Tom Velardi
September 22nd, 2007, 10:08 PM
Out in the garden these days I have to look the other way since the heat and bugs really punish the plants. Somehow most seem to make it through, and even thrive. Such is nature. Plants that always sail through are the staghorn ferns. Nothing seems to like to eat them and they take all that heat in stride.
Here is my Platycerium bifurcatum growing in a crape myrtle tree. It has lived through two winters with no real problems except a few frosted fronds. Last winter was a breeze, but two years ago was cold, so I feel confident about this plant's ability to live long term:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/PBirfurcatum.jpg
A plant I'm trialing out in the garden this year is P. superbum. This is a small specimen I put out last May. It has grown very nicely, but how it will survive this winter's cold, I can't say. The spread of the infertile fronds can be over a meter when it is an adult. I think I'll have to give it a bigger tree!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/PSuperbum.jpg
I don't t attempt to keep them warm in winter, but I do cover them in a plastic enclosure to keep cold winter rains off. So far this has done the trick. We'll see about the P. superbum this year, I hope it makes it. I have a couple other plants that I can move indoors just to be safe.
One last thing - I don't use fungicides, insecticides, etc. unless I have to and I only treat the plants or area under attack. I don't think it is healthy to create artificial environments by killing off too much stuff. That invariably leads to unbalances. Bugs are meant to eat stuff. All my neighbors say, "wow, you have so many bugs in your yard!" That's true because there's plenty to eat and I water a lot insuring good plant growth.
Here's one reason why I don't do wholesale spraying. This guy started out as a tiny little thing in the spring, but now has grown into this lovely specimen. Wow, how cool is he!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/MrMantis.jpg
Here is my Platycerium bifurcatum growing in a crape myrtle tree. It has lived through two winters with no real problems except a few frosted fronds. Last winter was a breeze, but two years ago was cold, so I feel confident about this plant's ability to live long term:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/PBirfurcatum.jpg
A plant I'm trialing out in the garden this year is P. superbum. This is a small specimen I put out last May. It has grown very nicely, but how it will survive this winter's cold, I can't say. The spread of the infertile fronds can be over a meter when it is an adult. I think I'll have to give it a bigger tree!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/PSuperbum.jpg
I don't t attempt to keep them warm in winter, but I do cover them in a plastic enclosure to keep cold winter rains off. So far this has done the trick. We'll see about the P. superbum this year, I hope it makes it. I have a couple other plants that I can move indoors just to be safe.
One last thing - I don't use fungicides, insecticides, etc. unless I have to and I only treat the plants or area under attack. I don't think it is healthy to create artificial environments by killing off too much stuff. That invariably leads to unbalances. Bugs are meant to eat stuff. All my neighbors say, "wow, you have so many bugs in your yard!" That's true because there's plenty to eat and I water a lot insuring good plant growth.
Here's one reason why I don't do wholesale spraying. This guy started out as a tiny little thing in the spring, but now has grown into this lovely specimen. Wow, how cool is he!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/MrMantis.jpg