sunfish

Yes Fuchsia and out of focus Cactus bloom

stevelau1911

Gunnera manicata is one of the coolest plants I have. I've had mine for almost 3 years now, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger each year, even though I keep taking divisions off of it.

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I'm in zone 6 upstate NY, specialize in growing temperate cold hardy bamboos(mainly phyllostachys) and starting to get into bananas.

my picture website is http://www.flickr.com/photos/31489820@N02/

http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

saltydad

Anyone growing Bears Breeches? I rec'd 2 plant cuttings of Acanthus spinosis rooted in pots and of good size. I just planted them. Wonder if I'll get a flower spike this summer?

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Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


http://flickr.com/photos/saltydad/ and
http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/

palmtree

Very nice Gunnera manicata! Does it survive the winter and if it does, do you give it any protection? I've heard that a lot of people have probelms with them, but yours looks fantastic!

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Location: New York City, zone 7b

orinoko

Janas,

Its buddrop from being allowed to dry one minute, wet the next. Try feeding it with soluble feed, then keep it damp.

My Fuchias are just coming. When you get a new fuchia pinch out the top to get it bushy, that way you get more flowers.

sunfish, I love the water Image.

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[url="http://flowersnpalms.com/lancalass/[/URL]

sunfish

Purple Tomatillo

nannerfunboi

steve..very cool gunnera !! ive kicked around trying to grow it..
always wondered about overwintering here.
i think brians botanicals has it..and he always has super plants..
mmmmm???? lol
maybe theres another plant i need to have..
its a drug..

sunfish

variegated Dracaena draco

stevelau1911

My gunnera survives every winter and gets a bit larger. I simply take it's own leaves and put it over the corm, then top that with a partially filled leaf bag for insulation so the snow piles on top of it.

For bamboo lovers out there, here's how I can overwinter some temperate bamboos of all different sizes in zone 6.
Steve's garden: Protecting bamboos over the winter in zone 6

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I'm in zone 6 upstate NY, specialize in growing temperate cold hardy bamboos(mainly phyllostachys) and starting to get into bananas.

my picture website is http://www.flickr.com/photos/31489820@N02/

http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

Max363

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/j.../NovPumStk.jpg

My newest unusual plant is "pumpkin on a stick" ... a type of eggplant - and a traditional food of the Hmong people of SE Asia. .... not a very pretty plant by any means ... extremely thorny on stems and leaf - very sharp and vicious and also the most insect-eaten plant in my "no pesticide garden". I bought seeds on ebay in the spring and started them actually very late in the growing season so I was surprised when the plant blossomed and set fruit in Oct. when the plant was 2 -2.5 ' tall and then around Halloween when we were ready to get our first frost/freeze I trimmed off the ugly bug-eaten leaves and cut and put the stems with the fruit attached inside .. dry and in a vase ... much to my surprise in 2 weeks or so the small fruits turned a brilliant orange just like real unripe pumpkins do here in Western Pa when immature/ unripen pumpkin fruits are cut and brought in from the cold to get ready for the fall decorating season. I will definitely try growing these unusual plants again.

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nannerfunboi

steve..like i need any more plants..but ive been thinking
of trying my skills growing gunnera..im in zone 6
what source do u recommend of buying good sized/healthy
plants? i know brian williams (brians botanicals) he has them..
?
so you dont dig it and bring it in??

stevelau1911

I bought mine at a gardening store locally, and I've been taking many divisions off every spring since then because it tends to multiply a lot during that time. If you buy it, make sure you buy the actual plant and not the seeds since I get seeds off mine that never germinate.

I don't mind sending a division if you remind me about it in the spring for a plant trade. I'm also interested in collecting unique plants. As far as each winter, all I do it cut the leaves off, put them over the plant, then drop a leaf bag on top of that, and the corm is pretty safe. I would however recommend planting this some place in the open because mine is getting too large to be up against the house, and starting to shade out the blueberry plants even though I divide so much off of it each year.

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I'm in zone 6 upstate NY, specialize in growing temperate cold hardy bamboos(mainly phyllostachys) and starting to get into bananas.

my picture website is http://www.flickr.com/photos/31489820@N02/

http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

lkailburn

Steve i love the bamboos. I was just looking through your "how to overwinter bamboos" page. I had no idea there were some varieties that could take those temps with just a little bit of protection. Do you grow the bamboo purely for ornamental purposes or are any of those varieties ones you actually harvest and use the bamboo wood?

-Luke

sunfish