Wonderful pictures, Chaz! Update when Piccolo opens, please! The Golden Chalice flowers are just gorgeous! And do my eyes deceive me, or is that a Beaucarnea recurvata, aka Ponytail Palm, growing right there in the middle?!! One of my very favorite houseplants!

I've had several Ponytail Palms over the years, and always wind up giving it away to a friend or relative who exclaims over it! I have one now that's about as big as a large orange... it was the size of a small marble with hair when I got it, and that was only a couple of years ago! They grow fairly fast, I've found, regardless of which exposure you subject them to... mine is currently in the north window so my hippis can enjoy the east one!

Yours looks quite large, and looks more like a tree than mine does! What's the secret to making them look tree-like, as opposed to hanging basket plant-like?!

jodi,
yes that is a ponytail palm. I inherited it from a friend who passed 5 years ago. It is easily 20 years old which explains the trunk/tree form. The leaves drape at least 5 feet, the trunk is about 3 feet tall, the base about 10 inches across. It sits on a 27 inch pedestal. I love that plant! It is very precious to me. I cant' provide any secrets to developing the tree form other than to be patient it takes time.
Chaz

I'm new to forum, but probably have over a hundred Hippies - many colors and sizes, but don't have Piccolo. Most recent acquisitions from Parks (buy one, get one; then buy one, get two). Love the vine too. Also have two ponytail palms, easily 20 years old and were my mom's who has been gone about 18 years. I remember her getting them; they fit in a three-inch pot! In the summer they just go outside in a sort of shaded area with not much attention. Sometimes they get some liquid fertilizer. Probably the least care of all my plants. If the pot gets too small, they just break it -- no problem. They currently reside in 10-inch pots. Truly addicted in NJ!

Welcome, Kitty! Glad to have another addict aboard! Pull up a keyboard and join us! We'd love to see photos of your hippis, or any other plant you may want to show off! I plan on taking most of my hippis outdoors for the summer, and I think I'll also take out my Ponytail Palm... hopefully, a summer in the garden will help it grow a bit! I agree with you about care... it's the least demanding of all my plants!

Chaz... it's a nice Ponytail Palm you have, there! With any luck, I'll be able to hold onto mine and see it grow into a tree! It's just such a cool looking plant that any time someone I know sees mine, they always tell me they want one but can never find one! And so, I always end up giving them mine and going out searching for another baby in a 2 inch pot to grow up... my consolation is that there are more indoor gardeners in the world because I gave them a plant that is easy to grow, and it piqued their curiosity about what else they might grow!

Both my daughter and one of my daughters-in-law have called me to let me know that the bulbs I gave them for Christmas are getting ready to bloom soon! I am always so happy to enable someone else! It's nice to see the younger generation become interested in growing things! :-)

Oh, to have a sunny porch like yours, Chaz! You have such a nice collection of greenery!

Kitty, Welcome I'm pretty new here myself just a couple of months. You'll find this the nicest group of people on gardenweb!

Jodi, The taller the ponytail gets the more prone it will be to getting toppled by wind if you put it outside so please be careful. I usually wedge it between bricks or large stones to keep it from getting blown over. Also adjust it slowly to sun or you'll wind up giving it a sunburn. If you've ever seen on in the ground you'd think mine was just a couple of years old, they get huge.

I really do love that porch too, luckily it's on the south side of the house. We were just talking last night of expanding it a little instead of putting in a separate green house. Maybe my 2008 house project!!!!! I'm really a very lucky guy.

I've seen pictures of Ponytail Palms in their natural habitat, and they are huge trees with large bases! Very different looking! The place I will put all of my plants this coming summer gets nicely dappled shade from a large Maple tree, so it should be perfect for the Beaucarnea, too... it gets a little sun, but mostly filtered by the tree... and there's also some reflected light from a white garage... should be about the right amount of light...

You are lucky... I really miss having a southern facing bay window and a sun room! If you could expand your porch, that would be perfect for you!

A possible idea for some -- Many years ago I purchased a Sunporch(tm) (they come in all sizes and styles). I'm not here to judge it as good or bad, but it works for me. Mine is attached to the house. It is all aluminum construction which gets cold in the winter, so I purchase that shrink plastic for windows and use clothespins to clip it up to the little beams on the roof and just let it hang. Helps lots. It faces south, gets heat from the garage, plus I use a small quartz heater on colder nights (and days). Of course, it's stuffed! Over a hundred Hippies, orchids, geraniums, citrus, hibiscus, bougainvillea, and the list goes on. My goal is just to overwinter my precious things (that's all of them) and in May most go back outside. Have found that the Hippies love to stay in during the summer and get very large. I bottom water and fertilize throughout the summer. This way no bugs get brought back inside and no rain to rot them.

Kitty, I use a space heater to keep my sun room warm enough to fight off freezes. there are the rare nights were it gets in the upper 30's but like you I just want to overwinter the plants. I've been lucky enough that I'm able to sit out there during the day, and often at night as the room holds quite a bit of heat from the sun.
so, where in NJ are ya? I used to live in ridgefield park near fort lee.

You have orchids, too, Kitty? What kinds? I'm just getting into them, myself, and finding out what does well indoors in the north is a bit tricky! Epidendrums are a yes, and Phals are a no, so far!

Hi Kitty, welcome!

Chaz, that Picolo on the left sure is full. That is going to make one beautiful plant. Please share pics when in bloom!

Cindeea!
The piccolo on the left has 3 scapes! I can't wait! Keeping all the others I received from wayside cold so I can pot them up in succession. 2 zombi will be next. Can't wait!
How are you doing? When do we get a photo of you on the scoot? LOL

Oh good! I can't wait to see your Zombies bloom, Chaz! So far, it's one of my favorite varieties, and that's just from seeing photos of it! I have yet to get one, myself!

I keep telling Cindee that we need a picture of her zooming around her yard on the new scoot!

LOL You guys are funny. I gave you a pic of me in my lounging PJs on my Scoot after Den put it together Christmas morning. We'll see what the weekend brings. Maybe I will get the guys to take a pic. That is after I visit makeup and the hair salon!! lol.......RIGHT!

It is supposed to warm up a bit this weekend so I hope to get out and Scoot all around the yard...eat my dust!! lol

Hey! I posted a picture of myself without make-up or the advantage of a hair salon... if I can do it without too much embarrassment, so can you! :-)

You'll be enjoying a warmer weekend out in the garden, and I'll be hibernating under a feather comforter indoors! Spring cannot get here fast enough to satisfy me!

Speaking of spring... and spring things... the landowner decided to go ahead and purchase a small greenhouse! So, when spring does finally get here, Larry will be putting together the larger model from Harbor Freight! It won't be mine, but I will be the one working in it and using it the most while we're here... and it will give me good experience, so when we finally buy our own home, I'll know exactly what I want in a greenhouse! And believe me, I will have a greenhouse! I can't wait to start filling the new greenhouse with plants and seedlings, and when anyone needs me, I'll be in there just enjoying all the cool plants I'll be growing!

Chaz - A little late getting back to you. I'm up in the north corner of NJ. I know where Ridgefield Park is, but prefer to stay up here in the "sticks." Used to use a space heater, but it turned the rafters black (they're white) and I had to scrub each and every one of them plus all the cross pieces -- what a job!
Jodi - Yes, there are orchids. My first one ever - someone gave me a miniature cymbidium (don't know the name), but I repotted it and it grew and grew. That got me hooked. They like the cold and are left out until they are about to freeze. At this point their spikes are starting. Have cats now (don't quite have the hang of those yet), plus an asssortment of others (many do have names). My phals are in the basement with the African violets under lights; they grow well there but I'm tired of fighting mealy bugs on those.

Kitty, the space heater I used is electric. Costly but doesn't cause the same blackening that kerosene did. The mealies on the Phals could be surviving in the roots, when it's time to repot carefully check around the roots! More than anything the cats are sensitive to length of day I believe, they may benefit and bloom from having supplemental light this time of year.
Jodi, after seeing your jungle photos...brugs and orchids may just crowd you out of the house! LOL

Chaz, you're probably right about the mealies in the roots. They're still in their original medium (spag. moss). Will repot and clean the roots.
Can anyone point me to a "lesson" on posting pictures since I'm new? Have read the directions, but am missing something. I'm a digital nut with the focus being on flowers and the orchids are starting to bloom. Some of mine are on WebShots.

Chaz... you may be right! But a few orchids won't take up that much space, and it's either orchids or more bulbs! I have a funny feeling it's going to be a little of both! I'll make room! I'm very good at packing and shipping, and I've got organizational skills from moving more times than I can count, and working in the shipping department of a tool company for several years! I know I can rearrange until I find a spot for a pot or two... or three or four! Hehe!

Kitty... You may want to check out PhotoBucket as an option for photo storage online... once you have your photos uploaded to an album, which is simple, all you need to do is copy and paste the html right into a post here... and PhotoBucket writes the coding for you! And it's free! Just sign up and create an account!

PhotoBucket has all kinds of options, too! You can resize pictures right there, and there are tons of other options and things you can do with photos... I put the link below so you can check them out!

Here is a link that might be useful: PhotoBucket