip" palm I am looking for is Chamaedorea tuerckheimii. Its also called "Ruffles Palm". It is a miniature palm from Mexico.

I am also looking for Chamaedorea sullivaniorum, the Sullivan Palm, which is a miniature palm from Panama.

I

"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes"---SliPknot

 

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Fantasticly awesome! Good job! Nice elephant ears and brugmansias! I have a few varieties as well but still tiny. Can I see inside the greenhouse Pleeease!?

Frank

 

Zone 9b pine flatlands

humid/hot summers; dry/cool winters

with yearly freezes

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Very nice Gina! Now let's tour that greenhouse!

Bren in South St. Pete Florida

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Looks good to me!  You have an artful eye for arrangements. What is the fan palm in post #6? (Coccothrinax?)  And the red-stemmed variegated plant in post #18, as well as the slightly taller green ribbed plant just to the right of that?

It amazes me that many of the plants you show regrow so quickly from the ground every year. (Or am I wrong about that -- the bananas, gingers, colocasias and such?)

Kim Cyr

Between the beach and the bays, Point Loma, San Diego, California USA
and on a 300 year-old lava flow, Pahoa, Hawaii, 1/4 mile from the 2018 flow
All characters  in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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Gorgeous!

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

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Kim,

the palm is a Med Fan palm. I did not even plant that, the previous owner installed several around the pool. I think that palm is about 15-20 years old.

The red veined green plant is Curcuma inodora. Curcumas are deciduous gingers that arise in March-April and conveniently go dormant all on their own when it frosts. The trigger for dormancy isn't cold, though like most people think, its lack of abundant water. But combined with cooler temps, they fold.

The variegated plant is also a ginger, Zingiber collinsii "Silver STreaks". Zingibers are also deciduous gingers.

Yes, everything that goes down, comes back. The bananas do not generally freeze to the ground, they just lose their leaves and the trunks stay there. They always try to releaf within a week of frost nip because our freezes and frosts are usualy just isolated incidents. But the aroids fold. Most stuff will stay up unless it goes below about 27-28F. Then it just gets cut back and forgotten til March. We don't usually get any weather like that til December, so even though this is the "cold" part of FL, its still not REALLY cold.

Gee, I will have to take some new greennhouse photos for you guys, my old ones are outdated now.

"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes"---SliPknot

 

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HAHAHHAHAHHAH :D AHHAAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAHA :D HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAH :D AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHAHAHHAHAH :D HAHAHHAAHAHHA :laugh: AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAAHAHHAAHAHAH

HAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHHAHHA

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHH

AHAHAHAHAH

HHH

:D

YOUR GARDEN SUCKS!!!!!!!!!HAHAH :D HAHAHAHHAHA

HAHAHHAHAH JUST PLAYING MAN  :;):    

Hey it looks like you got a forest or something behind your yard. I would rippin trails out there on my bike.

sd mannnn

plz ignore my awful grammar

apparently zone 9b or 10a i donno

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Corkycory, I'd put some slamming tunes on the outdoor poolside speakers for ya (Circle Jerks "Wild in the Streets", Devil Driver, Spine Shank, whateva you wanta hear) and let you rip to your heart's content! The back 2+ acres as well as the sides (which equal about another 2 acres) are forested, and we even have our own creek! I only have about an acre total under cultivation up around the house, and that includes the greenhouse.  We have always said we were going to cut some trails back there, but in summer, the forest is overrun with Orb Weaver spiders called Banana SPiders. These get HUGE (I have seen some bigger than my hand) and its extremely eerie to go out there. SOme of the larger spiders spin way up in the trees and can actually snag small birds. The ones at eye level are bad enough though! I hate walking thru webs, it creeps me out, then the spider gets on you and its a real Baby Jane moment. Totally creepy.

Our property actually abuts a state wildlife preserve, the San Felasco Preserve, which is all trails for hiking, running and biking. We live on a scenic road where the speed limit is 40mph and there is every kind of animal imaginable out here

"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes"---SliPknot

 

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(metalfan @ Jul. 18 2007,07:51)

QUOTE
Corkycory, I'd put some slamming tunes on the outdoor poolside speakers for ya (Circle Jerks "Wild in the Streets", Devil Driver, Spine Shank, whateva you wanta hear) and let you rip to your heart's content! The back 2+ acres as well as the sides (which equal about another 2 acres) are forested, and we even have our own creek! I only have about an acre total under cultivation up around the house, and that includes the greenhouse.  We have always said we were going to cut some trails back there, but in summer, the forest is overrun with Orb Weaver spiders called Banana SPiders. These get HUGE (I have seen some bigger than my hand) and its extremely eerie to go out there. SOme of the larger spiders spin way up in the trees and can actually snag small birds. The ones at eye level are bad enough though! I hate walking thru webs, it creeps me out, then the spider gets on you and its a real Baby Jane moment. Totally creepy.

Our property actually abuts a state wildlife preserve, the San Felasco Preserve, which is all trails for hiking, running and biking. We live on a scenic road where the speed limit is 40mph and there is every kind of animal imaginable out here

whoaaa well i guess that would just make it even more extreme  :cool:

you can play some heavy stuff ya know like opeth or kalmah and ill be pumped :laugh:

sd mannnn

plz ignore my awful grammar

apparently zone 9b or 10a i donno

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Gina, what a garden!  Awesome!  Can't believe all those gingers, broms, elephant ears - yowwww what a sight!

When you said it was adjacent to the San Felasco Preserve... ummmm, isn't that way up in Alachua?  How do you protect all those lovelies from the cold?  The brugs (beauties btw!) look to be of a pretty good size.  How about the costus barbatus - do you have to do cold-protection on those?

If you don't mind another question - in Post #13, what is the graceful fan palm to the right of the banana?

But about those spideys.... how common are they, or are they just attracted by the bananas?  I've never seen one... and I'd just as soon keep it that way  :D (we already have the giant grasshoppers and that's enough)

St. Pete

Zone - a wacked-out place between 9b & 10

Elevation = 44' - not that it does any good

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Bear in mind a sign at the National University in Taipei (at a Chionanthus retusa tree, I think).  It said Taipei's cool winter evenings make it possible to grow some of Taiwan's beautiful temperate plants from the mountains, despite the tropical climate!

Fla. climate center: 100-119 days>85 F
USDA 1990 hardiness zone 9B
Current USDA hardiness zone 10a
4 km inland from Indian River; 27º N (equivalent to Brisbane)

Central Orlando's urban heat island may be warmer than us

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(metalfan @ Jul. 17 2007,08:54)

QUOTE
Thanks guys!

Kitty, I got your reply and replied...

I am not talking about what you think I am talking about, LOL. That is the "palm look alike" that they call "Jungle Drum". I actually have one of those and mine has done very well, I have had it for 5-6 years.

The "Potato Chip" palm I am looking for is Chamaedorea tuerckheimii. Its also called "Ruffles Palm". It is a miniature palm from Mexico.

I am also looking for Chamaedorea sullivaniorum, the Sullivan Palm, which is a miniature palm from Panama.

I

I am enjoying the pics of your little wonderland......OK  big wonderland!  :D

I am having good luck with a "tater chip palm" :)

Sadly, I was GIVEN a Sullivanorium that was a bit ragged, but alive when I first started doing this, took me a few months to kill it. I'm pretty sure I over watered it.

I'm lucky enough to have met Pauline several times (Pauline Sullivan) Great lady thats been in a wheelchair for most of her 40+ palm years. (She is older, but I do not know if she has always had a wheelchair, I know shes been all over the world!)

I say this only because once you have met her, I and several of my palm friends have decided to do our very best to make our gardens wheelchair accessable.  Its very

sad to have such a great matriarch of this hobby visit a place and have to stop at the sidewalk or driveway. :(

BS

Zone 10a at best after 2007 AND 2013, on SW facing hill, 1 1/2 miles from coast in Oceanside, CA. 30-98 degrees, and 45-80deg. about 95% of the time.

"The great workman of nature is time."   ,  "Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience."

-George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon-

I do some experiments and learning in my garden with palms so you don't have to experience the pain! Look at my old threads to find various observations and tips!

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We are actually 10-12 miles away from Alachua, but yes we are on that end of town. San Felasco Preserve is a huge place. Its a pretty common misconception I think that the entire area of FL above Ocala is some sort of frosty winter wonderland during Dec, Jan and Feb. Especially by people from So FL. In fact, Ocala likes to try to "distance" themselves from us and group themselves in with the Central FL cities down to the Tampa-Orlando line, but, in truth, most mornings its as warm and sometimes warmer at my house here than it is 30 miles South in Ocala. :cool:

We are actually a zone 9A. We started as zone 9 on the USDA maps many moons ago, were "demoted" to zone 8B for a bit and now go figure we are back in 9A. The yards of the 2 homes I have owned here have actually had a very warm microclimate as well, the first home in the Historic District on the East side of town was really warm because the houses were packed so closely together, and there was a canopy of huge trees in everyones yard.

Its a nice warm microclimate out here now because of the tree canopy as well.

I have a friend who lived here in town near us for 12 years while he went to school here and partied and played guitar in local bands. He wasn't interested in plants when he lived here, but then he moved to Ft Lauderdale, got married and bought a small house on a canal and instantly he was Mr. Palm and Mr. Plant. I landscaped almost his entire yard for him with 10-12 different heliconias, Bananas, Alpinia purpuratas, bromeliads and other gingers. He did his own palm gathering. We noticed that within a few months of going to Ft L he had started to develop what we laughingly refer to as the "So FL snobbery"  attitude toward the climate here.  :( He comes down every few weeks or so to party and play guitars with my husband and he would start to say stuff like "Man, it sure is COLD here!" (When it was 70 at night in April) or "Jeez its FREEZING!" (when it was 70 at night on  Halloween at the last party). This has gone on for a few years now and we just laugh at him. Loudly.

We do have frost and a few freezes every winter, but you can pull almost anything through undamaged by throwing a blanket over it here. I keep some Cattleya orchids, Birdsnest ferns, and a whole lot of bromeliads out in the yard that I never bother to cover at all. I have a stand of Alpinia purpurata out in the yard that was 7-8 feet and blooming last summer and the summer before that. I let it freeze to the ground this last winter just to get it down to a manageable size. Its back up to 3 ft tall now and will bloom again next summer. I have Heliconia Pedro Ortiz and Heliconia rostrata planted out. They usually get killed to the ground, but come back every winter and one of these times Iknow they will make it through and bloom. My AE AE banana is also planted out.

I handle the barbatus by cutting the already bloomed stalks off at ground level before a frost and throwing a blanket over them. Most are planted under canopy and do fine anyhow. If I forget and they freeze, they always come back but I miss blooms for a cycle.

The spiders aren't actually attracted to bananas, they are called banana spiders because they have a long banana shaped yellow body. They aren't venomous (they are orb weavers) but I have a feeling at the size some get to if they fanged you it would hurt like hell.

"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes"---SliPknot

 

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