Tetrapanax Rex.....

Fabulous! I love those leaves.

Very interesting seeing it as a houseplant. It'll eventually grow very tall (maybe not so tall in a pot, though).

Thanks Sticki, Delonix this was a cutting taken last summer and was too small to go through the winter, it will go in the garden where it will make a massive plant this summer.......

That's great! I know it's a very fast grower. This plant blooms in the middle of winter here. I see all the berries developing on the plants right now.

I doubt we will get as far as berries, I just want it for the size of the leaves...

are these hardy DD?

Yes, I was going to ask the same thing....!

Will it stay in the garden once you put it out Angela .. oh snap ..I didn't read the above from Paul & Karen , I love the foliage !

does sound like a dinosaur :D

What a stunner! Love it. :-))

HB it is a super plant, I must have a look at tommy's
Paul and Karen once established they should be, not sure what temps they will take though!! Amy that is the plan, to put it in the garden, too many things in pots at the moment....
Pleased you like it Spritz....

When we had a larger garden we had this plant and it grew quite large. The hoverflies loved the flowers. It survived the winters then although the winters we've just had have been more severe so I wouldn't like to say 100 per cent about survival in this cold.

Thanks A and Linda!

Looking at the plants again I made a mistake..... sorry....it was a fatsia we had.....

I have one in a pot from seed last year, it didn't get very big but i had high hopes for this year as im going to plant it in the border as even if the mother trex dies it sends out lots of babies but im scared to check if its still alive after this freezing weather the last couple of weeks, in fact i haven't been in the garden or G/house for over a week, Im allready down and fed up so finding a lot of my plants haven't made it will send me into depression lol..
DD thats a fab Trex, I want it hahaha..

Lindak i have 2 fatsia and find them bone hardy up here, (fingers crossed) One is big and i have to keep it under control and the other was planted last year, they are still looking good in this arctic weather im happy to say..

Yes, my Fatsias are doing fairly well too...and getting hardier as they mature. I'm very interested to hear about your tetra though YDD. Thanks for that info. may well be worth looking into. I am so fed up too....don't want to go out. Took a plant back inside the greenhouse today, but now I really have to think about getting myself togged up and going out to do some chores in town. Uuuuuurgh!

The Trex had a a lovely fat bud and a green leaf last i looked Karen, i really am scared to look! ill sow some more seeds (i think i have some) but its starting all over again, i had high hopes for this one getting huge this year! never mind there's nowt i can do about it lol..
Im going out this afternoon, can't be avoided so ill wrap up.
You have been away haven't you? hope it was hot :)

It was lovely and warm YDD...not hot really, just lovely. It was cool on the am of my birthday..only 13. That's as bad as it got...and it was 23 by noon, so no complaints. :) I don't know if it makes it worse though...when you get home to this...it seems to be hitting me worse than if I had been here all the time. Shock to the system I suppose.

Yeah, there's something not right about walking around with a tan in the middle of winter lol.

lol! Just ordered three small TRex online! :) Looked it up and said will cope with up to -12C and even colder, so going to give it a go. Can it stay in a pot YDD?

Glad it is a hardy plant for you.

What is a plant with little bite?
A TRex in a pot
And if you grow a bigger one
You may just find you spot,
Some teeth around the foliage
So pointed sharp and snappy
That may bite you when watering
then you won't be too happy.
And if the plant grows really big
You may find that it roars
And you will disappear my friend
Into it's massive jaws.

LOL Linda x

Love it Linda.......I will take care when I feed it lol. Karen they will grow out of a pot very quickly, and do look much better ia a border, especially a tropical one...
Our Fatsias (green one is very hardy, and has to be cut down every year, the variegated is not so hardy, and Spiders Web is still inside at the moment....did not want to risk it......

Thank you. I think I shall find a spot for my little ones in the sunny border...it never gets too cold there, even in the winter the ground doesn't freeze much. :) ...it will be like a jungle up there!

Fantastic, architectural plant...will look great in the summer border!

A perfect spot for a tropical border Karen! :)))

Oh my...what have we started now? ;0)

I know lots of tropical gardeners from scotland (not personnaly) who have lush tropical plants in there borders, they know there limits tho, same as me lol..

Go on live on the edge K........

Dottydaisy2:

That's what it's about, living on the edge, planting the challenging plants. I've been doing this for many years with lots of surprising successes. I know the climate here in San Diego is subtropical; however, we like the try the ultra-tropicals, also...sometimes we're very surprised, other times it just doesn't work. You'll never know until you try. :>)

Exactly....they are plants...if they thrive, wonderful. if they die....well, that's the way it goes. It's always good to try something new.

It certainly is K.......

I've got my eye on a 'Spider's Web' - I have a perfect spot for it now. I'll be looking! I know they're wonderful plants. By the way, I went to look at my 'ordinary' Fatsia and it's well over 8' tall now! How did that happen? lol.

Do you cut it Back Spritz? im all ways cutting mine back and thinning it out because it would smother other plants. I saw a gorgeous spiders web last year in Cowells but they arent as hardy as the ordinary fatsia so i didn't buy it, i dont need another plant to worry about :)

are they not as hardy YDD? Well, if that's the case, I might just keep it indoors. It looks really pretty in the conservatory and will make a lovely jungly addition when it grows!

Just whats been discussed on the exotic forum im a member of Karen, I dont want to chance it. You could bring it out in summer then back indoors in winter then you get to enjoy it all year round.

Yes, get a bigger pot and do that...good plan, thanks ydd.

Oh dear our little Spider's Web is going in the ground, poor wee thing!!

Mine will probably end up out there too A. We can but try!