Hello.

My name is Ryan, and my business partner Marc and I are starting a company called Tropical Kansas. We are located in South Wichita. As of now we have a little over 100 palm trees, including 50-5 gallon t. fortunei, also a ton of seedlings including: Butia X Jubaea, jubaea chilensis, a couple sabal etonias, phoenix sylvestris, t.fortunei, and about 25 king palms. We also have 10 musa basjoo, which will be used for propogating pups. One of them is about 3 feet tall, and gets about 2-3" taller every day. We are also starting 120 travelers palms, 200 t. fortunei, and about 1000 king palms, from seed. They should start sprouting soon.

We have only been doing this since January of this year, and have quite a collection so far.

We are setting up a booth at the big flea market at the Kansas Coliseum next month, selling off a few things to help get our greenhouse built. We kinda got in too deep with building up our inventory, then ran out of money. Oh well, its worth it!

Also, Im in the process of landscaping my yard to plant 6 of the 5 gallon t. fortunei in my front yard, beside the sidewalk going from the street to my front door. i am also planting out big musa basjoo right in the middle of my front yard. And 2 in my back yard. Should be interesting.

I will get some pictures online soon to show our collection.

Talk to you all soon.

Ryan
So

WOW!!! How great is that!!!!
I must travel to Wichita every now and then, you MUST give me your address ao I can come by and see you.
I will buy something from you, don't know what. How much are your 5 gallon Trachys???
I have the following growing from seed...50 Fortunei, 15 Washy Robusta, 50 Washy Filifera, 1 Phoenix Rec., 2 Hystrix, 1 Butia Yatay. I have many many more seeds to try to pop so wish me luck.
Outside I pot planted 3 Sago (2- 2', 1- 1'), 1 Yucca Faxy (5'), 1 Yucca Rostrata (9"), 2 Fortunei (8" trunks), 1 Hystrix (8" trunk), 1 Sabal Minor (8" trunk), 1 Washy Robusta (2' trunk), 2 Musa Basjoo (3').
I found a GREAT greenhouse in Leroy Kansas this week BTW. Kansas is BOOMING with palms!!!!
Lemme know on the price of your 5 gallon Fortunei's as I probably will buy one if cheap enough.

Well just to elaborate on the size more, Ive noticed one persons 5 gallon vs another guys 5 gallon can differ alot in size. Ive seen people on ebay put a seedling in a 3 gallon pot, then try to sell it as a 3 gallon. Our 5 gallon trachys have about 5-7" of trunk 2-2.5" wide, with 8-10 fronds, and 2 active spears. They are about 30" overall in height. They are $45 right now. As they get larger they get more expensive. Come on down sometime this summer. Right now is a bad time, because were trying to get our greenhouse finished, and get a ton of things organized around here. Ill be on here though.

Ryan

Sounds good. I will be in Wichita on Tuesday, but not able to come by as I am not driving, my work buddy is.
Whats your address when I do get a chance.

I dont want to give out my address over the internet, but Ill give you my phone number. When you come down give me a call, and Ill give you directions. Give us some time though, because we have alot of work to do around here, and its not ready to show. talk to you soon.

Ryan

(316)993-0311

Hi We're new here too, we would love to make our Denver yard into a tropical paradise. Well as tropical as Colorado gets. The local nurseries haven't been helpful. They just poo-poo it and tell us to plant Aspens, spruce & columbines or move. So if any of you could suggest plant lists for zone 5B or 6A (with heavy winterize efforts). And we would like them to conserve water, if possible. It's a tall order, but if anyone knows what to do- it's you guys.

We'd like perenials, shrubs, trees, annuals, container plant species ideas we would be sooo appreicative. Thanks this looks like a great place, nice people, & good resources

Thanks a bunch,
Tiki Jim & Sonja

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Paradise is a state of mind

Hi. My name is Jason and I live in Greeley. I have my Bachelor's in urban horticulture. I have just been waiting to do a tropical garden here. Problem here is that most people don't believe that you can have a tropical-looking garden in CO. THAT IS NOT TRUE. As a matter of a fact, depending on the amount of maintaince you are willing to give, you can have a garden that looks just like a jungle. One particular plant that I have been very interested in is Musa basjoo, Japanese Fiber Banana. It is the most cold hardy banana in the world. It is reported to grow in CO with winter protection. You just prune the pseudostem 2ft. above ground after the first dyeback and completely cover it with mulch during the winter. Before covering it with mulch though, I would apply a fungicide. After covering it with mulch, I would cover the mulch with clear plastic. This would sunlight to penetrate through the plastic and trapping the heat inside. Also, this banana needs to be in an area that is protected from wind.

Other palms I may consider is the Sable palmetto, the Sable Palm and Chamerops humilis, Meterannian Fan Palm. I would use the same mulch/plastic covering technique.

You can also use Dahilas, Cannas, and Elephant Ears which will just have to be dug up and stored inside during the winter.

One tropical-looking tree is the Western/Northern Catalpa. This needs little care and no winter protection at all.

Some cold-hardy tropical-looking perrenials that do not need any protection at all include:
pampas grass, hostas, mundo grass, parry's agave, hardy hibiscus Hibiscus moscheutos, rose of sharon, trumpet vines. passion vines, clamatis, hardy gladiolus, crown imperials and many types of ferns.

Tropical-looking annuals include: lantana, impatients, and geraniums.

Don't be affraid of experimenting with different types of plants. If you would like, I would love to help consult you for free on a project like this.