New crape and some updated pics.

11 years ago

While strolling through the heat stressed plants at Lowes, I found a Natchez crape, not that I had any room for it, but when you find something you had been looking for $12, I just couldn't help myself.

You can see the grass is now fully dead in the areas my new beds will be. It's just been too darn hot to do anything else but lounge in the pool and watch plants grow. You can see my new crape tucked in the corner of the yard. I didn't have many options that had full sun left where it will hopefully grow quite large.

One of my castors fell down after our Fourth of July storm. We had a total of 2.8" of rain Wednesday.

Ruellias are starting to kick into high gear. Mag has been losing a lot of leaves, I think I had been depriving it of enough water in its first year in the ground.

You can see quite a few plants here, confederate jasmine in the foreground, Canna 'Wyoming' just starting to bloom, my lone black calla still hanging, Sioux about to bloom, pineapple lilly continues its emergence, and agapanthus starting to bloom.

I was too late taking pics of my agapanthus last year, so here i am taking pics of it before it's in full bloom. I missed out on taking pics of my crinum. It's flowers don't last but a day or two and it wasn't very impressive in it's first year of bloom.

Hopi starting to bloom

Hibiscus Exotic Electric Blue

Basjoo not growing great this year. Neither are my other nanas. I think it's because I haven't hit anything with Superthrive yet. Can't find it here. Waiting for it to come via UPS. Found it on e-bay for $31/pint.

Thanks for looking.

Comments (6)

tropicalzone7
11 years ago
Everything looks great! Even the basjoos, your sure are growing faster than mine and I have been fertilizing! I think Im going to get some superthrive, I have been focusing a lot more on fertilizing the plants than on buying plants this year. So far in all honesty, nothing too impressive in my yard with the extra fertilizer, but I'll keep trying!
Thanks for sharing! Hope the storm wasnt too damaging for you, 2 inches of rain is pretty good in this heat!
-Alex
bradleyo_gw
Original Author
11 years ago
I have meant to do experiments but have not, maybe for my daughter's science project. I definitely see a difference this year though, everything is usually much bigger by this time. $31/pint is a great price too, ususally it's $10-$15 per 4oz.
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denninmi
11 years ago
Hey, plants are like Jello, there's always room for Jello, or another plant.

I see you have one of my favorite blooming plants, Cuphea ignea. Love those.
chadec
11 years ago
Everythings looking great. Interesting seeing how your crape myrtle does in your zone. Will it still need protection at a large size?
bradleyo_gw
Original Author
11 years ago
denni - I like em too, I'm a big fan of oranges and purples in the garden.

chad - I'm not ever planning on protecting other than maybe a little extra mulch. From what I've read, Hopi, Sioux, and Natchez are among the hardiest. At the very least I would think they would come back from the ground no problem. The only problem I anticipate here is that while living in one of the warmer areas of WPa, I seem to live in a microclimate of wind.
denninmi
11 years ago
In your region of PA, from what I know of the climate in the Pittsburgh area, I would say that you are pretty much 100% guaranteed of CM root/crown survival if you just throw some mulch around the base each fall, something light and fluffy like straw or oak leaves. Survival of the wood will probably vary from winter to winter, a harsh one may knock it down to the trunk or even root system, a mild winter like last year will sail through, and "average" winter maybe in between with some twig dieback. Hard to say for sure, there are so many variables including microclimate. My in-ground CM's for the most part have come back for a number of years, I have lost a couple but due to the fact I have neglected that bed and let the CM get drowned out by other stuff. The issue for me is that they don't bloom many years, often setting buds quite late that don't make it before frost. It actually doesn't really bother me, the foliage is nice, and I have some potted ones I overwinter in the garage for blooms.

Once again, climate will play into it for you, and Pittsburgh has a somewhat warmer climate with more heat units, on average, than does Detroit. So, my best guess is those things will do fine where you are.