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The first ring on my California grown Chrysalidocarpus robustus. I don't recall seeing any other big specimens here in California. Thanks to visiting the Big Island I have seen some tall specimens which put my juvenile plant in perspective.

Everything in the picture was planted by hand circa 2018-2019. New zoysia sod just went in a month ago. Love my little tropical garden! (SW Florida Zone 10b) JD

This Spring’s annual order from Floribunda has arrived! Three one gallon Basselinia glabrata, two Pinanga coronata, two Cyphophoenix alba, and three 4” container Prestoea montana. Are are robust and big for container size as is usual.

Nineteen years ago I crossed my fat trunking Butia eriospatha with Jubaea chilensis. I have several of this palms growing here. A few were imported into England also. Yesterday I cleaned the trunk of one of this two. It are beasts! How you call the hybrid of a Butia eriospatha x Jubaea?

Two of my Kentiopsis oliviformis are getting ready to bloom for the first time

It’s nearly 13 years since I had the great fortune to first meet the legendary ( and extremely generous) Tassie Troy and I thought it’s time to pay homage to all those who have helped me , and those in the Palm pantheon , like Darrold and Colin and Jonathon, who visited in the early days ( when there were only tiny plants) and didn’t wonder, at least out loud , if anything would ever eventuate. Here are a few pictures .There are around 25 species including 12 of chamaedoria. Some like the big baueri , trachycarpus and forsteriana are hard to depict . Nothing can keep up with the torallyii. Of course all 4 Lord Howe Island palms love it here in Hobart. Mike

Thought I'd share a few pics from my yard after a rather chilly winter - the Central Valley of California had a record-breaking fog event from late November through about the end of 2025. Temps stayed in the 40s for 360+ consecutive hours - no freezing, no frosts, just consistently cold and wet with next to no sunshine for nearly a month. Most palms grew right through it, but a few of the more tropical species really hated this - I rehomed a few to warmer (drier/sunnier) climates down south. Here are a few shots from today - everything in growth mode as we're getting 80s and 90s consistently - racing toward the 100s too! In just a matter of weeks winter will be a far memory as we bake in the 100s until we cool again in October. Archontophoenix tuckeri - grown from seed from @DoomsDave. I'm pretty sure you threw a handful of seeds at me during one of my visits to your place. Trunking archontophoenix cunninghamia in the back. Seed-grown howea forsteriana & allagoptera peeking in behind tuckeri. Syagrus rommanzoffiana - nothing special, but I recently did clean up the trunk, which makes it look 10x nicer. A shot of my front yard - the pink Handroanthus is just about done blooming. Below it I have Brahea Super Silver, Brahea Pimo, and closest to the bottom is a Jubaeopsis affra, recoving from an irrigation mishap in summer of 2024. The irrigation timer went offline mid June while we were out of the country traveling, and this whole area went without water for 2 weeks. Jubaeopsis took that personally. It's been slowly recovering from that 'drought' event. Handroanthus umbellatus was in bloom just a few weeks ago. This is Livistona speciosa. I grew this from seed, and gave the rest to folks in Southern California. Does anyone have any still growing? I think some of them may have gone at palm society auctions. Chamaedorea hooperiana - The ficus roxburghii looks so pretttyyyyy in the back with all that new growth Sabal uresana - looking stretched. This thing is slowwwwwwww This is the view out our back door. Arcontophoenix tuckeri on the left. The red amaryllis is an heirloom passed down from a neighbor before she passed. Phoenix rupicola. You can spot the Brahea Super Silver in the background. The silver-ish palm below it is Chamaerops humilis var. argentea. There's a Cycas deboaensis on the bottom right that will need to find a permanent spot. I have a habit of putting plants in temporary spots, then moving them when I decide on a permanent spot. I feel like plants develop much better in the ground than in pots. They also benefit from regular irrigation being in the ground, and I don't have to worry about forgetting to water them in pots. This little corner area is filling in so nicely, and will become very thick with vegetation as plants keep growing. Beccariophoenix alfredii is in the far back. Ravenea glauca is center toward the left. Sabal mauritiformis is off to the right. Cycas revoluta x deboaensis is front and center. Lastly, a shot of a Clytostoma callistegioides flower, and a Dendrobium chrysotoxum which I have in bloom. The Dendrobium is grown inside a greenhouse. The last photo is of my plumerias waking up after a chilly nap. I had lots of rot to deal with this winter. BONUS - see if you can spot the Chrysalidocarps prestonianus... It went into the ground directly as a 4-inch plant from Floribunda some 5 or 6 years ago. Almost forgot the Chrysalidocarpus decaryi as well. Decaryi doesn't like the prolonged cold/wet conditions, but it grows out of damage fairly quickly - and we don't always get those particularly cold/wet winters. Some years we are dry and sunny like the rest of Southern CA.

A rather fast growing majestic Syagrus with stiff dark green leaves. Ripe fruit is yellow and the size of golf balls. These have got to be in the 30 foot range. (10m) Always loaded with seed. Tim

Damn that thing is beautiful. More than I deserve. Sprouting seeds maybe sell the babies.

Just one Sabal (burmudana) in my garden of well over 100 different palm species but I love it. The photo doesn’t show how massive it actually is very well.

A somewhat bit of a rare Howea species, there about the place if you look hard enough. But not that common, the fosteriana got all attention and the bell was left second place. A nice palm with that punk look about it!

Hey all, Got invited up to Beaumont to see fellow palm geeks Randall (inland palms) & Eric (Beaumont tropics), along with Bill (Cardiff palms). Beaumont is about 2,800 feet in elevation (I believe) and we had great weather. Both have wonderful gardens. We started at Randall’s. Yes, there is a house back there. He must have 150 palms and cycads packed in there. First up, the nerds congregate. Followed by a nice, fast growing Nanorropes richiana, and an awesome Phoenix rupicola.

I had the pleasure of getting a tour of @oliver's garden and thought I would share a few photos of the palms he has growing that survived 2021 freeze and I was able to photograph. He also has a Raphia sp. (sese?) planted next to a resaca so it stays wet. First up Tahina spectabilis.

Copernicia fallaensis.

Medemia argun. He has a flowering male and female but not getting any seeds yet. He hopes to do some manual pollination as soon as the female is ready. 😊

I spoke with the person in charge of the French Guiana Botanical Garden in South America, at the Palmetum de Guiana. They explained that they have two Tahina spectabilis palms, one in the Palmetum garden and another in a private garden in Cayenne. In total, there are three Tahina palms in French Guiana. They also explained that they obtained the seeds from RPS Germany in 2008, and that many palm trees originated from those seeds. Those in Thailand also originated from the 2008 RPS sale. They also mentioned that there is a Tahina spectabilis in Venezuela. These are probably the only palm trees in South America. In our conversation, they also noted that there are Tahina palms in Martinique and Guadeloupe. With all this information, it is very likely that it could flower in the French Guiana garden in 2038, if it flowers within the minimum 30 years required for this highly sought-after palm. Below is a photo of the Tahina plant. Its trunk is thinner, which will likely accelerate its flowering. Hugo Aravena Chile

Not exactly today, but....

Coccothrinax borhidiana.

Copernicia macroglossa.

Copernicia baileyana hybrid (I think).

Had a nice dinner under the Roystonea regia: grilled up some cevapcici, which are caseless Serbo-Croatian lamb and beef sausages with some mushrooms in wine and garlic sauce. And a politically incorrect beverage. .

Update on this guy. It’s now spit into two trunks. Still lots of color. If officially named it “dypsis sp. quaman” until I get a better ID.

Flowering Oraniopsis appendiculata at the Royal botanic gardens in Sydney

Next, the best Trachycarpus princeps I’ve ever seen. Interestingly, they won’t grow very well here near the coast. But a slam dunk in the dryer air where he lives. Followed by a canopy view with a Livistona decora poking its head out. As his canopy has expanded, what used to be impossible for him to grow, is no longer out of the question. Case in point, Becarriophoenix alfredii.

Calyptrogyne.

Last Friday, this Iriartea deltoidea dropped a flower sheath with a loud "thwop!" and shook itself out like a wet mop. A day or two later I finally returned with the camera to capture the glowing flowers. Now on the fourth day, the bees are still buzzing around it. These stately palms are a favorite.* I first saw them in Costa Rica, looking down on the fluffy crowns from hanging bridges, mesmerizing. These individuals were planted in July of 2011. IMG_5346.MOV *(All my palms are favorites.)

It is that time of year again in the Northern Hemisphere. Mostly a variety with orange flowers here in my garden. They make a nice green ground cover when not in bloom.

Pinanga caesia may suffer from overexposure on PT, but mine only recently started blooming so the novelty hasn't worn off yet. I still get startled when I walk by when a new inflorescence is about to open. The entire tree is Technicolor, but the blooms dial it up to 11.The deep red covering (bract?) only stays on for a few hours. After it falls away, the soft pink flower buds are exposed for less than a day. First thing the next morning the flowers open to a cloud of bees. After only a few hours all the flowers have fallen to the ground leaving just the bare violet rachilia that might go on to make fruit, if I'm lucky. I wonder what role the intense colors play. I assume the bees are attracted to some fragrance, not the color, but I really don't know. I could believe brightly colored fruit attracts birds for seed dispersal, but that is months down the road. No matter, it is an impressive, albeit brief, show. Palmpedia says this species is difficult in California. I hope people on the mainland are able to find a protected spot in their garden that can provide the right microclimate for this beautiful palm. If you are going to try zone pushing, might as well swing for the fences. I hear that this is one of the taller Pinangas,. I'll need to keep adding another baby every few years so I always have eye level blooms.

A nifty diminutive palm from New Guinea, Hydriastele rheophytica. Loves water hence, the name, and sparsely clumping. I remember Brad posting a photo of one in his garden not too long ago. Tim

Syagrus stenopetala.

Beccariophoenix alfredii.

To my knowledge, the only Worldwide example of Archontophoenix alexandrae “Alba” came from a batch of regular Alex seed germinated in SE Queensland a number of years ago. Subsequent seedlings were distributed amongst a few lucky Aussie growers and are now maturing. Seed from these first generation palms appears 100% true to the “Alba” form. Not only do they have a yellow crownshaft, but some also produce pink/red new leaves. Gorgeous palms. Look incredible planted together with Archontophoenix pupurea.

This little Veitchia always looks great, especially sporting a large spathe. Flowering is infrequent and I can only surmise that it’s a function of having just the right amount of rainfall. I’d throw in temperature and humidity, but those conditions don’t fluctuate much in East Hawaii. We’ve had over 100” (2500mm) since the beginning of the year. Here are a few updated photos. Tim

Dave, I’ve always been a “plant them even when they’re tiny” kind of guy. Many of my big honking palms were planted as 2 or 3 inch seedlings directly to the ground. Here are just a few of them…

I am curious if other SoCal gardens have had their KO’s bloom and/or set viable seed? This is by far the biggest and best flower mine has set.

A few from LHI.. Last one is a red leaf emergent fosteriana

Here’s one I’ve grown from seed. It’s been flowering about four years, and is just now developing seeds. It’s growing away from a big Beccariophoenix, & is surprisingly stout. Nor is it very tall, maybe 2-1/2 meters.

Really good looking palm, Tim. Here's another Hawaii entry - my quartet, planted September 2013. Photoed from my third-story balcony.

Next up is a nice stout Brahea armata, followed by a great Phoenix rupicola & finally Dr. Randall explaining the characteristics of a Cycas hybrid.

An update, plants already brought there. A picture of the chief gardener next to the donated plants. And the previous happy owner...

Visited the motherland this week. The smaller fruiting coconut is from a ditch that was collected by a lady in homestead Fl 5 years ago . receives no love from the owner . second the largest coconut that has managed to evade the 2021 Texas palm massacre lol over on port Isabel if anyone wants the exact address message me . across the same street I found a yard with 3-4 young cocos that looked really great the lady who lives there mentioned her husband collected all the cocos that washed ashore and they sprouted! other pics are of various parts of the valley for whatever reason palm talk won’t let me insert individual Info per pick so if yall have questions I’ll answer what I can haha . #Zone10A-BTexas IMG_9409.mov

The yard was FULL of Clivia flowers but due to the unprecedented heat in March, I didn’t have much time to snap photos before the flowers began falling off.

Don't see them actually eating the seed, but they sure seem to be attracted to them.

Trachycarpus princeps

He was a busy host.. Notice how he seamlessly folded the mule palm into his deck!

Prestoea acuminata var montana inflorescence would catch anyone's eye. In two weeks it will be pink, then red. The bees are having a party.

The next step in this flush. It clearly has a tilt toward the southwest sky, which is where it gets the fullest sun exposure.

It’s also just this side of lethal. The dead leaf that fell would make a wicked conk on the noggin. Conan and waste cart for scale.

I didn't think this would open sky flowers but I was mistaken. It is a pleasant surprise to see them.

As noted, the crownshaft on these is just beautiful; here’s one of mine. Forgive the blow up pandas, my wife won’t let me get rid of them. One of those battles not worth fighting..:)