man thats the worst,, just when everythings goin along smooth, (Something) comes along n sets ya back, storm, bugs, 'Vactn' drought, whatever it is,,, srry to hear it mate, :( Thats a Cool Aloe tho, ive recently become attracted to em myself, glad you were able to Save her, :) is almost Any plant able to flower then? sure dint know an Aloe would? lol

The good news is that you've got more than enough room. The bad news is that you're not going to be able to grow something that gets really big in your Zone. Bamboo is hardy, but most of them will either not survive your winters, or will defoliate and have the culms killed, although they will put out new shoots in the spring. The hardiest bamboo that I can think of that will put out relatively large culms is Ph. nuda, which is hardy down to minus 20 F, but it will lose much of the aboveground growth each winter. (The "hardiness limit" refers to the lowest temperature that won't kill the plant entirely...it will still look sad in winter). The maximum diameter for nuda is under 2". If you've seen big culms at the zoo, they were probably imported from Vietnam, Thailand, or China...not grown locally. I'm not trying to discourage you; there are a fair number of folks who grow bamboo in Zone 5. However, you have to accept the limitations of where you are living, and that you're not going to be able to have evergreen bamboo or expect it to get huge.

Hi all Crazy weather this year, esp along the Northern NSW/SE Queelnsland coast where many of us live - Jack, Kerry, Ross and some I haven't yet met I don't think. Very few plants rotted, and no Alcantareas died despite the cms of mud impregnated into the bottom of the pots. Unfortunately I lost plants of some N carcharodons, some Hohenbergias esp castellanosii clumps and a few large Vr fosteriana forms. Even the T tectorums among the rocks in full sun (rain at the time!) are fine. It rained for months and I've recorded over 2.5 metres for the year so far. Now it's getting dry with no rain for 42 days and temps starting to get well over 25C with over 30 forecast in the next few days - very warm for August but the nights are mostly cool/cold still so not much grows. We don't usually get the freezes like in the States, though a couple of yrs ago was another crazy year, not with rain but severe frost as Kerry sure knows. Lisa, the Navias like arida and ignesicola can't take the months of cold nights I get, mostly well below 10C. They are low altitude species but the ones from the tops of the tepuis are even trickier I gather but should take the cold. Cheers, Pedro

Sounds like the selection called 'Zanzibarensis' is what you grew. Plain green, but MUCH taller & bigger growing than most other castor beans. When I grew them they reached at least 15 feet tall in a single growing season. The dark-leafed varieties all seem to be selected for smaller size but try 'Impala', which has very nice foliage and can make it to about 10 feet or more with plenty of water and fertilizer. Also, for best growth start the seeds directly in the ground. The seedlings send out a very long taproot almost immediately upon germination and starting them in pots nearly always stunts them.