What is the oldest plant you own?

[redsquirrel]

i think Kevs came through outside . seem to do better in the ground.i might have a bit of growth in the middle of mine but its like a cartoon baby with a few strands of hair.cant be bothered with it anymore.
in the five or so years its been here,its never got better,just slowly declined

[Dave Brown]

My oldest plant is probably not what most people would expect. It is my Monstera deliciosa (Swiss Cheese Plant), bought from Woolworths in 1967. That makes it 44 years old

Next is Trunky Trachycarpus 41 years old, then Howie Sabal 35, then Trudi Trachycarpus 32, Yucca gloriosa 30, Yucca recurifolia 29.

[redsquirrel]

My oldest plant is probably not what most people would expect. It is my Monstera deliciosa (Swiss Cheese Plant), bought from Woolworths in 1967. That makes it 44 years old

Next is Trunky Trachycarpus 41 years old, then Howie Sabal 35, then Trudi Trachycarpus 32, Yucca gloriosa 30, Yucca recurifolia 29.

brilliant Dave,i ought to get more organised and record things more

[DiCasS]

My oldest plant is probably not what most people would expect. It is my Monstera deliciosa (Swiss Cheese Plant), bought from Woolworths in 1967. That makes it 44 years old

Next is Trunky Trachycarpus 41 years old, then Howie Sabal 35, then Trudi Trachycarpus 32, Yucca gloriosa 30, Yucca recurifolia 29.

See, that's the difference. It's easy to pay the price and pick up a plant that's a good few years old, but to actual keep them for that amount of years is a challange/achievement Some of those plants are nearly as old as me

Darren, the top sounds as if it wants to grow so do you think it could be something not quite right going on underneath the soil Have you been tempted to turf it out its pot and have a look.

Di

[Troppoz]

My Cycas thouarsii is pretty old!

From PACSOA website;

"Cycas thouarsii - Thought to be the most ancient of the Cycas (and hence the Cycads), at an estimated 140 million years of age."



Mind you Ive only owned one for a couple of months, but surely this would have to rate as one of the oldest living species on the planet, definitely food for browsing dinosaurs.


Apart from that I bought a Beaucarnea recurvata for my Mum when I was about 14 (26 years ago). It was only a foot or so high back then but now, while still in a pot stands almost 4 metres tall with a caudex about 60cm diameter. It is surprisingly hardy, growing outdoors in Canberra against a wall all year round. This year went through a -9c and was completely unscathed!

Mum also still has a wee little tilandsia that I gave her as a present around the same time, glued to a porcelain plate. Its been living on the kitchen window sill for a couple of decades now, she plunges it under water every few weeks, flowers every year quite happily...

Sean

[Mr List]

up until this year i had some fairly well established clumps of dockleafs and dandilions

[redsquirrel]

yes Di.it isnt well rooted at all,this year i gave it a pack of friendly fungi around the roots but it hasnt helped.tried all the re-rooting hormones etc,i dont think it wants to do well here

[Kristen]

I rooted a cutting taken off a gorgeousness Mrytle at my parent's old home which was a Rectory, once upon a time, and the Mrytles at all the Rectories came from Queen Victoria's wedding bouquet ...

"I've danced with a man, who's danced with a girl, who's danced with the Prince of Wales" ... that sort of thing ...

[Essex Ross]

A Rhododendron Poniticum panted by my grandfather in 1965.

[palm lad]

probably our huge 30ft Crab-Apple tree is around 50+ years old i think its a variegated form of 'Malus Sylvestris' cause it has creamy-white spring blossom instead of bright pink

[Nigel]

Here a Xanthorrhoea glauca with a trunk approximately 3 ft. has got to be a few years old, read that the glauca grow approximately a cm. per year, some varieties a bit more, but I've only had it for a fraction of its life but the most amazing thing for me is, it's still alive

Di

I would be amazed if grass trees grew a cm a year. I wouldnt have been surprised to hear a 3 foot grass tree would already be 100 years old. They grow in the most inhospitable dry conditions in habitat.

[GREVILLE]

Acquired garden in 1985. All I have left of the original are a huge holly, a self sown seedling (it would NOT have been planted where it's growing!) probably about 50 years old. It's a fantastic wind-break. Roses in the front garden which Sand wanted to keep (I do like roses ) of which a 'Peace' rose must be 40 years old. Lastly, about the same age is an existing Fatsia Japonica, my original exotic.

The traditional planting from 1985 contain shrubs 'born' in the early 80's but the first planted exotic would be a 5/6 year old Trachycarpus put in the same year, so at 32? years old this is my oldest acquisition planted in the garden.

I have a potted specimen of a pip-grown orange that is almost 40 years old. A friend gave me this in 1977 saying that she germinated it five years before. It has remained in its 15 inch tub for the last 20 years and it produces tiny oranges that you can eat whole

Dave would find this interesting: My Monstera deliciosa is a cutting of cutting of a cutting etc. (lost count of the clones) taken from a plant my mum brought back from her office in 1968, the previous generations all being passed on elsewhere when they got too big

[Simba]

I have a couple of Cycas revoluta that are about 20+ years old, but I have only had those a few years.

So I will have to say the Yucca Gloriosa that I planted about 7 years ago, and had that for a couple of years at my previous house.

[Arlon Tishmarsh]

I would think that my macrozamia Moorei has to be my oldest. I always thought 25 to 30 yrs but it has been suggested many times by various people that it's more likely to be anywhere between 60 to 80 yrs old. Took a pic yesterday while moving it to it's winter home ................

[Simba]

You've got some good growth out of that this year Arlon.....