Jim looks great, keep it up.

Jim, your house looks like a home in Key West! Love all the bananas, and I'm mesmerized by your Thai Giant! One thing I want to try again next year is Abyssinians. I used to grow them, but I overwatered and killed one. That's the difference between Abyssinians and true bananas, you can't overwater true bananas.

I'll have to post a pic of my Thai Giant. The leaves are practically doubling in size with each new leaf coming up. Somebody dropped a tree branch on mine while trimming a tree, so one of the leaves is tore up. Once it looks nice again I'll post a pic. Great job!

Isb-I burned up one of the T-giant's leaves using fert and an
application to lower soil Ph to close together,probably didn't help that it also was 100f the same day!

Otherwise it would have another nice sized leaf there,no worries-they grow so dang fast!

Everything looks great Jim.

love the siam ruby, it really stands out. Mine is only about 6 inches tall at moment but it was a pup in the spring so i am not complaining. Nice job.

Everything is looking great! Those tree ferns have some pretty huge leaves. Mine is just starting to get some large leaves now but I think its a little smaller than yours. All your plants look great. You should try to get a greenhouse! It looks like you have a pretty good amount of space for one. But everything is looking amazing. Throw in a few towering coconut palms, maybe a breadfruit or 2 and your in Hawaii!
Thanks for the update!
Good luck!
-Alex

Hey Jim,

Everything looks great!!!

I'll second that about looking like somewhere down south...

All you need now is a little Zack Brown playing " Life is Good" and a few pineapple "coladas" or something similar....and boy, Life is Good!!!!

Great Job...love the ferns and especially that Thai Giant!!!

Laura in VB

Thanks guys and girls-

It has been an amazing summer,esp when you compare to last Julys temps -averaging 10F warmer than last July.

Everything is bigger than it was last year at the end of the season except the castors but they are 4-5 weeks ahead of schedule so,no worries!(-:

Those castors are getting pretty amazing.
I was wondering if you knew anything about hawaiian tree ferns. I just got the trunk of one (no roots, just the trunk), and I was wondering about the overall care. I hear they are a little picky but Im willing to try them! Apparently they lvoe shade and hate heat!
This summer has been great for the plants and mine are also better than ever!!

For the most part if I haven't grown it or can't,I don't
know about it(-;

When in doubt I like to look at the weather stats where it's from.

Sounds like some pretty good clues you have got there,the problem with almost any fern is supplying enough humidity in winter,in my house that means some type of cover over them to increase moisture.

Good luck Alex

Jim,

Everything looks great. I'm going to have to try one of those Thai Giants next year but I don't have any room for it!

Im going to give them a try. They are native to the mountain slopes of hawaii where it stays cool and humid. I can give it humidity, but during the summer, Im not sure how cool I can keep it! It also apparently hates being indoors but tough since it will be spending about 5 months a year there! I hope I can keep it alive. The australian tree ferns are so much easier to keep happy! Anyways, thanks for trying! Judging by these pics, there are lots of plants that you know how to take care of! And I guess the only way to truly know the requirements of a plant is by growing it yourself and seeing what it can handle!
-Alex

Good luck with your T.fern Alex,can't wait to see some pics!

Thanks Wx,I am sooooooooooooooooo glad I made a lot of room for the T-giant,it is one plant that does what it was advertised to.

Lookin good as usual, Jim