Leaderboard

Hurricanes gusting to 110 mph can put a beating on palms. While some species did better than others, all the taller ones were savaged, especially if they sat out solo in the wind. I kind of see it clinically now as an experiment. Only the shorter protected palms had low damage. My tallest palms(and trees) roystonea regia at 40 feet +/- 5feet, were stripped of all but one leaf, but spears were undamaged, intact. before after: Damage on both were the same but the new spear has already opened, history says these will come back and recover in 2 summers.

My hookeri is flowering again I have several large ones in the garden. Planted over 23 years ago they stand proud with the other palms being garden sentimentals. No seeds have been set yet but two are flowering again so maybe this season a couple of seeds if iam lucky. With a few around the garden there’s never a dull moment with a red leaf appearing amongst the green jungle always making a statement.

Pritchardia martii, abaxial side of the leaves. Almost looks like a frosty morning shot. Super dense lepida, (white hair like covering), one of the traits of this beautiful endemic species. Tim

Update 2024-10-27: N°2401 today 100 days since germination N°2402 with cotyledon on its 22nd day And eight days ago we had the 6th germination:

I germinated some perakensis seeds from rps about 3 years ago. There growing about the same rate as Altifrons the Magnifica are a bit slower growing out of the 3 varieties I have. Also the perakensis has a slightly different leaf somewhat distinct shape about it and a tougher feel to to it only slightly noticeable but different. I definitely think it will be quite some years before I see a trunk actually a lot of years. They have survived winter in my hothouse not a problem only one has been planted in my garden so far and two lucky people have got one each from me. Extremely rare in my area iam sure there out but not in my neighbourhood that’s for sure. Time will tell if my one in the garden survives winter in the ground. I have only planted one magnifica in the garden and it died not sure why if it was winter or if it just packed up and went on holiday to the great garden in the sky in Hawaii. Because I have so many I can plant I have noticed that some just die all of a sudden a few months after planting they start to grow and then they just die for some strange reason with centre leaf desiccating none have recovered yet. It could be transplant shock iam extremely careful planting them it may be water stress or damaged roots upon planting or the shock of a change in environment who knows and I will probably never work exactly what causes it only a few different conditions all together. But looking forward to having them in the garden in the future.

Bellaire survivor update looking happy with zero trunk rot @Xenon

It's nice to see rings, even if they're on common palms! 🌴 I got around to cleaning old leaf bases on my queen palm this afternoon. Let's see yours!

Yes, the only tilted palm was a s9o;litary 25' C. Pembana, and it must come down as you can see the root area on the opposite side was lifted. It is tilted away from the house and the house had minimal damage so I am fine. The house is good to 130mph code so I was not worried about that. Four of the 20 royal leaves that were stripped from my two royals landed on the house. This storm we first has the wind from the East as we were on the north side of the eyewall. But as it passed we got the northern winds from the west side of the eyewall. These northern winds are what appeared to do the most damage around the neighborhood, flatt3ening stop signs and uprooting and snapping dicot trees. There are at least a dozen snapped dicots behind my house in the wooded area. Here is what the northern wind side did to my C Fallaensis before: after with a closeup to show leaves on the north side being folded into the crown. The good part is the bud remains open and the newest leaves and spear have not been damaged as in sabal causiarum. I always wondered why some in habitat pics tended to have more sparse crowns, they see lots of wind and that opens up the crowns and causes leaf loss. I have zero worries that this one will not recover fully in time. 12 feet from it I have my baby fallaensis planted last summer. It was undamaged in wind and is opening a new leaf. All my small palms are looking good, not much damage at all.

I was recently driving through the border range’s national park west of Grafton (my home town) also know as the Gibraltar range and these pictures are of the archontophoenix cunninghamiana at that altitude. You can see the fog in the pictures and it does extremely cold up there with the nearby town of glen innes with reports from locals of temperatures in winter of minus 13. So it does get cold in that area. There is also a population of linospadix monostachya up there in one area from a leftover remnant of the once vast rainforest that was in that area.

They do great here in northern Louisiana. Fast growing and trunks quickly only to have many trunks get knocked back from low teens and single digits. Still plenty of suckers to keep the palms full at all times. They are like unweildy chamaerops here… trunking very fast

The same Chrysalidocarpus before I posted above as it is currently. It began as a single trunk. As you canteen it followed your rule a couple of times and defied it once. It's a good practice to avoid using "never" if you can avoid it.

Looks like a Christmas palm (Adonidia merrillii). It's very cold tender and will likely be dead in the ground in DC within the next 30 days.

I’m not sure about Austin, but there are many of these around San Antonio. I would think they’d do just as well in the Austin area. There was some damage from palmaggedon in 2021 but they have recovered.

Not super unusual, but seeing these foxtails put a grin on my face, growing as replacements (guessing) in a bunch of queens, definitely something special. This is just outside Malaga,Spain

Beccariophoenix alfredii did not tilt at all, roots are too strong so the leaves were bent down Before I will add more later. My yard didnt get wiped out but its going to take a few years to recover and everything will be even taller when the crowns are recovered after. they all lay down

A community pot of some chamaedorea woodsoniania just sitting around in the hothouse. Even a chambeyronia was in the pot with them not sure who was in there first but they got along alright. I just teased them apart gently. The chamaedorea will get planted in group planting in my garden somewhere. A nice chamaedorea the woodsoniania iam sure they will grow well in m6 climate.

King palm crownshaft

Clinostigma sp.

The best I could I could find was plastic pallets you can cut them up with a chainsaw or a reciprocating saw there cheap I got these one free. They sell for $10 each at industrial wharehouses. Or when I built my deck I found some industrial platform decking not cheap but will last forever. They use it a walkways in national parks as well so tough very professional looking. Both are not going to rust or rot out.

Yeah I am getting used to it as this is the 3rd hurricane force winds since 2017. Very strange that it was 80 years before 2017 since the previous hurricane hit my area and the last major hurricane was 1921. I have had a good run here getting palms established, and I am too old to feel sorry for myself over my garden. Im just putting this out there so people can know what to expect. All palms will be damaged and that damage will depend on how exposed and tall they are. The other lesson is good root growth and wide watering away from the trunk area leads to strong roots that resist tilting. Irrigation Drippers are great in clayish soil, but they are going to be a problem in sandy soil in hurricane country. They just cut out a 30' +washie hybrid (filabusta) a few houses down as it had heavily tilted towards the neighbors house and close enough to hit. WHen a palm is tilted the roots opposite the tilt direction are the ones damaged as they mechanically resist the tilt most. Same side roots are not really involved. On that washie the direction opposite the tilt direction has roots lifted but the driveway was only about 4 feet away (no roots under there). I never worry about palms lifting concrete, never seen that here and we have loads of palms in my area. But roots needed to prevent being knocked over require room to be strong against tilting/falling over.

yep its already opened a new leaf, big middle finger indeed. Both my royals have opened new leaves since the storm. the leaf stems broke off. no crownshaft came down during the storm. Now those are starting to shed.

My Macrocarpa is about that old and the inflorescence is just next to nothing at this point. It is in full sun so the red leaf that just opened is not that impressive . It only lasts a few days . I hope you get seed this year , my friend’s has a load of seed just waiting to ripen. Harry

Another palm in the collection goes in the ground. A lovely palm from New Caledonia you won’t see these for sale in chain stores that for sure. Becoming more available but still rare in my area. You can buy them online now and then they are for sale or in specialty nurseries. Cool tolerant surviving my winter with lows of 2 degrees Celsius. Just add water and some good rich soil with a bit of palm growing love and you have a beautiful palm oh and a few years.

Low soil temperature combined with wet cold weather may be the enemies in winter for me. Iam a true zone pusher at heart. You gotta try. Richard

Yes, they will burn during bad winters but come back. Zilker botanical garden in Austin has them, they came back from 2021. The San Antonio Botanical Garden has them, as does John Fairey Garden near Hempstead. All saw single digits in 2021. The big difference in Austin is west of I35 is limestone, vs. sand in their native habitat. I chiseled out holes for them in my front yard, and so far they seem happy.

Hello! I’m a New Florida homeowner with three very tall palm trees and three short ones. They are all showing some discoloration and moss, as well as what looks like a growth around the base. Is this normal and healthy? There is rubber mulch at the base that was put in by the previous owner.

Mine has been fine throughout all the terror the past years in College station. Not been growing great but I also don't pamper it. Great palm! At JFGardens (old pic attached after 21 freeze damage, I believe), they have grown to a mature size with long trunks so a testament to them doing well in Central Texas (Note, JFGardens does have better soil and in my experience a zone up from my yard).

They need good drainage so if you have clay soil you'll want to amend the soil. They're pretty tolerant of drought once established.

Potted up some from last year’s seeds today. The biggest ones had to go straight into 3 gallons from the community tub. Honestly, they should probably be larger than that because I should have plucked them out as they sprouted, but life happens. The larger ones sprouted in April, so are only 6 months old. They are easily twice the size of some Butia seedlings that are over a year old.

Ouch...I hope this is the end of the hurricane season for you. Unfortunately there is no assurance as to what future hurricane seasons will bring. The good news for you seems to be that the extent of your damage was property. Plants we can regrow...other losses cannot be replaced.

@JordanT welcome to PalmTalk! The abnormal growth at the bottom is actually pretty normal, especially on the Pygmy Date (Phoenix Roebellini) palms. Many palms will grow "adventitious roots" near the base. They are also sometimes called aerial roots. There's a Sylvester not too far from me that has roots growing out of the trunk about 8 feet up the trunk! It looks weird, but it's normal. The moss is frequently found on the side facing North, and is usually not a problem. The only time it's an issue is if it's caused by a sprinkler hitting the trunk. A sprinkler can eventually cause lower trunk rot. But the moss is usually benign.

I liked this little row of three butias at the In and Out in Windcrest:

Rich, thanks for the kind words, much appreciated. These Dictyocaryum have always had good color, even as young juveniles. The color does vary after a frond drop, from a soft blue to a more light purple blue. The color also seems to be specimen specific, the one in the photo typically has more of a purple hue, while the one on the right more blue. I used to have another one, also more blue, but it was always puny and seemed to be penciling out, I removed it. ( quite a luxury eh?) Nowadays I get about one frond a year which is slower than previous years, at least that’s my perception. The photo attached was taken about ten years ago shortly after the palms started trunking. Tim

Caught my eye that my Calathea was starting to eat my variegated Manila palm, so she got a wee bitty bit of a trim.

I like the way this palm is framed in the photo. Nice composition! From earlier today: Archontophoenix "Teracarpa" (named hybrid from Jungle Music).

Agree with Tim. I have seen it on both one of my Chrysalidocarpus decipiens as well as the Chrysalidocarpus bef below. Sometimes, the leaflets emerge from the same rachis as a set of 3 or 4 coming off in different directions before the rachis splits and each goes back to having two sets of leaflets for the terminus of the pair of rachis. After the split leaf sharing part of the rachis, the next leaves are fully split and the trunk splits above that point.

Today this Caryota did…

@Johnny Palmseed You are correct , one of the pictures has a Florida in the background and AeAe in the other across the pool , have a few of them

Yeah, makes sense. I recall someone posting that one of the big boxes was selling Adonidia earlier this year in MD or CT. At that size I have trouble telling them apart from Archontophoenix.

That royal is like a great big middle finger at the great god Huracan!

I see what you did there... @sonoranfans it's good to see that nothing tilted over. My 5 Alfredii are around 15 to 20ft total height, and none have any tilt or frond damage. I did, however, overprune them a bit right before the storm. And winds here had ~75mph maximum gusts. And it moved through here fast too. Wind peaks and duration were a bit less than previous storms that caused tilt. Either way, it seems they get a lot stronger once they get to (roughly in my case) trunking. Hopefully the Causiarum and Alfredii start growing new spears soon. The damage to the top of the crown looks pretty bad.

In cases where the new spear/meristem is impacted, would some kind of temporary tieing/staking via adjacent fronds be warranted? I’ve previously resorted to that out of an abundance of caution but wonder how often it’s necessary. Don’t want ‘stressed’ palms calling out to predatory FL beetles either! 😡😠

@BS Man about Palms DID YOU TAKE ANY PICTURES? Hope you 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...

This beefy Chrysalidocarpus Leptocheillos caught my eye. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one quite this stocky. Almost like Lastelliana. Size 10 shoe for scale.

Geonoma chococola v. awaensis

Saw this nice Oncosperma tigillarum and some clumping palm with red stems today in Darwin

the grove of Chry. dark mealybug orange crownshaft after leaf drop leaves recurved at the tip, white rachis/spear, pendulous leaflets, gorgeous palm

Here's this year's (2020) photo of my Hyphaene Compressa! Still don't know if it is male or female!! The frond in the lower left of the foto is my Attalea speciosa! rod anderson phoenix, az

Tom: Actually I have several more species of Hyphaene: Hyphaene compressa Hyphaene dichotoma Hyphaene thebaica Hyphaene turbinata Hyphaene coriacea Hyphaene natalensis Hyphaene petersiana - fell over one wet winter - just bent in half - luckily it fell into my yard and not the neighbors! Hyphaene dankaliensis - seeds never germinated Hyphaene sp. mt regan - never found any info on this palm, probably coriacea or thebaica The hyphaenes love the heat and tolerate the winter. Any exposure to below 32°F, and they show signs of frost damage. The lowest it has ever gotten here was 22°F in January 2013 - they looked bad, but all came back in the summer. All the seed that I get will have to be crosses, with the exception of thebaica which I have two of. As for the Borassus species: Borassus aethiopum Borassus madagascariensis (may be a synonym for aethiopum) Borassus flabellifer - too tropical for Arizona, died Borassus sambiranensis My B. aethiopum is male and none of the others are large enough to know yet. The borassus seem to tolerate the cold. Glad to hear your palms survived the hurricanes this summer! rod Here's a photo of me today trimming my compressa with a ladder on my roof to reach the fronds! It's going to get taller than what I am willing to climb up to!!!!!