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Had this one in the garden since a strap leaf seedling in 2010 it's very close to trunking now. This area gets full sun in the afternoons but temperatures here in coastal Tasmania rarely exceed 30c 88f or below 2c 34f.

As summer and the heat arrived to Hungary I will post some pictures of my garden 😁 Palms and plants that I have planted outside: Phoenix canariensis Phoenix Sylvestris Butia Capitata Brahea Armata Sabal Palmetto Trachycarpus fortunei Trachycarpus fortunei x takil Chamaerops humilis Syagrus Romanzoffiana Rhapis excelsa Washingtonia Filifera Cyathea Australis Dicksonia Antarctica Cycas Revoluta (and another type of cycas which I have no idea how is it called) Lots of type of yuccas, agaves, alocasias, colocasias and others 🙂

Several different stages:

One more middling stage:

Wanted a couple of trithinax acanthocoma for the collection now all I have to do is wait ten years for them to grow I will plant them at the bottom of my property in the cool zone no special treatment just coco coir perlite in a community pot in the hothouse and time is all that is needed.

A common fruit here in Hawai’i, known as Ohi’a ‘ai, blooms and fruits abundantly once a year. A beautiful scarlet fruit with the shape and crunch of a pear and is mildly sweet. To me its subtle taste has a rose water flavor. It flowers and fruits from the stems and branches well hidden within the dense leafy mid sized tree. The skin is very thin and they bruise easily, lasting only a few days when ripe. Here are a few photos. Tim

Carpoxylon macrospermum, yes definitely a beautiful palm - at any time. Here are a few of mine. Most of the palms in the photo are Carpoxylons except the tall palm on the right (a Clinostigma samoense) and the somewhat robust Chrysalidocarpus sp. almost dead center in the background.

Okay, so, up on my experienced (geriatric?) soapbox I go. How do I love queen palms? And how do I or others hate them. Oh the many ways relating to their being and biology. Here in Southern California Queens rock, our climate is a lot like their native land in Sou-ha'merica, Argentina, Paraguay, southern Brazil. If you have soil that's actual ag dirt, and not alkalai-hell dirt, they just grow like hell. Deep green. Fat, happy. thirty feet in like 7 years. Thick and tough enough to stop monster trucks and yeah, I've seen a number that did. Full sun, the fuller the better, but will take half a day. 18 inches across the trunks, and the trunks are full of fibers not water. These ain't no candy-assed Roystonea trunks. They use these for pilings in the sea, and "shipworms" don't mess with them. Fibers woven with other fibers, not just "bark" and sponge underneath. The roots are greedy. (Slapping self to stop editorials.) Weeds and other plants don't like growing beneath them. Good places for gravel/chips etc. for mulch. The original street view for google maps of my place shows a bunch of queen palms, the year before I had another dude remove them for his palm ranch in Corona. (Tried to get him into other palms, but he said no.) Still do my best for the volunteer babies. People who want them are glad when I plant them for them, and encourage them to come explore other options. But, queens rock. Bay-bay, yes they do. To be continued.

This was from 10+ yrs ago from our honeymoon in Kaui. It's still my screen saver on my phone 😃 What I would do to be able to grow this palm ! T J

A couple of quick photos from Google Maps (Feb. 2024). Lakeland City Hall: Has added some trunk and frond width since this photo 5 months ago. Barnett Park: Those who went on the summer CFPACS tour remember this one. It looks a LOT better than in this photo now and was impressive during the tour. Lake Wire: They pruned this instead of letting it self-clean. It's a relatively recent addition. I'll get some better photos of these next time I'm downtown. Mine is growing well, but still a little smaller than these since I bought it small.

That’s an awfully big category since there approximately 1,000 different species of fan palms. Were you referring to any particular species of fan palm?

Two examples. Please add your favorites:

More photos of the fruit. Tim

Absolutely one of my most favourite palms I just love chamaedorea palms especially the adscedans var something about that variety that just sums up a small palm in perfection it may be the one that challenges my cultivation every season pollinating them it’s so satisfying having a single female plant that’s isolated and producing seed on it they just grow so well in my climate I attribute that to the black sandy soil it seem to be what they want whatever it is there special to me.

Or we can change to something less invasive and agressive but having similar look, Syagrus x andrequiceana (flexuosa x romanzoffiana) Picture by Pierre-Olivier Albano: Mine (hopefully) too

Royals grow fine here, if you water them. That's the big limiting factor.

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.

Every time I visit our chocolate farm in El Salvador, I try to take seedlings with me to plant there. I also have sourced non-palm plants locally (Couroupita guianensis, Delonix regia, a number of different Handroanthus, Ceiba, Mahogany...but the selection of palms locally is pretty slim. We are in the process of planning a new home construction (and the rest of the acreage is cultivated) so I don't have a lot of confidence with planting much yet - I don't want to end up having things ripped out or damaged when it comes time to build - but I have planted a couple of things over the last few years which seem to be doing ok with no irrigation. The dry season here can be brutal. I hope to start brining in some really exotic species once the house is built and we have irrigation in place. This is a really wonderful property and I have a lot of space to play around with. 20240703_052837.mp4 This is some of our heirloom cacao. Tested by USDA and confirmed criollo (of the 10 or so identified genotypes, criollo is the least common but occurs naturally in Central America. We found this particular variety growing wild in a nearby canyon and have cloned a whole lot with it. I like the maroon color on the new flush. First are these kerriodoxa - I planted two and both are going great! they are under a giant Ficus inspida (I believe). Then we have a duo of Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos. Really excited about his one, as I have not seen these here anywhere. This, I believe, is Livistona saribus A bismarckia nobilis And a few Ravenala as well.

???? I can understand someone saying that Washingtonia robusta is synonymous with Southern California, but being a second generation native, I hardly think of Syagrus romanzoffiana as an iconic representation of Southern California, They didn't really burst onto the scene in the suburban sprawl until maybe 40 years ago. Washingtonia robusta's date back at least a century as street plantings in California and common yard plantings. My first home in the late 80's I opted for a couple of Rhopalostylis sapida rather than Queens even though at that time only a few people were planting Queens in my new Carlsbad subdivision... so much more elegant a palm are those Shaving brush palms. It wasn't until the 90's that every other lot being developed in southwest Carlsbad had a mix of Queens, Pygmy date palms and maybe a Sago "palm" or two (Cycas rovoluta). At about that time we said goodbye to all the regional hardware chains and shortly thereafter many of the regional nursery chains and Home Depot moved in. They were followed by Home Base, which later was acquired by Eagle Hardware and then gobbled up by Lowes, where most of these palms are now sold. Not to mention the many independent nurseries that have closed over the decades that had more eclectic buyers than the chains can claim. Perhaps that's why I don't want my yard to look like a Home Depot parking lot in the way of plantings. I miss Sackett and Peters, Builders Emporium, Stallings Ranch Nursery, my local Ace Hardwares where the owners were often behind the cash register. I don't miss not planting Queen palms that go with the new mass merchandise nationwide chain retailers.

Two years ago I planted a few two inch Java Blue Bananas. It doesn’t take long. First bunch harvested, A few more immature bunches on the plant. This bunch started forming before winter, saw a number of frosts which burned back the leaves, but the bunch kept growing which may account for the smaller sized fruits. Vallejo, Northern California, 9b. 🍌

Thoroughly amend your clay, and it's about the best soil you can have. The only thing that's better is river bottom silt or dirt with gold nuggets or diamonds in it.

It sounds crazy but I like how the trunks look stunted/bonsai even when planted out in the landscape.

A little update. I am not sure if this is the Ravenea conferta recently described. Does anyone know if the unusual terminal leaflet on this Ravenea in my photos is also apparent in Ravenea conferta?

It is possible to grow palms long term in containers it just take a long time obviously but repotting into the next size container that may take 5 years or more the Kerriodoxa is 22 plus years old in the photos they sort of become bonsai if I was to plant it in the ground it would take a couple of years to start to get a move on most likely sulking for the first year Howea fosteriana will live in containers pretty well much indefinitely small patio palms may never be planted living there entire life in a container it comes down to how good a grower you are knowing your soil fertiliser and watering schedule once you learn it bingo it’s easy to keep a plant pretty well much indefinitely.

They do rock! They are Southern California icons. It's an image. A way of life. The Queens ooze the Southern California lifestyle decades in the making. Awe inspiring feathery pinnate ornamental elegance. Mine are growing in clay and super happy with the nutrient rich soil. But I am still amazed things grow in this clay. If I don't water frequently enough during our dry season the clay dries into concrete and it becones water impervious. It takes time to get the water to penetrate once again. Yet they still flourush. They know they are in the land of So Cal. Queens forever!!

Hmmm. Okay, in my time I've loved queens. Palms that is. When I came here in 1985 I wanted to get a house and get some palms, and in 1986 I did, in Highland, right next Norton AFB. Closed escrow on Sept 2 and bought a bunch of five gallon queens on Sept 3 planted them shortly after, I was a happy young dude planting his first palm trees. And, some are still there after nearly forty years. Sold the house, went to college at UCR, lived up hill from the campus and OF COURSE I planted a few queens there, too in 1990-1991. They're still there. Landlord approved, I moved, he died, new owners like the palms apparently. In law school, I discovered the palm society, and the downward or upward spiral began. Palm snobbery set in. I raised palms in a home container ranch and sold them for cash to whoever wanted them, and it was gratifying to see how many did.

Just my take, but I think they always look their best; a magnificent palm.

I wouldn't have thought that, but since you pointed it out -- yeah, very-short-to-no petiole, much like A. catechu dwarf. However, comparing the two side-by-side, you would never mistake one for the other. Not the extreme recurve nor overall breadth of the frond of a dwarf A. catechu, and of course the thin trunk and red crownshaft are dead giveaways for A. macrocalyx. But hey, they are both Areca genus, so, yeah, but no.

This is a prize, I love them untrimmed 😍

Here's my example of a pygmy date palm that I grew from seed I started 27 years ago. Not exactly 'pygmy' size anymore, but it has taken everything that the Arizona desert has thrown at it in stride. 120F + temps in the summer,23F on its coldest winter days over the years. It is planted on a western exposure and receives full sun from about 11am on. Always looks good,even with minimal water,as I only water it about once a week by hand,and that's if I remember... There are tens of thousands of pygmy dates already planted across Arizona, so those sheer numbers alone prove that it is an acceptable species for the average homeowner to grow here successfully. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

I'm 81 now and was in great shape until March when I came down w/shngles. Yea I got the shots and still got it. Then as that was clearing up something swelled up below and to the right of my belly botton. After an Ultra Sound, a CT scan and a MRI my Dr's said they don't know what it is but it's not a hernia or any cancer. Pain is gone now but still swollen enough that bending over to put on socks or shoes is uncomfortable. As they say getting old is a bitch but it beats the alternative. LOL Anyway back to palms....I can finally use my weed wacker for the first time in 3 1/2 month. Spent about 3 hours w/a lunch break clearing the "back 40" which is a triangle of land about maybe 2000 sq feet... Some day I'm gonna measure it. LOL. It's the are labled Plumeria Patch. None there now but 40 years ago I was selling the flowers until I realized it was a twice a day job 7 days a week so I quit doing that. That long straight boundary is 700' long. Oh yea it' 2 acres. Here are two photo's before and after. I'll add some of the palms up there. Not to many planted way back there. This is in the lower portion of the "patch" looking at the long straight white line.

Fan palms are also nice just saying

That photos is in zone 13a. But yes if I was zone 10a such as Mediterranean Spain for example I would have other species like royals and foxtails, but at least one queen palm. Zone 10a in the UK I doubt can grow royals because the temps are too cool for too long, even if the winters are mild without freezing temps. Even in London I only have two queens in the ground and I have loads of species including, archontophoenix species, chamaedoreas, Chambeyronias, phoenixs, Jubaeopsis, chrysalidocarpuss, washingtonia, sabals, butias,, allagoptera, acoeloraphe, arenga,brahea, livistona ect ect. Pretty much any species that can handle cool periods. I wouldn't have only queens but a few are nice.

This looks like a Banyan but is really a large Yellow Poinciana tree:

Hi. The update is that we have taken guidance from the Kew team (Dr Dransfield in the UK and Dr Rakotoarinivo in Madagascar) and are preparing the paperwork for botanical samples to be collected and exported, to allow for proper identification. The process is being delayed because although the collection permit is written and signed, the person who should hand it to us is on a mission in the bush. Without the paperwork, Kew can’t export the material to the UK for genetic analysis so we are being patient and putting our ducks in a row before we do anything. I’m hoping we can ship the samples to Antananarivo this week.

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

Haven't posted in a long time - thought I'd share my Southern California coconut pictures. I purchased this as a sprouted nut back in 2007 and planted it in a whiskey barrel full of sand. I planted a few others outdoors in a similar fashion, but don't think any lasted more than a year or two. I've tried a few other marginal palms (spindle, bottle) which I was able to limp along for a number of years - but this one is the sole survivor. It was in the whiskey barrel until about a year and a half back the barrel was simply disintegrating, wouldn't hold water, etc - so after digging a really big hole - in the ground it went and has done pretty well. If you look up some of my older posts I've posted a number of pictures throughout the years. Definitely not setting any speed records, but fronds/petioles have definitely started thickening up since it went in the ground.

I recall a few ..here and there up in San Jose / surrounding areas but ..agree 100%, ..wasn't until sometime in the latest 80s / early 90s that the queen disease started spreading and you'd see them -everywhere- Noticing many disappearing from some parts of the old 'Hood up there more recently. As far as iconic palms of CA? Washingtonia robusta ...and the occasional filifera ...and Canary Island Dates ( Phoenix canariensis ) were the " Three Amigos " i noticed as soon as i could recognize the world around me.. Grandparents ( ..mom's side ), had a few W. robusta planted in some sidewalk cutouts between their house and a neighbor. There were at least a couple times i'd tried to climb one of them, and cut up my hands ..or stood under one when i got out of school early and had to wait for someone to get home ( I'm sure you too remember the good ol' Latch-key Kid days ) Another neighbor half a block over had a pair of big Canaries, the fruit from which me and some kids i knew att used to use in games of war. ( or the occasional targeting of passing cars, LOL! ) As i'm sure you know, if you look back, one, ...or a combo of all three of these palm species were planted alongside the missions throughout the state as they were founded, well before you or i were even thought of.. So yea, definitely California icons as far as palms go. Thinking back to that k - thru 7th grade timeframe, oddly enough, the " coolest " palm i'd see occasionally around San Jo' was ..Ya guessed it, Archontophoenix cunninghamiana ..IT actually made me think of So. Cal -esque things ..Surfing / Skateboarding / the L.A./ S.D. beach lifestyle, Def Leppard ( ..of all things, lol Don't ask me why. ) Santa Cruz.. ....anything / everything " cool " about California.. Yes, having ties to Hawaii, there has always been a Coconut influence that has always hung in the background but, never having the chance to go there, aside from when relatives would visit, or when i'd go see my grandma / aunties perform Hula, i never got to see what all the hype w/ them was about until the trips to.. / ...living in FL. ..King Palms, something i'd see whenever passing through certain parts of town, just spoke " cool " ..while the " Three Amigos " provided the "Chill-axed / Laid back " early days of Hip Hop" kind of vibe. Together? ..they spoke " California " to my eyes, ears, and mind. Then of course, i noticed some Howea forsteriana planted near a bank in Santa Cruz while on the way to the beach on day ..which only added " cool " end of the CA. palm spectrum. Queens?? I'd also notice some Queens planted in neighborhoods near the Boardwalk / around Capatola when roaming around down there, or when they started popping up in the hood back over the hill.. ....Just made me shrug a bit.. ok i guess, but, just, ...Ok.. Definitely not a CA icon ..More Kenny G, than the Leppard.. 😁

If it's any consolation, I have new neighbors that decided they like palms. They planted two Majesties, one on each side of the driveway in the front yard. I haven't told them that they'll be burnt to a crisp by Labor Day, sited in 14 hours of summer sun and 95° temps. The upside is, that they won't be emotionally attached to the plants when our winter minimums turn them to mush.

@JLM all good points. This was my first time experiencing a hurricane so it was all new to me. Unfortunately, our officials and most notably the power company kind of brushed this one off and got caught with their pants down. @Xenon the rain has been very consistent, which is a good thing, but the deluges have killed a few plants for me. The ground was just too wet and hot. I'm doing my best to elevate and add drainage every time I plant. I found a website that tracks rainfall totals and its saying 45" so far for my area, which I totally believe.

I’m an architect and so of course interact with LA’s all the time. But I’ve been a plant nut for a while. While in college I had some free hours so I took the plant ID course for a year. I was at Oregon and realized I couldn’t tell an oak from a maple. I can now 😀

M.S.M. take #3: Before ..An unexpected surprise.. Dirty bolts = Mehh.. Wait a minute, what's this.. Not bad Not bad, at all. 😁 Missed one that landed a bit closer. ...Not as close as one that flew over my head a few weeks ago while setting up out front though. Now if i can get a ragged Javelin landing, like shot #2, over either the palms in the street island, or out back, i'll be set.. Patience Grasshopper.. Brave ..but not an idiot = knows when to head indoors.. A grand finale ..for now.. Gotta love drops that land on the lens at the wrong time.. Reminder to carry a towel at all times. The evening after: ..A lurker, some waves, ..and some Crepuscular / Anti- Crepuscular rays.. *** Remember, all shots are sole property of yours truly ..and i do have eyes floating around looking for them showing up in places they shouldn't be, ...without proper credit assigned ***

That is exactly what i was thinking.. The more you have to process something like really bitter beans to make them appealing to the mass market, the more you reduce or remove entirely it's unique flavor profile / characteristics.. 90% Anthocyanin content beans = sooo bitter, lol.. Agree 100% that it is / will be Heirloom crops like what you're focusing on which would have a better chance of handling a broader range of weather and climate -related stressors vs, crop options which are cloned, which may not be anywhere near as adaptable. Aside form Cacao Coffee, ..or Citrus ..Bananas serve as another good example of why someone would want more diversity within their crop options, vs. sticking with some standardized, cloned option(s) ..If that makes any sense.. Cultivating of X cloned variety ( -ies w/ similar vulnerabilities ) + One serious, rapidly spreading virus, and / or extended drought, or extreme wet period = goodbye crop ..and income. ..Is why it is good to explore many different options vs. being tied to just a few.

It's been an absolutely amazing growing season so far...the rain has been relatively plentiful and more seems to be on the way. Definitely the best growing season since spring/summer 2021 and a complete 180 from the horrible horrible hottest on record summer of 2023. Seems like a return to the typical Houston summer? Coupled with the horrible super below average lows of the past 3 out of 4 winters...this is the greatest period in Houston gardening history since pre-2021 😆. Gotta celebrate what we can! Now we hope for a benign winter...

I majored in aircraft piloting and architecture in college. Yes, two different majors at two different colleges. I've studied botany on my own (by reading actual science and botanical textbooks, because fiction bores me) and everything i know about plants, I've taught myself. I've developed a very strong passion for growing plants and I'm 'specializing' more on growing species from seed. I have a small venture selling plants at the moment, which I'm hoping to turn into an official business in the future.

I'm a firm believer that many palms will do great in containers, but almost any plant will be happier in the ground compared to a pot. They can never really establish themselves in a container. Again, I say this as someone who has to grow 99% of palms in containers because it gets too cold here. Unlike eucalyptus and many trees, palms can be remarkably OK with being rootbound and with root circling. Many palms are not doomed in pots and will live for years and years. That being said, palms are for the most part very very very big plants. Once they get to a certain size, repotting them becomes a small-scale engineering project. My Phoenix roebelini will never see a larger container because the one it's in is already so large and heavy that I can't imagine even being able to move a larger, heavier one without a forklift or some sort of ancient egyptian pyramid technology to get it up just a few stairs to the back door. One day, the plant will want to move up in container size, but that's not happening ever again. There's no question it would grow faster if it were planted in the ground in a good climate, compared to being stuck in a pot and spending many months a year inside the house. And that's just a pygmy date. What about palms that grow 100 feet tall? They inevitably will be dwarfed by being container bound. Just like a bonsai tree, they will never reach their full size potential in a pot. And many palm species get too big too fast to be good for containers long term.

Looks like Licuala grandis.

Interesting topic and posts.

As for the Rhopalostylis: the Chatham Island is on the left and is extra crispy. The Cheesemanii is on the right and has a crispy leaf closest to the camera but as you can the newest leaf has stayed green. Underneath the Chatham Island looks green but who knows.

We went to the habitat. Photos coming.