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I germinated 600 dasyatha and out of that 600 I got one special variegated seedling. At first I didn’t pay much attention to this little seedling but I still kept an eye on it noting where it was in with its cousins. Sitting there growing like the rest it started to continue to hold its variegated leaves each new leaf still had variegation. Either one in million or a freak of nature it will be one special little plant if it holds onto its variegation. Iam sure if it does stay true iam sure it will be one little palm that would be wanted in a collectors garden such as myself.

HAHA - Oh I tease. October has been kind to the garden this year (with the exception of rain). With temps this month staying in the 80's/50's for the most part aside from a quick 2 day cool snap mid-month it's been quite wonderful. Our 10 day shows highs in the 80s and lows around 60 which I will take as long as mother nature wants to provide it! Nabbed a few image from the gardens: Hopefully the rack of namwahs has some time to mature. (doubtful) but one can wish.

I noticed today my sp bef has a fused leaf something I have never seen before on a palm. I did see on palmpedia a picture with a bef that split in two so it may be a genetic trait with this species. Either way it’s an unusual thing more commonly seen with fascination traits in plants perhaps it’s a form of fascination in palms who knows but for now I will see what the next new leaf does as to where the new spear comes from so it may split in two yet.

I think that this is a beautiful palm, BUT it is deadly. It is covered with needle-sharp spines. One of the most lethal palms in my garden. Definitely 'look but don't touch'. Don't plant close to walkways or anywhere you will need access. Seeds germinate easily. Moderately fast grower. Attractive bow tie leaflets. Did I mention the horrible spines?

Cordia boissieri. Some people also call them the Texas Olive Tree. They are hardy into the teens, below that they take stem damage but will come back from the base.

Okay, these were bought as seed February 2016 from RPS. First picture (July 2020) shows a difference of one year in ground versus still in containers. Second picture is today, October 2024, approximately 8 years from germination. Could be location, but she's definitely put on some size in 4 years. Tiki head for scale is 2 feet.

Finally the reveal that makes this palm so special. Been awhile since this Dictyocaryum lamarckianum has shed a leaf sheath, still waiting for the one on the right to do the same. Somewhat surprised how much they have slowed down over the last few years. Tim

A neighbor has two that were planted in 1986. They are huge have dropped many seeds Im sure, and they are a trimming nightmare if you want to remove the dead leaves. The over trimmed ones are likely from growers who found them easier to trim with less leaves and their thorny petioles. Here are the two palms, over 30' tall for sure and about 25 foot wide. a closer shot of one

Coconuts in Florida are definitely confusing and I think the naming isn't very helpful because there are a few "subtypes" within each variety that arrived to Florida from various sources. Last I heard, the palm that's the source for the Calusa nursery is a nice tree on Marco Island typical for what I call the "Peninsular" Jamaican tall, which is the same type as the two Jamaican talls at Kopsick. This type does have a bole at the base, but it's not as pronounced as the Florida Keys type, and it's slightly faster to gain trunk from a seedling. At this size, your tree does look a little suspect, as I'd expect wider spacing between the trunk rings, but that can be variable at this stage depending on a lot of factors. The tree that I was told is the parent tree to the Calusa Jamaican talls is this one: https://maps.app.goo.gl/QgzdQr59jYvbPS7p8 The Jamaican tall present in the Keys is a distinct variety in my opinion from what I've seen. The coconuts are smaller (though with a very distinct elongated shape), the bole at the base is more pronounced, it is more commonly pure green in the petiole (with bronze-green being less common), and it is very slow to get going. Panama tall is also present in Florida in a weird way. A lot of material came from Panama through Jamaica (aka the Jamaica San Blas coconut), but there has been importing from Costa Rica as well (and possible other areas). I've seen some palms that were true to type and some that aren't. The true Panama tall has a very large trunk that is straighter than the Atlantic type, and the leaves don't extend as far below horizon. The PT coconuts at the USDA are this type (I have some pictures in a thread about this), but the ones at Fairchild are lacking some of the characteristics of true Panama Tall. The coconuts previously sold by Dave Romney are also the true Panama tall with a large straight trunk. The photo below shows a good example of the trunk difference between Malayan Dwarf, Fiji/Samoan Dwarf, "Atlantic" tall, and Panama tall. IMO most of the Panama tall sold in Florida are probably something other than 100% true Panama tall unless they're from the USDA or Dave Romney. As far as coloration, I've seen similar coloration as Jeremy's tree with true Panama tall, so I wouldn't let the coloration be the deciding factor, but rather what it grows into once it's trunking. The Fiji dwarf Jeremy has definitely looks wrong. This variety is known for producing off-types in Florida and I really trust the Hawaiian origin ones more than the Florida origin ones. One thing to note as well is that Hawaiian tall is very distinct from Panama tall. Panama tall shares more in common with the tall types in the Philippines rather than those from Hawaii and the South Pacific. Due to the distances and time under cultivation, there are many distinct varieties from this region, but only the Hawaiian tall is really available in Florida. It's the fastest growing coconut we have available to us, and the fronds tend to be longer with more distance between the leaflets than some of the other varieties here. Personally the Hawaiian tall is my favorite to grow.

For me, Chambeyronia put into the ground young outperform those kept in pots. I’m in Melbourne, Australia with similar average temperatures to certain parts of Northern California.

I have found like most palms they take time to establish roots then they explode. Usually around 2 years they will start fattening up and before you know it 4 years later they're too tall to maintain.

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.

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.

I believe that one was located in the parking lot of the World Birding Center/ Bentsen- Rio Grande Valley State Park. If you head West on 83 in RGV, right around Rio Grande City the terrain becomes more arid , the thick mesquite scrub brush that was cleared 100 years ago in the RGV returns, and you will sporadically see Mexican Olive trees mixed in. Along Falcon Lake they are numerous . They are easy to spot when in flower.

These have been in the ground for a while 6 years plus and were not affected by the 2022 Xmas freeze. Jax beach.

I cleaned all the seeds and found that a few had yellow round marks on the seeds. I opened one to investigate and take a look inside but found all was ok. The seeds are just the same as from a pure Jubaea ( little coconut) and with thicker endocarpus as that of Butia eriospatha.

@Robert Cade Ross @Meangreen94z Thank you very much! I had no idea!

It’s pretty normal in Chrysalidocarpus Richard. I’d be willing to bet 2 spears are about to emerge and that will be the first trunk split. I’ve had C decipiens do the exact same thing.

Today this Caryota did…

Keith, I don't know if FIT has any of his palms from the Daytona property, I think he just helped them to plan the collection back in the '60s (and perhaps he did donate palms at that time...that part's not clear). FIT has a page dedicated to his life and activities here. I think it's tragic that he suffered the very punishing wrath of the '83 and '85 freezes just before his death. I know Doris's daughter, she was a neighbor of ours on Big Pine Key. One evening while out on a walk, she was outside her house and I asked her about a large, trunking Arikury Palm in front of her place, as I knew it was a very unusual palm. She replied that it had been given to her by her stepfather, who was the founder of the Palm Society. I looked at her and said, "Dent Smith?" You could have knocked her over with a feather!!! Interestingly, another neighbor (halfway between our house and hers) was Stanley Kiem, who was longtime superintendent of Fairchild (and a close friend and co-adventurer of David Fairchild) and also one of the small group of inaugural members of the IPS when Dent Smith created the society. When I informed her of this coincidence, she said she had no idea he was her neighbor, nor his relationship to her stepfather and the IPS. It just goes to show that the world is a lot smaller than we think, and sometimes people with strong links may coexist in close proximity and never even know the significance...

Yes, so many urban varmints. A family of raccoons ate our abundant passion fruit crop in days and rats defoliated our Ravenea glauca for nesting material (Ravenea glauca has been slow but steady btw, seems to be a durable plant). Since we're in the outer avenues and have limited leeward space, strong and salty winds are also a major consideration.

Starting to cool a bit average 76 degree highs on my home weather station (For 30 days) wind protected box better than average 89 degrees LOL

Thanks for the shared experience Chris. Yeah, I assume it will want as much heat as we can give it and I think this location is the best we can do. It was in a 1 gallon pot and the roots were just starting to circle. I failed with a Cyphophoenix elegans in the same spot but didn't provide any shelter for it...hopefully this fares better. @Jim in Los Altos noted during my visit that he generally just throws palms in the ground when very young and sees what sticks. As long as we can keep the rats, gophers and slugs away, I'm inclined to do the same.

I would definitely recommend a good layer of mulch and plenty of water when it's hot. It takes time for palms to establish so they might look bad for the first year or two but mulch, water, and fertilizer will make all the difference. Let the little one acclimate and it should take off as long and frost doesn't hurt it.

Very nice Hedyscepe you’ve got going there. I think the weather has been very similar to yours lately but we are starting to shift towards summer a bit now. That being said yesterday morning was frigid for late October. We got down to 5C and then the max was 27C. Next week we’ve got a string of high twenties and possibly a low thirties day. I did see Perth will possibly hit 40C next week, so if it does that what will summer be like. Ocean temps are up pretty much everywhere too. Could be an interesting cyclone season.

@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.

I have lost two Foxtail (Wodyetia Bifurcata) in Southern California. I have learned that they are hit or miss here . I do know they love heat so yours should be fine once it hardens off . As Merlyn says they are usually grown under shade cloth to get max height when young . They like fast draining soil and do not like “wet feet” so , once established , they can have short dry periods. Corona is warm so they should like it there . The new growth should be tighter held leaflets and slowly turning dark green. The older fronds will eventually die off , as you are seeing there. After what I learned here on PT I have decided to give these another try . Mine are smaller but coming along nicely , I am about a year ahead of you on hardening off and they are picking up speed . They were not that healthy when I got them ( 5 ) from a private grower. HarryOn the larger one you can see the original frond with the leaf spacing compared to the new fronds that are tightly held leaflets. They keep getting darker with age , you can see the lower frond almost completely dark and the top frond that just recently opened just starting to turn dark . The smaller palm on the left is completely dark. Again , you can see the difference of the new frond versus the old. I am keeping my fingers crossed as we head into the second winter for these guys . They are the best of the five I have. Harry

@nessa I'd guess it's mostly sunburn from the hot/dry summer and heat reflecting off the wall. Usually palms are grown under shade cloth, so the existing fronds might burn when put into full sun. The new frond looks a little more "compact" than the older ones, and also in the pictures looks pretty green. If that's the case then it's adapting to the sun and should look better when the next set of fronds completely grow out. I'd guess it needs more water, but I am in swampy FL where everything is drenched in daily afternoon thunderstorms. Hopefully some CA people can suggest watering amounts.

Butia are pretty tough palms! This small one suffered some crown rot and spear-pull after -13°C temperature in 2021. All 3 of my Butia survived but I ended up cutting the trunk on this one and one other.

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

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.

My pineapple guava is looking the best it ever has since I had the old growth tree down. The tree was dying and going to be a real death trap to anything under it including anyone walking around it so it had to be removed. And since then everything under and around within a 50 metre radius has said thank you and is loving the extra water and light. The fejoa no exception iam actually looking forward to getting a few fruits for the first time in 23 years. An absolutely beautiful tree in flower and the fruit is a bonus IMG_5762.mov

Anyone have a good idea of what one of these palms weighs? I have a 12,000 excavator that I borrowed to assist in moving it and some trailers as well, but I have no idea what the weigh is. I’d be relocating from the front to the backyard, but if one’s it’s down I can’t move it I’ll have to cut it up. It has roughly 12’ of grey trunk and it’s thick enough that you probably couldn’t wrap your arms around it at the base.

I try not to look at it to much just treat it like any other palm. Only in the corner of my eye I know how special this little palm is.

Exactly! You can attach a second pole to original one. Use is only a bit more tiring.

Another palm in the collection goes in the ground. Cool tolerant surviving three winters being another licuala that doesn’t seem to mind the cold. It does like to drink water, seems quite tough and not to fussy. Plenty of shade and water should see it quite happy in the garden. You think of licuala as supe4 tropical heat wanting palms iam surprised at how many are tolerant of cool weather for sure there’s some fussy ones that don’t like the cold weather. For such tropical backgrounds there’s some good varieties to choose from for growing in my area. I also planted another lanonia magaloni going for a group planting of three one more to plant for that group I have another half dozen of them so no shortage of stock for that group.

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.

Mine are obviously duds theyre solid and a dark dark brown

Unexpected, late October flowering... Oddly enough, is the only specimen to do so this year..

Not rare but still a nice little palm. I'm interested to see how much of that brown tomentum this one has. The couple of bangalow seedlings I've grown also have yellowish stems with tomentum but don't seem nearly that hairy. I know it's a variable species with a wide range. My Alex's are all pure green on the crownshaft with very silvery undersides, except for two small mystery seedlings which I thought were going to be alexandreae but they have a small amount of that brown tomentum and also less silvery undersides. Starting to suspect that they are hybrids.

Michael and Jason, you’ve been most helpful. Great information!

Thanks. I know of this fine book but I was hoping for something more up to date. The book was published in 1998 and I believe there have been a number of name changes since.

Paul, First off, it was a pleasure having you two to the garden! Perhaps try a Chambeyronia in a spot that receives some sun. Maybe adjacent to a south or west facing wall. The picture below is one of my young ones this past January opening a new leaf in the winter’s cool temperatures. Most of my twelve flamethrowers produce three new fronds per year. The slower ones, 1 and half to two. It’s worth a try.

Try Prestoea acuminata. Amazing palm that really should be grown more in cool areas.

Reviving an old thread. I don’t hear too much about these . I have had mine over 25 years and it is so slow I forget about it. Earlier this year it looked like it was dying but recently opened a couple new fronds. I think it would have done better with more shade, it gets quite a bit of sun. Harry ‘the new frond looks healthy but it may be some time before I see another! I was out and about back in 1995 or so , on my way home from Santa Barbara , when I stopped for coffee in Montecito . I decided to go for a walk and stumbled onto a nursery that looked interesting . I mentioned to the owner that I collected palms . He perked up and said “ I bet you don’t have one of these”. He took me back to a run down , old greenhouse that he was taking down and there it was in a one gallon pot . He let me have it for $25 . I keep it tucked in between rocks because I read that it’s habitat is rocky ledges but maybe I will try a bit of organic fertilizer and mulch just to see if I can kick start it a bit. Harry

This is the most colored frond I’ve seen outta my Houailou. Not as much color as @DoomsDave but I’ll take it. -dale

Everyone’s favorite

Had this crysophila for about 4 years I purchased it as a seedling by mail order I finally got to plant today with good rains and the ground soaked with moisture now is a good time to plant it

I used the Sunday's quietness to take some updade pictures. I'm also including some other species than Jubaea chilensis in this post. Despite a couple of heat waves in the winter it was overall a bad one with lots of humidity and several freezes. I was curious at how these plantings fare. Some of those Jubaeas don't look that great while some others look very nice. Sabal grew quite a bit in a year. There seems to be another feather palm in there. Not sure what it is... Nicely coloured Opuntia. Needle palm. Quite rare here. I once had one but dug it out and gave it to our Botanical Garden. Next time I might check out what's planted on that roundabout. Looks interesting... This Jubaea grew quite a bit in one year and also looks the best. Those pictures don't do justice to how big the trunk is for such a small palm. Compare base to the car. Phoenix canariensis which could become a problem so close to the wall. Might help in bad winters though... Brahea Another nice looking Opuntia. Olive tree with fruits ripening. Also have some in my garden right now: I believe this is another Needle palm. Butia Another Sabal I only discovered now. There were also some Pinus pinea I never noticed. But quiet common here in private gardens.