I live 15 miles from Lexington in Nicholasville. If you want tropical stuff, I have been growing Elephant Ears, Cannas, differnt types of Cacti for a couple year with out digging up anything. I have palms for next Spring in my garage. I have a Sago out now and it has been through several heavy frost this year and lows to 20 degrees and it has no damage and is pushing new leaves. I like the tropical stuff so I don't have much non-tropical stuff.

I'm impressed; we used to have to scramble to cover our tropical/subtropical plants during the annual freezes in central Florida, and we usually lost a few. We had a yard full of King and Prince sago (Cycas taitungensis and Cycas revoluta) - always wanted a Queen sago (Cycas circinalis), but the winters were a bit too cold. The only tropical I'm interested in growing is a few pineapples, the grocery store variety is almost flavorless in comparison - we're planning to devote a corner of the greenhouse to them.
Our plans involve mostly native ornamentals (I'm originally from West Virginia, and have always had a soft spot for native Appalachian flora). Of course, we plan a lot of vegetable gardening and berries/fruit.

The Sago is an expiriment, I have read in a book that they will survive hear. They probabaly would for sure if our weather would be like our averges. 20 degrees for a low is to early, that is like January, Febuary low. I also have Lord and Lady Hibiscus, Hostas, Yucca, Hydrangea, Azaleas, Zebra and Pampass grass. Plus a bunch of daylillies, which this year refuse to die down. It is suppose to get cold starting tomorrow morning, our high for Friday they are saying is like mid to upper 30's plus snow.

I'm a fairly new home owner in Winchester and started the garden hobby last spring. I've not tried any tropicals.... just ordinary plants like raspberries, blackberries, grapes, a veggie garden, some roses, Japenese maples, some apple trees and a cherry.. basically been getting my hands dirty and loving it! Bring on the diversity in my young neighborhood! :)

Welcome to the area!

Thanks for the welcome, bencjedi; it would seem that we are neighbors (our place is not far from Winchester). What varieties of apple are you growing? We have a lot of cedars around our property; is there a locally grown apple that has particularly high resistance to cedar-apple rust? We only just got into roses, will probably go a bit overboard on them. Do you know of anyone raising kiwi fruit locally? Looks like a nice way to cover an arbor, with a tasty bonus.
Thanks again for the welcome, looking forward to getting some Kentucky dirt on my hands.

Welcome to KY! We're about half way between Lexington and Louisville, the great big burg of Waddy! If you're wanting to see what apples grow well around here check out the Frankfort and Lexington Farmer's Market next year. Ayers Orchard in Monterrey supplies the Frankfort market. I know he had most of the usual varieties of apples you see offered.

We're heaviest into daylilies here. Almost 1500 cultivars. We also have Siberian iris and peonies. False indigo grows well for me as well as iris, artesmia, daisies and a host of other wonderful flowers.

I have an asparagus bed that I increase by 20-40 plants per year and 120 feet of blackberries of which I hope to increase gradually each year.

Janet

Well howdy there neighbor! :)

I planted a Fuji apple tree for my wife in early September and then learned in order to get some cross-pollination going, I needed another apple tree that blooms at the same time, so after doing some research on the web I chose a McIntosh for myself (my favorite apple). We planted a cherry tree too. My back yard is to tiny I know I am going to have to be aggressive if these trees 'take-off'. They'll need conscientious pruning to keep them in check.

My neighborhood is very young, so there's not enough vegetation IMO.. especially not trees (leaves for composting I have had to steal from Lexington), so I am not sure about the apple tree variety with cedar-apple-rust resistance. I'm a newbie to apple trees. :)

Here's a photo of my limited back yard and how I squeezed them all in.

They'll serve two purposes (hopefully)... yummy fruit someday and privacy from the bird's eye view at the adjacent street that looks directly down into my back yard (to the right of this picture).

I've not heard of kiwi being grown around here, but I second a visit to the Lexington farmer's market when it starts up again next spring. My wife and I go every Saturday. It brings back memories for me of growing up as part of a family that was a major player in produce farming on eastern Long Island til the mid 90's. We grew primarily potatoes and a large variety of other vegetables that we trucked & sold to NYC markets to be cooked in city restaurants. It's not the same place anymore.. these farms vanished (including our own) in favor of tourism, housing developments and vineyards. But I love living out in Central Kentucky. I've lived here for a decade. It's what I can afford. Finally becoming a homeowner (with tiny yard) has been one of the best things I've done. In retrospect my 'inner farmer' should have considered a home with a larger yard, but I am making the most of the little space we have. :)

Hi Janet, bencjedi. Janet, we are both big fans of daylilies, and are definitely going to plant a passal of 'em on our roadside and along our drive...we won't move any from Georgia (diseases and such) - some of these are from Kentucky seed. We have some large iris beds here, we'll do that again with fresh stock, also. Asparagus is our favorite vegetable, we'll be abandoning our beds here to whoever buys the place - it grows much better in a cooler climate, anyhow.(Having lived in central Florida for so long, I still can't conceive of the non edible Asparagus springerii as anything but a noxious weed, though).
Bencjedi, the trees look great - there are few things to compare in beauty to apples and cherries in bloom...I wonder how fruiting cherries would look in a Japanese style garden - I imagine there would have to be some compromises made in pruning and such...I like the idea of combining ornamental and food gardening.
Thanks to all for the welcome, we're looking forward to our first Kentucky Christmas with happy anticipation.
Dave

I just hope it snows this Christmas, however it probably won't. The Lexington Metro Area as a thing called a snow dome. It snows all around us, just not in this area. Last night was an example, before it warmed up the system started heading North and South around the Lexington area and then it warmed up and then we got moisture. Atleast it is cold now and we have flurries and scattered showers. My King Sago now has some burnt leaves but overall looks good, It is still alive obvoiously. My plams stored indoors untill Spring when I can plant then in the ground all are doing good too. Enjoy your first taste of Winter!

-jake

Unfortunately the 'Lexington dome' topography lent itself to that horrific ice storm in 2003 that decimated the area (ice 1" thick on EVERYTHING). The funny thing is.. I don't believe we were on the national news, but when the same thing happened this weekend in the Midwest their ice storm has been HUGE news. It seems like their ice trouble is more large-scale, but just as devastating as it was here. After the experience of being without electric for 4 days I learned how valuable it was to own a kerosene heater, just for these type of rare emergencies. In 2003 I was renting an apartment with no plants. It would be a different story today for me now that I am a home owner.

I was in Lexington for that storm...staying with my sister in law and her husband (my wife was attending a conference downtown - the hotel had power). B.i.L. works for one of the power companies, he made it home for about 6 hrs. out of 5 days, S.i.L. and I spent the four days we were blacked out chasing down kerosene for the heater...I'm planning on installing a propane or possibly diesel generator ASAP, with a BIG tank.

I visited Con Robinson Bulk Materials today to get a cubic yard of compost for my newly reorganized garden (trellis is moved north to open up more light on the other end of the garden - which I also expanded). They've raised the price $2, so expect to pay $10 this year. Their prices on mulch, topsoil and compost-soil mix is unchanged. Even with the increase I will never buy another bag of compost or mulch from the big box stores. Such a ripoff, unless you don't have a pickup or trailer.

Anyhow I put down my own Starbucks partially-done compost and then put the Con Robinson compost on top. My yard is a bit horse-poo stinky, but not bad. My beds are THICK and ready for plants. The light snow on the ground this morning worried me, but I figured I needed my beds all set so the tough part will be done.

Here's some photos of my prepped garden (new, larger and improved this year) :)

Welcome to Ky. I have only been here for 4 years. So I am far from experienced in this zone. I live in Paris, Ky, just 17 miles north of Lexington. We moved from northern Illinois, to discover some interesting plants here, that did not grow there.

Welcome to Kentucky!
I am in Louisville

be sure and check out the thread about the plant swap here -we hope to have a big crowd with lots of plants to share/give

just add to the swap thread-it will get the most 'looks' there-

join us even if you don't have much to share-
it's fun!

best wishes and happy gardening!
Linda