Jim, beautiful as usual!

very very nice pics!!! i remember everything from last year and all has gotten sooo much larger and healthy! did u grow that smaller mexican fan in the beginning pics from a seed? anyway super pics!!! -Justin in VB

Everything is looking great!! Brazoria is next on my list! And Ive been seeing castor beans a lot around here (one person had them about 11 feet tall already!). I was definitely thinking of your yard when I saw those castors (I never even heard of castor beans until I saw your pics!). Your tree ferns are looking great. The one I got this spring is growing so fast! It has some pretty nice sized leaves. Are you keeping yours in the ground? I hope it goes well if you are! My hawaiian tree fern has finally rooted but It hasnt grown any leaves yet. I hear they are very picky so I really hope I dont kill it! Your cacti and succulents are looking really nice also! Your yard keeps on getting better and better every year! I cant believe the variety of plants you have! Hopefully frost will come late this year!
Good luck!
-Alex

Wow. You are not kidding about the growth this summer. Pretty amazing. Very nice!

Very beautifual and impressive, especially knowing the work involved and after seeing your winter protection pictures. You northern zone pushers are an inspiration! Makes me want to take the chance to plant and winter protect a Bismarckia nobilis here in zone 8b Southern NM!!! thanks for your posts.

Hi Jim,

Great tour and feel good garden. I love the shot of the bananas looking off the patio in the sun. It gives that warm weather feel and privacy. It is nice.

Is it true a frost could be soon by you - you mentioned it. I figured you do not see frost til October. Our suburbs here see it late October or later and the city doesn't really get frost, we just dip below 32 sometime in November usually.

Thanks guys/gals.

Justin

I did grow the Washys from seed,I have 2,they are both Filibusta.

Alex

I am keeping the T.ferns in the ground.

Greg

Frost usually hits in Oct but there were no killing freezes until December last year.

Looks great jim how do you get your castor beans and you bannanas to grow so tall. my castor beans are stuck at 2 feet tall and my musa basjoo is stuck at 4 feet tall

Jim,

FANTASTIC!!!! I'm really impressed with the major growth you get given your zone. That is just amazing! Beautiful! I have to say once again, I am totally jealous of your Castor Beans. Mine have struggled and barely got to at most 2 feet. They are in containers but still. Next summer I am going to plant them out in the ground. The good thing is that they at least are blooming and producing seeds. =o)

Great work!!!!!!

Hey jim every thing looks amazing

Nice growth Jim! Looking good as usual.

Jim,Looks like your plants are all doing great.It's a shame someone took your biggest leaves off your colocasia gigantea.If I remember correctly,aren't Castor bean plants poisonous,or is it just the beans that's poisonous?I know how you feel about someone stealing leaves off your plant.Someone stole a couple leaves off my biggest banana plant.I think I will try to grow a colocasia gigantea next year.Have you ever grown a Dracunculus plant?I'm thinking about growing one of those too.I really like the Madagascar palm :)

Not familiar with Dracunculus plant,is that the one with the massive flower?

If so than I have thought of growing it(-:

Thanks guys/girls-

Nova-I think your Castors will get much bigger in the gound,
they require much water and I use a lot of composted manure as well-

Dracunculus are a cousin of the Amorphophallus,there from the Mediterranean that is as equally bizarre but much more cold hardy.There rated hardy to zone 5b.Amorphophallus is probably what your thinking about.The biggest one is the A.titanum(Giant Voodoo Lily)but there not cold hardy.A.titanum has the worlds largest inflorescence of any plant to 8' tall.

I did not recognize the name but it did sound strangely familiar.........

I tried growing one last year but it never did anything-until it died-)-:

If I could find this color,I would try it again!

Here is a link that might be useful: Drac

Hey Jim,

Great looking pictures!!!

Everything looks so healthy and happy growing in Iowa...I still can't believe the different varities of palms, bananas, ferns and succulents that you have!!

Great work!!!

That Thai Giant flower is still impressive regardless of the damage that someone did to the plant!!! I hope they had a run in with your cacti that night!!! :)

Take care everyone,

Laura in VB

I just bought a new apartment building near my house and heres what the neighbors look like. They have a few massive nests starting to become an infestation all over the entir city. Jim I have been trying to reach you lol.

Here is a link that might be useful: New neighbors

Mike

If you phone # is still the same I will call you-if not e-mail me your #

jimpdelaney@yahoo.com

very very nice abyssiam where do u keep it in winter? do u let it die down? i would think that size u bring it in or into a greenhouse? very nice pics again fantastic yard! -Justin in VB

Thanks for your kind words Laura(-:

Tropicpalms

Last winter I lugged it upstairs and potted it up
in the room it stayed in,not happening this year!

It will be trimmed back (only as much as needed-leaves removed)to
fit through the basement door and stored over winter down
there along with some of the other non-cold hardy Bananas.

Awesome Jim! What a great summer we have had in these parts. I'm really hoping for a late first frost also. Another 6-8 weeks for the tender plants would be great. Most of my big bananas are in the 10-12 foot height range and many of this season's pups are pushing 4 and 5 feet already! One strange thing, my itinerans (?) didn't really get established. One in partial sun, the other in more shade. Only got a few feet tall. They do seem healthy though, maybe next year...

And I still can't get over the yucca thompsoniana. I'm just amazed with how well it established itself. It is growing noticably EVERY DAY. The head has more than doubled in size and it is well over 5 feet tall now. Some of the newer spikes are 3 feet long! I can only imagine what this thing will do next year once it is really established (was planted early this spring and came totally bare-root).

Here's to a nice fall!

Hi Jim,

I really like the look of those 11' banana's. They must look cool in rain storms. I have a great idea for your catus garden. An old bleached bison skull will finish it up.

Your garden has attracted a lot of visitors I am sure. Like famous gardens, you may need to consider a fence and to report stealing to 911. Word will get out when they see a police car in front of your house that stealing your plants is not OK.

I'm not to attached to the temps this spring-
I won't mind having just the palms around cuz they are the ones that will keep me company this winter!(-:

A dry spring would be nice and some cold to help harden off the palms-unlike last year!

These Itinerans we bought are actually Yunnanensis)-:

+I meant a dry fall-not spring.

Thanks Greg

I try to avoid calling the cops unless I would really need to,
someone stealing a leaf would probably be a joke to them
unless they are into cold hardy gardening-

more likely corn.(-: