Leaderboard

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.

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?

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

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

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.

Still going strong, thanks to our mild winter. I'm curious to see how it does above the roof!

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.

I just got back from a brief road trip to Bahia de Los Angeles to see the northernmost red mangroves on an island in the Gulf of California! It is a tiny coastal village in the middle of nowhere with no cell service and only satellite internet. Nevertheless, I stumbled upon some incredibly rare palms in a random garden! Anyone know any information about this garden? I tried knocking on the doors nearby but nobody was home, but there was a house pipe with wet ground beneath it so it looks like someone is tending to these palms. Click here if you want to see ALL the photos from the road trip First is the trip's purpose: the colony of red mangroves with the second pic being the particular northernmost mangrove in the colony. I'm guessing palms are Medemia argun, Bismarckia nobilis, Copernicia baileyana, Hyphaene coriacea, Cocos nucifera (only one in the village), Sabal riverside, Brahea armata (native), and Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera.

Thought I’d ‘bump’ this topic and add a few recent progression photos. This Lemur has really grown in the last few years and is such a magnificent palm. In one of the overall shots there is a shovel with an orange handle for scale. Tim

Acquired from Floribunda and planted January 2019, this palm is looking really lovely at the moment. It has always been a very spiny thing, but yesterday I did a double take -- it's as smooth as a fine suede jacket! And such color! No evidence of the "rubra" (red) for which it is named, but beautiful all the same. Still young, and has only a few spines on one side of the trunk. I'm interested to see yours -- please share photos if you are growing this species.

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.

Out in the scrub again running around. Getting in a swim before winter gets here, and as usual bangalows in the wet areas and creek beds. Such a tough palm, but they do like moisture. Even there native habitat some of the leaves can look a bit tatty. So if your plants need is not perfect fear not even in habitat they can appear a bit tatty.

Allogoptera caudescens opening a new leaf is such an attractive sight.

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.

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. 😊

Coccothrinax borhidiana.

Copernicia macroglossa.

Copernicia baileyana hybrid (I think).

And here's a trio, rousselii is the big one, crinita front right, and rubra in back

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.

Not exactly today, but....

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.

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.

The palm didn’t miss a beat with the move… Seems equally happy in its new location. Both the old and new locations see a lot of sun (the new location slightly more sun than the old). I haven’t tried it in either of my two “worst of the worst” spots for sun, but it seems fairly sun tolerant to me (within reason). Likely similar to lutescens in that regard, but more cold tolerant (as in fewer “fried” looking fronds coming out of winter). Here’s a snap I just took at 9:30am this morning…

A few more red fronds , anyone? Finally some blue sky to show off the colors. IMG_5250.mov …and a backlit Chrysalidocarpus ‘Dark Mealybug.’

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. .

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

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.

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.

This one is in a prime spot. Trunk is almost a foot across at the base, much more robust than the others, but hard to tell in photos.

Exciting New Additions We are very grateful for the continued support through 2025 and into 2026, and are thrilled to announce our updated price list to kick off the growing season. This includes some exciting new additions and old favorites, see the preview below for some highlights: Chrysalidocarpus aff. ovobontsira One of the most exciting new palms, a large Chrysalidocarpus species that came in under the name ovobontsira, but ended up being something more exciting, a palm that doesn't fit neatly into any description and is apparently new to science. It is a gorgeous, moderately fast growing palm with a striking white pruinose crownshaft, upper trunk, petioles, and spadices. Finally available for your own garden/nursery! Orania disticha Hailing from Papua New Guinea, this amazing palm is one of the select set of species that carries its leaves on a single plane, giving the crown a distinctive 'flat' appearance. A great talking point for the tropical / semi-tropical garden. Physokentia petiolata This exceedingly rare Fijian palm has been an extended labor of love to bring into cultivation. The purple crownshaft, bright red inflorescence, and stilt roots make this a unique showstopper palm that inspires and delights. Geonoma oldemanii A clustering Geonoma from Brazil / French Guiana with beautiful large bifid leaves, the newest ones showing a splash of red. A great 'eye level' palm that adds an interesting accent to well planned gardens. Zamia elegantissima A new cycad for the spring list - a stunning landscape specimen with petioles that are relatively spineless compared to others in the genus. All this and many more, available now on our price list! Visit https://floribunda.xyz/pricelist Lemurophoenix halleuxii

Just my self indulgent contribution to this thread - I’m pretty proud of this one. Comments above are correct. These are tolerant of cool and even occasional cold nights. Mind in Melb, Aus occasionally has frost settle on the fronds with temps down to -1.5C /29F. Last winter we had about 10 frosts with temps at or below 2C/36F and the monthly average minimum temperature during the coldest month was barely above 5C/41F. Only minor cold spotting as a result. It’s also seen a few days up around 44C / 111F with very low humidity this summer and shown no ill effects to occasional exposure to these conditions. Our night times nearly always cool down significantly which may help. For reference, this one is in an east facing garden. It gets filtered morning sun until about midday. Happy to have this one growing here. There aren’t many palms that can grow here with those huge pinnate leaflets divided at random which just appears so tropical like in many Pinanga and Areca sp.

I have finally been able to bring the three main species of Beccariophoenix together in my Oakland CA garden. B. Alfredii has been growing well from 1 gallon and has really picked up speed this past year (prob close to 4 ft or so of frond length. B. fenestralis has been slow but solid from a 1 gallon as well for the past 3 years (hard to see this palm as its protected and covered by other plants). B. madagascariensis has proven to be very hard for me to track down until this past week in San Clemente! I was able to get a masterfully grown 15 gallon and drove it back to Oakland in my car with palm fronds slapping my son in the face in the passenger seat! B. fenestralis with nice windows! 3 years in the ground. B. madagascariensis with Acanthophoenix rubra in the ground for 2 days lol. Looking good with the recent rains! B. alfredii with beautiful purple petioles and fast growth.

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

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

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..:)

Been pleasantly surprised by my one and only to sprout from a small seed batch last year. Hasn’t been fully exposed to the elements yet but has coped with the cool. Suchan interesting and colourful little seedling. Very rewarding from seed.

My biggest Hedyscepe canterburyana that I grew from seed from the beauty in pogobob old garden is finally setting seed. Last summer when Tim from Hawaii was visiting it flowered but the seed aborted.

Never a dull moment in the garden with a dypsis louvelli and a Chambeyronia hookerii for a touch of colour.

Reinhardtia latisecta. Tim

Some 🔥 in the garden recently. Dypsis rosea Chambeyronia divaricata

Here are some of mine. They all look remarkably decent for coming out of winter, though the winter was pretty warm. If I get the order here correct, the first one is the standard form, seed collected from Hawaii, probably seven years ago. The second one is var rubrum, which is really beginning to look pretty darn nice. It’s about head high. The last one is a small conjugatum/furfuraceum which is slower than slow, but pretty darn tough too. Never cold spots. Definitely seems to be the most attractive of an already attractive genus when it gets bigger. Beautiful palms, especially in the tropics.