Everything looks great! Did you plant all those bulbs in the ground or in pots? Right now I have my cannas starting in pots and I plan on putting them in the ground in another 2 or 3 weeks according to how warm the ground is (I might wait until late April for the elephant ears to go in the ground because I know that they really prefer ground temperatures in the 60s for good growth).
The weather looks beautiful their and its also very nice here! I wish it could stay like this for all of spring, but next week looks much colder (so far no freeze in the forecast, but some days are only suppose to be in the mid or upper 40s).
Good luck!
-Alex

Loved looking at your pictures. I just brought home 2 windmill palms from our trip to S. Carolina. they are in 3 gallon pots--but I intend to repot in larger ones and not put them in the ground. I am in Mahaska County--thought I read you are from Fairfield. Drove through the town coming home this past Sunday. Just wondering if you have advice on type of soil to use for the palms? Thanks much

Esther

Just depends on what your soil looks like,mine is pretty dark and rich.
I would add anything that helps it drain faster along with some compost.

Alex

I put them in the ground,soil temps are in the mid 50s @ 4" now(low 60s at 2"),
I cover them we we get our(eventual)40F weather...as long as the highs are in the 50s
the soil will hover around 50F from here on out.

I won't bring the rest my Canna bulbs/elephant ear bulbs
out until after I see what coming after the next cool down next
week,like you said-the EE's like warmer soil temps
so,April for them.
The only reason I planted the Caladium is they are in between
the Washys which will be covered and heated if need be.

Jim your Musa basjoo looks great how did you protect it. Mine is completely rotten and probably wont grow back.

For one thing,cut all the rot off and let it dry out.
They can sprout from farther down on the corm.

Last year I used 1 1/2' of mulch and covered with plastic..
this year same thing minus the plastic cover.

I have a couple Basjoo on the east side of the house
that I just threw a pile of leaves over,they look like
they may also come back.

I cut of all the rot. The center of the corm is alive but all the roots are dead. I have it covered in plastic to keep heat in.

Jim, make sure to prepare to cover your new plantings. Our forecast is to be in the 30s for highs and even a night down to 17 for this coming week, so assuming you're going to get some of that wintry weather too.

Nothing below 29F in the forecast yet but
I am definitely keeping an eye on it.

There are some strong storms coming in and with this
cold air in place,somebody's(hopefully not me(-;)going to
get nailed with some snow-I bet!

Statenislandpalm my basjoo has already started sending up new growth after cutting off the corm last Dec. and only covering with mulch. If you are out of the threat of freezing weather you may want to remove the plastic.

I dug up the musa basjoo and potted it. The corm is white in the center but all roots and shoots are dead. Im surprised because canna bulbs which normally die without protection survived when covered with leaf mulch like the banana

If it is white.....it should be alright.

Hey jim sorry i was on vacation when you posted. As usual everything is bouncing back .when do you plant your castor bean plants. I was given seeds over this winter i wanna plant

The Castor beans really need the warm weather!

I did plant mine in peat pots yesterday...the seeds that is-
they really need it to get to about 80F before they cooperate!

Hopefully the weather will cooperate in the next few weeks
and they can go outside as they will get VERY leggy inside
without enough direct sun......

I used to think I needed to germinate the seeds in Feb-Mar
for maximum size but after watching them grow 6' in 3 weeks..

I don't think that anymore(-:
This year I found the big leaved variety,one of which
grew 42" leaves 2 years ago!

I have also planted some of the purple ones--now where are those pics....

Here they are 6-4-10

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.....and 6-10-10,temps averaged about 64-84F during this period.

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...and here they are 6-29-10 25 days after the first pic
I trimmed some of the lower leaves-they are over 6'!

Temps from the 10th to the 29th averaged about 65-88F

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I wouldn't have believed it and didn't even realize how
much they grew until I looked at the dates on the pics!
Watching something grow everyday you sometimes miss whats
right under your nose!

Purple Castor

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Wow! I'll bet your yard gets a lot of attention from passers-by! I have been a huge fancier of palms most of my life...I just don't know if I have the guts to try one here....I'm in zone 5...Madison, WI...and I know it takes a fair bit of work to prepare them for winter with boxes, lights, heaters...whatever. I may just have to buy myself a fake palm instead! =(

However, I am taking a bit of a tropical plunge and am eagerly waiting for a couple of small basjoos I just ordered. Although not palms, I figure I may take things one step at a time...I really like these too, and if I can manage to keep these going, maybe I'll try a nice windmill palm down the road. All you've done is very inspiring!

Angie

Thanks Angie

It's a lot of fun.

I look forward to planting my Banana plants in another week or 2(?),
they are stored in the basement with the same size trunks they had growing to 12'.

As far as planting a palm,there are some people in Wisconsin/Minnesota
that are doing it,with a little planning and prep-it's not that much work to
grow a few/or more(-;