Hello, I would like to try to grow this bamboo, can it be brought inside in buckets, does it like water. I have a couple kinds of Elephant ears, they are green. one is really big, the other kind is smaller. I have seeds for saucer hibiscus, the flowers are closed to 7 inches across, they maybe grow better down there, they are cold hardy though, so they will come back every year. I also have a few,ferns, and jack in the pulpits, as well as a variety of flower bulbs

Hi Don, thanks! I don't recall ever acquiring one called Teaspoon, but I did buy Blue Mouse Ears. I probably have my ID wrong here. Maybe it just lost the waxy coating from the sun?

Thanks for the comments. Here are a few more pics! My sago palm is in a corner. I guess thats my plant hospital-no one can see it-but I can easily care for it. Windmill palm planted this year is looking good in shade. I think its on its 3rd frond . Next is a pic of my sabal domingensis, also newly planted this spring. Its pushed 1 and a half fronds this year. Not bad considering its in a pretty good amount of shade and still a pretty young palm. Also new for this year is my european fan palm. It has a pup on the side of it which is about to open its first frond. Sabal minor in its second year and growing very fast considering its a sabal minor! Its already pushed out a full frond and the second frond is unfolding. I wouldnt be surprised to get 3 fronds by the end of the summer. My sabal minors 'trunk'. It looks like it is actually growing above the ground, but maybe its planted too shallow. I think Ill have to add a little mulch in the fall since the roots are pretty exposed, but I think they have always been exposed. Do you think it should have some more soil on the top? NEW VOCAB WORD FOR ME! This is the 'hastula' of my Sabal domingensis. Apparently its where the petiole meets the base of the leaflets. On palmetto shaped fans its more spearlike. Im pretty sure sabal domingensis is a palmetto shaped leaf and heres a pic of the 'hastula' on it. And here is the 'hastula' on my sabal minor. So Im going to guess the longer the hastula is, the more coastapalmate (that palmetto shaped leaf) the frond is. I guess its a pretty good way to determine if a sabal minor is a minor or a palmetto at a young age. You learn a new thing every day! My new and first crape myrtle which is a crape myrtle zuni. They are starting to become pretty common in the area (maybe almost as common as southern magnolias). They are all in bloom now, but mine looks like it has about a week before the first blooms open. Heres my parlor palm and stromanthe in the shade doing well. They made it through 4 days of 100 degree weather in the shade with no leaf burn. I was very impressed. I have a peace lily in even more shade further to the back and it also had no leaf burn from the recent heat. Heres my tree fern which is growing at a pretty good speed. wsg89, Gardening can be very frustrating at times, and relaxing at others, but in the end its a great hobby. I think we have all lost a few plants. This year (from spring to now) I lost a bismarkia (I guess it didnt like the indoor atmosphere), musella (it just didnt like being shipped), one hibiscus, and definitely a few other plants also. Its disappointing to see plants die, but we learn from our mistakes and I definitely buy more than I lose! Greg, Thats definitely one of the reasons to by at a nursury. And you know the quality of fruit will be good on a grafted plant since it will fruit just like its mother. You just have to know which plants you have to buy grafted and which can be easily grown from seed. Laura, Thanks for the compliment. You have a beautiful yard also! I love those huge sabal palmettos and healthy pindo palms! Thanks for looking! Enjoy! -Alex

Since my last post, I've made another batch of Habanero Gold, and one more of the Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly. The Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly didn't turn out as hot as it did last time, even though I'm using the same varieties of peppers. Just goes to show you how much variation in heat there can be, even on the same plant! Today, I put a couple of trays peppers in the dehydrator. Here is a picture of what I harvested. Clockwise from the bottom is Alma Paprika, Chilhaucle Rojo, Kalocsai V2, Czechoslovakian Black, and Cosa Arrugada. This is my first year with the Cosa Arrugada, and initially I was disappointed that it didn't have more heat, but it is sweet with very little flesh, so I'm thinking it will make an excellent sweet paprika. Still waiting for Lemon Drop, and Aji Yellow to ripen, so that I can do a taste comparison, but there is only a week or two left before our first frost. The Lemon Drop was very slow to get going, but has turned into a huge bush that is loaded with pods. The Aji Yellow grew much faster, but doesn't have near as many pods on it. Hoping I get enough before the season's over to dry and grind some. Bonnie