Sounds nice Mike,good to hear from you again,BTW,did you ever find a basjoo?

Sorry jim Ive been working over time and very worn out I read the board at work just cant post. I did find some basoo here locally and that tree fern I wanted

They are selling fairly large sabal minors (considering how slow they are) at a nursery I found in Tinley Park (ted's green house). They also have hardy cactus and bananas there. The sabals are only $12.50 each, but they are fairly overgrown. I'm finding some interesting plants at obscure nurseries here in the chicagoland area. No chance that you'd tell where you found all those palms Mike?

Here are some of the hardy cacti from there...

ofcourse fr8train they are at a nursey east of sids nursey about 1/4 mile in palos on southwest highway. Just before harlem on the north side of the street you will see 2 huge queens in the front of the place

fr8train......the nursery is called Graff gardens in worth illinois (708)361-7805 .....ask for dwayne they will special order for u if u dont find something ( i ordered a jamaican tall coco that is coming hopefully this weeekend supposed to be about 7 feet tall along with a washingtonia) plus i was told every friday evening they get a load of palms in for at least the next couple of weeks.....i happened to drive by sat morning seen all of the palms... stopped by and bought a well overgrown butia in a 10 gallon pot. most of their palms are $42 but the 12 to 15 footers are $125....Mike i am glad you enjoyed the experience! I got to see a pic of that queen towering in your yard because at the nursery that guy was HUGE! here is a pic of my butia.

We only really have one place here in town,that purchases nice size palms,last year they had fox tails and Xmas palms, in a pot,wanting anywhere from $300 to $600 bucks,depending on the size,5 ft tall to 8ft tall,pots were so huge only a forklift could lift them up,you would have to have them delivered,and placed them were you would want them.
Anyway they had maybe a dozen or so,and they were all sold,by the time I got there.
I asked several workers were they came from,and who bought all of them,they told me they weren't allowed to give out that info,BTW this nursery is located in the upper money side of town,if I could have bought one,I could have never got the pot thru a 36 indoor to overwinter in the greenhouse,I mean these wooden boxes must have been 4ft wide at least.
You know they had to come from the most southern Florida,and can you imagine what the shipping cost most have ran to ship these????
Any way how can a grower make any real money on palms like this and afford to ship them,and not only that how can a nursery afford to buy and sell them,them have to deliver and set them up,I mean to haul a forklift around on a huge truck and then pay someone to load and unload at a home or business,involves some serious money!!!
Btw I never saw or heard where these palms went,were talking huge palms,we do have some very rich people here in town,like Charles Koch,of Koch Industries,but I don't know anyone in town with a big enough greenhouse to overwinter these. There's only a couple places in town you can buy Trachy windmills,but you can buy Areca's and Majesty palms at a lot of places,for under $15.
I'm going to retire in a couple years so I'm growing several varieties by seed,that aren't found around here,hoping to make a little pocket money after I retire,don't plan on getting rich,just wanting something to help pass the time and keep me somewhat active.
Any comments on this are sure welcome.
I read a lot on these forums,just don't post very much,as I don't type very fast,and it takes me a long time to get out what I want to say,getting old is not what I expected!!!!!LLOL

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The yard looks terrible I should have it in order in a week or two.

Looking good mike! U planted the queen palm in the ground........r u gonna attempt to overwinter it or just let it ride? I like your xmas palm......it don't look to bad....I think mine is gonna pull through....u find a spot for the fan palm and pindo yet?

The pindo is going in between the two fortunei. I have a butia there now but it recieved to much damage last year and its growth is stunted so I need to pull it out. The mediteranean palm is still up in the air. I want to put it near the cactus and yucca. Did you get your pool up brian?

Spataro,super nice Butia!good job.
Nice picks Mike,I am so impatient to see my nanars get going,they have each put out 2 leaves though and with some 80s this week should start to move out!

Mike, Spataro, your butia's look great! Mike, your palms are beautiful. I can't wait to see update shots later this year. Do you have any shot's of the giant palm (in the pot, butia?) in the second to last picture?

dbrya1
They may have some greenhouses that rent out space for the winter. I know wealthy people up here do it as I was at one (of those greenhouses). They had a lot of huge potted palms and they told me (As I was wondering if they were for sale, not that I could have purchased any of them).

Jim, I'm also anxiously awaiting the 80's that are supposed to come this week! It's been a disappointingly cool spring so far. :(

Great looking palms!!!
Warm enough in Chicago to go barefoot????
Can you smell pizza cooking when your outside working???
Can't wait to see what it looks like after you get it all planted.
There's a place here in town,where they have a 40x100 ft greenhouse,that use just for storage,as they have a seed and parrot business,it has a lot of broken glass,I've been trying to get her to rent me a space to overwinter plants,hopefully I can convince her!

thanx alot everyone

jim its been in the 80's 2 days in a row now. I am bring my musa Saba, my bismark, and my bird of paridise out tomorrow

Brian I am thinking about protecting it but I might dig them up and put them in the car was who knows

dbryal its hot lol in my yard nice micro climate its VERY hot. And the plant in the other big pot is my BIG butia.

Is this "reputable" nursery advising you of the chances of survival of these palms in zone 6 without considerable protection? And, these are not small purchases ($$).

I think it's unethical that a nursery in the greater Chicago area is selling coconut, queen and CHristmas palms, which will NEVER survive an upper Midwest winter without substantial effort and likely disappointment.

I have a lot more hope for your efforts in overwintering the pindo and european fan palm, the washingtonia to an extend, their crownshafts turn to mush at 10 F.

gusolie here in Chicago people buy up palms faster then they can deliver them. Every one knows they are for one year let them die and buy more next year. The ones I have and a few others on this and othe forums do get outside protection. Our nurseries around here are very honest and tell you flat out it wont survive the winter.( even though some do with protection )I know theres supposed to be a recession but I refuse to participate. Plus buying palms helps out all of the local nurseries

Wow Mike! Looks great. Every year you get more and more impressive specimen plants. Your collection's looking good. That queen palm is gonna be huge by the end of the summer. Looks like you managed to save one of your big sabal minors? Any protection over winter?

Stuff looks great mike !

topher2006 how are you gorgeous palms doing?

Ryan I used a foam box around everything this winter. Works great so great I bought a mediteranean palm and im putting it in the ground also.
Thanx to arctictropicals meathod I have alot of happy palms.