sman87

-20F here tonight in northeast Ohio.. and a town (Rome twp.) a few miles east of me is at -27F according to their local Weather Underground station.. This getting ridiculous.. This is really gonna push the limits of my Basjoos lol. I'm glad I submerged them with 2+ feet of compost/mulch last fall... hopefully the additional 2 feet of snow pack will insulate them as well. I expect to see some losses this spring, but I guess it all depends on how deep the frost line penetrates down. The last week or two has been around or below 0F at night. No end in sight either in the forecast.

Longwoods Tropicals

Yep this winter is turning into a repeat or even worse of last year. I remember being so sick of wonter by the third cold wave or so last March...LOL. Hopefully w're spared that... but with the snowpack we have it could make for a slow transition to spring.
I wouldn't expect much in the way of loss if they're protected, However you should feel lucky if you are able to save more than a foot or so of P-stem.
I left my P-stems at a foot to five feet, I expect I will need to cut them all back to the ground come spring -average temperature so far this month is 10 F with several nights below -20 F.

Stay warm

scottu

Yeah, we have had some -4, - 5 and minus 6 nights actual temps here also! This winter is the worst with the high winds creating real feels much colder!! I hope my babies are
OK!

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Viva La Banana

luteo

I forgot to cover an old rose of mine. It barely survived that last freezing winter, only sending up growth this past September. You think I would have learned my lesson? Hopefully it survives with the snow cover. It has substantial dirt mounded around the base...

Maybe some day I'll have some basjoos to take better care of too!

cincinnana

When spring arrives check out some of the nearby big box stores. Cavandish and Basjoos are becoming a mainstream tropical plant that they sell usually under 10.00 each.

If you travel I-75 heading south through the southern states pull off at an exit which has the big box stores, you will almost always find a plant or two there also

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sman87

Ya those roses might have had some damage but hopefully the snow shielded them from the harsh open air. Up here we also have a lot of vineyards near the lake. Usually the lake gives a milder winter within 5 or 8 miles if it and the soil is great for them but with last years artic attack the wineries around here lost 30%-90% of their crop and had losses in the millions. I remember it was a big deal and was in the papers too. I can only imagine the grapes this year were pretty much all but whipped out and everyone will have to replant extensively. Local wines will soar once again.

cincinnana

[quote=sman87;256959 Local wines will soar once again.[/QUOTE]
Made the news here also.

No shortage of Mon Ami pink catawba in my neck of the woods yet.
The wines up in that area are very good tasting.
Should be a bumper crop of Ice wine next year.
.Ice wine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Snarkie

Must be a result of all of that global warming...

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

luteo

Hmm. Never seen any bananas up here yet. There were meyer lemons and limes at a Lowes once. Then again, I don't go in big box stores all that often.

cincinnana

Keep your eye on Lowes...
They will usually tuck the bananas in with the larger leafed plants like Cannas.
Locally at Lowes I also found Ensete Maurellii, Dwarf Cavendish and Basjoo.

These are very common and only the Cavendish will give you edible fruit.
Hopefully yours might have them this year.

The further south you go the more prevalent they are at all the stores and pretty much the same limited selection.

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sman87

If you ohio guys are interested, I just bought some small but nice basjoos TCs at Hirts gardens in granger township ohio (near Medina and Hinkley) off the 271 exit south. they got them as low as 3.75$ each, bought about 7 lol. They also have a lot of other exotic and tropical plants there too. It's one of the better greenhouses in the area for year round shopping, and worth a drive. Check their website if you are out of state they will ship to you as well.

blownz281

Wow for Ohio greenhouses Hirts has a great banana plant selection!

cincinnana

Looks like a nice place and they got the stuff...Bananas : Plants : Hirt's Gardens
Could put a hirt in the wallet this spring

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