The Good Banter Thread

[CountryEscape]

What was Colleen doing in that demonstration?! Funny!!!!
JW, isn't your little palm a windmill palm? Is that the one you got seeds from at the local zoo and planted them? Just wondering! I have a Spindle Palm that is tropical, have it on my deck, stays inside for the winter. I also have a red/green banana plant, tropical as well, that is growing better this year. Has to come into the garage for winter, then can go back outside. The Canna is in that same pot, so they can winter over in the garage together.
The green banana tree IS hardy here in Illinois. My former husband's uncle grows them down in his bottom ground, woods all around, and has a 6' woven wire fence around them to (1) keep the deer out and (2) to keep the mulch in for the winter. I think he puts straw in there, and then any leaves that get caught inside the woven wire cage also help. They were 10' tall last summer when I rode past them on my horse. Mine in a pot on my deck, died. Go figure! I bought the Muso banana (is that what you have, JW, red/green mottled leaves?) last fall at the nursery, with my coupons I "earned" during the spring purchasing plants.

 

[j.w]

Yep I have the windmill palm that I got seeds from the zoo and the Musa Bajoo banana but my banana is green. We don't have to mulch them here. Just let them die as far down as they want and they come back from where there is still live stalk in the Spring. The red/green ones here don't make it through our winters I didn't think. Thought they were called something else but maybe not. Would like to have one w/ red and I'll have to check that out sometime in the nursery.

 

[CountryEscape]

Yep, the red/green is more tropical, and the green is more hardy. I had a green, but it died. Go figure. Brought it inside with the red/green one, too. I'm sure I have the name wrong, can't find the tag right now.
If you ever get any seeds from your palm, I would love to try to start one, see if it would grow here in IL! Too cheap to buy a plant. LOL But, thanks for the link, so I know they CAN grow here.

 

[sissy]

You don't want a needle palm you get near them and get stuck by a needle it swelll's burns and itches .I had one and was glad when it died .I planted mine in sand and soild and put mulch on top of it .Banana's do great here the lady I got mine from has hers for a few years and has taken lots of babies from it and it gets huge .My palms have not even grown a bit .Thanks JW I will put a tarp under them to see if seeds fall onto it and hope I can get them before the wind blows them away

 

[koiguy1969]

PRETTY COOL....

...AINT IT?
NICE LITTLE PATIO OR DECK POND!!

 

[j.w]

Well CE I wonder if you have to have 2 palms of different sexes to get seeds? I'll prolly be dead before mine ever gets seeds but who knows and if I get any I'll send ya some. Our Costco and Lowes, H-depot sells the palms here. Wonder why yours doesn't if they grow there? Now I did have 3 of them that I started from seed but 2 died after a couple years. I protect the one now w/ a blanket over it during really cold days in winter so I think when they are really young you might have to do that where you live too.

 

[sissy]

Back in NJ I made up a cage that was way bigger than the plant and heavy mulched it ,you really have to protect the roots as much as you do the plant because there roots are shallow .My cage was 4 ft when it was little and cage when I left was over 6 ft around .I wanted to dig it up and bring it with ,but I gave it to Mandy that lived behind my house to plant in her yard for her pool area .Took 4 hours to dig up as we wanted to keep as many of the fine roots we could and decided to call Mandy and she said it is way bigger and cage around it for last winter her husband was over 12 ft around ,her hubby did not want to take any chances .He puts his hammock stand under it and pretends he is in a tropical paradise .They sell them dirt cheap here at lowes towards the end of season and they were half off the price on the pots besides
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:45697]
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:45698]

 

[sissy]

I wonder if that is just a made over fish tank ,sure looks like a tank .I would like that on my front porch , I've got a tank and stand

PRETTY COOL....

...AINT IT?
NICE LITTLE PATIO OR DECK POND!!

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, we don't have a Lowes, only Menards, and I've never seen the windmill palms here. Maybe they come and get sold really fast, and I've never been in there at the right time. I'm sure Lowes gets different things than Menards. AND, maybe they aren't hardy enough to sell them around here. I'm Zone 6, and it sounded like they were hardy for here. I wondered about those Needle palms, in the ad it said to buy a bunch and make a fence out of them, and I figured they were SHARP, and Sissy has confirmed that. I sure don't want that near my ponds. I get in and around my plants far too much to worry about them poking me or cutting me. Now the windmill palm has me intrugued. Maybe next spring I can buy a small plant and see if it will grow for me!

 

[j.w]

If you buy one of those Windmill palms CE I would be prepared to cover it for several yrs when temps get below freezing as I am in zone 7 and I lost two of them when I didn't cover them one winter. Just lucky the third one survived and I've had it for several yrs and will continue to cover it in really cold spells. We are in zone 7. My friend up the road has one that she has had for over 10yrs and it is about 8ft tall now and she does not cover it but it is right up against her house under the eaves. I have seen them in peoples yards here right out in the open and they are surviving but like I said they are big grown ones. So when they get big and well established is when they seem to make it through our winters. Although hers has suffered damage to the fronds in our cold spells when it get below zero. You might want to check around for your area and make sure they would survive before you buy one.

 

[j.w]

Hey CE I found this on the web on hardy palms: http://melissaasmith.hubpages.com/video/hardypalms

 

[sissy]

If I see seeds I will collect them for you ce but all i see now is what look like tiny green things and guessing they may be seeds before they get dark and fall off .I put a sheet around the bottom of the palm just in case they get ripe before I notice them.I just stopped at lowes this morning while I was out getting new tires and they had palms for 5 dollars for 5 gallon pot .Did not take my darn camera either .

 

[j.w]

There may be hope in our future for protection from skeeter's!

 

[CountryEscape]

Sissy, I would sure have bought a $5 palm in a 5 gal pot!!! Wow, that is unbelievably cheap. I am going to have to look closer at Menards, maybe they are out by the bushes, as I usually don't look at the bushes and trees. I would think they would be more by the flowers though, if they had them. I suspect they don't get them. I did get my Spindle Palm last year at Menards, and it was only $11 and it is about 6' tall. It is very slow growing, which is fine with me. I'm trying to remember if they had smaller palms then, and maybe they did. Probably just have to be there when they get them in. I have a friend that works there, I'll have her watch for me.
JW, I even went on Ebay, after reading about the windmill palms, and LOTS of people have the seeds, and several have seedlings, but for the price of the seedling, I might as well grow my own. I can get 20 seeds for $5. It would give me a winter growing project. I suspect they take a long time to sprout, and one place said to put them outside in the spring as soon as they sprout, so maybe they need to be sprouted outside in a greenhouse area. I should hook another friend up on this, and tell her to do her winter sowing on the windmill palm seeds! I'll even buy the seeds for her. LOL She really has a knack for growing things from seeds. In fact, she's obsessed with that! Kind of like I am obsessed with buying new plants and flowers. I will let you know if I decide to buy seeds and see how they go about sprouting.
And, if I thought the local Lowe's store would have the palms, I would drive there to get one! There is a Lowe's I think maybe only about 35 miles away. I'll have to check on-line and see if they show what they have locally, or call ... after I get home from UT. Heading that way on Sat. to see my daughter, and be there while she has surgery to remove the rods and pins that were put in her spine after 4-wheeler accident 4 years ago. All has healed, and they said the "hardware" needs to come out!

 

[sissy]

the ones at lowes were with the trees and shrubs