Leaderboard

A small Sabal that I had left for dead because after last winter’s cold, the entire center pulled out and the remaining hole is black with mildew, is now sprouting! A good lesson in not digging them up too quickly.

Wanted to bump this thread and update with a current picture of my baby. It’s been nearly 2.5yrs since my lost picture. Cracked open a new frond today and caught my eye how pretty these palms are. One of my favorites. -dale

Hi ! In my area not many species available in nurseries. So you have to start from the seeds you can find 😅 Joey magnifica : 6 month from the seed Accrocomia crispa : super fast to sprout : 2 months from the seeds Chambeyronia macrocarpa and Houalou… Copernicia Alba, and macroglossa : Native Aiphane minima Last but not least : first leaf for my licuala mapu 🥰 Hope you enjoy ! Nico

Nothing like summer to spur significant growth from these beautiful palms. The older two have grown under canopy and are tall and thin. The younger one is in full sun, much more robust, and it’s not uncommon to drop two fronds at the same time coming out of winter. Clean, colorful, compact, just a great garden palm. Tim

I came across this old photo of the Seminole Hotel in Winter Park. It opened in 1886 so this photo would have been taken between 1886 and 1894 (prior to the big freezes of 1894-95). There were some trunking coconuts growing at the hotel.

just planted my windmill palm in my garden (southwestern facing fence) but without mulch. (we used it all up in may for our two 100ft pine trees) anyways here are some photos

I'm going to assume this is a joke, ?? .. A LOT of Royals planted all over San Diego ..and S. Cal overall. I'm sure fellow forum members would enjoy showing you the many examples, ..being grown just within their own gardens.

Looks like my patience finally paid off, yesterday I decided to check the Chamaedorea pochutlensis seeds I brought from Jalisco last year and I noticed that two of them had already sprouted. I fell in love with this species when I first saw it and I'm glad I have two now. Should be more common in cultivation in Mexico.

Actually,I think radiata has a totally different look than morrisii. Very lime green color,more succulent and lax fronds, compared to the bluer dark green and stiff fronds of morrisii. Here are some young radiata I grew from seed to compare. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

We've had our Butia for 15 years now this past September. Was put in with original landscaping in 2000, and has grown vigorously, thriving on poor, sandy soil with sprinkler irrigation and fertilizer occasionally. Always has bloomed/fruited profusely, even when very young. Sometimes it sends up inflorescence even during winter where they sometimes are damaged by a hard freeze. With how large it is now, if we don't cut the flowering stalks soon enough, there are pounds and pounds of rotting fruit on the ground that can be smelled from the street. Also makes for constant "volunteers" that need to be weeded. I'm guessing it's a capitata. Unlike other Butias I've seen with inflorescence that has red coloring in it or fruit that is a more yellow color, this one has perfectly yellow/gold inflorescence with large, purely orange fruit. 2003 2004 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2014 2015 2015

Yeah….i tried to be somewhat impartial regarding this topic but it’s just so ridiculous talking about Queens with such high regard in SoCal. It’s akin to stating Lutescens are the best and prettiest palm you can buy in Florida. It’s almost laughable. I’m beginning to wonder if this whole thread is a joke. Huntington Beach put Queen palms in the parkways of our neighborhood 20yrs ago. Because it’s “city property”, they are responsible for trimming. I’ve spoke with the city about this and they said it was a massive mistake that has cost the city millions of dollars. Needless to say, they have been removed from the approved tree list and Kings are being put in thru attrition. Big mistake. -dale

Hard to get a good picture but this is Morissii grown in morning sun. The shape is similar to the Radiata with a silvery blue green underneath.

An interesting perspective that I can agree to disagree with. I can't disagree that a well grown "Queen" palm has a nice look. Over saturation in the marketplace is only one reason I opted for different palms when I started my current garden. I also had the experience of their roots creating problems in planters and not playing nice with other plants I attempted to plant under them. I attempted to plant a couple of Chambeyronia macrocarpa (one regular form and the other hookeri), as well as a Bismarckia nobilis under solitary Queens that were about 8 years old from 10 gallon size. The Queen roots stole all the water from the Chambeyronias and the Bismarckia, not allowing them to make any progress and eventually succumbing to a cool damp winter. It wasn't too long after that, when I decided to extract all my Queens from that garden. I opted for palms that played much nicer with others to replace them (6 in total scattered between the front and back yards). I never looked back. The Foxy ladies, and Chambeyronia hookeri that went in my back yard offer a more unique look and yes, elegance rather than just one of dozens of other Queens planted in that little subdivision. That extraction was about 20 years ago now and I would have done it sooner with 20/20 hindsight.. Back to your comment about Howea forsteriana and Archontophoenix alexandrae being "masculine", I'm a bit puzzled. I could perhaps understand that comment about some Phoenix canariansis, but have difficulty assigning masculine or feminine characteristics to other palms except perhaps my Ravenea or Chamaedorea, which in fact or sometimes male or female plants. I won't encourage others to remove their Queen palms unless they are creating some of the many challenges mentioned already (root competition, heavy leaf drop, a propensity to become invasive, messy seed drop, high maintenance, sold incorrectly as drought tolerant, etc.). At the same time, it probably is the last palm to come to mind as a recommendation for someone in a true 10B San Diego garden. I hesitate to call my garden 10B but would recommend many things growing in my garden to someone in a 10A or 10B here, such as Howea forsteriana or belmoreana, numerous Chrysalidocarpus species, Cyphophoenix elegans or nucele, many Chambeyronia species to just start naming a few. I am happy you enjoy your Queens.

Queens can be very nice palms, but royals can dance too and they are far better suited to my soil and climate. Royals can cast amazing shadow shows during a a breezy full moon night. The easy care part is increasingly attractive as I grow older. And they are never over trimmed by a yard worker with a saw they are never trimmed except by hurricanes.

Lucky you, haha.. My favorite stop when roaming around Tucson or the hill country / mountains down by the border. Depending on how many years it has been since your last visit ( ..none of my business, lol ) You might be quite surprised by some of the more recent changes / inclusions.. A few teasers from my last visit, ..if it has been a few years..

Yeah here too you may find such associations and actually the law says that all municipalities must offer free animal sterilizations. In reality few do, or do it only sporadically. The thing is that if I must pay 50 euro per cat for 14 cats, that's 700 euro already... it's unfair. The cat owner should be given fines if you ask me.

Hello, everyone! Newer member, first-time topic starter. I live out by Palm Springs area (low desert) 124-degree record breaker as of this year.. I have been working on a backyard remodel for some time. Since I do the work it's been a couple of years process. I have spent a lot of money on plants and as of this year lost a lot of plants, haha. I decided I wanted to get a "Brahea" collection started. I get my palms from many areas. Phil at Jungle Music, Mark in Yorba Linda, and various places. Some I order, the closer to "some" desert I can get the better off I am due to the plant adaptation to the desert climate. Anyway, I got this particular palm from Yorba Linda. My plant guy has some Braheas on consignment from a lady who lost her better half. It was labeled "Nitida" and then crossed out I have a Nitida and it is different from this one.; In addition, the Nitida was not seeding like this one and the seeds were not black. Decumbens have black seeds from what I have seen. I do have a Decumbeans but it is very young still. Some portions of fronds are starting to get the blue coming in and the petiole is not armored. I hope to find some of you who know this genus and can help me identify this palm. Thank you and very nice to meet you all! Thank you to Aztropic for showing me how to make a post haha! Forgive the mess in the backyard

A few winter survivors so far it wa# around 4 degrees Celsius at the bottom of my property this morning and the plants in the greenhouse have faired pretty good considering they were purchased in far North Queensland that’s a tropical growers paradise a couple of Arecas first up areca rheophytica vidaliana and a songthanhensis then a iguanura var GF a dypsis poiveana and last but not least a pritchardia martii while it may not be knew news to some it certainly helps the zone pushers out there knowing a few more varieties take a bit of cold so far so good but winter is not over yet just the beginning!

Thanks ! Well I put the seeds in a box with moss and pray 😂. Once in pots the climate here is so warm and wet that I don’t have to do much. Yeah ! 8 months from seed 🫣 so slow, and even slower where you watch it everyday.

Very nice Bill! In the future you can try a trunk cut shortly after the freeze/spear-pull to get you started a little quicker. I did this successfully to 4 of my palms after February 2021 and @Allenposted on a similar experience with his palmetto. Check out the details in the posts since May 4.

They're very tough trees,but I would be hesitant to plant it out right now in full all day Arizona sun,118F temps,5% humidity,with only a 15 gallon size root ball, in that location They are usually grown and sold under at least a light shade cloth,so some acclimation might be a good idea to keep from incinerating it. Maybe on the edge of the patio till mid September and keep it well watered and the black nursery pot shaded as direct sun on the pot will cook the roots and set the tree back from the start. Mid summer in Arizona is just not a good time to try and plant something in full all day sun... aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Thank you ! It really helps to decide where to plant it. So I went for partial shade. Getting direct light from the sunrise, and in full shade at 9-10 am.

So some of you inspired me to join the club and buy my first palm tree. Found this 15 gallon mule at HD for $300 and was the last one in at least 3 stores I looked into here in Tucson. My plan is to put her in the dirt where I’ve marked in the pictures which is on the north end of our pool/patio. It will get direct sunlight pretty much all day in the summer. Should I plant it right away or wait until the heat subdues this fall? I almost think it would benefit being in the ground right now and getting some monsoon rains to help establish before winter. Any advice would be appreciated!

This one looks correctly labeled to me. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Looks like I will have to wait and see also. I just bought this palm a few weeks ago as a Leucothrinax morrisii but now I'm thinking it's something else. It's got green undersides. Could it be a Thrinax radiata or some Coccothrinax? Maybe it's too small to tell.

Pseudophoenix vinifera:

So I went by and took pics, then stuffed my face in the nearby Mexican eatery.

It should be noted that these specimens have been recently trimmed and this detracts from their effect:

Great topic. Definitely praise goes to the Queen. Here in South Florida, these palms are largely overlooked and many times not properly cared for, which is unfortunate. In less tropical climates, they can be the Ray of sunshine. Even here in South Florida rolling around the hood, I managed to find some well tended and happy specimens (bad Queens were expressly excluded):

One of my favorites so always happy to take a couple of new photos of one of mine. The leaf underside looks more silver than this photo suggests. I have 3 of this species in shade, but will plant 4 more in part shade soon. I have seen one in PR in almost full sun fruiting but the leaves weren’t as pretty as mine. I probably have acid soil but have not tested it. Ox rhino beetles think it is delicious but only one has been killed as I use barriers and imidocloprid now.

Today: cold front just passed through, air was clear and crisp and I couldn't help capturing the blue/silver tones in the Butia.

This is the largest Brahea edulis I have ever seen in person with many smaller seedlings and larger plants growing too. Humongous trunk.

Oh but we do plant royals, even in the frozen tundra of northern OC.

So, Copernicia baileysnas are famous for not fruiting in South Florida. However, one of the ones I planted 20 years ago has fruited this year for the first time and the fruits are the size of grapes and dark purple. They started dropping on the driveway and looked smooshie to me. So I dared to bite into one and was delighted by how sweet the pulp is. The texture is somewhat grainy. I would say that it tastes like figs. I cannot imagine a regular songbird swallowing one and dispersing them. But I have heard of ancient tortoises in the Caribbean islands having that role. Or maybe bats. Yet, now that I have enjoyed eating a few, I can just imagine that aboriginal people might have dispersed the seeds as well.

maybe this will help - I started a big batch June 30th, roughly 600 - split into groups with about 200 each. These were all fresh seeds which I fermented in water, then pressure washed a few times to get all the pulp off, then left to soak a few days before breaking up as follows: 1. Group 1: into 1020 trays filled with a 1” layer of sphagnum, seeds placed in a single layer on top of the moss. I then covered with a damp paper towel layer, and humidity dome. Sprayed with water when the paper towel dried out, but after a week I removed the paper towel as it was a little too humid and just sprayed the seeds morning and night as needed. 13 have germinated after 15 days. 2. Group 2 into baggies with a damp rag. Zero have germinated so far. Not really expecting a lot from this group, I was out of media and had a ton of seeds so figured instead of throwing them out I would try with what I had on hand. 3. Group 3 big community pot, 1/2 perlite and coir. Tossed some extra moss on top, and put a lid on the bin. The lid is not air tight so I spray it every 2-3 days if needed. 2 have germinated. I mostly did this as an experiment, and I am not saying this is the best way, but group 1 has a strong lead and I plan to use that method going forward, unless the longer term results change. I will update results as I go. Also, soon as I see signs of germination, I pot the seed into 14” citrus cones with a fast draining mix that is mostly fibrous palm mulch, with a bit of sand.

Great post LP! maybe you should start a winery 🤣😄😂

Down here in the SE it’s a must to retain soil moisture. Not to mention it’s a good soil builder.

Tough in Australia, dead in Florida. I love Proteaceae, but the only one that will grow in the Miami area that I'm aware of is macadamia.

IMG_2567.mov

Good to hear. The grower obtained the seeds from RPS. I guess the silver undersides come after it ages.

Been a while since I last updated this, but I have some more pictures that I took today of the Needle, Butia, and Sabal Louisiana.

Very tough palms(outside) as long they are given their water and fertilizer. I haven’t seen any damage on any of mine over the years. In my old garden they saw 29 with no spotting or any visible damage to the foliage.

That's a pretty bold statement there. I suppose it's all subjective. If we want to talk elegance and grace, Howea forsteriana has the most beautiful queen palm KO'ed all day long. Beccariophoenix alfredii fronds in the wind is another conversation.....

I think they can easily handle 9b climate . Mine has seen mid 30’s f. It grows fairly fast , not quite as fast as Syagrus R. The trunk gets large so best to give it room. Lots of water, especially inland where I am , and it can handle sun at an early stage after hardening off. Mine is tucked in behind the Caryota , you can see the trunk size comparison at least twice the size of its neighbor. These , below ,are at a local church in a more frost prone area . HarryI think the tapered bottle shaped trunks look nice . Harry

Queen palms look nice when maintained.

Here's a nice leaner in West Oakland.

I offer one six-pack of Chamaedorea microspadix, shipped anywhere in the 48 contiguous US states, via USPS Priority mail. $25 plus $15 for shipping, PM me for my PayPal address, Thanks !

Pelagodoxa Henryana. A true beauty. What amaze me the most are the seeds. They look like a sphere made of multiple hexagones with a sweet peach perfume. Thank you !

Here is my Dypsis ambositrae ranch. The first image is the example of how I consider them slow as seedlings. This plant is 3 years from germination, and yet has only 3 fronds, growing in my cool greenhouse. The second image of of one planted at my adjacent neighbors property in 2014, as a "1-gallon", about 2.5 cm diameter and 35 cm tall. The first ring of trunk is showing after 8 years. The third image is the close-up of the trunk, now 12 cm diameter. The success of this palm convinced me to plant one in my own garden. My D. ambositrae has opened a new leaf since December, right through the coldest and rainiest weather. So far, only D. baronii and D. ambositrae have worked for me. I attribute this to my lack of warmth. However, I am leaving this property in a bag, so I don't really care too much about the slow rate of growth. Some other species like D. heteromorpha or D. lanceolata grew so slowly however that that I did give up on them.