March 1st - pics

[Robin Cassell]

Nice looking early summer garden Dave..nice to see lush green/yellows for a change..heres mine today

[irish dave]

Thanks petefree.Dave sorry to see a few winter kills in yours,But summer is on its way,in another two months it will be great.Nigel i don't mind to much if it roots underneath, its the Mediterranean garden look I'm after,Butia Capitata don't like wet roots so I think it would look better in a larger pot raised up.I won't be moving it after i changed it over,If the roots do go in to the soil all the better,so there should be no bother.Thanks guys.Robin your garden is looking great.

[irish dave]

Robin,what type of cordyline is that,or is it a yucca?

[Robin Cassell]

HI Dave.. The lady at the shop said it,s a varigated yucca..Once again it was a label free bargain

[irish dave]

Looks great,Its an eye catcher.Very tropical.

[TOP BANANA]

Robin i think your Yucca looks very similar to Yucca Elephantipes Variegata. just looks a bit paler , guess its been stuck inside along time ?

[MarkD]

It looks summery in your spot already Lovely garden

[Dave Brown]

Wow Dave that ivy thing must be a bitch! But that yellow flower with the bumblebee is very nice - what is it?

The Ivy......It is. it is The yellow flower is a Mahonia charity they normally grow to be medium sized multistem shrubs, but I hack mine back in spring which keeps it low.

[photonbucket]

I thought Mahonia flowers would have been and gone by now.

[Troppoz]

I think I've seen cycads like that look great again after a new flush.

Pete and Dave the growing point is hidden deep underneath the protective cataphylls which are the spiky things at the growing point, so as long as the plant hasnt frozen solid it really should come back with warm weather. My advice would be to leave the dead fronds on until all sign of frost has gone at which time you give it a good tidy up and a good dose of some nitrogenous fetilizer. Cycads do enjoy chook poo but be cautious with a recovering one like that. Use a moderate amount at first but when the new fronds start to unfurl give them a bit more. Put it in the hottest and sunniest part of your garden now before it even thinks of growing and leave it...

And one more tip with cycads - once you see the new fronds coming out on a plant DONT move or turn the pot as this will cause the leaves to distort and look diseased. If you need to move it do it before the cataphylls elongate and the fronds come out, or once the fronds are fully unfurled and starting to harden and go deeper green. It looks like something has chewed and sucked the life out of the fronds, but its not pest damage. I learnt this the hard way until a friend put me straight...

[redsquirrel]

HI Dave.. The lady at the shop said it,s a varigated yucca..Once again it was a label free bargain

i like bargains too.went to the trading post yesterday for lunch,this yucca was lurking in the doorway with £12.99 round its neck.i queried it before risking life and limb and was told it was still the original label so i had found myself a bargain.been looking at these in particular to go between 2 variegated aloifolias out the front but at this size they were near on 50 quid

[Robin Cassell]

wow..great bargain and 7 quid cheaper than mine

[redsquirrel]

only went in for lunch robin, no intention of buying anything but that feeling of 'if i dont,someone else will' kicks in. your garden looks ready for bbq's,mine is white with frost this morning

[DAVIDEVANS]

IrishDave from browned off Dave - your photos really did come at an opportune time. I'd just been out in the garden for the first time and was struggling to find much left alive that and wsas prettty cheered up by your garden.
To be honest I was getting a bit fed up of the CIDPs, might save up and get a decent sized one. Anyway it all leaves space for some more Cannas from Steve and bananas from John (chap from Norwich with the garden to die for - does nice plants on Ebay too). And then there's the Akamba meet with the 20% off and hopefully a few freeby swappsies so something had to go.
Dave - I love the way you've done the decking, what did you use to get that colour?

Thanks for all the encouraging comments.

Sean - Wow - thanks for the lowdown on the cycad.

[irish dave]

The deck was all my brothers design,something nice but not to big.I gave it two coats of ceder decking oil.Make sure its a dry day,it takes 24hours to dry.I did the second coat a week later.