Great pics! Everything looks really great and is growing extremely fast (arent some of those plants pushing at least 1 leaf a week?) My eastern prickly pears bloomed a few days ago. This is the first year I have ever gotten a true cactus to flower so it was pretty nice to see. The yellow flowers really stand out and Im hoping that the flowers become more abundant as it ages (I got 4 flowers).

Heres a pic of them (as of this weekend). They are in pots now (and were overwintered outdoors in the same pot) and I plan on potting them up in the ground next year when I have some more space to squeeze them in a good spot.

Thanks for sharing your great pics!
Good luck!
-Alex

They really do have beautiful flowers!

The Black Thai bananas,Thai giant Colocasia and Itinerans are putting out a leaf every 4 days!

Hey Jim,

Everything is growing so fast for you, I really can't believe the size of all of your trees...I can't wait until even the end of June to see the size of everything!!!

Your Agave looks so healthy, do you have protection around the base of the plant now? or is that some type of slate to keep it warmer than other plants in your garden?

Thanks for the pictures!!!

Laura in VB

Thanks jim. I think that the eastern prickly pear is one of my favorite cactus because it has a beautiful flower, amazing cold tolerance, and is also native!
Oh and I meant to ask you what the name of that agave was. It looks really nice.

Good luck!

Laura
I put the slate there to make a small area where I don't have to weed!-LOL

It also helps divert the rain away,although I don't think it matters that much-I dig this one up and replant every year.
It will be to big next year to drag in so.........I will find a way to leave it out.

Alex
It''s a garden variety A.americana my mom removed from her yard in Arizona a while back,it usually grows 10 leaves
over the summer(7 already),it will surpass that this year for sure.
This has been the first really warm spring in quite a few years and the growth is the best I have ever seen!

My Parryi has put out 20 leaves,double last year!
The A.havardiana 8,already matched last year.

It's supposed to be in the 90s the next ten days,can you imagine?-add that with 13+ inches of rain since May 10
(4"+ in the last 4 days) and this stuff will go nuts.

Finally a good year,our streak of 80+ degree weather is at 26 days,double any period last year already and it's not even summer yet!

Jim ,you know you can cut those Angels Trumpets from one node to the next and put them in just plain water and they will root.There very easy to make more plants from cuttings.I think I have gave my whole neighborhood cuttings.LOL,My favorite one is the Double blooming purple.The trunk and stems are a deep purple color,the veins of the leaves are even purple.They start blooming for me in July,once they start blooming they smell the strongest at night.I swear the yellow ones smell just like lemon sented pledge.Mine get about 7ft tall every year,they love water and eat fertilizer like candy.If you keep the flower stems cut off after each flower blooms,the plant will keep putting out more blooms,if not they make a seed pod where each flower was.Most people here know what a normal angels trumpet looks like,but the purple ones threw people.Alot of people would ask me what is that?When I told them it's a purple double blooming angels trumpet.Everyone said I never seen one like that.The above ground growth dies at the first freeze in winter,I just cut the trunks to the ground and they start growing again every may,funny thing is the trunks are hollow.If they wont survive in the ground for you,you can take cuttings or let them set seeds in fall.I dident know if you already knew this,I thought I would let you know that you dont have to try to over winter them.Just wait till they bloom,go out on the pourch at night and there smell is wonderful.

Yea,I had some of those last year I believe,
kind of a light purple/violet color on the double blooms
and purple on the back?

I couldn't find any flower pics for some reason but I did find a pic from last year,mine is in the upper right hand corner.
There is actually a bloom or two on it.
It never got very big but it did flower quite a bit,the fragrance at night was like devine!

Is that your front yard?It looks like the Desert,with a little of the tropics thrown in.Did you dig out your native soil where the pea gravel is?Love the cacti and succulents.Most people would like to live in Florida,I would like to live in Arizona or New Mexico.I like alot of the desert plants,most look like something from another planet.Nice front yard!

Yea I dug out the desert bed about a foot down,added limestone at the bottom and a foot of pea gravel and sand.
There are palms all around the perimeter and also Bananas and other goodies.
Clicking on any of the pics enters you into all the pics starting from most recent back to when I started.

{{gwi:564078}}

Looks amazing!!
what's that tall cactus in the buried pot?

how is the pindo seedling i gave you a while back when we traded?

Dennis,
the cactus is Cereus peruvianus,a form of night blooming Cereus.
They grow EXTREMELY fast for a cactus,if you look close you can see how much it grew last year(about 15 notches),already 8 this year!

The Pindo is in the little black pot(lower right),kind of a worthless pi because you can't see it!

Very nice pics! I like the Madagascar palm. Do you still have it this year??

Good luck!
-Alex

Everyone is getting an early jump on summer! That first shot is quite stunning and the rest are great too!

I can hardy wait for your August shots. Do your Brugs have scent at night?

Always love looking at your Tropical / Desert garden and I am ALWAYS amazed at how awesome it looks given your usually very harsh winters there. Excellent job!!!!

T7
yea,I still have it-on the porch right now,you just reminded me I want ot sink it like I did last year(-:

Greg
My Brugs fragrance at night last year were heavenly,these have not bloomed yet,they just grow,grow,grow right now!

Hey thanks Ken

I thought I would give up last winter/spring when I saw the damage but what else would you do but expand!
Enjoyed your yard shots too,new palm looks beautiful!

Thanks Jim! Oh.. and I forgot to mention....

I AM TOTALLY JEALOUS OF YOUR CASTOR BEANS!!!!!!

Mine are only like a foot tall and blooming. I must really suck at growing them or something. It's my first year growing them, and while they are doing good, they are like miniature. What did I do wrong?

I have a little patch that are blooming (trying to) too,I cut all the pods off and the side shoots to encourage vertical growth.

I think the reason the try to flower early is some kind of stress that makes them believe their life is threatened or will be shortened.
If you want them to get big just remove the pods.
The next update will be huge!
If the storms don't get then tonight!

Looking forward to some updates. Good luck!

-Alex

I had the Charles Grimaldi burgmancia (yellow trumpets) and I enjoy the evening fragramce - but the Charles Grimaldi was too strong. I want to try another.

How is the scent of yours? Did you notice after a afternoon T-Storm they release fragrance also?

Greg
They still haven't bloomed