Great pics! Everything looks like its on its way to a great growing season! Your new med palm is huge! I would not be surprised at all if you get some blooms soon! Your cannas and elephant ears are definitely ahead of mine! Some of my cannas just popped up 2 weeks ago. Right now they are about a foot tall. My Dioon Spinulosum just finished flushing. The new fronds still have to harden off so it should be looking back to normal in about 2 weeks. Your majesty palm is still looking great and Im glad that your needle palm is comming back for you! Im also really happy so see that the unprotected windmill palm seedlings survived with no damage! They will definitely have much better cold tolerance. Usually my prickly pear cactus are blooming by now, but nothing yet. Maybe they will start forming buds soon. They had a slow spring.

Thanks for sharing, You will definitely have a jungle this summer.
-Alex

Thanks Alex

The med fan palm already bloomed this year.

I started my cannas in pots before putting them in the ground. Some of them like the Wyoming have kept indoors all winter under florescent lights so that gave them a head start. My dioons already flushed at this time last year so they are behind this year. I planted lots of windmill palm seeds everywhere last year . Last year almost all of them survived the winter after being covered in snow, ice, and freezing rain. They saw 5 degrees (I think)I planted some more seeds this year too. i have some seeds left if anyone wants to trade. My prickly pear blooms every year. Being in full sun and some fertilizer helps alot.

Looking good Dennis

I especially like the new Waggie,one of my favorite Trachys for sure!

Thanks Jim They are a really unique trachycarpus

The yard is looking good, I'm a little surprised by your minor dying off. Glad that your needle is coming back though, and good luck with the new trachy. Not sure whats up with the pear. Did you check it for a infestation or anything that would suggest a disease?

I have found both minors and needles to be less hardy than trachys in my zone. The minor was a small one probably greenhouse grown. I didnt see any type of bug or fungus on the tree.

I think that when needle palms are young, they just arent that cold hardy. There native range is much more limited than Sabal Minors (probably for lots of reasons, but I think some of it might have to do with cold tolerance when younger). I have seen pics of large needle palms doing fantastic in DC unprotected which has a similar climate to here and I also remember seeing pics of young needle palms doing well in New York (and I saw one at Central Park doing well). I think needle palms at box stores like Home Depot arent that cold hardy. It looks like yours will make a great come back and maybe now that its used to the cold, it will be more resistant for you this winter.

Windmill palms are probably the best cold hardy palms for NYC because They just arent as picky for some reason. I think that Sabal Minors also have a good chance here, but only in the right conditions.
I have the same problems with Needles and Minors as you.

-Alex

For such a small area, you really take advantage of what you have! Looks great!!!

Alex I know it has too do with them being grown for the big box stores. They are probably grown very quickly in greenhouses. I know there is a needle palm around the block from me. Its never protected and always has no winter damage.
I protected my windmill palm with Christmas lights and a plastic box. The temp probably never dropped below 20. After the winter it was all green but the spear pulled on the palm and all the pups. The leaves died a few weeks later. If the palm never went below 20 this should not have happened.

Mastiffhoo thanks. I plan on expanding even more.

Hello EVeryone..

Staten Island...

I love the look of your yard....you have done so much to beautify your yard..i see that you have lights..they must be beautiful at night!!!

What an oasis you have...enj0y the pool and have a great summer!!!

Pretty Work!!

Laura in VB

P.S. Hi Brian...Cavs did a great job in Baseball today...Chris T lives right down the street from me..he played soccer with my son...what a special player he is...

: ) How have you been....?

Thanks laura. The lights look nice at night and they are solar.

Looking really good. Keep an eye on that bamboo though. It could grow into your neighbor's yard and then you will have a two-front war.

Thanks Jacklord. You cant see it but there is a retaining wall between the properties and a 5 foot drop, so Im not concerned on that side.

Great pics. How do you get your majesty palm to grow so full? What's the secret? Keep it moist or full sun or shade???

How are the magesty,sago,and pindo palm you put in the ground doing? Id love to know. Also what state are you in if you can plant those outside? And what does overwintering mean? Thanks!!!!

islandbreeze here are my secrets for the palm

It stays outside from late march till right5 before the first frost- sometimes till december- outside in full sun. I feed it with both 10-10-10 and lawn fertilizer(without pesticides or weed killer) on a weekly basis. I give it epson salt in the spring and fall. It gets watered daily. I keep the drainage dish full always. I also dont trim any leaves except completely yellow ones. Indoors it stays at a south facing window and gets watered weekly. I give it a shower a few times a winter to keep dust and spider mites at bay.

Hunter M.

My majesty, sago, and pindo are doing great. The majesty palm is an illusion, its really a pot buried in the ground.
The sago and pindo are really in the ground.Both were in the ground since last year and protected with christmas lights and plastic container for the winter. The sago lost allof its leaves except one.It just flushed (grew a new set of leaves) and it looks better than last year.

Im located in southern NY zone 7a but it rarely gets below 7b temps.

I consider overwintering to mean that a plant survives the winter in the ground outside.

There is a possibility I could be moving to Bedford Virginia next year. It is also zone 7a. Could a sago and pindo palm survive there with a garbage bin and some Christmas lights in the winter?

Hunter I think so, once my pindo gets bigger I will use alex's method of protecting it with a garbage can. In va beach (a zone 8) there are huge pindos and old sagos growing.

I checked today and the sabal I thought was dead is growing a new spear. I also got my first sunflower bloom this season. I'll post pics tomorrow.

I got to take the pics today

sabal is alive

The only dioon that didnt flush last year is flushing early.

Should I move it to full sun?

another sago flushing

huge new leaf on elephant ear

This aolcasia borneo giant never got big last year and started to rot. It finally sprouted since I planted it but now its shaded out between a canna and an a colocasia

Some flowers

Dusty miller only flowers on its second year

First sunflower this year. It opened on the first day of summer

First canna flower this year opened today

Great bloom pics! My canans are still far from blooming! Congrats on the blooms from yours! I love the Dusty Miller blooms. There used to be a house with a hedge of them and it would be covered in blooms every year! I think it died in the winter of 2004 (low temperature of 2F), or maybe they moved them.

Dont move your Dioon to full sun. I did that with my Dioon and the flush of leaves stayed much more compact (which I am disappointed about!).

Your Sunflowers look great and Im glad your Sabal is giving life on Earth a second chance!

I really love the giant leaves on your Elephant ears! They really are huge! My boreno Giant I had last year constantly rotted on me in the ground. It was a lot happier when I potted it up for some reason (I dont think its too fond of the clay soil around here until it gets really warm outside).

Thanks for sharing!
-Alex

By planting the cannas early in pots it really speeds them up. My canna wyoming will probably bloom next week I see some flowers.

The dusty millers have always been hardy for me but when theres alot of snow and ice they die back to the ground and resprout in the spring.

I moved all my dioons to sun last year and I like the compact look better than the stretched out look but I think I will leave it in shade this year.

The elephant ears are really growing fast. The borneo giant doesn't like clay or moisture when its not growing. Mine rotted indoors but from a little piece of the bulb it sprouted. Unfortunately it wont get big in its spot and i dont want to risk moving it.