Any one growing magnolias in northern Utah/Ogden area.
pamelavlcek
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
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Kari Olar
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agopamelavlcek
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Northern growers may be crazy, but I'm one of the craziest
Comments (15)Thank you guys(and girls)! Kitchenshock- I do what I can with what I have, if that makes sense LOL. I've seen pics of your yard, and that's like my dream yard(when I move to Florida or California of course). You can grow nearly any palm you want in ground. I hope to be able to do that some day. The trail is nice in the summer with all of the leaves on the trees and everything in full bloom. I think the previous owners had it tiled, but since we're on an island with a high water table, I think it cracked pretty easily due to the ground shifting, so they removed it and layed the pea gravel down instead. The key to getting these tropicals to survive here, for me anyway, is to pick the right plants. I don't have anything in the ground that is above zone 7, and I'm in a 6b, so its not a far stretch. They just need a little TLC and protection, and they recover pretty nicely. Topher- Thank you for the kind words. Arctictropical- Thank you. I wish I had zone 8 winters LOL! Then I could grow several species of palms unprotected. Yes, I did see your posting with those pics, and what you have going really is very impressive! I'd love to have your palms. I haven't removed any of my protection yet either. It has been too cold and wet here to do so. We've been running at least 8-10 degrees below normal here for quite some time, and just the other day, we got 10 inches of snow. 2 years ago, I was planting by March first, but this year, on March 6th, we're having January weather that doesn't seem to want to let up. Luckily next week, we're supposed to get up into the mid 40s for at least 3 consecutive days, so I'll probably uncover my palms then and see what I'm working with as far as winter damage goes, if any at all. Jeff- Thanks, and yes, those are windows. I wanted to make sure the palms got light, but were kept dry. I was also hoping for a greenhouse effect to warm them during the day, but we've had so much snow this winter, I'm not sure how much of a greenhouse effect was produced, but I'd guess not much at all. Jimhardy- I didn't cover the yuccas at all, because I figured I had enough to cover with my larger palms, and that's why I didn't even protect my smaller palms. I planned on the sabal minors and yuccas to be experimental anyway, just to see if they'd survive unprotected, and what kind of damage they'd endure if any. I only paid $10 for the Aloifolia anyway, and its not like I lost it, I'm sure it'll come back from the roots. Yes, I just wanted to clarify, these are old pics taken on December 26th. Once I uncover everything, I'll take new pictures to assess the damage. I already know all of the foliage on my Trachy was completely fried from 0 degrees F one night, but has some green further down into the crown cavity I can see on the spear. However, no spear pull yet....See MoreThis is nuts! But Cool! Northern Utah!
Comments (8)That gives me even more encouragement, seeing as Northern Utah is only a half zone warmer than I am. That needle palm does look really rough though. However, I am shocked that 20 foot trachy is growing unprotected and has survived so long. If it hasn't died from the cold yet in 20 years, it's likely it isn't dying a slow death, but is surviving and is capable of tolerating those low temps. Those smaller trachys also seem to be thriving, and are bigger and fuller each year, despite defoliation. I don't know what would've posessed someone to buy all of those big queen palms and big Mex. fan and try to overwinter them in zone 7. It seems like a waste of money. The filifera are probably worth a shot. I'll probably try one at my house, hoping that the leaves will grow back every year if I protect it in the winter. Thanks for the pics. That's what zone pushing is all about....See Moremagnolia in northern CO? ! ?
Comments (42)I have a Royal Star Magnolia that I fell in love with at Home Depot and brought home about 10 years ago. Had I done my research I probably would not have purchased it, but I was fairly new to gardening in CO at that time. I ended up moving it to a new (more protected) location after a few years, even though I read that they don't like being moved. Moving it seemed like a better alternative to leaving it in the exposed area where it wasn't thriving though, and it has done better in its current location where it gets wind protection, morning sun, and a later afternoon sun in the summer. It does suffer from some chlorosis and rarely has a lot of blooms in the spring, but it's still a beautiful tree and I don't regret purchasing it. Over the years I've seen plenty of stores (especially the big box ones) sell a lot of trees that don't do well in our climate. There's obviously a market for them. Having grown up back east with a front yard full of dogwood trees, I've come pretty close to purchasing one here when I've seen them for sale in the spring, but have resisted the temptation because I know better....See MoreNorthern Utah tropics (large ensete bananas, etc.)
Comments (18)Kevin, You seem to be pretty successful overwintering your ensete maurelii. Last summer was the first year I grew one and it got to be an eleven foot beauty. I cut it down to 3 feet or so and stored it bare root over the winter. Looked great when I brought it up and potted it. Started waking up and has grown at least a foot or more. My question for you, since you have been doing this for ten years now, is this. When I first brought it upstairs the outer layers of the pstem seemed to be nice and firm but as it has started waking up and growing they have shrunk and feel soft. It does not seem to be rotting, but I could be wrong. My guess (hope) is that it does not have a fully developed root system yet and is taking water from those layers to generate growth. Do you have any thoughts on this? photo of a week or so after I brought it upstairs and potted it up Here is a couple of days ago I don't know if you can tell from the pics, but the pstem has lost some diameter and feels softer. And yes, I did cut the outer layer off to check for rot but it does not seem to be rotting. Is this normal, or have I failed at overwintering this plant?...See MoreMark Crooks
7 years agopamelavlcek
7 years agoMark Crooks
7 years agopamelavlcek
7 years agoMark Crooks
7 years agopamelavlcek
7 years agoMark Crooks
7 years agopamelavlcek
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMark Crooks
6 years agoalbert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
6 years agopvlcek
6 years agoMark Crooks
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6 years agoMark Crooks
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5 years agoNesto H
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agopvlcek
5 years agoHU-845858925
4 years agoMark Crooks
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3 years agoMark Crooks
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