Chicago 2024 Exotic Garden Thread

[ChicagoPalma]

I’m happy to announce the palm tree survived, elephant ears also survived, cannas I’m not really sure but I dug a little bit to see if it was mushy and surprisingly it wasn’t mushy. Anyways, I’ll be posting pics and will keep the box open as we are to stay mostly above severe freezing. If you think I should keep the box closed then message me. Check my yt channel MidwesternTropics to see full update.

[RFun]

16 minutes ago, ChicagoPalma said:

I’m happy to announce the palm tree survived, elephant ears also survived, cannas I’m not really sure but I dug a little bit to see if it was mushy and surprisingly it wasn’t mushy. Anyways, I’ll be posting pics and will keep the box open as we are to stay mostly above severe freezing. If you think I should keep the box closed then message me. Check my yt channel MidwesternTropics to see full update.

Takes some work there for outdoor palm varieties, but you're proving that it can be done.

[Las Palmas Norte]

Looks good! Keep your protection box on stand-by just in case you get another blast.

[Chester B]

Its only the start of February, the second coldest month in your area.  I am from Toronto, so was used to similar weather.  You have a long way to go until spring, so keep your guard up.

[ChicagoPalma]

There's more coming! Expect to see one of the three palms species (Butia, Washingtonia, or Trachycarpus), gingers, turmeric, more cannas, bananas, and yet even more!

[Jimhardy]

Looks like theres a pattern shift back to "cold" and snow after mid Feb

that may run well into March but you/we should be ok until then.

[RFun]

20 hours ago, ChicagoPalma said:

There's more coming! Expect to see one of the three palms species (Butia, Washingtonia, or Trachycarpus), gingers, turmeric, more cannas, bananas, and yet even more!

Wow, you are definitely dedicated there!

[JLM]

The washingtonia might be iffy but i would 100% try Butia. The bananas are always a nice tropical touch!

[ChicagoPalma]

10 hours ago, JLM said:

The washingtonia might be iffy but i would 100% try Butia. The bananas are always a nice tropical touch!

I think Washingtonia would be fine, they grow fine in Canadian exotic gardens farther north than me, so it’s not bad idea to give it a try. It’s like a faster growing windmill to my family lol. But butia for the fruit and the pinnate leaves. Hopefully I get those skinny ones just to recreate some sort of “palm looking” palm. The large ones are nice but I’m looking for the skinny ones.

[Pee Dee Palms]

6 hours ago, ChicagoPalma said:

But butia for the fruit

I definitely would not get your hopes up for a fruit-producing Butia in Chicago... I could very well be wrong, but I highly doubt that a Butia, even with substantial protection and additional heat, would begin to produce fruit in Chicago (with the exception of a very large greenhouse).

Edited February 3, 2024 by Pee Dee Palms

[ChicagoPalma]

2 hours ago, Pee Dee Palms said:

I definitely would not get your hopes up for a fruit-producing Butia in Chicago... I could very well be wrong, but I highly doubt that a Butia, even with substantial protection and additional heat, would begin to produce fruit in Chicago (with the exception of a very large greenhouse).

Its very much possible I think so. We anyways have really warm and hot summers for them to recover if anything happens, but i don't think my windmill palms box temperature ever went below freezing, so im going to use the same protection method.

[ChicagoPalma]

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda, and here it is now using an old cut video of my garden turned into a christmas video. 

[Pee Dee Palms]

17 hours ago, ChicagoPalma said:

Its very much possible I think so. We anyways have really warm and hot summers for them to recover if anything happens, but i don't think my windmill palms box temperature ever went below freezing, so im going to use the same protection method.

According to one source, Butia odorata begins producing fruit when it is around 8-10 years old. In Chicago, you could probably add another few years to that original number before the palm would begin to produce any fruit. Personally, I would move to a warmer climate before wasting my money on the equipment and energy that would have to go into protecting a Butia for that many years. Again, I'm not saying it's impossible, just incredibly hard and expensive. Would it be impressive to see a fruit-producing Butia in Chicago? Absolutely.

Here's the link to the website that says Butia begin to produce fruit at 8-10 years: https://apps.cals.arizona.edu/arboretum/taxon.aspx?id=40

[ChicagoPalma]

1 hour ago, Pee Dee Palms said:

According to one source, Butia odorata begins producing fruit when it is around 8-10 years old. In Chicago, you could probably add another few years to that original number before the palm would begin to produce any fruit. Personally, I would move to a warmer climate before wasting my money on the equipment and energy that would have to go into protecting a Butia for that many years. Again, I'm not saying it's impossible, just incredibly hard and expensive. Would it be impressive to see a fruit-producing Butia in Chicago? Absolutely.

Here's the link to the website that says Butia begin to produce fruit at 8-10 years: https://apps.cals.arizona.edu/arboretum/taxon.aspx?id=40

I’m not getting one small plant, I’m getting a large one for increased cold hardiness and hopefully for less waiting time for fruits.

[Las Palmas Norte]

I sense the Dunning Kruger effect taking hold.

[ChicagoPalma]

6 minutes ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

I sense the Dunning Kruger effect taking hold.

I was overconfident a year ago @Las Palmas Norte, it’s just a butia… the palm nursery has large ones so why not take advantage of it…

[ChicagoPalma]

With this heat and rain everything’s been waking up. Including the cannas. Anyways here is a June update and everything is looking nice. We have a bit of a drought right now and along with the heat it is not helping the elephant ears or the caladium. Here are some pictures in this rainy weather I’m currently having and a new place to plant some bananas and hopefully plumerias.

[ChicagoPalma]

Update, after our two days of tornado sirens and 70-80 mph winds, a lot of the vegetation is wind damaged right now. They say it’s a possible derecho what occurred yesterday with wind gusts in western Illinois and eastern Iowa possibly peaking at 105 mph gusts. Power outages and blah blah blah, but something good came out of it. One of my neighbors actually grows hardy banana and offered a chunk of their clump so that’s getting planted.

[SeanK]

On 7/16/2024 at 1:22 PM, ChicagoPalma said:

Update, after our two days of tornado sirens and 70-80 mph winds, a lot of the vegetation is wind damaged right now. They say it’s a possible derecho what occurred yesterday with wind gusts in western Illinois and eastern Iowa possibly peaking at 105 mph gusts. Power outages and blah blah blah, but something good came out of it. One of my neighbors actually grows hardy banana and offered a chunk of their clump so that’s getting planted.

Chicagoans are tough folks. You'll pull through.

[ChicagoPalma]

56 minutes ago, SeanK said:

Chicagoans are tough folks. You'll pull through.

It always works out in the end