What grows in my garden
 

For Jack Daw and everybody else.
My house is placed on a south west facing hill, 530m above sea level and
it is rather good protected against cold winds.



Musa dwarf orinoco, it's a present that was cut off from the mother plant and went strait into my ground in may. My expirience with dwarf orinoco is, that they're rooting very slowly!


Dwarf Brazilian, this one I like the most. It is planted in a iron basket. I hope it will come through winter easier this way. I did the same with d.orinoco above.
There at the side you can see one of my most expensive plants. Yes it's the little one. It is a hybrid palm, butia capitata x parajubaea cocoides.


Chamaeorops humilis, it has been cut back by frost already a few times. At the back Eriobotrya japonica, very hardy at a protected place.


Lagerstroemia indica, my new comer and will be planted out next spring.


2 x Punica granatum, I grow from seed approx. 8 years old, started blooming this year for the first time. Jack if you like some new ones let me know.
2 x mirabilis jalapa 'four o'clock flower', beautiful plant! one trachy from ticino.


Sabal minor, lost all the leaves last winter. Yucca aloifolia at the back.


Different shady loving plants at my north east side of the house includeed trachys.


Here a close up of the trachys.


Ficus carica'nero' from ticino. Phyllostachys dulcis 'sweet bamboo' at the back.


Some new trachys and grapes I dug out on my short holiday in ticino this week. That's the way all of my trachys came to me except the naini tal.


Blueberries, Fig tree and apple tree


Asimina triloba (Paw paw) 'sunflower'


Another ticino trachy between the bamboos.


Paw paw 'overlese'


Overlese from the front. The fruits look very similar to green mangoes.


A beautiful blooming passion flower.


Actinitia arguta 'ambrosia grande', new planted this spring.


Chamaerops humilis 'cerifera' together with the old grape that goes half around my house. Beside a Aloysia citrodora.


Jubaea chiliensis


Jubaea with another ticino trachy in the front.


Overlook with my new pergola


Trachycarpus fortunei 'nainital'


Musa sp yangtse, after two years in the ground then some years in the ground/pot in winter, now back in the ground again and there will it stay.


Actinidia chinensis or deliciosa 'kiwi gold'


Albizzia julibrissin


Avocado tree


Overlook


Lagenaria leucantha longissima (Kalebasse), Jack this is the vegetable plant I have sent to you. How is yours doing?


Another two fig trees


Here my friends and egg producer.:woohoonaner:


So that's it! I'm tired! :waving:

:bed: Marcel

Re: What grows in my garden
 

Well... The first word that crossed my mind was: Wow. Then the second one: Wow, with more intonation on the first letter.
That's some really good work you've been doing over these years. I see a lot of wonderful (and my dream) plants.
I have so many questions that I will probably forget to ask many of them, but a "short list" of some questions is here:

PALMS:
1) This occured to me the moment I saw your palms. Do you protect them during the winter? Is the protection necessary? Some of the plants you have are really borderline and cause you have a climate almost identical to mine, this would be the most important question that comes to my mind.
2) Trachys don't really need protection in your winters, do they?
3) I always believed, that Chamaerops humilis 'cerifera' was somewhat more frost and cold resistant than other green forms of Chamaerops, is that so?
4a) Your Jubaea seems to recover from some frost damage on its fronds. I really do hope to cultivate a more resistant Jubaea straint idle for my region, started germinating Jubaea seeds last winter (which is about 70 years of active production, caring, adapting and growing from seeds til it fruits for me... sigh).
Your plant seems to be about 8 to 13 years old, right? Do you overwinter it with protection, or simply mulch it and that's it?
At what temperature did you see the first frost damage to the leaves? Are the other, undamaged leaves new foliage, or just the old one, but undamaged?
4b) :eek: Butia capitata x Parajubaea cocoides? That will be a tough one. But it has potential to be the most beautiful palm in your wide neighbourhood. Good luck on that one. I can't wait to see your progress with it. :02:
5) What was the problem with Sabal and its defoliation? I remember it was a new addition to the collection when we spoke together in winter, was it because it wasn't established well enough yet? Do you think that it grows well in wet winters? Sabals need (or at least I read so) dry winter. Does it grow well for you?
6) In general, do you plant your palms directly into Swiss soil, or do u add sand and small rocks to the mix?

BANANAS:
7) Your Orinoco really looks as if it took some beating recently, I hope it roots well for you. Have you tested its cold-hardiness in your climate yet? Do you plan to?
8) Your Dwarf Brazilian is indeed as beautiful as I imagined it. If I'm not mistaken, that's my pup's mom, isn't it?
9) I don't see your Raja Puri pup? I hope it survived, didn't it?
10) Have you tried overwintering bananas outside in the soil or not? Do they perform well during colder days or not?
11) About your iron cage, does the soil hold on the roots when you pull it out? Or not?

FIGS:
I can't promis anything just yet, but there are some very strange varieties of figs in my neighbourhood, they were brought here from Dalmatia, about 500 years ago, during the great migration of Austro-Hungarian monarchy's nations. They are perfectly adapted to our climate now and don't resemble Brown Turkey that much, so I think it's another, local variety. It has very strange and interesting leaves. I will try to get some cuttings and propagate them, if you are interested, I can offer some.

You gave me Lagenaria leucantha longissima 'Herkuleskue' and it's growing well. So far. It's about 1,6m tall and grows more vertically. It started to grow and climb my tomatoes that are about 2,1m high now. Really a fighter, but I don't know about the blossoms. No bee seems to be willing to pollinate. :D

Other plants and seedlings: Amazing, really.
I especially like what you did with your vines. I might try to do some construction for some vines later this year.
Your egg producers are nice. Much nicer than my neighbour's, whose are literally monsters. Very large, old, robust and strong... Blah.

So many thoughts in my head now... thanks for the pix.

Re: What grows in my garden
 

Very impressive, are you sure you're in Switzerland? The Chamaerops humilis "cenifera" looks to be the same one I have here marketed as C.H. "Moroccan Blue" very nice. In the photo overlooking your pergola it looks to be a nice specimen of Mahonia. They are grown here but never do very well. Mine is only4-5 feet tall. All others I've seen here are the same. In Ireland I saw a few near Blarney Castle that were over 12'. How do they do in your area? Very beautiful photos.

Re: What grows in my garden
 

"Moroccan Blue" might be your trade name, in Europe there's cerifera for silver Chamaerops. Mahonia is a weed in here (growing to about 3m in height and 6 to 10 in width). Grown mostly in public places such as school playgrounds. Marcel's almost identical climate as I am... :D
It's one of the most beautiful exotic gardens north of Mediterranean I've seen. ;)

Re: What grows in my garden
 

They seem to be the same exact fan palm. I have the regular(2 in ground , one still in pot till next year or two when it should be old enough) and the silver which I grew from a single leaf and now at 3 years old is starting to look like a real palm. I won't dare put it out in the ground for another 3 years though(maybe I'll let HollyBerry take it till then:ha:).
Mahonia a "weed " there? Funny how that works......and both ways. I paid a good buck for my scrawny little one that has never done all that well, I think the winters are too cold even though it overwinters fine and it might need more water than just the natural rainfall here.

Re: What grows in my garden
 

Jack,
I usually start to protect my palms after Christmas. I protect all the palms more or less. The trachys are still too small to get through winter unprotected. Down to -10 is no problem for all of them, in exception of the butia x parajubaea, but when it comes to prolonged freezes, then I have to take the fleeces out.
last winter I protected them in the following way, and I also will do so in the future winters:
First a good amount of mulch around the palms( should be done around November), then when hard frost is coming in with several days below freezing, I tie the fronds together and put a fence around with a bit of a distance to the palm. Then I wrap it with fleece. Inside I fill it up with totally dry leaves. Me I use walnut leaves. Then I cover it with bubble plastic that I form to a cone. You can use what ever you like, just avoid any water to come in to the protection.
This kind of protection keeps the inside at least 6 - 8 degrees warmer I guess.
It is not getting to hot and to humid inside because of the fleece the air still can circulate. I tested this protection with a cycas revoluta and I did not have any frost damage after -14 and more than 2 weeks of prolonged frost!
Imagine!
Adult Trachys with a good micro clime don't need protection in "normal" winters.
I can not tell you any experience about Chamaerops humilis 'cerifera' yet. It's been in the ground for only two month.
My Jubaea is slowly getting stronger now. What you can see is not frost damage, but the old leaves that turn brown. The age is something around that. In that young age you may expect frost damage on the fronds below -10 degrees. But much more dangerous are prolonged freezes that destroys the young spear inside what causes rooting! And then in spring you can pull it out and sometimes one frond by the other!

Here you can see close up pictures of my Butia x Parajubaea
Cocoid Hybrid growth report - PalmTalk

And here what it is going to be like (hopefully)
http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index....=post&id=62259
http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index....=post&id=62260

Jack, there are two different Sabal minors. The old and the new one.
The old one went through three winters so far, and the last two I did'nt protect it. The last one was about two degrees colder than the one before which was no problem.
For the question no.6, no every plant needs its right soil to thrive the best.
For palms I always mix our soil with more or less sand and gravel.

My orinoco only started growing maybe a month ago. All the older leaves dried off.To the brazilian, yes that is the mama!
The Rajapuri is too small to plant out. Because of their sudden growing stops sometimes, at the moment I'm not planing to ever plant it out again. It's potted in the green house.
For me overwintering eat able bananas outside in my climate is only possible inside a heated greenhouse.
The roots inside the iron cage holds very well. My problem I have with overwintering the bananas is, that they often rot above the corm at soil level from inside out. Maybe it has something to do with the room temperature, which is not much above zero degrees.

My dalmatian fig gives very big fruits around 150 - 160 grams.

Jack, I know the Mahonia that grows like a weed, we have that one here too.
The one on the picture is a M. bealei and is very nice yellow blooming from winter to early spring. I cut it back in march because it is giving too much shade to my Jubaea.

I need a break....

Marcel

Re: What grows in my garden
 

Well, beautiful Marcel, really nice. That link you included however didn't really say, how hardy those palms are. Do you any guess? It's one of those hybrids that you like so much. Anything that gives you enough joy. :D
I'm more into Jubaea and other clean palms. First there needs to be a strong, better adapted European line (Butias, Jubaeas), that would like our wet and frosty winters more (it means palms fruiting in our conditions, grown here from the smallest seedlings).

I've paid close attention to the Raja Puri you gave me and it didn't seem to stop growing for a second. Now it has very intense coloring.
If I consider, that it's been here for three months (aka 11 weeks), I would say that the total number of 12 leaves since it came is not that bad, considering the shape it came in.
It also took a lot of time til that leaf unfurled, but it's OK now.
It will be fruiting any year now. :D

Re: What grows in my garden
 

This hybrid is actually not hardy enough for my place, but it has got the best place in my garden with 50% canopy. With a bit protection and heating cables for the coldest days for the first years, it should be o.k.
It survived -10 for a short time in the U.S. and -9 last winter in England with no damage.
And it will become huge!Your Rajapuri grows very healthy!
I would maybe try to plant mine out again, if I had the space.

Marcel

Re: What grows in my garden
 

I don't doubt it will get massive in your garden, but I was always feeling very strange with this kinda of growing. I don't grow anything I don't want to train, because most of the plants you grow there now (palms, trees, bushes) live very long. Usually much longer than few generations... So the question for me always was: What then? What will happen, if I'm gone? I have to have at least a good feeling, that I did everything to train it. It's like with children. Sort of Spartan philosophy. I don't however expect less from myself. ;)
You know I owe you, so should anything happen to your pups/naners, there's a back-up here all the time. :D
Good luck on that palm. In 50 years or so you might be able to remove the cables for good thanks to the goabau whopou.
I might get some Jubaea seeds (original european born) this year, so the germination begins in mass amounts (pushing it always more and more to the north)... And in 70 years there will be fruiting size plants for our region. Or at least I hope, that in 69 year, there won't be some superstrong frost.

You might not know this about me Marcel, but I never back when I'm decided to do something. :)
And mutations always come when some plant is pushed to its outter limits...

Re: What grows in my garden
 

Jack ,what banana do you have in the second picture? Looks exactly like mine which I am trying to ID it. Look at my post 'Newbie -needs banana ID' and at my pictures.

Marcel ,nice garden. Hope you do not mind that I post this in here.
Thanks

Re: What grows in my garden
 

I got it as Musa 'Raja Puri', but at this very young age it resembles about 10 more cultivars.

Re: What grows in my garden
 

Thanks, Jack. I guess I have to wait and see.

Re: What grows in my garden
 

I enjoy what I have as long as I have it. If it can not survive when it's older without my care. Then it's not suppose to live.
BTW, I didn't plant any cables in with the palm. I only use them inside the winter protection if necessary, connected with a thermostat.

Cheers! :nanadrink:

Marcel

Re: What grows in my garden
 

Intemarasting. What is the temp inside your protection dome? Do you have termometer there?

Re: What grows in my garden
 

I use a thermostat with a sensor that I put inside.

Marcel

Re: What grows in my garden
 

That's some expensive hi-tech things you've got. :woohoonaner:

Re: What grows in my garden
 

Thanks ... outstanding !!

Re: What grows in my garden
 

I am just in awe of the pictures, simply beautiful~~!

Re: What grows in my garden
 

Thank you for the compliments!
I only wish I had a bid more space so I could plant more bananas and experiment with some more palms that I still have in pots.

Marcel

Re: What grows in my garden
 

Oh don't worry, it looks perfect enough now. You will have some experiment place soon, some of your neighbours must have asked you how you managed to grow so many plants in such a borderline climate. ;)