Exotic Species Awareness Program

[Forsoothe!]

Nutters.
Welcome to E.S.A.P.

This thread is designed to bring to light the species people have in their own protected care, that THRIVE, and can best be used for our art.

Please contribute by entering 2 deciduous or not species, and 1 evergreen, that are THE EASIEST EXOTIC SPECIES TO WORK WITH IN YOUR TEMPERATE AREA in spite of their being exotic or tropical. Include your town, state, elevation if applicable, etc.

This is so we no longer have to watch as folks, in what I consider Excellent areas for material, struggle with box store BS, and other species that are not suitable to their home or greenhouse. Anybody listing Fukien Tea will be visited by the Attitude Adjustment Crew.

Might as well put the tale of woe tree in too, the one you won't bother trying again.

Thanks. I hope we can make this a good reference. A go to thread.

Sincerely,

NotSorce

 

[Forsoothe!]

Thanks, @sorce, this is just what we need to get more plants that actually work with reasonable care and without the punishment of looking at plants all winter that look like they belong in the trash.

Here's one I don't see much of. Maybe it's because I collected these as saplings from under a hedge line of something else in a public park on Marco Island rather than buying them from vendor somewhere. I didn't know what they were, but they looked good and the mother trees looked nice and I am adventurous to a fault. They were growing as volunteers under the hedge where landscapers didn't hand weed and far enough in to escape the weed-whip because that was where the hedge abutted the parking area. Nobody was watching, but that didn't influence me. All survived bare root shipping back to Detroit vis UPS ground in Februray or March in 2006.

These are Cuban or American Mahogany, Swietenia mahagoni. If given reasonable light, not high light, they will stay evergreen all winter here in Detroit. But better light won't hurt. They drink a lot and should be kept watered, but not wet. They respond to leaf reduction reasonably well, especially for a bi-pinnate leaf and look similar to a palm form as you can see I intend here...

You can see they are compact-rooted here and form one giant mat of grafted roots. If you can find them, they are worth having.