Never Say Die
My Sago Palm ( that i have had for about 3 years now) was doing quite well thru most of last winter, then ...it decided to die. The fronds turned yellow and dropped off (was i taking care of it correctly? Well... maybe not ...). and the base/ trunk part just sat. i figured i could just water it, and soon the new leaves would start to sprout again. Waited and waited, but no leaves. Oh-oh. At that point, many people would toss it on the compost pile, but not me. i moved it outside in the spring, once again hoping that the warm sun would generate some action. Nope. Did i pitch it? Nope. Well, the trunk wasn't soft or rotten, and also we started to get busy with the garden and art shows and summer life in general, and it was sort of forgotten about until 2 weeks ago - i glanced in its direction and guess what? Here are a bunch of new leaves sprouting! I'm so excited! What happened? i'll give you my best Master Gardener answer: i have no idea! But it's alive and well, and i'm happy...
i also "lost" my Silver Cloud redbud last winter. The other Redbuds leafed out and bloomed, and that one was all bare trunk and branches. Did i dig it out? (Do you really think i would, after reading the above story?) i WAS awfully sure the Redbud was gone, though. Anyway, i waited some more, and then i spotted it - a tiny sprout off the trunk, very low. i wasn't too optimistic, though. i was thinking the sprout was under the graft (see definition>>>>>>>), which would mean that the growth coming out would be on the rootstock, and therefore would be a plain Redbud, which i didn't need another of. And i was partly right - about 3 sprouts started, one of which was plain green, but the other two came out variegated! This is how it looks now - a lot shorter than it was, but still among the living! So if you have a favorite plant that appears dead, stick by it and baby it for a while, you may still have a chance!
My Sago Palm ( that i have had for about 3 years now) was doing quite well thru most of last winter, then ...it decided to die. The fronds turned yellow and dropped off (was i taking care of it correctly? Well... maybe not ...). and the base/ trunk part just sat. i figured i could just water it, and soon the new leaves would start to sprout again. Waited and waited, but no leaves. Oh-oh. At that point, many people would toss it on the compost pile, but not me. i moved it outside in the spring, once again hoping that the warm sun would generate some action. Nope. Did i pitch it? Nope. Well, the trunk wasn't soft or rotten, and also we started to get busy with the garden and art shows and summer life in general, and it was sort of forgotten about until 2 weeks ago - i glanced in its direction and guess what? Here are a bunch of new leaves sprouting! I'm so excited! What happened? i'll give you my best Master Gardener answer: i have no idea! But it's alive and well, and i'm happy...
i also "lost" my Silver Cloud redbud last winter. The other Redbuds leafed out and bloomed, and that one was all bare trunk and branches. Did i dig it out? (Do you really think i would, after reading the above story?) i WAS awfully sure the Redbud was gone, though. Anyway, i waited some more, and then i spotted it - a tiny sprout off the trunk, very low. i wasn't too optimistic, though. i was thinking the sprout was under the graft (see definition>>>>>>>), which would mean that the growth coming out would be on the rootstock, and therefore would be a plain Redbud, which i didn't need another of. And i was partly right - about 3 sprouts started, one of which was plain green, but the other two came out variegated! This is how it looks now - a lot shorter than it was, but still among the living! So if you have a favorite plant that appears dead, stick by it and baby it for a while, you may still have a chance!
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