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New PNW forum member, my 1 year old yard and post-freeze results


James W

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Hi all, I've been lurking for almost a year, having started my covid lockdown backyard re-landscaping project this time in 2020.

I'm in Portland, USA, wet zone 8b.  My "yard" is rather long and narrow and very shaded (north facing).  Below is a picture of the overall garden as of end of September 2020.

So far, we've had what I'd call a 9b winter with 1 week of snow cover (I did not get the ice storm as others on this forum experienced).

I've learned so much from this forum and I hope I can slowly return the favor.  This is a generic starter post, hopefully more coming (next one on tree ferns, I think).

Here is what I have going, and some lessons learned so far (alot of rookie mistakes as I'm sure you'll see).

Ferns - lots of ferns.  I think I'll do a separate post on those.

Cordylines - Electric Pink, Red Star - these are looking great

Cordyline Arborea - Barely alive now - this was clearly a mistaken purchase.

Heliconia Schiedeana - One in the ground, one in a pot.  So far looking good.

Streliztia Nicolai - This thing about 6 inches tall, 3 small leaves, and in the ground.  Its maybe doing OK.  I will probably move it to a sunnier location.

Philodendron Selloum - Looking ragged, I suspect it is at least dead above the ground, hoping roots survived.

Alocasia Portrora - This one was fried to the ground back in October when the temps hit the upper 20s.

Bromeliads - Lots of small pupsI bought online.  About 50% are dead.  Ill do a more detailed report later.

Palms - T. Fortunei nova, Himalayan Fishtail, Brahea Edulis - I should post something in the palm forum on these.

Musa Basjoo - Pseudostems made it through the October freeze, but are now mostly mushy.

Cycads - Sago Palm is doing well, as is the Coontie Palm

Musa Siam Ruby - WTF was I thinking?  Its indoors now and a real prima-donna.

 

 

 

IMG_0483(1).jpg

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Welcome, It looks like you have a great collection.

I've been a member for less than a year, but the forum has been an invaluable resource ever since my lurker days.

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Good start, you have a few on the list that are not going to make it here unfortunately.  The good news is we can grow a lot in this place, so there is always an alternative.

Your backyard sounds similar to mine - north facing and narrow.  Mine runs sideways but is quite wide >100'.  All Trachycarpus can take the shade, if you want some more tropical looking plants I would look at getting some Schefflera (taiwaniana and delavayi), some of the more colorful Fatsias, Rice paper plant, Mahonias (lots and lots), and Chamaedorea radicalis.   Needle palms and the Mediterranean fan palms will grow in more shade but I would classify them as slow in shade in our climate.  There are even quite a few different varieties of Cast iron plant that can be quite attractive.

As far as a banana other than Musa basjoo you have two options, Musella lasiocarpa and Musa sikkimensis. I've had both for years, although the sikkimensis really needs a new spot it only grows a few feet each year.  There is also that pink banana but I've never seen one for sale around here.

Welcome to Palmtalk, its nice to have another local on here.

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1 hour ago, Chester B said:

Good start, you have a few on the list that are not going to make it here unfortunately.  The good news is we can grow a lot in this place, so there is always an alternative.

Your backyard sounds similar to mine - north facing and narrow.  Mine runs sideways but is quite wide >100'.  All Trachycarpus can take the shade, if you want some more tropical looking plants I would look at getting some Schefflera (taiwaniana and delavayi), some of the more colorful Fatsias, Rice paper plant, Mahonias (lots and lots), and Chamaedorea radicalis.   Needle palms and the Mediterranean fan palms will grow in more shade but I would classify them as slow in shade in our climate.  There are even quite a few different varieties of Cast iron plant that can be quite attractive.

As far as a banana other than Musa basjoo you have two options, Musella lasiocarpa and Musa sikkimensis. I've had both for years, although the sikkimensis really needs a new spot it only grows a few feet each year.  There is also that pink banana but I've never seen one for sale around here.

Welcome to Palmtalk, its nice to have another local on here.

Thanks.

I do now have some C. Radicalis seeds which I'll begin to germinate soon.  My one C. Microspadix produced exactly zero new growth last summer for some reason.  I did acquire some more from Raintree that I hope do better for me (first one was from online).

Yeah a lot of my choices for plants were probably made poorly.  But you know what?  Every one of them was purchased from an online nursery where hardiness to 8b was stated.  Now I know that can sometimes be a marketing exaggeration, or doesn't apply to our 8b climate.  I'm also discovering there is a difference between "can survive in 8b" vs. "will thrive in 8b".  This spring I rip out the front yard landscaping and will tropical-ize it.

I know you have some P. Selloum as well, does it do well for you?  I'm hopeful my Alocasia will come back, I guess I'll just have to expect annual die-back or I'll bring it inside.

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3 minutes ago, James W said:

Thanks.

I do now have some C. Radicalis seeds which I'll begin to germinate soon.  My one C. Microspadix produced exactly zero new growth last summer for some reason.  I did acquire some more from Raintree that I hope do better for me (first one was from online).

Yeah a lot of my choices for plants were probably made poorly.  But you know what?  Every one of them was purchased from an online nursery where hardiness to 8b was stated.  Now I know that can sometimes be a marketing exaggeration, or doesn't apply to our 8b climate.  I'm also discovering there is a difference between "can survive in 8b" vs. "will thrive in 8b".  This spring I rip out the front yard landscaping and will tropical-ize it.

I know you have some P. Selloum as well, does it do well for you?  I'm hopeful my Alocasia will come back, I guess I'll just have to expect annual die-back or I'll bring it inside.

Unfortunately a lot of sellers have very optimistic zone ratings, I learned that as well when I first moved here.  First winter and all of my bird of paradise were mush, amongst a few other things.

Homedepot is pretty bad for that too. 

My philodendron didn't like the ice, the leaves have a translucent look  to them so they are damaged for sure.  It'll come back, it 's not the first winter it has been out, and all the leaves it had were from last year so they grow reasonably quick.  Previously I just left it outside in a pot on the balcony in a windy spot - horrible conditions and it would make it.

Most of the local nurseries are pretty good with what can live here, and I even find them to be a bit on the cautious side.

 

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Philodendron Selloum is mostly hardy and evergreen all year, if you can grow it up against a south facing wall with a good overhang to keep it very dry in winter. I'll take a picture of some in a shopping center grown that have been there for many years but still not trunking since that hardly water them even in summer.

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Chester, are you saying your banana sikkimensis dies back every year?   And that's why you only get 2' a year of trunk. 

Edited by Paradise Found
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15 hours ago, Paradise Found said:

Chester, are you saying your banana sikkimensis dies back every year?   And that's why you only get 2' a year of trunk. 

Yep.  I need to move it, that area of my yard everything struggles to live.  My neighbor has an enormous Cedrus deodora that sucks the life out of everything.  Whenever I dig in that area its a mat of roots amongst hard dry soil.  I irrigate that area daily in the summer to try and keep things alive.  I have amended the soil and put down a huge layer of mulch, but even the mulch doesn't seem to break down over there.  With daily irrigation if I pull back the mulch the ground is still bone dry.

Good news or rather great news is that Cedar took major damage from the ice storm and they are telling me that its going to be cut down!  Aside from helping out my plants that tree completely ruins my view of the surrounding hills.

So this year I'm going to move that banana to a different spot to see how it performs, I've meant to do it sooner but I don't know exactly where it is until it pops up in early summer.  By then I'm in backyard chill mode and don't do so much relandscaping.

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10 minutes ago, Chester B said:

Yep.  I need to move it, that area of my yard everything struggles to live.  My neighbor has an enormous Cedrus deodora that sucks the life out of everything.  Whenever I dig in that area its a mat of roots amongst hard dry soil.  I irrigate that area daily in the summer to try and keep things alive.  I have amended the soil and put down a huge layer of mulch, but even the mulch doesn't seem to break down over there.  With daily irrigation if I pull back the mulch the ground is still bone dry.

Good news or rather great news is that Cedar took major damage from the ice storm and they are telling me that its going to be cut down!  Aside from helping out my plants that tree completely ruins my view of the surrounding hills.

So this year I'm going to move that banana to a different spot to see how it performs, I've meant to do it sooner but I don't know exactly where it is until it pops up in early summer.  By then I'm in backyard chill mode and don't do so much relandscaping.

Thank is good news, cedar tree are the worst also, takes up all the water.  I like to try a M. sikkimensis this spring.  Thanks for getting back to me.  Such a nice sunny day today and this weekend. 

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15 hours ago, Paradise Found said:

Philodendron Selloum is mostly hardy and evergreen all year, if you can grow it up against a south facing wall with a good overhang to keep it very dry in winter. I'll take a picture of some in a shopping center grown that have been there for many years but still not trunking since that hardly water them even in summer.

Here is the P. selloum I talk about it looks really good! Been there for at least 5 years. 

IMG-0128.jpg

Edited by Paradise Found
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1 hour ago, Paradise Found said:

Here is the P. selloum I talk about it looks really good! Been there for at least 5 years. 

 

That's a beauty, much better than my pile of mush!  I guess the key is to not site you plant in a mini-canyon where 18inch snow drifts build up and don't melt until a week after everything else!  There's gonna be a lot of relocations of some of my plants pretty soon.

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6 hours ago, James W said:

That's a beauty, much better than my pile of mush!  I guess the key is to not site you plant in a mini-canyon where 18inch snow drifts build up and don't melt until a week after everything else!  There's gonna be a lot of relocations of some of my plants pretty soon.

Now your thinking like a "Tropical Gardener", :36_14_15[1]:

When I started I had to redo things all the time, and I still make mistakes once in a while, so welcome to the club. 

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