The Key West style...in Hayward.

Stan

Well-Known Member
452
17/04/14
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I just have an overall interest in plants not really a specialist other then I like my plants from warm climates.
So,here are all potted plants..Euphorbia ammak as a big yellow cactus,Crotons,Snake plants,Variegated Beaucarnea is there..but just about hidden. Plumeria's..and Pachypodiums. All in my side yard. Dracaena tricolor. Since the house is a bungalow I think it has that Key West vibe. King palms and Howea are background plants in the long direction. Those are in ground.
How much protection they will need is always up to the gods. Usually 1-3 nights at most. Some years none.
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Otay, so you live in Hayweird. Now I know. You have these tropical plants, and it looks like the stuff my next door neighbor has, here in Hawaii. I used to be soooo IN to tropical plants, and now that I'm surrounded by them, they've lost their fascination to me. And this is NOT to pop your bubble, I'm just saying that I know how you feel, and that your desires depend on what you CAN'T have. As for me, my redwood tree is about ten years old, and it is only two feet tall. At 19 degrees north latitude, redwoods feel and look like kidnap victims, wondering when they get to go home. I spent years trying to grow NON-tropical plants, only to give up and accept whatever would LIVE. Since you like tropicals, you should try growing papayas. Buy a papaya from the store, and plant the seeds. These things are like Ebola, you CAN'T STOP THEM FROM GROWING. Of course a NorCal winter will kill it, but you could keep it outside all summer long in Hayweird, and you could put it in a coldframe for the winter. Oh, and PINEAPPLES can't be stopped, either. They take a long time to root, but they REFUSE to NOT root. I had a pineapple top in my compost pile, and the evil thing REFUSED TO DIE. For four months, it laid on it's side, staying green, and pleading with me to plant it. FINALLY, it turned to compost. Want some Strawberry Guava seeds? I betcha no one in Hayweird or Bezerkly has THAT.
 
You have serious problems dude. My advice is? Dont read plant boards if reading about growing plants drives you nuts.
 
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Do you grow Colorado Blue Spruce also? My neighbor has a beautiful one. How about your's?..
What was your point? You figured out what I like,that I always admit too?..And that makes you hostile?
 
One last on this because i'm seeing the humor now...You're upset because I post about gardening with tropicals on a board that is subtitled "Gardening with Tropicals" ?
That is hilarious.
 
Really? I thought the whole thing made no sense. "Hayweird" didnt sound complimentary to start. Maybe he thought it was funny
If you want to delete the my first posts fine. As usual, "i was joking" makes the offended look like the bad guy.
 
From a neutral point of view, I viewed it more like a pun.

I've had to accept their are certain plants that I cannot grow with my climate. A few are actually temperate climate palms.
 
I read it over and over. Not sure of the wild answer's point. If he wants to be a tropical me?,then he should plant Mulberry,Italian cypress or Thuja. I've seen those even in low elevation Hawaii. Magnolia grandiflora sounds like a candidate too.
But this a board about gardening with tropical and sub and semi tropicals. Why is he surprised That I do that in the bay area? Didn't RR say he lived in the bay area once?

And babaco- do grow here like weeds. aka mountain papaya.
 
You have serious problems dude. My advice is? Dont read plant boards if reading about growing plants drives you nuts.
No serious problems, Stan, sorry if I offended you. I offered you some Strawberry Guava seeds, would have been happy to mail them to you, but I guess you don't need them. :) Oh well. I lived in the Bay Area for most of my life, listened to KRQR, and heard them talk about Hayweird and Bezerkley quite often, and I thought that it was pretty funny. I had a co-worker who called Rohnert Park, "Rodent Park". I thought that was hilarious. You live outside the tropics, and you like tropicals, and there's nothing wrong with that. But if you did live in the tropics, then you might lose your fascination with tropicals, as I did. My point is that once you get what you want, it sometimes isn't quite as thrilling as what you expected. I get tired of the heat here. And yes, I can be pretty nutty, but it's all meant in good humor. :)
 
Ah ok. I hate arguing over plants..it just is never that important. I heard the Berzerkely thing a million times--it was the combo that i thought was meant.
I might be the sensitive type.
No problems.You cleared it up.
If Dean wants to scrub the topic clean? I dont mind. I can just re post the plants. No problemo now.
 
Do you grow Colorado Blue Spruce also? My neighbor has a beautiful one. How about your's?..
What was your point? You figured out what I like,that I always admit too?..And that makes you hostile?
No,I haven't tried Colorado Blue Spruce, because it's not native to California, and it doesn't remind me of where I come from. But I have tried Redwood, Douglas Fir, Bishop Pine, Pinon Pine, and even Japanese Black Pine. After the California native trees failed, I still wanted some feeling of being in cool, high mountains, so I tried the Japanese Black Pine, for looks. It failed too. Now, I have several Norfolk Island Pine Trees, which are not really pines at all, but are related to Monkey Puzzle Trees, of which there are a few examples in the Bay Area. At least the Norfolk Pines are conifers, which helps give my yard a sort of cool, mountain look. Don't confuse my squirreliness with hostility, because there's no hostility in me.
 
One last on this because i'm seeing the humor now...You're upset because I post about gardening with tropicals on a board that is subtitled "Gardening with Tropicals" ?
That is hilarious.
I was never upset at all. You're growing tropicals, because you like them. I have tried growing non-tropicals, because I like them. We like what we like. :) But I post here, because this forum is very relevant to what I grow and CAN grow, even if I'm not as IN to tropicals as much as I used to be.
 
I read it over and over. Not sure of the wild answer's point. If he wants to be a tropical me?,then he should plant Mulberry,Italian cypress or Thuja. I've seen those even in low elevation Hawaii. Magnolia grandiflora sounds like a candidate too.
But this a board about gardening with tropical and sub and semi tropicals. Why is he surprised That I do that in the bay area? Didn't RR say he lived in the bay area once?

And babaco- do grow here like weeds. aka mountain papaya.
I don't want Mulberry or Magnolia, because I want conifers. I don't want Italian Cypresses, because they are too full of wildfire fuel. Fire is a very serious issue where I live. But I will look into Thuja, though. What I really want is Mexican Weeping pine, but I can't get the seeds onto this island, because they are on an undesireble list, though I don't really know if they are actually illegal or not. I had to Google babaco, to see what it was. But what I was suggesting previously, was that you buy a regular papaya from a grocery store, and start plants from it's seeds. I never tried that when I lived in California, but if I had known how easy they are to grow, then I w0uld have done it. Part of the fun of giving your home, "curb appeal", is to grow plants that nobody else in the neighborhood has. :)
 
Well,some background- 8 or 9 years ago online I had a guy go nuts on me because I would post pictures of things growing in Hayward..So one day he started trashing everything about the old hometown. I tell ya- I had to look to see that RR wasn't him under another name. I take pictures of others plants near me. I live in Hayward..he never put the 2 and 2 together.

RR..Hollywood Juniper? 'torulosa'? Thinking of what grows in cold and temperate climates as well as tropical is a neat brain tease.
 
Well,some background- 8 or 9 years ago online I had a guy go nuts on me because I would post pictures of things growing in Hayward..So one day he started trashing everything about the old hometown. I tell ya- I had to look to see that RR wasn't him under another name. I take pictures of others plants near me. I live in Hayward..he never put the 2 and 2 together.

RR..Hollywood Juniper? 'torulosa'? Thinking of what grows in cold and temperate climates as well as tropical is a neat brain tease.
Yep, I'll put that on my big list for the future. I have to develop my water resources, before I can add to my psuedo-temperate forest. There's no piped-in water, and no well on my property, so I have to depend on catching rain in a 50-gallon garbage can. It's all so frustrating, to want to be a master gardener, and yet have limited resources. I will post some pics of what I have, when I get a chance.
 
Actually RR,now that I think of it you have a huge choice among the higher elevation Mexican pines and Oaks,bamboo,Ash- evergreen,and what makes that part of Mexico look so dry California..with wild epiphytes,orchids and Tillandsia's that give it away as subtropical+
One last- has anybody in Hawaii missing the deep south ever planted the Southern Live Oak?
 
Yes, I definitely want the Mexican Weeping Pine (Pinus patula), but I can't get the seeds on this island. That species is wild on Maui, but the nativists say that it is invading grasslands, and they can't have that. Personally, I think that a Pine forest is much prettier than grassland, but nativism is a belief system that predominates here. But I'd take any high-altitude Mexican pines I could get. I've never seen any Oak trees on this island. I thought that it would be nice to get some, but I don't know how or where. This is all fun talk to me, but it's not particularly realistic, as I have no real plans to import anything. This state is in many ways, a separate country, with restrictions on importing stuff. I wanted to take some pictures yesterday, but it rained most of the day.
 
I just have an overall interest in plants not really a specialist other then I like my plants from warm climates.
So,here are all potted plants..Euphorbia ammak as a big yellow cactus,Crotons,Snake plants,Variegated Beaucarnea is there..but just about hidden. Plumeria's..and Pachypodiums. All in my side yard. Dracaena tricolor. Since the house is a bungalow I think it has that Key West vibe. King palms and Howea are background plants in the long direction. Those are in ground.
How much protection they will need is always up to the gods. Usually 1-3 nights at most. Some years none.
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That certainly looks like a Key West bungalow with the white fence out front. Could even imagine Ernest Hemmingway come stumbling down those steps.
 
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