Savannah gardens

[VA Jeff]

I'm working in Savannah now.  Palmettoes are so common they seem boring here.  Very weedy.  But go a few hours north, and palmettoes seem like a luxury.  Anyway, here are a few pics:

Dioon, probably not edule.  The leaflets are several inches long.  

 

Camellia giganticarpa

 

Castanopsis fissa with big leaves

 

grevillea robusta

Edited June 4, 2022 by VA Jeff

[VA Jeff]

Row of nice mules

 

livistona, probably australis

 

weepy butia

 

strelizia

Edited June 4, 2022 by VA Jeff

[VA Jeff]

Araucaria angustifolia

 

ceratozamia linearis

 

Monkey puzzle and big coontie

 

Cycas taitungensis

Edited June 4, 2022 by VA Jeff

[VA Jeff]

Livistona saribus and nitida

 

Trachycarpus latisectus

 

Neighborhood queen

 

Baby acrocomia totai to replace the tall one that is about dead now

Edited June 4, 2022 by VA Jeff

[VA Jeff]

Totai 3 months ago

 

Some Banksia

 

Camellia crapnelliana

 

Totai now

Edited June 5, 2022 by VA Jeff

[VA Jeff]

Actually, the cycad next to the monkey puzzle looks more like a cycas.  Maybe I'll take a picture of a giant zamia pumila with leaflets as big as integrifolia.  Considering the hardiness of integrifolia, there's no way it would survive to that size in Savannah.

[kinzyjr]

@VA Jeff Thanks for sharing.  I always liked stopping in Savannah when I drove up and down the east coast.

[VA Jeff]

Aloe maculata

Coonties that look like zamia furfuracea, but with some differences.  Huge leaflets

I forget which species of camellia

Casuarina.  Looks too much like pine for me.

Costus brbatus in a big ginger garden area

Curcuma scarlet fever

Eriobotrya deflexa

Hydrangea quercifolia.  Looks nicer than ones I've seen before.  Possibly zone 6 hardy

Jacaranda mimosifolia

Philodendron selloum grows like a bush and doesn't seem to dieback in winter

Some other plants too

[SubTropicRay]

Nice photos.  I have seed from mama Totai planted all around my garden.  I collected them in October 2020 but none have sprouted.  It can take up to 3 years so I'm hopeful a few will surprise me.

[kinzyjr]

Wonderful photos!  There has been some talk of having a joint society meeting in Savannah with CFPACS, FCPCS, and SEPS in attendance.  Looking forward to it if it comes to fruition.

[VA Jeff]

On 8/15/2022 at 9:42 AM, SubTropicRay said:

Nice photos.  I have seed from mama Totai planted all around my garden.  I collected them in October 2020 but none have sprouted.  It can take up to 3 years so I'm hopeful a few will surprise me.

Have any totai sprouted yet?  I've seen some totai with bigger crowns.  Too bad I think the one in Savannah bit the dust.  It is an intriguing palm for having some cold hardiness.

[RFun]

On 6/4/2022 at 7:08 PM, VA Jeff said:

I'm working in Savannah now.  Palmettoes are so common they seem boring here.  Very weedy.  But go a few hours north, and palmettoes seem like a luxury.  Anyway, here are a few pics:

Dioon, probably not edule.  The leaflets are several inches long.  

 

Camellia giganticarpa

 

Castanopsis fissa with big leaves

 

grevillea robusta

There are a quite a few Sabal Palmettos in the Augusta area.  They've done some nice plantings there in certain areas.  Savannah is a great place for them though.  I can see why planters have moved on to other species.  Some are even planting Queens in courtyard areas, etc.  Florida is not a terribly long drive away to bring up some specimens.  I'm even closer here in the Brunswick area.

Edited February 23 by RFun

[VA Jeff]

I saw a lot of Florida type palms around St. Simons Island, even moreso than Savannah.  I almost accepted an interview in Brunswick a year ago after I already accepted another offer.  I regret that decision now.  If you want to see some very nice plantings, go visit the campus of Georgia Southern / old Armstrong College in Savannah.  If you put all the exotic plantings in one spot, it would make a decent botanical garden.

[RJ]

Really surprised to see a Monkey Puzzle tree, I was under the impression they don't do well in our SE hot humid summers. 

So are you no longer in Lexington, SC?

Thanks for sharing! 

 

[RJ]

2 minutes ago, RJ said:

Really surprised to see a Monkey Puzzle tree, I was under the impression they don't do well in our SE hot humid summers. 

Thanks for sharing! 

 

 

[RFun]

On 2/23/2024 at 9:59 PM, VA Jeff said:

I saw a lot of Florida type palms around St. Simons Island, even moreso than Savannah.  I almost accepted an interview in Brunswick a year ago after I already accepted another offer.  I regret that decision now.  If you want to see some very nice plantings, go visit the campus of Georgia Southern / old Armstrong College in Savannah.  If you put all the exotic plantings in one spot, it would make a decent botanical garden.

Yeah, St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island are good spots for that kind of stuff.  You'll even find cold hardy citrus on the West side of I-95.

Edited March 9 by RFun

[VA Jeff]

2 hours ago, RFun said:

Yeah, St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island are good spots for that kind of stuff.  You'll even find cold hardy citrus on the West side of I-95.

I grow cold hardy citrus at my house in Virginia.  You just need to know which ones to get.  Some of them taste just like tangerines or almost as good.  Some taste like more interesting versions of lemons.

[VA Jeff]

On 2/29/2024 at 11:44 AM, RJ said:

Really surprised to see a Monkey Puzzle tree, I was under the impression they don't do well in our SE hot humid summers. 

So are you no longer in Lexington, SC?

Thanks for sharing! 

 

There is a really big araucaria araucana in a median not far from Woodlanders in Aiken, if you're out that way.  If you're thinking of the true monkey puzzle, araucaria araucana, it grew for a couple decades in humid Norfolk, Virginia in the botanical garden, before dying in a very cold winter.

 

I am no longer in South Carolina, but North Carolina right now.  Trying to get my wife to move here.  Then I won't have to live in two states every week.  She'd much rather live in Aiken or Savannah.  I don't blame her, but that's not where my job is now.

[RFun]

5 hours ago, VA Jeff said:

I grow cold hardy citrus at my house in Virginia.  You just need to know which ones to get.  Some of them taste just like tangerines or almost as good.  Some taste like more interesting versions of lemons.

Yeah, some varieties can take more cold, no doubt.  I am mainly referring to Satsuma Citrus in my example.

Edited March 9 by RFun

[RJ]

16 hours ago, VA Jeff said:

There is a really big araucaria araucana in a median not far from Woodlanders in Aiken, if you're out that way.  If you're thinking of the true monkey puzzle, araucaria araucana, it grew for a couple decades in humid Norfolk, Virginia in the botanical garden, before dying in a very cold winter.

 

I am no longer in South Carolina, but North Carolina right now.  Trying to get my wife to move here.  Then I won't have to live in two states every week.  She'd much rather live in Aiken or Savannah.  I don't blame her, but that's not where my job is now.

There is the Parana Pine (Araucaria angustifolia) which I am growing here, then there is the true Monkey Puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) which I was under the impression did not do well in the SE. IIRC the Araucaria araucana is the hardiest of the genus. The one you have pictured looks like it's labelled Araucaria araucana, which is why I was really surprised to see it. 
 

Interesting read

 

 

Edited March 10 by RJ

[Robbertico18]

On 6/4/2022 at 7:33 PM, VA Jeff said:

Neighborhood queen

 

Finally found this Queen Palm myself today!

it’s still alive and well must have survived the terrible christmas 22 freeze just fine 
 

I was driving but now that I know where it is hopefully I can go back and snag an updated photo

[RFun]

On 6/14/2024 at 10:32 PM, Robbertico18 said:

Finally found this Queen Palm myself today!

it’s still alive and well must have survived the terrible christmas 22 freeze just fine 
 

I was driving but now that I know where it is hopefully I can go back and snag an updated photo

Nice area by the building.  It looks good.

[VA Jeff]

Brunswick, GA has a lot more large queens compared to Savannah.  I even saw several large Bismarkias on Saint Simons in the same yard.  

[VA Jeff]

On 6/14/2024 at 10:32 PM, Robbertico18 said:

Finally found this Queen Palm myself today!

it’s still alive and well must have survived the terrible christmas 22 freeze just fine 
 

I was driving but now that I know where it is hopefully I can go back and snag an updated photo

Is that one real close to Habersham, no the greatest neighborhood, but near the downtown?  I remember one at what looked like a rental house split into several apartments. 

[Robbertico18]

23 hours ago, VA Jeff said:

Is that one real close to Habersham, no the greatest neighborhood, but near the downtown?  I remember one at what looked like a rental house split into several apartments. 

Yup that’s it, right on 39th street

[RFun]

On 6/24/2024 at 10:29 PM, VA Jeff said:

Brunswick, GA has a lot more large queens compared to Savannah.  I even saw several large Bismarkias on Saint Simons in the same yard.  

Yeah, it's a safer area here.  The cold air has the tendency to get moderated before it reaches this far South and East.  There will be the occasional Nor'easter winds/cold air, but that is not of the intense variety that an arctic front will bring once in a great while.  Still, this arctic front will usually not be overly cold enough to do severe damage to the less hardier plants that are grown here.