2023 Exotic Garden Canada Zone 5B Update Part 2, in 4K

[@Sandor68]

Amazing assortment of tropicals and the backyard has grown in so much. I can't get over the size of those Washingtonias and of course the Ensente! Looking forward to next year and thanks for the tour Dragan!

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you very much Sandor. Big changes coming next year. Cheers

[@Sandor68]

@@ramonesalvatore3738 Hahaha...you know me too well! Happy new year my friend!

[@larryjohnson7707]

Happy New Year! The Washingtonia Robusta looks amazing. I can't wait to plant my Washingtonia Robusta in the ground this coming spring.

[@GreenDragan]

Best of luck! It can be a lot of work but it's worth it.

[@gevorgh5556]

Wow 🤩 Amazing garden

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you so much!

[@derekscheshirepalmgardenuk]

Happy New year from my tropical themed garden in the North West of England. Very inspirational garden you have there.

[@GreenDragan]

Happy new year! Thank you for the kind words. My garden would be much easier to manage if we had your climate. Cheers.

[@brianb2571]

Exquisitely beautiful! I was pleased to see what I assume is my old Hedychium that you bought from me in St Catharines :) I see you have given it a much better home than I ever did!

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you very much Brian! Your hedychium has beautiful flowers and is doing extremely well. I am currently growing 3 different sources to increase genetic diversity for a breeding experiment to come up with new varieties. Cheers.

[@autowiewiorka771]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you!

[@newyorktropicalgarden9364]

Always great to see what you are doing and experimenting with!

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you for watching!

[@SaraahMode]

Awesome video ! Thanks for sharing them ! 💕💯

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you for watching!

[@texastropics]

Fantastic. Can't wait to see what you're working on next.

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you so much! Some big changes coming next year. Cheers.

[@ЗокирРахимов-о3ж]

Незнаю кто вы но дякую за видос вам прекрасный сад ...

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you very much!

[@tobiaswhittaker7462]

great video for hitting a DMT cart, the colors are amazing

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@tntropics]

Happy New Year! The Washingtonia is awesome!

[@GreenDragan]

Happy new year I am waiting for the Washingtonias to kick into gear.

[@reginemaeareola9822]

Happy New Year I would love to come pay a visit your garden one day looks amazing

[@GreenDragan]

Happy new year Thank you so much.

[@Michelle-tw2dw]

Hi Dragan, always a pleasure to watch your collection of plants. Just a reminder that you promised to do a video of plants that would work for Toronto. Also where do you get your seeds. It's hard to find these plants in Toronto.

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you very much! My plant collection has taken me decades to acquire from sources literally around the world. Depending on your plant preferences you may need to widen your search beyond the GTA. Most local nurseries, and there are less and less each year, also big box stores carry a good selection for the average gardener. I travel hundreds of kilometers around the province each year when in search of specific plants. Consider joining a gardening club to gain access to specialty sellers and private collectors to buy or swap plants. Name a plant you want and do an internet search. Someone is selling it somewhere. This method can be costly for shipping and getting a geophyte sanitation certificate. If you have patience and are young enough buying seeds is the easiest way to go. Cheers.

[@Michelle-tw2dw]

@@GreenDragan Thank you. I will keep searching as I'm looking for the flowering ginger.

[@GrowTropicalMK]

Another great video and great conclusion. Love those tropical look hibiscus. How hardy are theyM

[@GreenDragan]

Most of the hibiscus are not hardy and need to be wintered indoors or cold frames with some heat source with temps above 5C overnight.

[@dadamandadaboy]

Happy New Year, your garden looks amazing! I see that you’re in zone 5B do you bring your tropical plants indoor in the winter? I’m in zone 7A and I had to bring all of mine indoor. Keep up the good work

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you very much! All of my large palms and exotics are planted in the ground and covered using cold frames during the winter, heated using the C9 Christmas lights method. Watch my videos on winter protection for full details. Any container grown plants are brought inside.

[@philipderoos8871]

I really appreciate these update videos, they are beautiful to look at. I have been doing dry store method for my red banana for several years, and have gotten to about 7 feet in height. I am now thinking about leaving it in the ground over winter - your results are inspiring. (I am in Ontario, zone 6)

[@GreenDragan]

If you have the room you could pot it up in the fall and grow it indoors over winter. Be aware, over wintering outside can be a lot of work and expensive. Good luck. .

[@erizzle1916]

Such impressive variety GreenDragon. Hope everything made it through the mild winter well. Have you ever tried overwintering a majesty palm in the ground or know of anyone that has tried in Ontario? I got an old root bound one in a large pot which is about at the limits my back can take. Do you have any suggestions? Root pruning?

[@GreenDragan]

The Majesty palm is not on the list of palms I would try to over winter in a cold climate like zone 5. Their heat and humidity requirements make them unsuitable, also their mature size. Even in central and north Florida is not ideal. Pune only dead fronds, Do not root prune apart from rotten or diseased roots, as this will set the plant back with no guarantee of good regrowth. Best of luck.

[@erizzle1916]

@GreenDragan Thank you for the input! I better try a little harder at the gym then. All the best

[@erizzle1916]

Hi Greendragon, I'd like to pick your botanical brain again if you don't mind. The majesty palm I have is maybe a few decades old, and has grown a slanted small trunk which can't support the new growth now that ive been taking it outside for the summers (currently using rocks to support the trunk). It looks like it may have tried pushing out aerial roots at some point along this little trunk portion in the past. None the less, as I try to repot it again, I am wondering if I should try to bury this portion in soil so as to stabilize the now top heavy new growth. Of course I am nervous to do this and kill it. Do you have any suggestions? Please let me know if I can send you a picture. Thanks again!

[@GreenDragan]

@@erizzle1916 when it comes to planting out or repotting palms, never plant deeper than original soil level. My personal e-mail is [e-mail]

[@markboschman1188]

Great video Dragan. I know mimosas can be pretty hardy, how do you deal with that for winter, C9? Same question for the rosemary, and what variety- do you have a hardy variety just covered in foam or do you heat that one as well?

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you Mark! Over the years I have tried protecting Mimosas various ways (while they are young). Find a sheltered location, south facing, wrapped with frost cloth then plastic to keep the worst of the weather out and inside a large cold frame with multiple plants. Depending on the variety they can be hardy to zone 6 unprotected. Some varieties I am trying now are too small now to make a definite comment.

[@markboschman1188]

@@GreenDragan thanks Dragan, I look forward to trying that out. Can you tell me what you do with your rosemary plants? Do you have hardy varieties or do you heat non-hardy cultivars?

[@TheBarefootedGardener]

Words don’t really describe how incredible your garden is. I’m teetering towards having a few plants which get this coldframe treatment, besides trachycarpus, I’m curious what your recommendations would be for a good/ intermediate starter for “cold framing”? Just want to let you know that Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelli’ is basically a triennial (not sure if that’s a real word) so you might have to start them over. I’m trying some alocasia with just mulch. What are you doing to get them so huge?!

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you so much! The Ensete is a "perennial" in warmer climates, meaning it continues growing year after year. Give them plenty of water and a heavy feed of manure and or liquid fertilizer during the growing season. When actively growing you can not over feed or over water with good soil prep. Happy gardening.

[@pawelelektryk2985]

Great garden.I have a question.For the red abyssinian banana plant,do you keep the cold frame on a thermocube or do you have a thermostat and if so,what do you keep the temperature set at?

[@GreenDragan]

I use the Thermocube (35-45f or 2-7C ) on the red banana. No problems for 2 years.

[@pawelelektryk2985]

@GreenDragan great to know,thank you.i would have thought the temperature needs to be around 10 degrees.i might try this next fall/winter.are you doing the same for the elephant ears?

[@amandaleask4597]

Have you ever gotten black spot on your palms? I recently bought a foxtail but unfortunately it came with black spot and im having a hard time treating it. 😢

[@GreenDragan]

Luckily no, I have not had black spot problem on my palms. Typically caused by either cold damage or over watering. Hopefully the new growth will look better and in time the old damaged fronds will drop. Then dispose of them to limit the spread of the fungus. Good luck.