Domes Again...this time PICS
 

I went there Sunday & this time I remembered to take the lens off LOL.

That's them on left going west on I 94. They are about a mile south of freeway. They are HUGE. (bad pic)


Couldn't fit the 3rd dome in but look at comparison of domes & people. They are 85 ft tall & 140ft wide...THE DOMES - NOT PEOPLE :)


Anyone ever heard of 'Musa Bronze' nana? I didn't. It was about 5 ft high & nanas were no bigger than 2 inches. Sooo cute! I was tempted to pick one but I'd be in jail now LOL. Looks like there's a few missing---uh uh, not me.


To my surprise, I found a few Ae Ae's - this one was 8-9ft to 2nd highest leaf. Oh how I wanted to pull one of the 5-6 pups out & stick it in my jacket!!! LOL


This is all in the Tropical Dome. It smelled & felt so tropical, my cold went away for awhile. I even took my jacket off...(it was below zero outside). There were some cool birds flying around too but no poop on my head!
Forgot the name of the palm, but that looks like black EE in front(?).


And then I found the ICE CREAM NANA -- with a big bunch hanging on at left! Another plant at right has a flower (arrows)...(bad pic).


The IC must've been 25 ft high. The one in middle had the fruit. There is a sanguinelli orange in the background.



Then to the Arid Dome. Cactus like I've never dreamed of!


This Dragon Blood Tree fascinated me. It had berries low enough so that I could steal a few for planting seeds. I tried to steal many seeds throughout the domes but they were too high to reach.
Bunch of berries at right....what a COOL TREE! This tree is 30 yrs old & the one in pic is believed to be 1,000 yrs old. It 'bleeds' a red liquid when cut & it is believed to be a healing dragons blood. Oooh, I hope the seeds germinate!!!

...Canary Islands
"Featured on a small "island" along the walk is the splendid Dracaena draco, the Dragon Tree. It was so named because its red sap was once marketed as "dragon's blood" during medieval times. This species often grows to immense size and can be well over 1,000 years old."


It was worth going back the 2nd time. I found so many plants that I'm growing or know of. They had cocoa, a giant pumello, all kinds of fruits, palms, orchids, - just too many to mention. I didn't post any of the flower dome - I didn't want to take up too much room. They were boring in comparison.
I took over 70 pics & many didn't turn out (sorry :(). I would like some advice on a new camera to buy .. not expensive though.
It sure was a thrill to see these plants in person while I've only seen pics of them. And to think, they are only a few miles away from me in winter!
Here's a link that Gadget posted before of the Milwaukee Domes with a pic of Ice Cream banana from a few years ago.It sure looks pretty but the one now has more fingers & a bigger bunch.

Banana Tree on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

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Nice photos Patty, thanks for sharing.

The first banana shown ("Musa 'Bronze'") is Musa laterita. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Musa ornata 'Bronze'.

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Thanks, Patty. Was there any mention of what their heating bill runs???

Harvey

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Thanks Gabe. Here's a pic of the sign in front.

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Great stuff Patty.....THANKS! Next time wear a long trenchcoat, sunglasses and your highest heels, you'll have that AE AE and some seeds yet!

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The "palm" in the background of your Black Taro picture isn't a palm - it's one of the Anthuriums from sect. Pachyneurium. Given its size, I'd guess A. cubense.

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Don't mean to knock ya Lorax. leaves too narrow and undulated to be Anthurium cubense. Probably Anthurium schlechtendahlii.

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Those are some amazing greenhouses!

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Hey Patty, those are pretty cool ... err warm!

What is the name of that place and can you give a website or location? Thanks!

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Mitchell Park Conservatory (The Domes)

There is also a link at bottom of first post here if you want to see more pics of plants.
Layton Blvd is really 27th street.
The domes just reopened after being closed for months. They put lots of cool lights in for light shows at night. Driving on I 94 at night, you can see the tops of domes all lit up in blue. In the floral dome, there is a big blue ball at top & at night it looks like a big full moon.
I gotta post this pic of the Travelers Tree (or Palm?) - one of my favorites. It is HUGE.
Leaves (fronds) were really greener than pic.


Lousy camera...Lorax is helping me pick out a new one :)

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Thanks, found it!

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Richard where u get a ladder that tall?

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Thanks for sharing the pictures Patty. If your into strange plants check out my thread Some plants around the house - Bananas.org

We actually just gave our neighbor our Dragon tree (Dracaena) that was about 6 feet tall. Originally we were going to plant it in the front yard but ran out of space when we decided to keep the lawn for the dogs to play on.

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EEEEEK you gave away a dragon tree??!! That's worse than giving away a AE AE.
I looked at your pics. The Puya flowers are too cool...never saw anything like that.

Richard, you gonna 'drop in' sometime LOL

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I can always go see it next door when I want! Actually I've almost completely landscaped her yard with free plants now! I'm a bit jealous of how some of them are doing so well for her. She also now owns my SDC and it's doing great!

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Great Pics. Very interesting

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Are we talking about the common Dracaena sold in Walmart etc. out here for a few dollars?

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That is great Mitchel, that you can watch them grow & know that your neighbor's taking good care. I give plants away & ppl let them die. I'm careful who I give away to now.

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No we are talking about Dracaena Draco more commonly known as Dragon Tree.

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Hey Patty, good about your attitude of giving plants away. I am not a stingy guy but I am extremely careful where any of my plant goes. I give them away on condition that it comes back to me if they can't take care of it anymore or lose interest in it. Also, they are not to give it away for 'fun'. I have refused to sell my plants to people who are in doubt! A bit demanding on my side, rite? :ha:

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WOW!!! Very Cool!!!!
Thanks for the pics!
Kylie

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Not at all demanding Tog. That is what I should've said to ppl. I take the time to take care of my plants & to know they are dyeing or not taken care of is very disappointing. I once gave a sculptured sprinkler I made (I used to make them & sell at art shows) to a friend. It was selling for $250.00. She gave it to her daughter (grrrr). I know it's trashed as daughter had small kids. The same 'daughter' I gave a grape vine to. It is dead now. After almost entire day of pruning & digging it out & bagging rootball etc., she didn't water it.
I once gave next door neighbor a bottle of my ho-made wine. A month or 2 later I saw it standing up on sill in south facing window. A bottle of wine in a sunny window??!! I'm sure by then the cork dried out & it all turned to vinegar. Took 2 years to make 25 bottles!
OctoMom wanted lots of kids. She just had 8 babies & with 6 other kids, she can't take care of them. Let's not give her any plants OK?

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OctoMom wanted lots of kids. She just had 8 babies & with 6 other kids, she can't take care of them. Let's not give her any plants OK?
She needs a name change to MaMaKalanchoe, ya know the 1,000 bb plt...
:ha::ha::ha::ha::ha::ha::ha::ha::ha::ha::ha:

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:ha::ha::ha::ha:

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What awesome pictures, and WOW what incredible plants
Christine

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Here is the Dragon tree I gave away. It actually has three heads, one is hiding a bit behind the other.

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I wonder what that would be worth???
Seeds did not germinate yet...I'll keep trying for a year if necessary.

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Patty, if the D draco sds are fresh, they should pop by the 2nd week after sowing. I did mine the usual way in a big enclosed deli box. I got 85/100. To my surprise, they can take quite a lot of water after the 4 mth. In an earlier batch I got 4 pure white albinos which did not live for long.
Now the rest are growing very well but slow.

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We paid $275 for it 5 years ago from this place. We got the #24 size.

Botanical Partners - Dracaena dracos

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Great pictures, Patty! I love all those plants....amazing. I've been to a few botanical centers with domes like that and they are always a sight to behold! And speaking of domes, I actually built an icosohedral geodesic dome kinda like the ones from the pictures (though not a greenhouse) for a festival. It was 24' in diameter and about 14' tall and served as the Iowa sound stage for a music/art/cultural festival in Missouri. Domes are therefore, one of my interests!

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Mitchel, what does AO white (or green or red etc) mean? $250.00?? good thing it's next door to look at it. It must be special!

Tog, thanks for germination info. The seeds were planted 2 days after I picked them. Only 4 of them...wish there were more.
I can always go back for more LOL.

Bryan, I goofed on the height (I said 180ft tall). Reading back on the 'history' I see it's 85ft high & 140 ft wide. I'd sure love to have a greenhouse similsr - not so big.
I took more pics but could never fit all the plants on here & a lot didn't turn out.
I made my first trip to MO last Sept...went thru St. Louis almost to Kansas City & then to Branson...on a Harley. Never got stopped for not wearing helmets till Branson but cop let us go (we didn't know helmet law there). MO is beautiful esp Lakes of the Ozarks! On the way back we saw the Budweiser Clydesdales at a Harley dealership there - still celebrating the anniversary. Mike can have his Harley - I'll take a Clydesdale :)... oops, and a dragon tree LOL

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Patty, I think those are tag/ribbon colors that tell the workers which plant is what price etc.

My neighbor is very nice and doesn't give me grief for the noise I make in the garage so it's a good investment for me! It's also nice getting to visit it!

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Yeah, Missouri is pretty beautiful. I like all the exposed limestone cliffs along the highways I traverse to get back to Iowa. Glad you saw the Budweiser factory....I've been there too, the tour is pretty interesting.

And 85 feet tall is still pretty huge! That's a lot of air to heat, but maybe if the windows are efficient it's not so bad. Yeah, I definitely want to have a nice greenhouse someday (preferably a dome!). There are some really awesome ones available at Pacific Domes if you're interested.

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Wow, quite a tag for this size. How old you figure it is at this size?
I love the scene in Godfather 2 & 3 when they had a meeting in Sicily next to a D draco.

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Hmm, that's a good question and one I never asked! I really have no idea! I can tell you that it has only grown about a foot and half in 5 years.

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The first Dragon Tree seed I planted has germinated2-3 days ago!!! When I went back to Domes, I stole 3 more seeds & I'm waiting for them to germinate.
I pm'd Tog & Mitchel as I wanted them to be first to know. I'm so excited!!! WHOOPIE
First seed was planted March 2 so it only took 2 weeks just like Tog said.

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hey pattie i found this nice picture it is a cool looking tree what r u gonna do with it in wisconsin when it gets this big lol

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J, they live to be over 1,000 yrs old! That tree might be 200yrs old. I figure I won't be alive when it's 4-5ft tall LOL. You should get to the domes next time you're in the area... you will LOVE it. The tree there is 30 yrs old. You can still steal some seeds off it! I couldn't take my eyes off it.

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At closer look, that is much older than 200 yrs. WOW

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Very nice J. I will still want the one in the Godfather movie :ha:

Patty, when you get to the Wisconsin tree, dig it up and take it home.


Pat, the pix above are part of the batch of Dracaena draco subsp draco which I germinated in '08. They are now 9 mths old. I keep them under a 50% netting out in the open at my nursery. I am surprised that they can take the tropical rains like crazy and had only 1 weak sdlg crash out. I have 1 plant grown under full sun at home and it is double the size of these. Great plants!

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Thanks Tog, they are bigger than what I thought they'd be- and in only 9 months!
I am paying attention to when next time Godfather 2 & 3 will be on. Gotta see the Dragon tree there.

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Patty, since you are not doing many of them, when they start to grow, plant 2 or 3 in a single pot. As they mature, their roots will inter twine and you will have a nice sexy lookin' clump! They will make heck of a show piece. Many people do this with palms and they look great later.
Btw, I got 2 germinated with multiple stems. Nice looking. :0517:

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pattie i just got back from those domes and do i have pics i will post some i took like 100 pictures i got some of those dragon tree seeds too and some cuttings lol i will post a few pictures when i unpack everything everthing there was in bloom the gingers bananas, palms it was so cool i was there all day till my wife dragged me out lol

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heres some picture ill post a few ever day

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more

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So glad you made it there j!! I was going to pm you to go there & get some dragon tree seeds while they are there. You grow lots of tropical stuff & this would fit in. Do you have a nursery?
What kind of cuttings did you get??? I'm jealous LOL. Did that bronze nanna still have fruit on? I was so tempted to pick a nanna but Mike gave me a look like "don't you dare".
Looking FWD to more pics. Is there any way you can reduce the size? When I click on pic, it gets so huge that I can't see it. I can really only see the thumbnails which are small.
Which nanna is that with the flower strait up?
I wish I got more seeds of D tree. I only had nerve to pick 4 berries & all 4 are up. How many did you get? There musta been thousands. Thanks for posting!

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i got like 12 i picked them right in front of ppl they all gave me drity looks but who cares what r they gonna do with them right they already got one big tree lol i got cutting from a ginger that was in bloom the seeds were germinating right on the flower the bananas where from one of the ice creams those were the biggest ice creams i have ever seen the pstems were the size of sabas i have never seen them or heard of them that big i loved that place it was cool cant wait to get back there to see the aeae fruit it should be ready soon and the flower picture is of the one u where talking about i was gonna pick a fruit off but they aint nearly ready yet

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more

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I will have to check there later in year to see if AeAe has fruits. If it does, I'll let you know.
Tog, if you're here, what kind of potting mix is good for DT? I have the seedlings in miracle grow mix w/ extra perlite.

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Your mix sounds fine. Nothing soggy though. I use a media which is unique to here for most things, it's burnt top soil. A totally illegal and eco unfriendly process where the top soil is burnt till everything breaks down making it extremely porous.

Go slow on the water for the first 2 months and then you can water heavy. Once established, they seem to enjoy the water and grow quite well. All the best. Others popped yet?