Clavija domingensis

[Rory]

Anyone else on here growing these yet? Before I got these I had always thought they were awesome plants ever since I stumbled across some pictures of them a few years ago, and so far they've proven to be just as awesome even as small plants. I've been really impressed with the growth rates on them so far, it's amazes me every time they flush how much bigger the leaves turn out then the last. I know at least one person here has these (seeing as that's where mine came from), but I'd love to see some other pictures if anyone else is growing some too. Anyway here's mine. Those leaves are close to 2ft long, that sandals a size 13 for scale.

[Jeff Searle]

Rory....I have a few as well, and really look forward to maybe planting one or two in the yard next summer. Mine are almost the same size. For those of us that attended the 2006 Biennial down in the Dominican Republic, we went to the botanical garden in the capital and saw a really nice specimen growing there. It attracted a large group to admire it. And from that day on, it was at the top of my "must have" list. The rest is history.......

 

There's a good chance I will have one for sale at the upcoming Extravaganza Sale.

Edited September 13, 2015 by Jeff Searle

[Josh-O]

how cold hardy are these plants? Can they grow in California??

[LJG]

Damn Rory. Yours are 4 times the size of mine. Plus really well grown. Mine were set back from shipping however but I can tell they need humidity so might be tough here. As you know these were not cheap so I will be babying them for years before they go into the ground. Even than who knows if they will handle SoCal winter and grow like yours. 

 

[Rory]

Rory....I have a few as well, and really look forward to maybe planting one or two in the yard next summer. Mine are almost the same size. For those of us that attended the 2006 Biennial down in the Dominican Republic, we went to the botanical garden in the capital and saw a really nice specimen growing there. It attracted a large group to admire it. And from that day on, it was at the top of my "must have" list. The rest is history.......

 

There's a good chance I will have one for sale at the upcoming Extravaganza Sale.

Figured you'd have some of these growing too Jeff. Just a picture of the one from the biennial is what put this on my must have list, must have been awesome actually seeing it in person.

how cold hardy are these plants? Can they grow in California??

I don't think these have been in cultivation long enough to have been tested as far as cold tolerance goes Josh. I know of a few that were grown from an earlier batch of seed than the current ones out there, but those have pretty much been restricted to growing in the Miami area as far as I know, which obviously doesn't help give much of an idea of their cold tolerance. Being from the Caribbean I would think there's a decent chance of them having some degree of cold tolerance though. I think it's a cool enough plant to be worth at least trying over there if you can get your hands on one, should have a better chance than most plants with as big and tropical looking of foliage as these do.

Damn Rory. Yours are 4 times the size of mine. Plus really well grown. Mine were set back from shipping however but I can tell they need humidity so might be tough here. As you know these were not cheap so I will be babying them for years before they go into the ground. Even than who knows if they will handle SoCal winter and grow like yours. 

 

Thanks Len. Glad to hear you're growing some too, I'll definitely be curious to see how yours end up doing over there. Once the bigger of the two in my pictures grows into the pot it's in I think I'll plant it out and see how it does. Over here I expect it to do pretty well but like you said they weren't cheap so I'll probably baby my others too until the one I put in the ground goes through a winter or two.

[Cindy Adair]

I have at least one from this genus which came from Ecuador seed. Too rainy for a photo today though. Thanks for the information and photos!

[Tracy S]

On 9/12/2015, 5:36:18, Rory said:

Anyone else on here growing these yet? Before I got these I had always thought they were awesome plants ever since I stumbled across some pictures of them a few years ago, and so far they've proven to be just as awesome even as small plants. I've been really impressed with the growth rates on them so far, it's amazes me every time they flush how much bigger the leaves turn out then the last. I know at least one person here has these (seeing as that's where mine came from), but I'd love to see some other pictures if anyone else is growing some too. Anyway here's mine. Those leaves are close to 2ft long, that sandals a size 13 for scale.

Rory, 

Can we have an update on these plants? Did you put any in the ground? What sort of temperatures can they take? Are you putting them in full or filtered sun?

I just got my hands on one of these and I'm trying to decide whether to leave in a pot long term or put in the ground in spring. Any advice you can give would be appreciated.

[Scott Cohen]

We went down to 40 (possibly colder) for 6 hours several days ago and they did not flinch (even the new leaves were perfect). That's not really cold but a good start!

 

[Tracy S]

That's good news. I kept mine indoors for that 4 day cold spree. Scott I noticed you had yours in a pot. Do you also gave some in ground where you live? It seems there is very little written about this species.

[Rory]

Tracy,

As Scott said these took this past weeks cold and also the couple of minor cold fronts we had last year with no problems at all. I have 3 in the ground, one in deep shade, and 2 that started in full sun but now probably only get about half a days sun as other things have filled in around them. I think they seem to grow best with full sun personally. They also seem to be reasonably drought tolerant, but definitely grow substantially faster if given a decent amount of water. Here's a picture of my biggest earlier this summer, it's one flush bigger since then, but I don't have a recent picture on my phone. They're really some of my absolute favorite plants in my garden, just such a cool look to them.

[Scott Cohen]

2 hours ago, Tracy S said:

That's good news. I kept mine indoors for that 4 day cold spree. Scott I noticed you had yours in a pot. Do you also gave some in ground where you live? It seems there is very little written about this species.

There is almost no literature on this plant, so we are learning as we go. Everyone who has put them in the ground has had great luck growing them thus far, if it ends up handling the cold well it may be an ideal landscape plant down here. 

[Tracy S]

Rory that's beautiful. I appreciate the advice. I'll definitely plant in ground based on this information. 

Scott, thanks again for introducing me to this plant. And for showing me around your garden in spite of the torrential down pour. 

[Josh-O]

I think I'm going to grow mine up in the green house for a couple more seasons before I have the guts to slam it in the ground outside.

 

Killer tree I hope I can pull it of in San Diego??

[The Silent Seed]

Beautiful!!! No chance of finding any seeds or seedlings is there? I'd love some.