All Activity

Got home from NYC on Tuesday, and all of my palms have had quite a growth spurt since the last time I saw them, which was back in September. I came back to a shocking amount of growth and changes on everything. Since the last photos I posted back in august, the sucker has laid itself down, and the original palm has just gotten bigger in general. I can imagine next summer the new sucker will look like its own palm. 🤠

This butia seems to be growing away from the wall to get more sun. I’m curious to see if it gets the curve as it gains trunk.

I’m surprised that I don’t see more Mediterranean Fan Palms around Albuquerque/Rio Rancho. The first picture is one that I planted in 2012 as a 3 gallon. The second one was planted 3 years ago as a 5 gallon.

Still sooooo much more to do on this part of the yard, but seeing parts lit up at night is sure rewarding… So far it’s mostly lighting the waterfall, palapa and ferns, but the Hyophorbe indica and Chambeyronia houailou can be seen as well. More palms hopefully going in this Spring. 🤞

Shoot - if you can’t keep it alive I’d better not entertain the idea. Cute little guy though!

Today I saw this moss, then C elegans, then this wee C macroglossa…

Very cool!

In this moment I would say V joannis, K elegans and Obi Island.

that was January 2018 aka the 2017-2018 season noted in the zone 8 column

How was 18 considered a z10 year ? It was icicles & dead crownshaft / queen palm killer 19° cold in south Houston that year lol 🫣

So looking at the last 30 winter seasons at Houston Hobby gives a 43% chance of a zone 10 winter and a 10% chance of a zone 8 winter. May the odds be in our favor guys 😄😂 Zone 10 winter seasons 🌴: 2019-2020 2018-2019 2015-2016 2014-2015 2012-2013 2011-2012 2008-2009 2007-2008 2005-2006 2003-2004 1999-2000 1997-1998 1994-1995 Zone 8 winter seasons (BOOOO!!!!): 2022-2023 2020-2021 2017-2018

I have 8 large Metallica plants in 2 pots ( 4 in each pot )I have had them for about 20 years or more . A few years ago a baby popped up in one of the pots , I hadn’t really paid attention to the flowers to see if there was male / female flowers. Obviously there were and at least one seed germinated in the pot . Now one pot has 5 Metallica! Nice job Richard on keeping your palms producing . Harry ‘The pot on the left , you can see the short one growing with its parents.

Will do a post for you this afternoon after work 👍

That's fine, just not before Thanksgiving. I'm not in town to set up the gameplan for my tropical fruits and tropical palms 🙃.

My holy grail palm, if only I could find a dozen pinnate form. Yours are absolutely stunning!

Here’s the approach to my garden in the afternoon.

Update found it on Google maps poor thing perished somewhere from late 2023- to now … at least it was able to survive 2021 ☺️

Many palms are quite tender at the roots and this has been tested (see Broschat et al., Ornamental Palm Horticulture). But I think this species is pretty tough, it can recover in areas of the Deep South with occasional strong freezes (e.g., New Orleans), and often recovers despite kill-out of leaves or the entire aerial crown. The soil and roots must get quite cold during these episodes. So I think at least you're probably fine leaving it out right down to freezing, perhaps a little lower, if under good cover, if the frosts/freezes are brief and not too cold, but perhaps just for safety's sake, take it in when they're predicting lows around 32F, and certainly I wouldn't trust it even under a deep eave next to the house, at your first hard freeze to the mid-20s. The only way you'll find out is to try it if you want to see its limits...at least these are extremely cheap and replaceable at the Big Box stores if you lose it during a test.

I sure hope not. You all have paid the price twice already this decade. We don't want it here either, though. Let's keep it up in Greenland where it belongs. 🌴

October 2022 I took this pic last second of a large 2021 queen survivor in Friendswood I wish I could find the road again…. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ all I remember is it’s about 2 miles east of Calvary Houston church .

First possible freeze around December 6th long range model is hinting 👀

Thank you for the quick response. I guess I'll bring it inside once it gets to the low 30s then.

Yes $80 at Lowe’s lol …

Tracy, I also concur that this looks like a Ficus (likely F. carica). The leaves are indeed quite variable and there are other similar species (e.g., Ficus palmata aka F. pseudocarica, et al.) that if I'm not mistaken have also been used in hybridization, plus also just the act of selection over the centuries of F. carica,...so genetics, morphology and behavior can be sort of all over the place I think. And they do show up as volunteers wherever there's an appropriate wasp, in fact there is a company that sells fig cultivars from just these types of plants, I think up in the Central Valley, I know a guy out here in the Palm Springs area who is into figs and buys a lot of these oddball plants. I can't see it on your posted photo, but can you look at the apical meristem? Look for the pointed, enclosing sheath at the tip (I believe it's formally considered a stipule) that is the hallmark of the Moraceae. That may put it to rest...

Left mine out in April when the last frost happened, which was around 28°F. Seemed to have only damaged one frond moderately and tip burnt another frond.