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Fall Update III - Chrysalidocarpus Corner et. al.. Chrysalidocarpus prestonianus: The twin on the left was getting one of those weird fungal infections. It received a Banrot treatment that seems to have wiped the fungal issues out. If you have a palm starting to show fungal issues, this might be a good way to stop it in its tracks. Chrysalidocarpus pembana Chrysalidocarpus cabadae Chrysalidocarpus lanceolata Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos: The newer palm has a better location and is outgrowing the older specimen. Chrysalidocarpus decaryi Chrysalidocarpus lutescens Satakentia liukiuensis Hyophorbe lagenicaulis Hyophorbe verschaffeltii Chambeyronia oliviformis Archontophoenix cunninghmania: The may drought nearly killed both of these. One is OK, the other is 50/50 on ultimate survival. Howea forsteriana: The drought hit these, but not as bad as I thought consistent temperatures over 95F with no rain would do. You can still see drought damage on my quadruple clump and the smaller seedling right next to them, but they are doing well considering the circumstances. Licuala grandis Allagoptera arenaria: This one is back to flowering, although it is hard to see in the photo. Cocos nucifera 'Green Malayan' Container Photo #1: From front to back, Phoenix theophrasti, Medemia argun community pot, and Hyphaene coriacea. Container Photo #2: The outside rack holding Veitchia arecina, Dictyosperma album 'conjugatum', a recovering Frankenbrahea, Livistona saribus, Kerriodoxa elegans, and a few other gems. Container Photo #3: A few more Medemia argun and Hyphaene coriacea babies. Container Photo #4: A few Jubaea chilensis seeds and Hyphaene coriacea seeds. As you can see in the middle cup, Hyphaene doesn't mind sprouting with no medium around it. Probably two more updates coming. With the hurricanes, it's been a lot to clean up sections of the garden.

Here it is in the ground, with and without the little shade structure I made for it. Hopefully this will keep it happy for a year or two, after which I hope it won't need it. Number of palm species in the garden is up to a dozen, not much I know but I'm working on it. Thanks again @Darold Petty and @Jim in Los Altos for the inspiration.

Another rare palm gets planted in the garden adding to the collection. Cool tolerant surviving winter without any problems. Palms from Thailand do well in my climate so I cannot see this one being any different. A great understory palm to have in the garden with its silver underside coloured leaf and unusual leaf shape should add a touch of tropical look in the garden, even as a seedling it looks impressive with its deep green colour.

I looked for a good example of this subject on this forum but found none so I thought I would help document the speed of the ever popular queen palm. There have been many comments over the years on how fast this palm is and there's an excellent example from an old thread from the main forum. I'll follow up with what I have experienced here in the RGV of deep south Texas. Purchased this palm as a 7-gal with approximately 9' overall height in spring, 2023. Here it is a year and a half later in October 2024 with the container next to it for scale. It's approximately 13' overall height now - roughly 2.67' per year! The base has really beefed up too.

@Merlyn: The Satakentia is under oak canopy and gets all day dappled light. They grow fine under those conditions. @D. Morrowii: Appreciate it! The cleanup pile just got hauled away today, so there is a big hole in the front yard to fill in with dirt... from somewhere. @flplantguy: I have a feeling you'll enjoy growing them. One thing they tend not to like is changing light levels. @mnorell: I appreciate you weighing on on the coconuts. Certainly, it was good to have someone point out that was I had labeled on the pot as a Butia was actually a stray Roystonea seed all of those years later, with time for me to move it further away from the house. The "Fiji Dwarf" has been the topic of at least two other conversations as the form look more like a Malayan than a Fiji Dwarf. The first person to say it didn't look like that particular variety was @Plantking165 during a garden visit. Time will tell, but I suspect you are right. It was purchased at Premier Growers in St. James City. You may be right about the others as well As for the history of all of the coconuts, the "Atlantic Tall/Jamaican Tall" and the "Panama Tall" came from Calusa Palms Nursery by request for those varieties. There's certainly no harm in @Zeeth or others jumping in and stating an opinion. To make the Panama Tall look-over easier, here is a recent close-up photo of the petioles: With the CFPACS 2024 Fall Meeting coming up, I only had time to clean up one set of plants, so a mini-update with the Latania lontaroides between the Carpentaria acuminata twins.

Today.

I wouldn't really call it a garden, but I'm semi-experimenting with palm trees in El Centro, CA, in the Sonoran desert. I don't have any land, so am planting them at one of my works and unfortunately it is under construction and irrigation is frequently cut off when I'm out of town and I return to many dead palms. It's very frustrating. Anyways, I've had fun experimenting with palms, and have unfortunately had many untimely deaths due to irrigation being cut off or getting run over by construction machinery. I'd like to highlight the African oil palm, however, and ask if anyone else has tried them in California or Arizona. This palm is 2 years old from seed. It has spent one summer and one winter in a pot and one summer and one winter in the ground and has been tolerating FULL SUN from noon to sunset on a west facing wall without any issue! I am so shocked. It is frequently 120 F here.

A tree that’s native to my area and also in my garden. The old man banksia May Gibbs wrote about them in snugglepot and cuddle pie. A plant that needs fire to regenerate. They can actually catch fire with heat from a bush fire 20 meters away bursting into flames creating spot fires. A beautiful tree with an amazing flower slow growing to reach a decent size. A true Australian beauty.

Acquired a few years back as H. chaunostachys, which has now been renamed H. ledermanniana. Fast grower and becoming a beautiful palm with arching leaves and grey/white elongated crown shaft. The origin of this palm came from mother plants on the Kona side of the island with seed originally collected years ago on Papua New Guinea. Tim

there used to be a massive queen 2021 survivor in the center but it appears beryl removed her haha so now just the once small seedling remains. @Xenon rip random queen I stumbled upon next to the seawall .

A friend recently gave me these Aglaonemas. Aglaonema modestum medio-pictum and Aglaonema modestum 'Spilt Milk'

Most Brahea don’t do well in Houston

In the vallarta botanical garden

I will "third" the opinion on the Jungle Jack's plants, I don't know why on earth they put everything into that peaty mix. Growing Plumeria in such a mix, especially through the cool/cold seasons, requires very controlled conditions in regards to watering (i.e., in a greenhouse with very sophisticated moisture metering; or just no water at all of course if they are defoliated). I can only assume they want everyone to "come back for more" next year. Similar to the way growers present Adeniums to the world in what invariably will become a soggy, peaty mess...the cure being exactly what Nathan says above, carefully hose off their peaty mix, and re-set the plant into a very chunky/gravelly mix of pumice/perlite, sand, LECA, coconut-coir chunks (not fines) or similar. I have lost quite a number of JJ plumerias and I assumed it was because of their bad mix but could also be because of what Josue notes above in terms of inadequate rooting. That is very, very frustrating for a premium-priced plant.

Yeah, to check for spear pull just tug lightly upward. Don't yank on it. If it is solid then maybe the old fronds were twisted up in the storm. A direct downward gust could split the frond bases all at once...thus they all browned and died at the same time. I would mark the spear leaf and adjacent fronds horiztonally with a sharpie. If it is growing vertically an inch or so on a regular basis then it has a chance. If the spear isn't growing after a few days then it's probably already d-e-d.

Here is a better photo from the end of May 2024.

@t76turbo welcome to PalmTalk! I don't see anything in the picture that looks like Fusarium, do you have any photos from a week or so ago? There are a number of diseases that can kill Mules, but generally not that fast. Fusarium is usually easy to spot on Mules, Queens, and Washies. One half (the left or the right, randomly) will just die...really fast. But it's almost always one-sided death, and very rarely will it be evenly distributed along each frond. I had one Queen die from Fusarium a while back. I was out in the yard and my wife walked out and said, "Why is half of that frond dead?" This is what it looked like: You can see one side is completely dead, and the other half is just starting to die. Here's the thread I posted on it: One important thing to note is that Fusarium Oxysporum v. Canariensis is different than Fusarium Oxysporum v. Palmarum. Palmarum kills Queens and Washingtonia and some Mules. Canariensis kills CIDP and apparently infects other Phoenix but doesn't kill them...just makes them kind of unhealthy. So if some of the fronds had that 1-sided death it's 100% guaranteed Fusarium and you should cut it down and dispose of it asap. Other possibilities are: A serious root rot issue - generally doesn't happen that fast. It might just look bad for years. Drowning in hurricane water probably wouldn't be that fast either. Ganoderma - can kill pretty quick too, generally affects the lower trunk and sometimes there's a visible mushroom shelf-like conk on the side. Sometimes there's no visible effect until you cut the trunk in half and see a big discolored area. Thielaviopsis - infects the upper trunk area, can also cause rapid death. Lethal Bronzing - can cause rapid wilting of leaf tips first followed by the whole frond. This is known to kill Butia and Queens, but to a lesser extent than Sylvestris. I've seen batches of Sylvesters die from apparent LB with Queens and Pindos in the middle unaffected. Wind-related damage - if the trunk is somewhat "loose" or wobbly it could have cracked the RIZ (root initiation zone) growing plate off the trunk, or severely damaged it. Likewise the upper part near the palm heart is sometimes damaged by heavy wind. That'll kill a palm really quick too. With the looks of the one in the photo, I doubt you can do anything to save it. Figuring out the cause of death is useful to avoid spreading a disease...if it is one. It may just be one random monster gust of wind that hit that palm the wrong way. If it's Ganoderma then replacing it with another palm in the same spot might be futile. Supposedly Thielaviopsis and Fusarium are floating around in the air all the time, and generally infect freshly cut wounds...which is why usually you avoid cutting fronds off early. Lethal Bronzing is primarily spread by leafhoppers, nothing to do to avoid infection other than choosing a resistant species.

I can believe that if there was a good amount of snow on the ground. I have seen a good number of sabal minor and birmingham survive below 0F temps when there is snow cover. Everything above the snow is burnt to a crisp, while the snow insulates the growth point at or below snow line.

Welcome to PT . I am sorry to see that in such a nice palm. I have no idea about what the issue is but I can say that I doubt it is moles. I have moles that mess up my flower beds and even on freshly planted small palms but they have never caused any issues with the palms. They are more of a nuisance than anything else. I think they eat insects like grubs . Harry

Ok , my turn . The C. Macrocarpa I have is growing in full , hot sun so the red isn’t as impressive as shade grown ones I’ve seen. I brought this home from Maui as a small seedling many years ago. When it was young it had shade but now it has to tolerate sun. It was 87f today when I took the picture. The red will only last a couple of days . I get 3-4 fronds a year. Harry

Enjoyed my day off from work, wife put me off the leash so I drove to some locations here in San Antonio including a park called Ladybird on the Westside. Sad to see gangs and homeless people have no respect for mother nature. I took a few shots and got out of dodge quickly. Some other pictures were taking at the zoo and tea garden , some others in and around SA. Some pictures were put up recently from other PT members

Ramsayi have been steady and solid for me.

Hey Texas palmophiles: I love the pics, so thank you. But as an admirer from out of state, location and also identification of the plant in the pic would be greatly appreciated 😜! We are not all so blessed like you are. So my knowledge is somewhat limited. Example:I have no idea what this plant is

I removed this palm where it was not wanted cleaned it up and replanted it… HUGE spikes so I assume its a Phoenix 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️. Can anybody assist in identifying it please.

As Keith mentioned above, Dent Smith was the original founder of the Palm Society, and he included as inaugural members the most famous names in 20th-century palm studies and horticulture (including Fairchild, Montgomery, et al.). His property was in Daytona Beach, occupying four acres or so on the Halifax River. He was able to grow a large collection of marginal tropical species despite the occasional destruction from bad winters. He died in the mid-'80s but his wife, Doris, kept it going for decades until she passed away. The property was sold in 2013 but I think may still be relatively intact. He was highly involved in the planning and execution of the Florida Institute of Technology Botanical Garden. This brochure explains some of the species at that Botanical Garden today, largely due to his efforts. You can find much info on his gardens and his trials and tribulation by searching old issues of Principes/Palms on the palms.org website.

Thanks merlyn from the green colour around the base I guess you’re correct as with the other posts. Some great minds out there willing to share information that’s greatly appreciated. I can get industrial peroxide a lot stronger than chemist brought one would that be to strong to use. I think the she oak leaves may have gotten in around the centre as you suggested along with a wet season after a very dry 6 months. Your pretty well much on the grow thanks for the grow information. I have been working in the horticulture industry for 35 years and you always learn something new about plants daily.

You kinda get an attachment to your palms like pets watching them grow. I think the palm is pretty doomed some good suggestions to what it might be I will give them a go. Richard

Sweet!

Flowers just seem to add vibrancy and colour to a garden creating something unique for the eye. They just go together with the tropical look and exotic plants creating a symphony of mother nature at her best. Giving the gift of colour and shape that just asks for the eye to view them.

Ohhh lol ok nevermind then the water was discoloring it.

@Merlyn Thanks for the reply. No one sided death at all. I dont have a really recent pic of this mule but I can say with 100% certainty that it was beautiful as of about a week and a half ago. But I will look. If I can find one I will post it. I am out in the yard literally every day. I always look at the trees. I unfortunately am familiar with fusarium due to the canary's I lost previously. Definitely no one sided frond death on this tree.

Ok cool i was scared for a sec that was the reason cause if it was the reason goodness that would be bad (But it surely wont cause it to die more lol)

@t76turbo Welcome to PalmTalk! It could be windburn or something else, but if you bought it with a warranty of any kind, I'd start getting the paperwork together. That doesn't look good.

The trunk makes me think it is a Sabal ‘brazoriensis’ how it got from Texas to Uzbekistan is something I couldn’t even attempt to guess.

If it is from Lowes, it likely came from Jungle Jacks, which is pretty notorious for sending poorly rooted, or recently rooted plants (sometimes the cuttings are unrooted in the pot!) The fact that the stem on yours is wrinkled tells me the plant is dehydrated, and possibly poorly rooted or very recently rooted. Contrary to what many people believe, plumeria LOVE water in the growing season, so long as they have good drainage. Mine in ground and in pots get watered daily in summer. They do like to be on the dry side when dormant, so that's going to be your biggest concern as you enter into the dormant season with an already dehydrated plant. I suspect that if you have them under lights, and in a warm environment, you may be able to trick your plants from going into dormancy, but you will also need to provide them with a good drink given that the stems show they're very dehydrated. If your plant begin to go dormant (drop their leaves), I would advise against watering at all since that could lead to rot, so take advantage of the stage their in now to give them a good drink - and keep an eye on rot. It will creep up fast and can take down an otherwise healthy plumeria in a matter of days.

Such a lovely palm. Moderate to fast growing , self cleaning , and tolerant of weather events (cold or hot!) . I only have a few but one of mine produced copious amounts of seed so they are planted around my yard waiting to sprout. The slender , smooth trunks and wide canopy and good shade for whatever is planted under them. Harry

I have seen Plumeria in the dry tropics that underwent dormancy. Its natural for plumeria to have a period of dormancy.

Mine has done this in a fat three years from a three gallon maybe?

An interesting conversation this afternoon from knocking on a door asking about some bellmoreana seeds in garden I spotted quite some time ago. It turns out the palms are originally from lord Howe being brought back in the early 80s from a very knowledgeable person in the seed industry knowing what he was bringing back. Further into the conversation the gentleman knew a few blokes in the local area whom I knew both of us talking about Howea plants in the early days when they hit the market in a big way back then. I just grabbed a few spikes about 100 bell seeds I was offered the rest of the seeds later on when ready. The palm in question was one prime specimen of a bell kentia solid looking with a great curve in the leaf and so it should being originally from lord Howe. I might have to make an enquiry next time I visit about some Hedyscepe seeds seeing as the contacts are still fresh with lord Howe you just never know. In return I offered a couple of Joey palms along with an anthurium veitchi in appreciation of the seeds.

Adding a link to the photo thread in the main forum section: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/86657-saturday-pra-in-el-cajon-san-diego-usa/

@talkjk that sure looks like a palm weevil. Hopefully some CA people can chime in on treatments for SAPW. The only ones I know of are surface treatments (maybe not effective) and systemics (effective if caught early enough). Surface treatments: Organophosphates are frequently used against weevils, such as Malathion for Boll Weevils. Acephate (partially systemic), Malathion might help as a crown drench, but I don't know if any have actually been confirmed to kill SAPW on the surface. A drench might deter or kill additional SAPW that could fly in due to the smell of the existing wounds. Systemic treatments: Imadicloprid and Dinotefuran are recommended by the CA AG people. A soil drench or trunk injection is the normal treatment, but a crown drench is also recommended to kill any nesting in the old frond boots. Since your palm doesn't show immediate signs of collapse (leaning crown, dead new leaves, etc) I hope it has a good chance of surviving the SAPW attack! If you can reach the lower fronds on that ladder, I would carefully slice off the old dead boots. You can use a utility knife (careful!) or heavy duty garden shears, etc. You may find more weevils in the boots, or you may see the weevil holes where they've bored in. Injecting an organophosphate or Imadicloprid directly into those holes sure would help kill them faster!

I planted a couple of 1g hookeris in full sun a couple of years ago, and they grow at a decent (for SF) pace, although they still sun burn pretty badly. The latest frond opened at the beginning of June and stayed burn free until the recent heat wave. The next spear was 1" then and almost 20" now. I do give them a lot of water. For other smaller palm ideas, Ravenea hildebrandtii has been easy in the shade for me and R. glauca similarly easy in full sun.

I have one I planted in about 2005. It was as a seedling. It stayed very messy looking until a few years ago. That was when I trimmed it for the first time. After trimming it looked decent! Restarting this thread made me go and revisit today! The first two pics are before I trimmed it up. The next three are after trimming. It's starting to look special to me! The underside of the leaves is very silvery! The last pic the snips are there for scale. I will turn 67 next month so if I live to 100 it will grow from special to spectacular!!! Randy

Fall Update I - Odds and Ends After possibly the worst May we've ever had, with temperatures in the 95oF-102oF range and only an inch of rain, the rest of the summer provided ample rain and temperatures closer to normal. Unfortunately, Hurricane Milton damaged some of the plants after a year where it was already difficult to perform regular maintenance. The first update will focus on some of the more common beds. Patio Entryway - Bed #1: This bed features Livistona decora and Copernicia alba. There was previously a small Livistona saribus in front of this bed int a small area sectioned off for it, but it was struggling in that spot. When it was dug up and placed in a pot, it immediately went into active growth. It will spend some time in recovery and there may need to be some remediation done to the soil in that small area. Patio Entryway - Bed #2: This bed is code named "The Okinawa Garden" in honor of @palmfriend. It's hard to believe that the Arenga engleri in this bed are all the same age and from the same seed batch, with the same being true for the Livistona chinensis. Beyond the Patio: This Syagrus romanzoffiana was grown from a seed collected immediately after the Jan. 2018 advective freeze. Hurricane Milton snapped the spear, but the palm is continuing to grow. The Red Zone: This area is named for the red retaining wall blocks that have replaced the scalloped edging that previously served as the border for this garden. In the first photo, seed-grown Adonidia merrillii and a Chamaerops humilis share a bed with a few sickly Chamaedorea radicalis. I'm hoping the Chammy will snap out of its funk, but we'll see. The second photo shows seed-grown Thrinax radiata flanked by bananas and sea grapes. The third and fourth photos captured the size of the Coccoloba uvifera (Sea Grapes) before I had to top them in preparation for the storm. The fifth and final photo shows a Thrinax radiata purchased from the blue big box store. The Lighthouse Bed: This bed now features only one plant, a Brahea edulis. The Contrast Palm: Few palms say desert like Brahea, and few say moist tropics like a Veitchia arecina. The distance between these two palms is less than 25 feet, but both are happy. Seeing this palm now, it is hard to believe it was nursed back to health from spear pull. The Rock Bed: In the rock and concrete bed, Aloe and Chrysalidocarpus decaryi prove they can grow in just about anything. If you look very closely, you can make out the fan leaves of a Sabal minor coming out of the grassy bamboo area. The Maypan Bed: This coconut palm now has a span over 20 feet and dropped most of its leaf bases recently. The bole at the bottom is ~18 inches. Behind the coconut palm, a small Pritchardia thurstonii is growing. The latter may end up being an annual, but only time will tell. The Southside Coconut Bed: This is the bed that holds the Atlantic Tall coconut palm and another bed with Syagrus schizophylla, Adonidia merrillii, a Panama Tall coconut palm grown from a newly sprouted seed planted earlier in the year, and two pineapple plants. The Fruit Bed: The Hyphaene coriacea and Ptychosperma macarthurii occupying this bed share the area with sugar cane, a Choquette Avocado tree, and a Glen Mango tree. The Hyphaene took a hit from a falling avocado, hence the damaged frond. This is the first in a series of fall updates, most likely numbering 3-5, depending on how many photos it takes and how long it takes to finish weeding the beds.

So it begins, the first sucker has appeared! 🤠 Fortunately and unfortunately, we had our roof replaced. A bunch of people were throwing stuff off the roof, and it was just chaos. They damaged a leaf and it’s torn, but luckily, they had enough sense to cover it with a bucket before putting their tarps down. But, of course, when they were dragging things through, things happened, leading to other mishaps and damage to some of my other plants. But thankfully, everything is alive with just minor scuffs!

Yay! palmate leaf! didn't expect this soo soon I thought It was gonna take way longer before I would got one, super cool! @Jubaea_James760