How many 'specimen' plants do you have?
And what are they?
I like my s. Elegans
Comments (34)
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How many new plants have you aquired this year? Do you do this?
Comments (17)Mike, First I want to say, the plants I received, beginning Jan 1, 2010, were in 3-4" containers, bulbs and cuttings. Only a handful were larger, meaning 8" to 1' tall. Total: 58. :) :( Marguest, your Banana Tree is beautiful. The colors amazing. There's even a pup. Did you find it on Ebay? Mike, to answer a few questions. I MUST stay away from Ebay..It's one addicting site. Not only do they have great deals on plants, but plant supplies. There's also a few online nurseries I browse every other wk or so. The internet makes it too easy to shop for such an exciting hobby. A few clicked keys, next thing, a package is at your front door? One word of Warning for those who really want to stop buying plants.. Well, an attempt. Do NOT sign up for nursery News Letters. It's convenient, swaying us to their site, displaying their wares. Hear the clicking keys to Paypal? lol. As for local nurseries, fortunately, there are two that sell very very nice and rare specimens..luckily, opposite directions, both a long distance drive. An hour on non-congested days, 1.5-2 hours during 9-5, Rush Hour traffic. Although, traffic has gotten so heavy the past five years, the only time to go anywhere with time to spare is between midnight and 5am. Problem is, the stores are closed. lol. Our grocery store, Jewel's, always has plants for sale. Mostly, basic plants like Spaths, certain Dracaenas, etc. My problem arises when they have dollar sales. 3-4" potted plants for 1.00. Every so often, they'll have a rarer specimen. Buy 3, pot them up, and you have a lovely plant for 3.00. Four years ago, they had, mixed in with other dollar plants, Schefflera 'brassaia/actinophylla, a plant I hadn't seen in years...last one) I grabbed it up fast. lol. That's about it. Not too bad for 9 months. lol. Toni...See MoreHow many different plants do you have?
Comments (27)Let's see, I have over 100 varieties of hydrangea, at least 300 varieties of roses, around 20 varieties of peonies, about 40 varieties of magnolia, dozens of different lupines, and more coming, about 10 or so species of poppy, about 50 different iris, 6 or 7 varieties of trillium, and that just barely scratches the surface. I should someday try to catalog everything, it might prove quite interesting! I have a friend with over 4000 varieties of roses alone in his garden. He's got tons of other stuff besides that, all on about 2 or 3 acres. --Ron...See MoreHow do you know when you have too many plants??
Comments (63)Have you ever seen the big tall poles with a propellor on them. They produce energy and for most people who put them in they produce more energy then they use and they start getting a check from the electic company instead of a bill. Problem is for most people the amountof money they are saving is not even close to the cost of the generator. (Est. $10-20,000_ With a bill of $500 dollars a month it would pay for itself in four years and then your electric is essentially free. I don't know about electric heat, but I would imagine you may still need more power than a single wind generator can produce. If you plan on staying in your house for a while it may be a worth while investment. In my case (or my fathers case) it would take too many years for the generator to pay for itself than is worth while for us and we don't have that kind of money upfront. It is easier to pay for the electric bill each month which is a smaller cost than the wind generator even though the long term costs are higher....See MoreHow many succulents & Cacti do you have?
Comments (32)Wow. This is certainly an older thread! My elementary school teacher gave me a jade plant. I had it for several years but it received no sunlight. I had no knowledge nor was I interested at the time but it grew very slowly. It never gave any indication that it was sick or tired or anything so it was never moved. It was near the stove the entire time so I wonder if steam and heat kept it going. After moving, my mother set it outside on the front porch where it got a blast of sun for the first time in so long. I panicked and brought it back in but it was too late. The jade plant died. I was so furious because it was really something special even though I wasn't truly interested in it at the time. Years later, I saw a jade plant growing in a tiny pot and I recalled the jade plant I had. I decided to buy it and it's been exactly 10 years now. I've made several cuttings from it to make some attempts at having it grow big and thick (I am convinced now that it must be some type of dwarf variety since it never got big or thick). Two years ago, I got another jade plant from a nursery which is growing very nicely that I made several cuttings from it to pot them up. I also received quite a few jade plant cuttings from a 2005 succulent sendoff (I can't remember who hosted it but I came in really late and the guy apologized that there wasn't more variety but I was ecstatic at the huge cuttings he gave me that I just potted them up instead of breaking them up into smaller plants!). And just shortly ago, I received more cuttings from a jade plant. I am really thankful to all those who were willing to share. I guess when it comes to types, I don't have very many. Most are jade plants. But when it comes to pots, I do have quite a bit. It happens when I get 'inspired' to try something so I get a cutting from the main plant and wait for the cutting to get big enough. I -used- to have a cactus collection. A store was selling these small cacti geared towards children. It'd be growing in a tiny terracotta pot with a plastic bag and colorful images of children gleefully looking at a smiling cactus or something. Every year, I'd get several if they were on sale and I'd end up repotting a few when they got too big for the tiny pot. I never had to bring them in for winter. They wintered outside very well but that was my fault because I tend to forget but when they survived the first winter, I just let them stay out every winter since. Then one winter was amazingly unusually cold. My entire cactus collection died. That was a surprise but I didn't really know any better at the time. The only cactus I have is something called "Opuntia Pusilla". I can't seem to find an official name for it as I've seen various names used for it. It is an ugly cactus that never grows big and it doesn't grow upwards. The *only* reason I still have mine (I've had them for more than 10 years and they've never ever been brought in. They've survived every type of winter thus far!) is because I really like how they flower. Otherwise, I would've thrown them away years back because they're ugly to look at. I'll admit, I've been lightly thinking on the idea of getting a 'proper' prickly pear but I shudder at the idea of handling cacti. I love them but I'm absolutely terrified of them. hehe. Here is a link that might be useful: Opuntia pusilla...See More
koffman99
7 years ago
sandyslopes z5 n. UT
7 years agoBeautiful! I like your Elegans, too! Looks huge with nice form and color. It's stands out among the other hostas.
I can't think of what I'd call a specimen, maybe big hostas like Komodo Dragon or Empress Wu, ....but when they're together, do they stand out enough to be called a specimen?I really need to find something for scale when I'm outside. This shows the deck post so that's something.
Komodo Dragon
hostatakeover swMO
7 years agokoffman99
7 years agokoffman99
7 years agosandyslopes z5 n. UT
7 years agohostatakeover swMO
7 years agoDelawareDonna Zone 7A
7 years ago
bragu_DSM 5
7 years agoDelawareDonna Zone 7A
7 years ago
peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI like your Elegans too, and Donnas and mine and...it is terrific. Fabulous specimens everyone!
Elegans - not the pic I meant to add.
Blue Angel
Fortunei Albopicta an oldie but a true specimen in spring and even after greening up.
montana Aureomarginata
Powder Blue
Winter Snow to name just a few lol!
popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
7 years agosandyslopes z5 n. UT
7 years ago
WILDernessWen5
7 years ago
dublinbay z6 (KS)
7 years agopopmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
7 years agoDelawareDonna Zone 7A
7 years agoKate, I agree that "specimen" plant has a double meaning in hosta gardens - a plant that comes from a hosta like Elegans from the species h. Sieboldiana, and one that stands out because of its size.. Laurie, to have so many mature "specimens" in one's garden is wonderful to see.
Here is a Fried Bananas going into its fifth year.
peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
7 years ago
mkpearse (MI z6a)
7 years agoI have this Sum and Substance that is still unfurling I think. Leaves are huge this year. I need to take out a measuring tape to see how big it is.
Then I have this Blue Angel (one of many)
And Elegans that is not mature yet but it sure leaped from last year.
Diana 6a Texas
7 years ago4 y old who knows what-I suspect Olive Bailey Langdon (center; Top left; Guardian Angel, Winter Snow, Sum and Substance). I divided that hosta by the half and shared with peoples. Don't seem to be affected though:)
Parhelion (center, American Halo on left, Cinderella on right, front right is Janet)
3 y old Millenium (and half of Sagae on right)
Tenryu-second year
Dark Shadows-second year. Leaves are enormous!
DelawareDonna Zone 7A
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoDiana, I don't believe that is Dark Shadows. Nice hosta, though. Maybe someone can identify it if you post a separate photo(s) of it online. Here's mine.
DelawareDonna Zone 7A
7 years agoMy biggest specimen. Empress Wu. I'm too short to get a nice photo from the top.
Diana 6a Texas
7 years ago
Linda's Garden z6 Utah
7 years ago
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI have a good handful of some mature hostas that may fit that category:. Frances Williams, Lancifolia, Sagae, Krossa Regal, F. Albopicta, U. Albomarginata, Ann Kulpa, Marrakech... and would love to add this year's pics but they are still in various stages of unfurling.
Lancifolia
Same hosta - first pic newer -2015
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
7 years agoSagae - last July
will be bigger this year - gained a few more shoots :D. Tallest hosta in my garden. FW giving him a run for his money.
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoFrances Williams - last spring.
I moved her the other day to a more shaded area. Will update when she is fully opened up. You can tell she has been around for awhile, lol.
Diana 6a Texas
7 years ago
almosthooked zone5
7 years agoI have a very hard time choosing a specimen hosta from my gardens so out of the bunch of pictures I took tonight I will limit them to two . First would be Kiwi Full Monty tonight which is over 4 1/2 feet across now
2nd favorite tonight would be Emerald Crown ( August moon is trying to outshine but I ignored her tonight)
WILDernessWen5
7 years agoI think this will qualify as a specimen. Great Arrival really making her entrance known.
Never did move it last year. You can see a GE peeking out to the left. This was from this mornings rounds. Love it!
koffman99