Jeff

Here are my 3 Saba bananas planted between a Queen palm and a Bismarckia palm. The smaller bananas are 3 young Raja Puri's.


Saba pseudostems


Igcpoca - I stripped off some old leaf sheaths and it was pure white underneath. It contrasted with the black half of the pseudostem.


Pisang Raja growing at the side of the house reaching for the sun.


Hua Moa, my favorite cooking banana.

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Jeff in Costa Rica

Southern-Grower

hey jeff,

excellant looking plants and scape!!!
kinda wished i was in tampa, you guys got it going on..

hey is that a butia capitia palm frond beside Igcpoca?

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Happy Growing,

SG

Enjoy Life as it's too Short

bananalover

Very nice! Love the pictures. Afraid I don't wish to be in Tampa though, lol. Kind of like what I can grow here, we get a little bit of both worlds, warm and cold, though there are also a lot of both we can't grow

Jeff

Thanks SG and Bananalover!

SG, that's actually the lower fronds of my Dypsis decaryi (Triangle Palm). Here is a picture of it from the other side. I have cannas, heliconias and bananas planted all around it. The cannas are getting dug out next spring and replaced with red colored crotons. The cannas keep growing so tall that they fall over and look messy.

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Jeff in Costa Rica

Southern-Grower

sweet

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Happy Growing,

SG

Enjoy Life as it's too Short

bigdog

Jeff, that's a great-looking triangle palm. My mother lives near Oviedo, FL, and just installed one this year. Here it is, much younger than yours, but still a really nice palm.

Jeff

Thanks. They are one of my favorites and I feel they should be planted more in Central FL. Mine was smaller than your mom's when I planted it 4 years ago and is now about 12 feet tall. They have a reputation for being slow but I find them to be fast growing. I planted a second one last year and it has already almost doubled in size. Is she growing any bananas? I love planting palms and bananas together for that truly tropical look. Underplant with some heliconias, gingers and bromeliads and I'm really happy!

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Jeff in Costa Rica

bigdog

Jeff, you make me sick, lol! J/k. I've tried to get Mom to plant bananas, and she likes how they look, but she's allergic to the fruit. Somehow, she thinks that she would also be allergic to the actual plant, just by coming into contact with the leaves. I'm still working on her, lol! I've got palms, bananas, and gingers here in my yard, but no heliconias or bromeliads . Can't grow any of those costas and alpinia gingers like you can, but hedychium species do pretty well. The only bromeliad that even has a chance outside here is Spanish moss and close relatives, and that's pushing the envelope pretty far. Got any bismarkias? Mom planted a couple of them too:



Gotta love the palms!

- Frank

Jeff

Hey Frank, Of course I am growing a Biz! Only one of them though. I do not have much room left that gets full sun. I have a lot of live oaks growing in the rest of my yard that provide too much shade. That's why I am running out of room for bananas - I keep adding more palms to my collection that need full sun. Here's a picture from last weekend. I recently had to cut off a lot of the lower fronds so it doesn't look as good as it did. It is planted right next to the sidewalk and the fronds were jabbing people as they walked by. This was planted as a seedling in 2001 and is now almost 9 feet tall overall. You can also see my Saba bananas planted just to the left of the Biz. They are also right next to the sidewalk and people walking by always ask me "how come my banana trees don't get that big?"

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Jeff in Costa Rica

AnnaJW

Hmmm,
So, how close can I plant banana plants to palms? I was worried one might push the other out root-wise. Especially when pups start to push up.

Anna

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-Anna Banana -

Living my life in MMORPG's

momoese

Jeff, that is an amazing plant! It's a bismarkia right? Stunning!

bigdog

Jeff, that's a beauty! What other palm gems do you have there? Whenever I get my own house, I'm sure I'll have the yard absolutely covered in hardy palms and bananas . Hmm...waiting for you to put some pics of bananas AND palms in the photo gallery.

Jeff

Anna, I have bananas planted anywhere from 2-6 feet away from palms. I have them planted closer to taller palms so the bananas can grow underneath the palm canopy and further away from smaller palms. I've never had any problems with roots interfering with each other.

Thanks Momoese, yes it is Bismarckia nobilis - a very fast growing palm.

Frank, I have collected so many palms now that I have lost count. Many of them are in pots. Here's a list of my palms that are planted in the ground (that I can think of right now). Dypsis decaryi, Veitchia arecina, Bismarckia nobilis, Washingtonia robusta, Archontophoenix tuckeri, Dypsis leptocheilos, Cocos nucifera, Wodyetia bifurcata, Roystonia regia, Syagrus sancona, Syagrus romanzoffiana, Sabal mauritiiformis, Sabal bermudana, Phoenix rupicola, Dypsis lutescens, Archontophoenix purpurea, Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, Areca vestiaria (red crownshaft), Caryota maxima, Chamaedorea oblongata, Chamaedorea metallica, Chamaedorea radicalis, Chamaedorea seifrizii, Cryosophila albida, Siphokentia beguinii, Ptychosperma elegans, Kerriodoxa elegans, Carpentaria acuminata and Licuala aurantiaca. I have lots more growing in pots. There are so many more I want to plant but I just don't have the space. I've started planting them in my friends yards now! I'll try and get some pics in the gallery soon.

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Jeff in Costa Rica

momoese

Jeff, we have a show here in Cali called California's Gold (I think?) hosted by Huell Howser on KCET. It was either this show or another he does called Exploring LA with Huell where he visited a guy I believe in Orange County who collects Palms and has completely covered his property and a little city owned property with them. I think you can order the episodes online at KCET. I was blown away and I'm not really a palm guy so you would probably really dig it.

Hey I found it!

http://www.calgold.com/visiting/Defa...s=700&Show=331

Jeff

Thanks Mitchel!

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Jeff in Costa Rica

tropicalkid

Jeff:
Do you happen to have any potted bismarckias for sale? How cold-hardy are them?
Carlos(tropicalkid)

Jeff

Carlos,

5 seeds that I collected a few months ago have just recently sprouted. I already have them potted in 3 gallon pots.

They are relatively cold hardy for Central Florida but will not take prolonged freezes. Where are you located?

Jeff

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Jeff in Costa Rica

MediaHound

I collected Bismarkia seeds a few months ago and still waiting for them to sprout.

Anyway, here's my triangle palm since we're showin them



And wow has that Travellers palm on the right grown since this photo was taken! Time to take some new ones

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tropicalkid

It's o. k. I already found some.Thanks anyways.I'm located in Troy, MI, not too weather friendly, but will be moving to Raleigh, NC in June.I plan to bring them in along with my potted 'nanas

Carlos(tropicalkid)

AnnaJW

Hmmm... Jeff: are you planning on selling any seedlings? Seems like all of the larger palms we see around here are Queens, Mexican Fans, and King Palms. I'd love to bring something new into the area.

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-Anna Banana -

Living my life in MMORPG's