Thanks for sharing, Jonna. I've been looking for one for about a year and finally got a line on a grower in Bartow, FL. It took me two hours to drive over there. It was a small, hobbyist type place way off the beaten trail.. The only problem I see with them is they have a reputation as being slow growing. My experience tells me that with plenty of fertilizer and water, they will grow just fine. They only grow to about 5 feet, the fronds are unarmed and the trunk remains underground just sending up fronds. That is what we call a clustering palm. It will take down to 24 degrees and likes full sun to part shade. It is very salt and drought tolerant. How many treasures does a gardener miss by sticking to what the big landscapers shove at us? Besides, searching is half the fun.

Jim

Jim, that daylily I posted, "Hold Your Horses" that I was concerned about. Well, today it bloomed with the distinctive watermark, so I know it is the correct plant.



Rose Awakening.....................................................................Clematis Avant Garde.......................................Shrub Rose Old Blush

Lovely, Janice. I have Old Blush too and think it is a great rose. I just went out and looked at that daylily and it has the watermark as well. I think I will start to call it "Hold Your Horses" until someone yells at me.

Jim

Yes it sure looks to be this one, Jim.

Here's a pic of my Allagoptera in 2009:



in 2010:


and the one I took last week:


So, yeah, I'd say it is a pretty slow grower. I originally got it to put on the deck of our beach place, right on the water with lots of salt air. However, I really liked it and I can't guarantee that it would get regularly watered plus we get more hurricanes over there and I didn't want the maid to have to try and haul it inside if one were coming. Anyway, I kept it here in the city and I'm really happy I did.

It says that the trunk is usually buried in the soil but I can see a small bit of mine as it gets taller. It leans towards the sun and the pool which I really like.

I found a picture of the tag when I was searching for old pics of it, I paid $325 pesos for it. I don't remember the exchange rate then but it would be between $25 and $30us.

Lavatera trimestris 'Silver Cup' from direct seeding ...surprised me and now covering my newly planted Dayliles....will need to be moved.
..............and the closeup they Id'd for me on the Plant ID forum.



Evelyn


Hyde Hall


Pineapple Moon




Lychnis


Clematis Avant Garde


Sedum Chocolate Ball

Beautiful!

Holy Smokes!
Jim your pink flamingo is beautiful...is it a shrub,tree perennial?
Ursula, I can't believe your foxgloves...mine are just starting!
Janice...I don't know where to start...you've got so much great flowers there and wonderful photography..well done!

Just wonderful, Janice. Great color. Thanks for the tour.

I was up early this morning to greet the guys who installed the Aluminet over the roof of the OC. While they did that, I planted my newest palm It's called an Arikury palm or Syagrus schizophylla. It is a relative to the common Queen palm but only grows to 15 feet and does so slowly. Welcome to the garden Mr. Arikury!


This is a view from the new palm looking toward the bald cypress by the lake.


Looking west along the lake to the sweetbay magnolia in the corner of the property. All of these little trees I planted are getting huge.


Then this big guy flew over the lake and landed atop a cypress tree a few doors down. I zoomed in on him as best as I could. Can anyone ID him? He looked bigger than our resident red-shouldered hawk.


The purple garden was popping in the sun.


I had a look at the Amorphophallas. With the night of the big stink over, the flowers are turning black and dissolving into the ground. The foliage spikes are coming along nicely with some open already.


I snapped this pic as I walked past the agapanthus.


Lindsey, I'm glad you like the jacobinia. It is a shrub to about 5 feet tall, likes partial shade and lots of water. It blooms often and seems to behave itself.

Jim

Heavenly tour, Jim! Your new Palm is a beauty and will be fun and interesting to watch.

Fantastic photography of that Hawk! He could be in the movies!

Love the purple garden, What is the pretty purple flowered tree?

The big elephant in the purple garden is Bougainvillea aborea. See http://toptropicals.com/cgi-bi...

Jim

So, now that your nights with all the Amorphophallas blooms are over, how bad was it really? I love the foliage and have often hesitated over them at the nursery. Was it really only bad for one night?

Osprey, Jim.

Jim, Here is your "Jim's Dortmund Rose". I love it!!

and it looks almost as happy as I am.

Thanks, Kathy, I thought it might be an osprey as we have a lot of them down here and I've seen them in the yard/lake before. What threw me off was it looks huge, bigger than the landloard (red-shouldered hawk) that rules the neighborhood. I was thinking perhaps an eagle of some sort. Anyway, it was out there on that same perch early this morning and I watched it dive into the water with a tremendous splash to snag a fish. It almost scared the feathers off of a little blue heron that was wading close by.

Jim

Jonna, there is really only one night per bloom that you have to worry about. Along about dusk you will get the first whiff and then you will see flesh flies beginning to gather. During the night, you will not want to go outside and be within 50 meters of the plant. It smells like rotting flesh. It is as if a big dog has died in your yard only stronger. In the morning, it is all over. No smell at all and the bloom recedes into the ground over a period of a week or so. If I stay in the house with the AC running, I can't smell it. This year I had three blooms and the last two bloomed on the same night. All and all, it is a fun plant and I think it is worth it. The foliage is indeed beautiful.

Jim

Good to know, thanks Jim. I may give it a try and put it on the roof in a large pot. I can always shut the door to the roof when it blooms. We have vultures around the city and I wonder if any of them will show up?

Good idea, Jonna, I think that would work.

Jim

Amorphophallus konjac is not quite as powerful in the scent department! Like Jim's plant, the stink doesn't last long either.

I've only seen them at one nursery here, I'll have to check which one it is. Now I am intrigued, the foliage is really primordial.