Nice tropical paradise you got there. If it gets any thicker you'll need GPS to navigate through it! Those washys are really nice looking. I would prefer them if they didn't grow so tall. I think they look best until 20'.

Beauty big Washy! Now that I have a couple in the ground you may have some competition next year! :) But I have a question, what species of sequoia do you have there? It is not Metasequoia, nor does it appear to be Sequoia sempervirens. P.S. also am into growing bananas here. My favorite is a toss up between dwarf Cavindush and Himalayan (Sikkimensis--only one that has flowered for me so far).

Chad

I think the roof of the house may limit their protection to 20'(-;

Favorite banana plants-

M.Ae Ae
S.Ruby
M.Rowe Red
M.Thai black
M.Saba

Most difficult to grow up north in that order too but not necessarily hard.

I have Dwarf Cavendish,M.Siam ruby,M.Saba,M.Thai Black,M.Mekong giant,
M.Lasiocarpa,M.Basjoo,M.Rajapuri,M.Rowe red/Abyssinian,E.Glaucum,E.Ventricosum planted.

The Sequoia is Sempervirens Gigantea-or Giant Sequoia,this
one has seen -18F in a rose cover and has looked good through the drought and
heat(I of course have been watering it)the Coast Redwood would not stand for that!

I bet you've caught some really great comments from people walking/riding by. Must be quite a spectacle in Iowa!

Here is a link that might be useful: Virginia Beach Weather

Meanwhile in PA: My Washingtonia Robusta still looks kinda crappy! Yours looks AMAZING :-)

Everything looks great! That washy put on some amazing growth and your other plants look great too. The agave looks like it's doing very well! How's the saba? Mine is starting to put out some good growth, but the pup it has is growing MUCH faster than the parent and it will probably pass it in height by fall if the mother plant doesnt start gaining some height with the leaves that it puts out!
-Alex

The Saba is slow like most of the bigger plants now,
there is just no water for the roots that grow out into the dry soil.

It put out a new leaf (a week or so ago)in 106F temps,
the leaf is 60% burned up,another leaf opened yesterday
but this time the 100F temps didn't destroy it because the
leaf was pointing right at the sun.(-:

In spite of the drought )-:This has been a season like no other as far as growth...
pretty amazing to think how much this stuff would have grown with water
...).: last time we had over an inch(1.29")
of rain was May 2 of this year-that is a hell of a long
time ago anyway-but when you figure in the extra evaporation that occurs
when temps run above normal,like July 71/95F avg here....
it's brutal/

Supposed to get rain today/tomorrow (-:

Few more pics

Heres one of the ones I tried and failed 2008?

August 2010-current palm

Oct,2010

Oct 2011-check out the Bananas upper left(-:

Looks great as always Jim. That big washy is definitely showing Filifera appearance and Robusta growth rate. Hopefully it has Filifera cold tolerance too and you'll have the best of both worlds.

Your blue century plant looks awesome. I usually don't like growing desert plants because I can only control winter moisture to a certain point, but yours might convince me to give one a try. I love the look.

I haven't seen a Thai Giant pic from you this year. Do you still have any or did they rot?

The Thai giant was looking amazing last year-this is my favorite pic of it-mid July 2011-

Right after this pic was taken,it got snapped in a wind storm,I actually was watching it happen and almost ran out to protect it-LOL!

Anyway,after that I planted it and it's offset back in the ground...I think right around the time it was reestablishing itself
it was time to bring them in,in spring it was down to one main plant that put out 2 babies and then died.

So,now I have two tiny ones and one that is fianlly getting a little size-I'll get some pics for next time.

Thanks for asking...

Here's what your Sequoia may look like in 3000 years or so. This is a young tree in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias just 40 minutes from where I live. (That's my buddy in the pic for scale) hehe

Jim, ditto on the lackluster bananas. I don't even have tem in te ground this year, in pots all of them. Grow much better with natural rains. Although more humid this month than July. Haven't bothered this year with Elephant ears, they need too much H2O. On the other hand my Cereus peruviens is starting to bud. Maybe third year in a row. Mekong Giant is more a giant disappointment! Nice thing about the Himalayan is.....coloration, cold hardiness and robustness. Has some maroon markings on the leaf. The Big Tree Sequoia you have really looks quite different than Coast Red.. That surprises me! The one I have identififed as C.R. looks more similar to a Dawn Red or Bald Cyperus. It is in a pot because there is no room for more trees, but always wanted one. It would probably be hardy here in the right spot but it's one of those plants with temp issues (cold AND hot), like Araucaria, I really don't to bother. --This has not been a 'coastal' kind of summer. But it, like my Araucaria seem to do fine in dappled shade despite the heat. Have the forecast for the HEAVY rain into Saturday but will believe it when I see it.

Thats awesome your C.Peru is going to bloom,I had one when I was a kid that bloomed.

Maybe next year for mine...yea,the coast Redwood has leaves more like a Yew(as you know)and the Sierra giants are more like a Cedar in Needle shape.

I have had 3 Coast redwoods,if the soil dries out all the way once,they are dead.

They say Redwoods can grow to 100 feet in 30 years.

Heres a pic of the one I like...one of them(-;
Maybe it's just me but there is something magical about these trees,even a little one in Iowa...so much potential in that beautiful Red wood.

BTW

If you get Netflix there is a great show on the coast redwoods just type in Redwoods-I have seen it a few times
and every time I see it,it makes me want to water my tree(-:

Jim, the same exact thing happened to my Thai Giants (I had two). They made it through the winter, but started rotting in early spring. They made babies, and now I have 4 baby Thai Giants that have a long way to go before they get to the size of their parents. One is getting some size, the largest leaf is probably 2 feet across, so at this point it should get big quickly.

Njoasis, I'm surprised Mekong Giant isn't performing for you. They outperform my Basjoos. I think if I was to plant more hardy bananas, it would be Mekongs.

BTW...Those Redwoods are impressive!

I was really looking forward to seeing what the monster Thai giant would have done this year )-: snap!

Sorry to hear about the Thailand Giant. They are really cool ee's but like all big plants, they are very vulnerable to the wind! My ee's are growing insanely fast in the ground. There was no sign of them in early June, now its bigger than the ones last year. But the ones in the ground last year are potted this year and they are doing terrible. They look like they are underwatered, but I soak them daily, sometimes twice a day and they never look any better.
Some plants have been great this year (upright ee's moon vine, gingers), some plants got a late start (the normal ee's, the madagascar palm), and some that have been a dissappointment (the bananas).
-Alex

Maybe not enough water for the Bananas?

Second year here for weak nana growth,my Abyssinian had it's trunk
scorched by 106F temps it actually formed a bruise and began to rot there!

The trunk is probably the size it was 3 years ago and it is barely
maintaining it's foliage.

My bananas (basjoo) are really big, even in the drought here in southern Delaware. They got a bit of a head start with the mild winter. I always cut the flush to the ground for the winter, but this year they sprouted nearly a month early. I've watered them well this dry summer. But they'll love all the water we just got--an hour and a half of heavy rain and steady soaking rain. Best rain of summer!

Great pic....

I honestly think with even normal rainfall my Castor bean plants would be 3' taller-
I won't complain to much though about those...they are already as big as they have ever been here.(-:

I just toss castor bean seeds into my beds and see what happens. Somehow some end up sprouting in my lawn. They pull up easily with all roots intact and can place them elsewhere.

This is my tallest castor, probably 10' tall, but leaning after today's rain. I find they get too tall for my crowded, shaded beds, so end up harvesting the seeds and pull up the tallest ones this time of year, then nurture the shorter ones for their interesting color and foliage.

This one is next to my pindo which is recovering nicely. Your Washys are so impressive.

Thanks

Yea,they do pull up easy but they will go to seed/flower if you fart near them,which of course I never do.

I noticed I had one come up in the yard this year from some I grew 2 years ago (-:

Yeah, I think they could naturalize pretty easy. Their seeds seem immune to winter.

-central_cali369 When i see that picture I think of the movie "The Borrowers" haha!

wetsuiter wrote

"Yeah, I think they could naturalize pretty easy. Their seeds seem immune to winter."
------------------------------------------------------------
Hard to believe isn't it? As soon as they sprout though...freezing temps will kill them.

One of the benefits of living where I do on the coast is our slow cool down in the fall and slow warm up in the spring. We have a fairly mild, mostly snow free winter so it's common to have things like camelias , winter jasmine and early crocuses blooming all throughout winter. But starting in mid March, we're influenced by the cold ocean temps. When DC, Wilmington and Philly are starting to see temps in the upper 60s to mid 70s in March and April, we're frequently stuck in the 50s, sometimes with chilly ocean fog or wind. While that doesn't bother the daffodils, tulips and flowering trees, those temps keep tender plants from sprouting. So IF there is a freeze or frost then, it seldom bothers anything. I remember Will in Winston-Salem has a bad freeze in spring after his cannas, bananas and EE's took a big hit. That just doesn't happen here really because that stuff is still asleep. Castor bean seeds won't sprout until its warm enough. They often come up from seeds that dropped last year.

You do have a unique climate in south jersey, particularly in spring. I was visiting family in philly area in pa spring had fully sprung and all trees full leaf. South jersey had no leaves yet. You would think it would be opposite. U must have a very cloudy spring. I know here in va bch we get those spring back-door cold fronts but we are just as advanced in blooms as inland areas like Richmond. We get a head start with earlier warm ups and much milder winter. I would have guessed the same for south jersey but i was wrong.

I'm actually in Southern Delaware, so only about 120 miles as the crow flies from VB.

Even more surprising.

In your climate Castors may not come up until later but here
we have crazy warm cold swings in winter/fall/spring and now summer(-;

We had a week of 80s followed by mid 20s(27F here)and the beans were coming up in March!

When they fall off the plant in fall they don't work there way
to far into the ground and in early spring the 2" soil temps can support growth,I would have thought the seeds being
so tender(esp when sprouting)would never overwinter-but they do!

Back to your original post Jim. Your place looks like it could easily be in Florida. Very nice tropical effect you've got going on there. I wonder if that washy isn't a bit too close to your stairs though. You might have difficulty making it up the stairs soon. And those branches have very sharp teeth. I've had my share of bites!

Thanks LagoMar

I think if our drought persist it will be looking more like Arizona 0:

If the leaves and petioles ever get that big they will be well above where I am walking....I hope.(-:

I know what you mean though,if you have ever reached into a Washy crown those barbs are hooked just the right way to do some damage-I have a few ripped shorts and shirts to prove it.

I can't get over the sharp thorns that my little Med Fans have! I'm really cautious reaching around those or pulling dead leaves out of their crown.

I can't get over the sharp thorns that my little Med Fans have! I'm really cautious reaching around those or pulling dead leaves out of their crown.