Ceratozamia microstrobila has been an amazing cycad in our trials, as you can see from the recent photo below. This rare species hails from the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains of Northern Mexico (Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosi), where there are only six populations remaining in the wild. Our 13 year old garden specimens have thrived in
Our clump of the ancient Mexican cycad, Ceratozamia kuesteriana is now flowering, and looking for love. Well, flowering isn’t exactly the most accurate term, since when this species evolved some 16 million years ago, flowering hadn’t yet been invented. Back in the day, most plants still formed cones…think wind pollinated conifers. To ensure cross pollination,
PlantMatch.com Really old lady, but still looking for Love Read More »
After a winter where our temperatures drop below 15 degrees F, all the foliage on our cycad fry. We wait until 1 month before last frost (around March 15) to remove the old foliage, which you can see in the photo below. One month later, on April 15, the new fronds are emerging. A month
It’s Aliiive! Cycas Rebirth Read More »
Most of the prehistoric sago palms we grow in the garden are Chinese natives, yet a few of the most unusual, winter hardy ones we grow are actually North American natives. Ceratozamia hildae, which looks great this week, hails from oak woodlands in the provinces of Queretaro and San Luis Potosi, at elevations up to
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Our oldest, 21 year-old Cycas taitungensis finally decided to flower this year, but it waited until three months after all the other cycads had finished coning. Plants in the genus Cycas are dioecious, with male and female cones on separate plants. Our specimen turned out to be a female, and by the time we finally
Our three way hybrid cycad, C. x menageatroisensis (Cycas panzhihuaensis x (revoluta x taitungensis) appears to be in full “flower” this week, months after we tried, but failed to impregnate it. Despite being unproductive reproductively, it’s quite fascinating as a garden feature. Cycads came about back in the day before flowering was invented, so they
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With our recent 16 degree F winter temperatures, all of the cycas plants (sago palms) in the garden now have fried foliage. This foliage will not recover, but damage like this is fully expected in our climate, and not something that will damage the plants. Be sure to not remove the old damaged foliage this
Burned baby, burned Read More »
We are just loving our hardy hybrid cycads in the garden this time of year, and here are two we photographed this week. The first is Cycas x bifungensis (bifida x taitungensis), and the second is Cycas x panziholuta (panzhihuanensis x revoluta). We have found that hybrids between hardy species are even more winter hardy
Last year, we were thrilled when one of our cycads produced a female cone…a first for JLBG. We subsequently impregnated it with pollen supplied from the garden of one or our former volunteers, Mike Papay. Our plant produced a great seed crop (56 seed), which was recently planted. As a point of reference, I should
There’s something artistically fascinating about the new leaves of cycads as they unfurl.These cycads are planted right outside our door, so we get to enjoy the spring flush of new growth as it emerges. Even though we lose the old foliage below 12 degrees F, it’s worth it all to watch these new fronds.
Cycas leaves unfurling Read More »
