Cactus first-

I put the phone there for scale-they almost ate it! JK

Almost every barrel cactus is loaded with flowers!

I think about 17 barrles etc,are getting ready to bloom.

I always forget this thing is even here....but....
my T.Nanus was the first to recover from spear-pull-never would
have guessed it would be this one,as I mentioned,I always forget it's there!

Little green part in the center is the spear pushing up.

Petasites japonicus(var) has really spread out this year...
you can also see the blooms.
Rajapuri next to it to shade it.

Many surprises this year with the mild winter and warm March...heres 3 that made me smile(-:

1.Gladiolus-zone 8?

I have never seen them survive here over winter,much less come up in MARCH!!!!

2.Rose Mallow coming up in March is unheard of here.

3.Butterfly bush-if you look behind the Sequoia
(which BTW was completely undamaged this year),upper right hand corner
you can see a Butterfly bush.
These USUALLY die back to the ground and then grow to about
6' here during the warm season.....these did not die back
and have kept shoots alive all winter-this year it will start
from 6'

Also(3.1)look at the Pampas grass,it is already a foot tall!
Usually it comes up in late April/May.

A few other pictures of springy Iowa.

Saba(foreground)is really taking off-Redbud in distance.

Anyone know what this flower is????

Honeysuckle

Washys have really taken off-one of the leaves is already 3' across.

Lilac and Crabapple.

Black Bamboo is refreshing it's spring cover.

3-4 weeks ahead of last year(-:

Yucca hybrids from Tim(Mass) and Kory's(Mn)on the right.

Tetrapanex steroidal giant coming up-anybody want some(-;

Cactus getting bigger is nice but this guy is getting tough to move without one of us getting hurt (-:

These big leaved Castor bean plants get big leaves right
out of the bean!
By mid summer leaves can be 42" across/plants well over 12'.

Palms

Overwintered Princeps....good year to try it,can't wait until
it recovers from spear-pull....it will be a beauty!

Nainital and Fortunei-both have grown over a 1/2 a foot(spears)in the last week.

All new growth on this Abyssinian,almost a foot so far
and almost 2 months ahead of least year!

You know it's been a warm March when a Madagascar palm starts growing!

2 palms I am really looking forward to watching develope..
Chamaerops Volcano X Chamaerops Cerifera from Max Cola in Italy.

Fortunei from above.

Little T.Tesan hit the ground running...
planted a few weeks ago it has already put out(another) it's second divided leaf.

Some Trachy seedlings,Tesan,Manipur,Takil,Nova,Winsan,Princeps
(from Garry,I guess they all are(-;)and S.Lisa,S.Brazoria.S.McCurtain.

Also my poor little spindly Thai giant

Thanks for looking!

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Rose Mallow are sold here as zone 5 plants I think, supposedly as hardy as hardy hibiscus. I'm surprised they usually aren't hardy for you.

Is your black bamboo hardy for you? I thought they were zone 8 bamboo.

Is the 11th pic down an aloe plant??

I found that Thai Giant might be able to be stored as a bulb, just an FYI. I tried it this year because I could never keep mine alive in the house without them rotting, and they started to grow roots a couple weeks ago...I'll keep you updated.

Thanks again for sharing!

did you overwinter your thai giant in the ground? I dug mine potted it and stored in the greenhouse. I just put it back in the ground. Its still green so i hope it comes back.

Mike

The Rose Mallow is hardy here but I have never seen it come up in March!

The Butterfly bushes are already as big as last year because
they did not die back like they do in years where we go below 0.

This was(based on low temps)a zone 7a winter.

The Black Bamboo looks about as good as it ever will here
with out a cover,even though the leaves are 50% damaged
all the branches are live and leafing out again.

11th pic is Manfreda Maculosa-beautiful flowers!

Yea,I overwatered my T-giants indoors and lost one or two...
good to know about storage,instead of watching them
decline over winter-thanks Ryan-do keep me updated.

Kevin

That sucks about the snow!

These guys are early bloomers and it gets pretty hot
over the rock in the cactus garden which speeds things up!

Mksmth

I did not overwinter it in the ground it was in a west window inside.(-:

Chad

Yea,the Washys are from e-bay-there are also a couple Filibusta in pots.

I would recommend S.Louisiana,S.Brazoria,S.McCurtain,
they are all slow while producing strap leaves but IME speed up
when the leaves didvide...I get about 4-5 leaves a year from the S.Lou's.

I was really suprised to see it(Rose Mallow) coming up but 80s will rock the plant world!

Alex

Be carefull what you wish for(-: the Castor's will grow fast
and the purple color is really gorgeous!

I would suggest trying the big leaved ones too,they are super tropical looking!

BTW

The Saba is really blasting off!(-:

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And I'm not so sure about the rose mallow. I know rose mallows as a generic name for several hardy hibiscus varieties. I'm not aware of any that bloom first thing in the spring, if anything mid summer at best for northern climes.

Warmest March by +7F over any other I could find has things happening I have never seen before!

The Maple across the street is already been leafed out for over a week and I have never seen it cast a shadow in the yard in spring.

I don't have tags for all the plants-it takes so long to
post all the pics that I figure....easier to go back and I.D.something for someone later if need be....

I doubt much of any of this stuff would survive winter without protection(in regard to cactus)mostly/at least from winter moisture.

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I just hope it is short lived and MN doesn't feel like she owes us a winter!!!!!

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