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Croton and Palm Collection,Key West,Florida


Jeff Searle

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Very difficult unless you know the "right" people.

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

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(weldertom @ Dec. 06 2007,22:15)

QUOTE
That "Glen Roof " is really nice.........

How difficult is it to find, Jeff ?

Tom,

 Like Ray said, their hard to come by. To this day, I still have not sold my first one yet. I'm still planting some, so I can build up my stock. Possibly, late next summer I would have one or two for sale finally.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Your photos are really pretty phenomenal, Jeff. It makes me want to get every one of those plants :;):  I need to go to some croton sales.

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

 

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It is a relatively fast growing hybrid if pushed.  Crotons as a whole seem impossible to over fertilize.

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

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Most people still think of crotons as a "bla" plant. Their old fashion, their all the same right? The colors that they present themselves can be very rewarding. They give such a tropical feeling when used with palms, ferns,etc. Once when they have tried some of the more different varieties, they then realise how beautiful they are and find themselves wanting more.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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OK, back with a few more pictures.Judy and Jim are having great success with this Nannorrhops ritchieana growing in the ground down there. Very little rain is part of the secret.

Jeff

post-23-1197253658_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Ramshorn, but not showing it's fullest color right now.

post-23-1197253860_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Lord Belhaven, sorry about the poor lighting.

post-23-1197254469_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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This is one of Jim's rarest palms, Livistona Toh-Ur. He bought it many years ago at the South Florida Palm Sale.

post-23-1197254589_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Prince of Orange (L) and Ronald Reagan ®

post-23-1197254825_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Pritchardia remota, these do very well in the Florida Keys.

post-23-1197254940_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Unknown on the left with Rheedii on the right.

post-23-1197255044_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Mrs Snyder Desraeli ( not sure of the spelling)

post-23-1197255249_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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One of my personal favorites of all the Coccothrinax, here's a young C. borhidiana. This is still a very hard palm to come by at the local sales and demands top dollar for any size you can find.

post-23-1197255547_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Another palm that really thrives in the in their garden is this Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera.

post-23-1197255736_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Here's Judy showing us a sport she found growing on a Mammey variety. She cut it off and rooted it and now here's the plant.

post-23-1197255936_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Here's Twist and Point, with Coccothrinax crinita growing off to the left.

post-23-1197256059_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Here's a beautiful Charles Rutherford.

post-23-1197256123_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Looking down on a Pelagodoxa henryiana.

post-23-1197256211_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Looking down from the steps through a Gumbo Limbo tree.

post-23-1197256282_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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The last picture, Coconuts,famous for Key West.

post-23-1197256399_thumb.jpg

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Jeff,

Sybil Griffin has got to be one of the most amazing of all crotons.

Ray

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

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Ray,

    Well, as you know, great color, and a large size leaf are two out of the three you need for a good quality croton. Next time your passing through the Keys, definitely call Judy and Jim and stop by their house. They would love to show you around. BTW, they just recently got a Magnificent from me, Judy is extreamly happy about this croton and will be planting it out as soon as it's ready.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Put me on the list for a Magnificent!!

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

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Jeff, thank you for posting the great pictures of our garden in the Keys.  Ray we would love to have you down to see our place!

Something interesting about our garden in the Keys.  The garden was totally destroyed by hurricane Wilma on October 24th, 2005.  What you see here is all less than two years old except the coconuts which survived.

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Excellent photos and awesome collection of crotons (and palms).   Something to aspire to.

Sorry for the forum redirect but I didn't want to repost all the photos over here as it would be too much work.    Here is my current croton collection:

http://www.2ndlight.com/fusetal....hread=y

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Dave,

     Your collection looks young and small. But, it won't take long before you have nice size plants with lots of good color. Where abouts is your garden? And how many verieties are you up to?

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Cool post Jeff...  Thank you for sharing your garden Mr and Mrs. Glock.  

I don't know diddly about crotons and had no clue of the enormous variety...  Thanks for posting all these.

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Jeff, I've been collecting croton in my yard for about ten years.  A lot of my crotons are as tall as I am and some are a few feet over. (at least the fast growing ones are).    I went on a little frenzy of collecting croton when I wrote the Florida Gardening Magazine article and got to interview Dr. Brown and a few other collectors in the area.http://centralfloridapalms.com/archived/jan2004/croton.htm

I live on Merritt Island, East Central Florida.  Its a little bit of a microclimate so I get away with growing croton out in the open.  However, of course we haven't had a disastrous hard freeze since 1989.

I have somewhere around 68 different types.  

I'm strictly a home hobbyist, so if anyone wants to swap cuttings let me know.   Jeff's photos has rekindled my interest in them again!     Those are some nice specimens!  

To me crotons are the perfect collector's item.  My mom collects antiques and I guess croton is kind of of her rubbing off on me!

Got Croton?

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The '89 freeze killed royal palms on Merritt Island, but the gumbo limbos recovered.  The ones lining South Tropical Trail, south of Pineda Causeway, are wonderful.

I'm amazed at that 2 years of recovery in the Keys!

This fall, I planted a little Nannorrhops in the beach sunflower bed, where it's received almost no irrigation.  So far, so good.

I dispatched a Copernicia berteroana to Stock Island today.  The bright green little beauty's been with me maybe two years, but my yard's finally running out of space.

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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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Jeff for all the great pictures. I only wish more of these were available for trial in Southen California. I know we should try more varieties now that many types make it through the winter in California.  I tried them many times in the past. Probably ten years ago was the last time. Then even the cold hardy types such as Norma and Petra would not make it even though I am in a frost free area. Now I have had several types growing in the ground for five years without any leaf drop in the winter.

Ken

Ken

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  • 4 weeks later...

(Ray, Tampa @ Nov. 29 2007,06:31)

QUOTE
Hi Matt,

The Florida Keys are the driest part of Florida (yes even drier than me).  Some areas average less than 35" of yearly rainfall.  

Ray

Thirty Five Inches?

That's a record-breaking year for us, here on the Cote d'La La.

Of course, we have actual soil, in most places at least.

Still the Keys were glorious.

Drove by there on New Years' Eve Eve Eve. . . . .

dave

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(Tropicalken @ Jan. 03 2008,00:35)

QUOTE
Thanks Jeff for all the great pictures. I only wish more of these were available for trial in Southen California. I know we should try more varieties now that many types make it through the winter in California.  I tried them many times in the past. Probably ten years ago was the last time. Then even the cold hardy types such as Norma and Petra would not make it even though I am in a frost free area. Now I have had several types growing in the ground for five years without any leaf drop in the winter.

Ken

Ken,

     Thanks, it was fun walking around and taking all thes pics. of so many crotons. I wonder where they bought all these varieties? You should contact Len (LJG) on the board here, he now has several in his yard out in Cali that appear to be doing well.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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