A Yard In Fort Pierce

This one is not in my yard but just a few feet away in my neighbors yard. I have no idea what happened to this tree but I am going to guess it was blown over during one of our hurricanes. The strong winds must have blown the crown over. With time the queen palm grew another crown. This queen palm is very green and looks very strong. You know what they say" Two Heads Are Better Than One".

I have never seen a dog eat citrus. My dog loves Tangerines. So much so that he will climb the ladder to get them. He also picks them right off the tree and peels them to eat them. He gets upset when you tell him he has had enough. That's my dog!!!

Yesterday I put some more palm seeds in the incubator. I put 8 Travelers Palms (Ravenala Madagascariensis), 3 unknown fishtail palms, 4 Ruffled Fan Palms (Licuala Ramsayi), 1 Ruffled Fan Palm (Licuala Grandis), 4 Winin Palms (Veitchia Winin), 4 Mangrove Fan Palms (Licuala Spinosa), 2 Unknown palms if you know please let me know (Pytchosperma Waitanium). I have also just sprouted 2 Dwarf Poinciana's (Caesalpinia Pulcherrima). They are 6 inches tall.

Here is what I call an incubator. You can go and buy them from Wal-Mart or places like that relatively cheap, around $4. They are made by Jiffy. But I have come across something better. Here is how to make a cheap incubator : most people order take out right. Well what I have done is saved my metal tins from take-out Chinese food and pasta dishes. They hold from 8-11 peat pellets depending on the size of the tin. I am buying my peat refills for $4.00 at 72 pellets, that's a deal. What you do is place desired amount of peat pellets in the tin and add warm water to the tin. The peat pellets will soak up the water and grow like a sponge. The trick is once you put your seeds in the pellets and seal it up you need to provide a constant temperature. The ideal temperature is around 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit, so you will also need a thermometer to make sure your temperature is constant. A real good source of heat that you are already paying for is your cable box. Placing your incubator on the cable box will work but preferably you want the box located in an entertainment center or cabinet of some sort to trap more heat. You will see sprouts in no time!! In the Jiffy incubator you can see I have 4 sprouts of Tangerine Trees and 1 Dwarf Poinciana. Good luck and Let's Plant!!

Here are the Travelers Palm Seeds( Ravenala Madagascariensis ). These are a lot of fun to extract from the pods, j/k. They are very nice looking with their blue color. The blue is like a teflon tape wrapped around the seed. I have just put 8 seeds into the incubator yesterday. The seed stalk is about 4 ft. tall. Very tough, almost like a coconut shell. Here are pictures of the seeds. The pod to me looks like a shoe, I thought it was funny!

Here is my very delicious Star Fruit Tree(Averrhoa Carambola). This tree is about 12 ft tall and about 10 years old. The fruit is absolutely delicious, and it is picked several times a year. My favorite is to freeze the fruit and eat it like a popsicle. This is one of my prize fruit trees.

This is my Silk Floss Tree( Chorisia Speciosa ). I am not sure where this plant is from but it is gorgeous. It is covered in huge thorns and blooms some of the best flowers out there. I planted this guy in Oct. 2007. It was about chest high when I planted it.

Ah, the Noni Plant ( Morinda Citrifolia ). This plant is native to Hawaii. It is said that this plant is similar to the fountain of youth. There are many ailments that the Noni Plant seems to cure or suppress. I have never tried it but I will and I will let you know. The Noni is an attractive plant to. The leaves are glossy and very green, and there is a full white flower that it produces.

These are my first two Christmas Palm Trees (Veitchia Merrillii). I have planted them about 2 months ago in Nov. 2007. What attracts me to these palms are the beautiful colors of the seeds at Christmas time. The seeds go from a super green to a very bright red which is where it receives it's name from because it looks decorated with Christmas lights.

Here is my baby Triangle Palm Tree ( Dypsis Decaryi ). I have just planted it about 6 months ago in Aug. 2007. So far the triangle is doing just fine.

Here are my Areca Palm Trees ( Dypsis lutescens ). They are doing very well. This is what I have just planted all around the perimeter of the yard. The Areca Palm is native to Madagascar as well. It seems that every cool plant is from Madagascar. I really want to visit Madagascar, I bet it is breathtaking. When this palm reaches the height of 3-6 feet it starts to produce fruit. The fruit is like any other palm fruit with the exception that you can eat the orange fleshy part. It is very sweet, maybe even to sweet.

This Pony Tail Palm Tree ( Beaucarnea recurvat ) is about 5 ft. tall. Enjoy the pictures.

This Ponytail Palm Tree is so big I had to take 3 photos to get the whole thing. The Ponytail Palm is native to Mexico. As a very easy plant to take care of the Ponytail has found it's way around town. It truly is a beautiful specimen.

O.k., so I wanted a natural privacy fence around my back yard. I went to thinking and came up with the Areca palm. It is absolutely perfect for a privacy fence. It can be very thick, it is very easy on the eye, and alot better than a wood fence if you ask me, and not to mention a fraction of the cost. Let me tell you what I did, I went to my local hardware store and bought 3 pots of Areca Palms. The palms were waist to almost chest high and cost $12.00 each. Areca Palms grow in clumps naturally. So what I did was pulled the palms from their containers and separated them. To do this you need a hose handy to spray the soil away and lubricate the root system for separation. Gently pull at the roots until they break free, you will know how hard to pull you can just feel it if it is about to break. You do not want to break the roots because it will take forever to grow. I pulled from 20 to 30 plants out of each pot. Then I planted the individual trees about 1.5 feet apart around my whole backyard. The trees will grow into clumps and form a virtually impenetrable wall for security and privacy that is beautiful and ran me around $36.00. Now that is a deal if you ask me. These are some pictures I have taken of the process, I hope you enjoy!