Trip to the nursery in Merida

[Jonna]

We went to 2 nurseries yesterday and I took some pics so I could remember and identify some plants I liked. 

First off, they had 2 huge Bismarckia Nobilis palms.  They are gorgeous!  They also had dozens of small ones for sale and I'm considering trying one in a pot.  I don't have room to put it in the ground and I'm hoping it will stay smaller in a pot.  They are such a beautiful shade of blue, incredible.



close up of the leaves, they kind of swirl unlike regular fan palms.



I joined GardenWeb so I could ask some questions on the Palm forum, we'll see if I get any answers.

These next 2 pics are a plant that I have forgotten the name of.  It's the one that grows the huge flower that smells like rotten meat.  I know, I don't think I want one in my yard.  The culm though that they had just sitting out on a pedestal is interesting. 



and the small plant in a pot.



I want lots of ginger and heliconia in my yard, this was a nice red ginger.



and, I love the look and smell of stephanotis floribunda, I think it is called bridal bouquet or something like that, lots of tubular white flowers with intense smell.   I plan to buy one of these and train it on the wall.

[miguynmkoi]

I love nursery shopping/looky-loo!  That blue palm is a beautiful color.  The tree in the blue pot has very nice leaves and would look great in a patio.  I like gingers too.  Only never had any luck with them.

Did you ever smell the rotting meat plant?  I got a wiff of one at the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino.  Had to look at it from a distance.  Beautiful though. 

[Jonna]

The plant in the blue pot is one of the rotten meat plants apparently. 

I had several of the carrion plants in Cathedral City.  I thought the blooms were so pretty that I transplanted one right next to where we park the RV. Well, then I noticed all the flies and then I read about it.  So, I moved it again farther away.  In the dry desert the smell of that one wasn't bad, here in the humidity and with this giant plant and bloom, I think I'll pass.  I can't figure out why they have so many of them there for sale.  Who is planting those at their house? 

[MikeW]

Never smelled those Jonna - but remember several stories in the Pasadena press over the years - "Plant blooms once a century and stinks like $#*&@*" Invitation only.  I always loved that about gardeners - but I suspect these were the 'donating to a good cause' crowd.
Pasadena is always good for the $1000 per plate baked chicken lunch for a good cause crowd. I don't mean to sound nasty, I'm trying to figure a way into that crowd. I too want to wretch and gag after lunch - for a good cause of course!

Cheers,

Mike

[Jonna]

Heh! yes, Pasadena is a unique place.  I lived there for a year once in the long ago past. 

I just don't think this could be that same plant, or maybe since it only blooms once every 100 years it is an attractive plant up until then?  I don't know. I'm going back and I'm going to try and find the latin name for it.

[LeeAnne151]

We planted one of those blue fan palms at our high school in Phoenix way back in 1981. They were very rare in the area then and still are. They are wonderful. Did they change the name? or are there more than one blue fan palm native to Mexico? Ours was Brahea armata.

I have a variegated Stephanotis in my greenhouse. Love the fragrance.

[Jonna]

I don't know if the name changed or not LeeAnne, this nursery had tags with latin names and when I looked it up, it looked like the same palm.  Here's the tag.  I took pictures of the tags as well as the plants because I can never remember the latin names correctly.



BTW, the price is in pesos not dollars, it comes to about $79 dollars.  Not cheap.  I love the way it looks though and for one big palm in a pot, I'd pay it.

[LeeAnne151]

Aha, I looked it up and yours is native to Madagascar and is a lot bigger. So, two different blue fan palms. They really look alike.

[Jonna]

Yes, they both have a twist in the leaf that I like, and the color.  I looked Brahea armata up too, and it is native to the Baja and northern MX up by where you planted it, it's a desert oasis palm.  I think I like that it is smaller, I will look for it.  I don't really have room for a huge palm, it takes up more space than I have.  I was hoping to keep the bismarckia smaller in a pot. 

Here's another palm I saw there and have looked up.  It says this one can take conditions from desert to snow storm.  Nannorrhops ritchiana

[LeeAnne151]

Cool.

The Brahea is smaller, I went and visited it during my twentieth reunion and it is less then fifteen feet tall.

[Joyce]

Joanna, check out this one on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Marojejya-darianii-LIVE-Palm-Tree-MAGNIFICENT-Leaves_W0QQitemZ230286601463QQihZ013QQcategoryZ25463QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And that seller has a bunch of other cool palms too.

[Jonna]

I really know almost nothing about eBay, but I'm incredibly jealous if those palms are really selling for the prices listed.  It says .99 cents on some of them and no more than $15 on others???  Is he really selling them for those prices or are they some kind of starter bid and it would actually cost more?  I've never bought anything on eBay, it always looked too complicated and I hate auctions so never really paid attention to it.  I did sell a couple things on there when we were selling the house but that too was a huge hassle.  Have I really been missing these great palm trees for less than a dollar?

[marla]

Jonna, wow you seem to have an awesome selection of things to choose from....I'd have a hard time deciding with all the tropical choices you have.

[Sandye]

That blue palm is really pretty!    I didn't know there were so many varieties of palms.  Of course they would have to be house plants here...no chance of growing them outside in Kansas.   

[Jonna]

I went to the Palm forum on GardenWeb and it seems to me that at least half of the posters there are pretty far north, Ohio, New York...   I was kind of amazed.  Apparently there are some palms that can handle that cold if their base is wrapped and then some of them they bring inside.  I think it is the challenge of growing them up north that attracts some. 

I went back to that nursery today and bought the Cuban palm, coccothrinax miraguama, that is supposed to handle salt air and direct sun.  I bought a fiberglass pot for it, to keep the weight down, and I'm taking it to the coast to put on the deck.  A true test.   It's a slow grower so it should be fine on my deck for many years.  It has a burlap look at the base, that apparently goes when it gets tall.  I'll post some pics later.

[LeeAnne151]

Jonna, those are opening bids, the price goes higher near the end of the auction.

[Jonna]

Well that makes me feel better, I'm sure not getting these palms for 99 cents!  I'm just not good at auctions, it's like slot machines.  I keep thinking just one more quarter and I'll win.  Heh!  No, it doesn't work that way.  Walking away is the hard part.

[Sonny]

How big are these palms on ebay?  At any reasonable size the shipping must be high.