WOW! Your garden is spectacular!!

Are you doing anything to prepare the plants for Irene?
(I live in sandbridge and I need tips)

Nice yard as always! How long have you had the foxtail? Its beautiful!

Thanks Palmcitrusbanana! Im taking in the most fragile of my potted plants and I'm tying up a lot of plants to keep them from falling. My yard is sheltered from a lot of wind because of my house on one side and large bushes 11 feet tall or more on every side. Still, I think that the wind will be pretty brutal and definitely bad enough to get things flying around. I stocked up on food and necessities and I have a generator ready to keep my basement from flooding in the event of a power outage.

Thanks Hunter! I got the Foxtail palm about 2 weeks ago at a nursery on Long Island. It was only 20 dollars so I had to buy it!

-Alex

TWENTY! Dude! They are charging 275 dollars at my nusery for an 8 footer! I seem like I have no good deals around here. :(

Not sure why, but large palms here are pretty cheap. The nursery I go to on Long Island has amazing deals! Everything is always on sale. I got a 5 gallon agave for 30 dollars and they had huge Agave americanas (10 gallon) for 85 dollars (I still regret not getting those!) The Home Depots and Lowes here are pretty expensive though compared to other places and they rarely have any plant sales. Usually 8 footer Foxtails here cost around 150 dollars and 2 years ago they were selling 20 foot royal palms for about 275 dollars! They were huge, but I would probably need a crane to get a palm that size in my yard!
-Alex

Alex,
Everything looks great.My HD has some good sales this time of year,50% to 75% off full price.I got a 15gal.Med.Fan Palm today for $48.They also have 7gal.Bismarks for $22,and a 7gal Bottle palms for $22 also.I started to get one of the Bismarks palms,but im trying to stick with palms that will live here planted in the ground.I'm glad all your plants are doing well for you.Dont you have a Pygmy Date Palm?How's your Fig Tree doing?Great pics.as always.I hope that storm does'nt do to much damanage in your yard.
Randy

Great pics, I hope everything comes through ok. Irene is making landfall as I write this. luckily the storm has weakened. I should not feel any major effects of the storm here in Winston Salem. Just in case I think I will go out and take a few photos, cause I could imagine some of my 8' cannas blowing over.

Good luck

Sweet pics! Do you know the name of the fern growing around the foxtail palm? I hope everything survives fine. I'm worried about my banana tree, elephant ear bulbs, and plumeria tree (rooted year ago about a foot tall growing in ground). It's just starting to rain here in Laurel Maryland equidistant between DC and Baltimore. I think we are in the tropical storm warning area with winds 30 mph and gust of up to 60. We'll see. Looking forward to after pictures!

T.J.

Thanks Randy! I used to have a pygmy palm, but it died last year. I never have good luck with them indoors. My fig tree is doing good, but I saw a fig tree a few blocks from be that was about 25 feet across, 20 feet tall, and probably had somewhere around 2000 figs on it (not 200, 2000). It was LOADED! I never saw so many figs per stem ever, everywhere a fig could grow on the stem, it was growing. I might knock on the door just to know what they are doing for it because mine had a lousy 5 figs this year (but in its defense, it was planted just this spring). Even though figs are suppose to be somewhat marginal here, I have to admit that I have never see a fig that wasnt full and loaded with fruit!

Good luck Chadec! I hope it doesn't do doo much damage by you either! Looks like you should be far enough to escape the hurricane force winds, but some of those gusts can definitely knock a few plants over. Definitely take some pics!

Thanks TJ. Im not sure the name of the fern, but I got it from Home Depot and I think its a Polystichum, but I dont know the species. If you can find out, tell me and I'll tell you if I do find the name! I was under a tropical storm warning a few years ago and I remember some minor damage to the banana plants, losing a large outdoor lamp, and having a few potted plants falling down. I think your plants should make it through though! Good luck!

Good luck to everyone who is dealing, or will be dealing, with Irene. It isnt as threatening as before, but its still dangerous and can still do some plant damage.
-Alex

I just called my local nusery and they were sold out of foxtail palms. I asked them what the prices were when they had them and they said $129-$179. Darn. I only have 25 bucks.

Wow, thats still pretty expensice by HD standards! I would just save up this year if I were you and try to get a few 100 dollars for the next growing season. Go on ebay and spend about 100 dollars on some canna bulbs, elephant ear bulbs, banana plants, etc.. and then spend the rest on some nice palms and other tropicals!
Good luck!
-Alex

Just wanted to update...

My papaya is very close to flowering and it will definitely make a flower before frost.

Also, I have 2 pindo palms in the ground and one of my pindo palms is shown in these pics and the other one isnt. The pindo palm that isnt shown is struggling to push up just one frond for the season (has been in the ground for 3 summers and grown slowly every single summer), while the other has already pushed up 3 fronds (First summer in the ground and is growing well.

So bascially, This winter, I will not be heating the pindo palm that is (and always has been) growing slowly. Basically, I am letting it die. The new pindo you see in the ground in this pic will act as its replacement, and I will plant something else in the spot where my slow growing pindo palm is now (I might leave my potted Dicksonia Antactica Fern in that spot and put some colorful shade annuals to hide the planter that the fern is in).

I'd hate to see one of my palms go, but its just not growing well in the spot its in and its not worth protecting anymore, especially when I have a pindo doing much better in a different spot.

-Alex

Alex: If you dont mind me asking, how much did your coconut palm cost and how tall was it when you got it? There is a guy on ebay selling a sprouted malasian dwarf for 80 bucks counting shipping. Those are only probably 20 inches tall. I want one so bad I might give in and buy one as soon as I get some B-day money from my family.
-Hunter

Mine was only 5 dollars plus 10 for shipping (so it ended up costing just under 15 dollars which I thought was a great deal). It was a small sprout (about a 4 inch sprout) from Miami Beach when I got it in June of 2009. I wouldnt by a coconut palm this time of the year because then you have to worry about it indoors. I would buy it around late May or June when the weather is warm so that way you dont have to worry about it!
I would never spend 80 dollars for a 20 inch tall coconut palm. I dont remember the name of the seller who gave me my coco, but look for a seller from Miami Beach and you might find it!
-Alex

Ok, thanks for the advice. I may have to find another site to buy from. The only problem is you just cant find them. I dont want a seed, so my only option are insanely expensive sprouts. Do you know any other sites that sell them at a good cost?