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Here are some of the more colorful palm trunks in my Northern California garden. Post yours please! Howea forsteriana Rhopostylis baueri Archontophoenix purpurea Chambeyronea macrocarpa Archontophoenix myolensis Chanaerops costaricana Rbopalostylis sapida ‘Chatham Island’ Rhopalostylis baueri Rhopalostylis baueri Chrysalidocarpus decipiens Wodyetia x Veitchia Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti Howea forsteriana Chambeyronia hookeri Euterpe edulis Archotophoenix alexandrae Phoenix roebelenii Caryota urens R. sapida Hedescepe canterburyana Chamaedoea tepejelote Bentickua condapanna Dypsis rosea Chamaedorea species Euteroe edulis ‘Orange Crownshaft’ Chamaedorea elegans C. radicalis Livistona australis

Sending good Wishes to have Merry Christmas with a safe & creative New Year, to Palm Lovers to the North, South, East, and to the West of greater Miami and the Redlands. We are preparing to plant 100 Palms at the soon to open "Bailey Botanic Garden" this Holladay Season. "Three generations of Baileys, planting a Bailey Palm on Christmas day 2024, everyone got their hands dirty, even baby Lilly."

Troy’s Ropalostylis thread got me thinking about the Chatham Island form. The photo of me with the huge one is from back in 2010 or thereabouts. The next one is taken today with my 2nd generation offspring grown from seed at my home. I planted it in 2012 from one gallon pot.

First flower on Chrysalidocarpus “Orange Crush”:

12 years ago I planted this palm and for some odd reason it bifurcated about 5 years ago

I planted this Rhopalostylis sapida that was collected from seed near Auckland NZ as a small seedling 15 years ago. It's fronds are very upright in growth habit compared to my 4 other Rhopalostylis. This year it flowered and set seeds for the first time.

Clinostigma samoense in a light drizzle. One of the world’s most beautiful palms. Tim

A Kliene update. 17C 12/31/2025 @ 2:31pm I pray everyone is well. Here's my update. May God bless you all. God willing next year, I won't be a stranger. (It took me a lot longer to rotate the video than it was to record it) Happy New Year! new year 2026.mp4

Well, I'm only just getting started with my new garden, but here's a few starters. Chrysalidocarpus Baronii - greenish, yellow with a hint of white trunk, juxtaposed with late fall leaves. Chrysalidocarpus Ambositrae Chrysalidocarpus Decipiens

Trunk Height. Jun-2020 14", Aug-2020 36", Dec-2020 48", Jul-2021 62", Oct-2021 74", May-2022 80", Sept 2022 92", Dec-2023 104", May-2025 134" Today estimated 13' trunk ----- 2022 Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un0O0tfCKos 2019 2025

Üdvözlet minden pálmafa-rajongó társamnak, Szeretném bemutatni mediterrán kertünket, amelyet 2008 óta építünk és szépítünk. Télen a pálmafákat lefedjük és fűtjük, kivéve a kint az utcán álló Trachycarpus fortunei-t. Gyula, Délkelet-Magyarország. Normális esetben USDA 7b zóna, de az elmúlt 8 évben 8b lett.

It sure feels good , it looks like Mother Nature is going to soak our gardens . It has been quite the dry spell here since the deluge in November. I have been holding off on watering the last few days because the weather calls for a lot of rain to fall in our area. The last rain event delivered about 10” of rain over 3-4 days . The palms and flowers looked so happy. Then it turned dry and warm with high pressure dominating our weather. THAT is about to change. In my area it should start late afternoon . Los Angeles and south to San Diego will see rain by evening 🤞. Our Northern California neighbors have had flooding inland , unfortunately , and the burn areas down here may be evacuated . So with a watchful eye , I am embracing the chance of rain. Harry This is what we woke up to ! No rain yet but my sailor instincts ( and old bones) tell me it is imminent. Got me a new rain gage , I retired my hillbilly gage( empty cat food container)😂. Harry

Trying this again in the correct post about palm trunks. Chrysalidocarpus pembanus Chrysalidocarpus robustus (2 photos) Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos Cyphophoenix elegans Cyphophoenix nucele

This is an old image of mine, grown from a 1-gallon start.

In 2014, I gathered seeds of this species from habitat in Cuba. 12 years of growth in the Arizona desert and here are the results. The ones I planted in full, all day sun, are finally putting out larger fan shaped leaves. The ones planted in shade, although a much prettier shade of green, are still only pushing strap leaves after all this time. Full sun definitely makes a difference in speed of growth. Species is basically a miniature version of Copernicia macroglossa, but is better adapted to smaller yards and gardens where space is at a premium. Unfortunately, due to its extremely slow growth rate and rarity of seeds, it will never be common or commercially produced. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Socratea stilt roots. Tim

The last month of endless "Tule Fog" (radiation fog) in California's central valley has done some damage to marginal plants, despite temps not dropping below 40F except for two instances when we dropped to 39F. From November 21st, for more than 3 weeks, we did not see the sun, and temps did not exceed 50F. We were stuck in an endless cycle of lows in the low 40s, and highs in the high 40s, paired with 90% humidity. Everything wet, everything cold, no wind. Just stagnant, cold, wet air. 365+ consecutive hours of it. I think we broke a record this year for the most consecutive hours in the 40s Fahrenheit AND the longest fog event in recorded history for this area. While most of the state had clear skies and warm weather, we were under this 400-mile long stretch of cold fog. My plumerias are wrecked, I'm seeing dead tissue and rot at the tips. Most palms seem ok. Here are some winners and losers from that type of cold spell - frost free but cold and wet. Chrysalidocarpus mananjarensis - second winter. Seems to be ok with prolonged cold and wet. Chrysalidocarpus "Blue Decipiens" (which i understand is one of the "ugly Betafaka) has no issues with it either. Chrysalidocarpus ambositrae looking great as always Syagrus sancona - really thought this would be ok with extended cold and wet since they're grown extensively at high elevation in Colombia... Gaussia gomez-pompae seems ok with it. Tiny bit of spotting. Brahea pimo spotting pretty extensively The big loser, roystonea regia. Despite being well within this species' temp range, the prolonged "refrigerator-like" conditions really wrecked it. Sunnier and drier conditions are coming back so hopefully this pulls through. Might bring it indoors. Lastly, a shot from my friend's front yard just ABOVE the fog at around 1700 feet above sea level. 70s and sunny there, and just 3 miles downhill, 40s and visibility less than 30 feet. If anyone wants to read more about the phenomenon, here's a good link: https://weatherwest.com/archives/43605 Anyone else in the valley seeing similar damage?

Wish you a merry Christmas. Here’s Houailou and Hookeri in the background (two, look closely!) after our rainy Christmas Eve. Maybe share a nice palmy Christmas picture, even if the palms are indoors….

Beccariophoenix madagascariensis in my desert neglected area.

A couple of the more common New Caledonia palms, but still very eye catching: cyphophoenix elegans: Kentiopsis Oliviformis:

Same old Pinanga demanding attention at leaf drop.

Than, don't be embarrassed. The only embarrassing trait is lack of curiosity.

I think you've gotta make your own connections...there are people posting here from all over the world and after a while you figure out who posts stuff relevant to your situation and you hook into that community. As for scientific names...have a look at this current thread to understand why most of us prefer them

Burretiokentia vieillardii. Tim

In the very first photo are Clivia Lilies. Not exactly ground cover though. They love a cool to mild climate and will tolerate an occasional hot spell. Bloom time is early Spring.

I started this addiction of mine during covid and I'm hooked, still planting away even though I dont have the space so I cut away concrete to make more land. My wife thinks I'm nuts but supports my alot better habit compared to others out there.

Chrysalidocarpus prestonianus showing some colorful fruit.

A nice foggy day most of the day in my area. Had a lot of rain relatively speaking in November and the temperatures really haven’t dropped too much so far, so everything looks pretty darn happy. Dictyosperma album var rubrum, with the standard form and conjugatum at its base.

C. Decipens splitting again. Started as a double then split to four trunks below ground level. Two trunks have split at about 50cm above ground. The photo shows a shared fused leaf A new spear has developed on either side of this leaf

From my trip to Andean Peru in 2013 - a group and a closer-up single:

For Tim Merry Xmas

For those who did not know. I've grown this Chamaedorea Elegans directly in the top of my aquarium for a couple of years now. It's done great! It's a great way to grow out those small grass tuffts they sell for cheap at the box store.

My Chambeyronia’s first inflorescence! It has gotten spathes before but they usually just fall off. Harry

And in thirty years those seedlings will look like this. I planted this one as a small seedling.

December 2025.

Wishes for a merry Christmas to everyone! Not quite the color exhibited in Dave’s picture, but a wonderful sunny morning in between storms. Couple that with the fact that I’m rarely home in the morning, and it’s pretty nice.

All belong to Sabal genus. A maritima, two blackburniana and an unknown specimen, probably palmetto (because it dies quickly in clay soil!). All of them together S maritima Sabal blackburniana x2 (whatever this invalid name stands in current case for) And finally the unknown specimen

It had sped up a bit only after I had buried next to it a mastiff dog🙄! If it were a Caribbean sp, I'd say it needed some dose of voodoo magic, but it is actualy from the West Coast. I like the bright reddish fiber around leaf bases.

Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana. Looking stellar this morning. Tim

Just adding to pogobob’s thread about this NewCal palm. Looking good after a frond drop exposing another inflorescence. Handsome palm. Tim

Chrysalidocarpus Robustus with shoe for scale.

A nice bit of rain and some high temperatures has the Sabal moving along looking rather good. A nice easy palm to grow tolerant of a lot cool weather and heat like most palms just add water and good drainage!

Chrysalidocarpus Robustus on left and Leptocheillos on right. Two happy pups in the middle

I have been so impressed with the growth of this one. It had no pinnate fronds when I planted 3 years ago. It’s how 7-9 feet tall and growing like a weed. Santa Ana, CA.

Oenocarpus distichus is getting big. Rocky 2 and Suubi stayed still long enough to provide some scale.

If you’re interested in observing some very tall Windmill palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) in the Sand Hills ecoregion, check out Gullys Nursery in Southern Pines, NC. Some of the ones there were 25ft + and looked really well.

Ive been on palmtalk since 2007. Posters have changed but it was always worldwide. There are less floridians as a percentage of posts perhaps but you are in 10a, you should be able to grow what I grow. Of the vast thousands of palms in the world perhaps 10-20% are good in zone 10a Florida. Scientific names prevent confusion, trade names are often confusing to me., in a world of thousands of palms the trade names are not specific enough to identify a palm. Many have no trade name as they are not common in general nurseries. I believe kinzyjr has a cold hardy list you should be able to choose from. WHen I look back many of the most experienced palm growers are not posting much these days. People get older and their garden mature so they are not searching for potential palm information so much. Get the list of 10a palms and do a search for the scientific names. Some palms are referred to as partial scientific names like for instance a search for bismarckia will turn up bismarckia nobillis or roystonea will turn up roystonea regia etc. WHen I started the names seemed difficult to memorize so go with a 10a list from kinzyjr(pm him)

We also enjoyed a very wonderful, warm and gracious afternoon at the home of Dr. Romeo and Linda Montalvo. Their home and gardens were just sublime. And, more gratitude, incredibly grateful for their hospitality, hors d’oeuvres and open bar. What fun! Thank you Romeo and Linda.

I was incredibly impressed by our visit to the Palm Sanctuary. It was necessary to drive through the “wall” to the southernmost point in Texas, hard on the Rio Grande River. And I was astounded by a true palm forest, in fact the last relic forest of Sabal mexicana.