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In my area , it has been very dry . My daughter in San Diego has had rain already this year but here at our place , it has missed us. Saturday it rained lightly , not a gully washer but steady , light rain. Sunday I went out and just enjoyed the ambiance. The cool , damp feeling of nature watering my garden for me! I am pretty good at watering but I can’t compete with nature and rain. The nurturing of the rain after the brutal , harsh wind we had not long ago is very welcome . I just had to get out and enjoy. Harry it started with a walk down the west side of the house Oh , look! A new leaf emerging on my Pritchardia! The Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens enjoyed the rain as did the front yard!

I can’t help myself I had to buy another 500 Joey seeds seeing as I love them that much. It’s a ten year project to grow the best I can over those years and beyond into retirement for a couple of palms to sell. An investment into my retirement fund hopefully one day iam sure in ten years or more the market in my area will have changed as it is slowly changing now. With more people moving into the area building a lot of houses and retirement plans The seeds are sown in coco coir perlite mix and will be placed in the hothouse one box I placed on top of heat mats just for fun. I have germinated them before without heat mats just fine there quite tough Joey palms very forgiving in most departments except for watering let them dry out and it’s game over. I also purchased 200 licuala paludosa just for fun to grow a few on the side I like slow growing palms there my preference in palms. Fast growing palms I don’t really have the patience for constantly repotting and the maintenance involved in the cultivation of them it’s just to much work

Ceroxylon quindiuense, small 5-gallon, March, 1983

I have been collecting seeds of this chambeyronia for a seasons now. I have known about this chambeyronia for over thirty years in yard in coff# harbour always admiring it as drove past keeping an eye out for seeds when the time is right. So one day i knocked on the door and was greeted by a elderly lady by the name of Johanna very interesting to talk to originally from California an old hippie lady from way back with many tales of the 70s with a wonderful view of life. As you talk to a person you learn more about them. I offered some gardening services I could do in return for the seeds seeing the job that had to done I turned around to see the most eclectic mosaic that should be in an art gallery amazing what a piece of art. I asked about it did it have a name no she replied just a piece of art from another world that she visited she told me truly amazing what a wonderful lady with such a beautiful life she has lived, it’s wonderful to meet such humble happy people and the best bit was it was from a palm tree that I got to meet her. I could see vision well.

I think you will have the market cornered on these! The Palm market here has evolved over the years . More folks are moving into other genus and species . It used to be almost all ( with the exception of the collectors)Queen and Pygmy palms with a dollop of King Palm . Now there are other ones popping up . I can see Australia becoming the new home to the “Joey”! Harry

Thanks for posting here, your garden looks amazing and I always like seeing my Chrysalidocarpus keep them coming!

Got some Washingtonia growing here, mostly Robusta and a couple Filifera growing here on Landa St across from the DQ in NB.

Pelagodoxa mesocarpa Seedlings $20 each, only 6 available now. More coming as soon as they are ready. Plus Shipping, Spaghum, and Box. Can Ship after Holiday if you want. Beachpalms@cfl.rr.com

It will be interesting if this palm survives winter. There are some nice Calpytrocalyx palms but unfortunately most are quite cold sensitive there are a couple of cool tolerant ones. So I will go for a zone push with this one. No special attention in regards to cold protection apart from the hothouse time will tell if winte4 claims another palm.

Good morning from Galveston. Found another queen survivor and a fiddle leaf fig coming back after the most recent freeze . And moody gardens has started replacing palms first sabals lol @Xenon your favorite 😹😉

No, not at all. I was just referring to how seemingly similar winter climates like the UK and the PNW still aren't the same. And wanted to put to bed that just because the UK CIDP's can survive in the UK doesn't mean they will in most of Oregon. Cold hardiness of a palm is so variable based on climate., the conditions up to and immediately after the cold event, and the nature of the cold event itself I don't like saying "Palm X is hardy to XX degrees". There are some generalities to say these palms tend to the be the hardiest, but the top 3 or 5 palms that are hardiest to my area do not apply to everyone else.

I have about 25 Oraniopsis inground. I started planting them in 1999 when some where gifted to me by the then head of the Atherton Tablelands National Parks Ranger. I’ve since germinated hundreds and began experimenting where to plant them but all accounts illustrate they need shade and water. Other places around the world like north land NZ can put them in more sun as the climate is tempered. When planted in red soil they grow quite fast.

In the PNW when the rainy season starts, everything gets wet and stays wet for 5 or 6 months. Rarely do things every dry out, the grass is always wet, the soil is muddy, literally everything you touch is either wet or damp. There are a ton of products sold to kill moss because it grows on everything, and I mean literally everything. I've never been anywhere where moss grows on paved roads. Around the corners you see it mostly where tires do not normally drive over. CIDP's do not survive in Portland, and like I said it's not for lack of trying. Salem which is 45 minutes south of Portland, is marginally drier and does not get the outflow winds, but they get colder temps in winter due to the position in the valley. Washingtonia and CIDP's can hang on a few years there provided there isn't a particularly cold winter. I don't see the point in rehashing that they should survive, the fact is they don't. It doesn't matter how badly we want or hope that they'll make it, the plants will tell you if its suitable for them. It just goes to show that even in very similar climates you may not get the same results due to a factor or factors that we may be unable to determine.

All of the pre-1980s CIDP in North Florida/Georgia and along the Gulf Coast in Alabama and Mississippi survived mid-low single digits.

@TropicsEnjoyer two other possibilities come to mind. You *might* find them at a local nursery. I know I saw Arenga Engleri at a couple of places in Jax a few years ago. It prefers sun in FL but grows fine (if slowly) in shade. I have 12 clusters of Engleri here in the NW Orlando area. The other is Allagoptera Arenaria, which grows great in shade or sun and is also super hardy. That might be more difficult to find. One great opportunity for you is the CFPACS meeting at the St. John's Botanical Garden. It's probably a 20 minute drive for you and is on 12/7. I went to the last meeting at this garden, it's a great place to tour! Usually there's 20-40 different plants up for the auction, and around 5-10 PT members selling rare plants out of their personal nurseries. I'm not sure if I'm going to this one yet, but in the past I've bought Allagoptera Arenaria, Attalea Brejinhoensis, Beccariophoenix Fenestralis, Chamaedorea Seifrizii (a good option for you in shade), Chuniophoenix Hainanensis and Nana, a hybrid Livistona, Syagrus Schizophylla, Arenga Hookeriana (a super weird shade option), Rhapis Humilis, and Chamaedorea Radicalis. I'm sure people like @kinzyjr will be there.

@PA-TX2024I like this one!

Looks like pembana to me!

@Merlyn some good suggestions. C. Lutescens would be probably one of the most common . They are great palms and easy to care for . Harry ‘This one gets only a couple of hours of morning sun, the tallest stems (about 15’ tall) that are out of view are in sun . About 20 years from 3 gallon pot. It is still putting out pups.

My first was a T Fortunei hand-picked picked from a from long line up at the Houston Garden Center. Unfortunately, it couldn't recover last year from the excessive drought, arctic blast, and high spring rains we had. Was a great palm for several years. I have replaced it with one from the local Lowes. Keeping the receipt (Lowes is very good when it comes to returns) but it seems to be taking off. Fingers crossed for a normal winter. ~ S

Probably one of the most forgiving Chamaedorea is the Radicalis and the tree form gets tall without waiting a lifetime! Seeds are readily available , germinate easily , and subsequent growth comes quickly. You could also find plants from fellow collectors that are easily transplanted , I have them all over my yard. Harry

Here's mine grown from seed. Maybe it'll make its way into the garden in February...

Yeah it's fine. Older palms do this kind of thing - many species, including in the Phoenix and Washingtonia genus - eventually begin to produce roots all the way up the base of the trunk. A palm tree is the opposite of a regular tree (i.e. an oak or something) in that the living tissue are the innermost layers, while the dead tissue is the outermost layers. Eventually, if the root mass of the palm at the base continues to grow and expand, it cracks those dead, outer layers of "bark" that - being dead - have no capacity for further expansion. If anything, this may be considered a good sign that your palm continues to grow and further establish its root mass.

Here’s one in Gizella Kopsick in St. Pete.

Here here! Huge Chrysalidocarpus (Dypsis) lover here, who almost missed your thread (I’ll have to do better checking posts with more cryptic titles). Thanks for posting! I know I’m still learning stuff, and frankly a lot of us just love seeing each others’ collections (i.e. “palm porn”).

This is anecdotal, but there is a healthy Jubaea chilensis growing in Borrego Springs, California. You can look up the climate date, but it is similar to that of Northern Iraq, I assume!

Here is another of my early days of hunting palms. I took this photo behind Alligator Alley in Oklahoma City in 2010. They had a nice Trachycarpus surrounded by bamboo that had me pretty amazed. I didn't realize just how many Trachycapus killing winters the next 14 years would bring to Oklahoma, of course. I was just excited to see if I could grow something that cool.

I recall being introduced to the "climate zones" used in Sunset's - New Western Garden Book back in the early 80's. These seemed to be far more practical.

A wonderful colourful lady Johanna is that’s for sure. I used to a bit of deep sea fishing and there was a fish cleaning bench at the club you just never knew who you where standing next to talking away with them just a common interest be it gardening or fishing. Now when I speak to an elderly person I practically interview them about their life you learn some amazing things. Richard

Good morning all, just noticed this is flowering too, possibly Pembana not really certain, of the three originally thought to be Pembana I'm not sure any are.

Duly noted. This is flowering for the first time, i have another thats quite similar but is in more sun and consequently looks a little harder grown but flowering for the first time also. Im not certain of the species so any suggestions of identification are welcomed. Paul

More plantings of the group have been done recently. First Chrysalidocarpus baronii in the shade in the front. Im hoping the spot gets cool breezes in summer and shade much of the year to keep it cooler. Next is the teddy bear (Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos). This one i had trouble picking a spot i liked with the right amount of sun and ease of access for watering (another issue im having that will be rectified soon i hope). Third is Chrysalidocarpus basilongus, the wild card i'm not too sure on cold tolerance. Since it is smaller too it gets a spot closer to the house that i will see daily (while i watch for the bubblegum pink to appear again). Fourth is Chrysalidocarpus saintlucei, about ten feet away from the basilongus and a but higher for drainage. It was pushing itself out of the pot by the roots so now it can reach for the groundwater. Last is the Carpoxylon macrospermum in the same part of the brightly lit forest area. My hope is good light and some frost protection for them but i will cover them on cold nights anyway until i know how it works here. The one frost last year was not terrible and only really visible on the house and cars; plants had some but not a layer of it. All others have been fertilized and potted up as needed, way faster than i anticipated for some. The Arch. purpurea also has a tinge of color starting to show that is not visible in photos much yet. All around looking good, but palms planted in the ground all get shorter petioles and smaller leaves at least at first. Im hoping they grow out of it, but if not the Bentinkia will be moved back into a large pot unless the fall cool down changes things.

Hey, palm enthusiasts! I wanted to share some information about the tropical palms I’ve planted on my property here in Jacksonville, FL (Orange Park, to be exact). The heights of the palms are approximate, but here’s what I’ve planted: 12' Foxtail 12' Royal 5' Dual Adonidia 5' Triple Adonidia Two 4' Dwarf Malaysian coconuts 5' Queen 9' Queen They’ve all been in the ground for at least a few months—some for about six months. All the palms experienced great growth over the summer, although the foxtail’s growth was leaps ahead of the others. At peak summer, I swear the foxtail would open a new frond within a few weeks. Needless to say, they are thriving! Now, I’m sure some people are cringing at the fact that I have palms rated for Zone 10b–11 in a Zone 9b area, but I do have an explanation. First, I’d like to say I’m a huge fan of the tropical landscape. Even with a brick house, my wife and I decided to go full tropical when we bought the house this past April. Although we live in North Florida, Zone 9b, which is unfortunately more subtropical, I noticed something interesting. My father-in-law has a dual Adonidia in a pot by his pool. The pot sits on pavers beside the pool. This Adonidia has been there for over four years, never covered, and it survives the occasional freezing nights we experience. While it does defoliate, it always makes a comeback in the spring. Seeing this made me wonder why this tropical palm was surviving these freezing temperatures. Then it hit me: the pavers absorb heat during the day and release it at night when the sun is no longer out. The pavers are light-colored, which means, in theory, darker pavers or bricks should retain and release even more heat, right? This brings me to my wife, who decided she wanted a brick house in Orange Park, not far from the in-laws (about 5 miles or so). This worked out perfectly for my plan! One cool night, when it was in the mid-60s, I noticed a noticeable heat wave as I walked from my backyard toward the brick wall of the house. I realized this might be the same kind of heat radiating from the pavers at my in-laws’ place, which keeps their Adonidia alive. So, I started planting: first the foxtail, then the coconuts, followed by the royal. Before I knew it, my property was brimming with tropical palms and plants. I planted the more sensitive trees closer to the house so they could benefit from the brick’s radiated heat during cold nights. The queens, being a bit hardier, were planted further back near the fence, where there’s no radiating heat to assist them. Once I saw everything thriving, I decided to back my theory with data. I purchased weather sensors from Amazon and immediately noticed a few degrees of difference in temperature near the brick. Once the temps started to drop, I began monitoring the temperatures and started saving the data in a spreadsheet. Linked below. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OhEzHmzhZxIAaz99XZHH_zpdEXuwjV1CW5VJoppOxhc/edit?usp=sharing Sensor 1 was placed on the small Queen palm (as seen in the photos), located far from my house and within 10 feet of the fence. Sensor 2 was placed on the Royal palm (as seen in the photos), located about 6 feet from the house. Sensor 3 was placed on the Foxtail palm (as seen in the photos), also located about 6 feet from the house. Since placement, I have not moved the sensors. So far, you can see a trend: the brick does indeed keep the palms warmer! Awesome, so problem solved, right? Not exactly. This chart will continue to be updated, and as you can see, we are currently experiencing a significant cold snap. Just last night, the sensor on the small Queen palm recorded temperatures below freezing, while the Foxtail and Royal palm sensors recorded just a few degrees above freezing. This prompted me to wrap the coconuts since they are much smaller and further from the heat-radiating brick. I also plan to wrap the Foxtail and Royal palms if their sensor readings drop below freezing for more than an hour. I’m hopeful that the size of the Foxtail and Royal palms will help them withstand these cold nights. The Adonidia palms are on their own without frost cloth, as they are closest to the house, with the dual Adonidia actually being enclosed by bushes and the house itself. As we battle this cold snap, I just wanted to share the experiment I have going on here in North Florida. To my knowledge, I don’t know anyone who has successfully grown coconuts or Foxtails in this area. However, I’m hopeful I can change that! Attached, you will find fairly recent photos of the palms. As you can see, the coconuts are currently wrapped until nighttime temperatures rise above 40°F. The Foxtail and Royal palms both have Christmas lights on them—not for heating purposes but simply because it’s the holiday season, and my wife asked me to put them up. I plan to keep updating the spreadsheet over the next few months and share updates on the forum regarding any defoliation or damage. So far, none of the trees have shown any noticeable burns or damage. P.S. I’m by no means an expert. I’m really new to palms in general and have only scratched the surface of knowledge about these trees. If you have any advice, insights, or questions, please feel free to comment. Thanks!

I actually just wear medieval chain mail while I trim.

Tougher than a nail being driven in with a hammer that’s for sure. Underrated in my area there more of a frost tolerant choice than a beauty thing as an ornamental. There’s always something in the plant kingdom that will sting or scratch or better yet poison oneself. Plants have a way of letting you know when enough is enough and the don’t muck with me theory. Sooner or later they eventually get you in some form or another. Richard

@flplantguy that looks like a good setup to me! I don't know much about building greenhouses, but I had one of those mini standup plastic thingies when I first started growing palms. It was remarkably hot in the winter just sitting on my back porch. The downside is that it didn't hold heat very well at night, only a couple of degrees warmer than the porch. With a space heater in there it should help a lot, as long as you don't have big gaps between the sheets.

Some beautiful examples of lighting here to be sure. We recently had our Hardscape redone in the backyard and lighting was part of that. I would call it a medium high-grade of lights, not like resort quality or anything but better than the big box store stuff. The picture actually appears to be brighter than reality, but it’s beautiful effect.

@flplantguy you GO! You’re starting to make me appear just this side of sane by comparison! Nice work!

@Dwarf Fan the one thing I would warn you about the cannas is they are highly susceptible to Canna Leaf Roller. I planted a bunch after moving here as they help to fill in a new garden while the backbone develops, All of mine had really bad Canna Leaf Roller and treatment only helped so much. i had never experienced this but I guess its common in the south. At this point I'm tempted to throw mine out as they look like garbage for most of the year. It doesn't seem to affect bananas though, which is good.

I did a post a few weeks back about zone pushing drymophloeus subdistichus. With about 43 out of 50 odd seedlings surviving the winter. I pretty well much I had the variety dead and composted that was until I found a few survivors in a tray with some medinilla cuttings I did. I will see how these ones go next winter if they survive we have a couple of zone push winners so all was not lost a few surviving ones with a couple of medinilla cuttings taking root, a bit of a gardening bonus plants along with a few palm seedlings.

I have met some wonderful folks by talking to them about their garden. My wife and I were walking around our neighborhood and met a couple who had a village of miniature gnomes around the trunk of a tree . We ended up chatting for about 1/2 an hour about my Mum and the wee people of Northern Ireland and the strong belief of the Celtic people. We gardeners are very passionate about our “family” of plants and , like our homes , enjoy art to enhance the space. Harry

Well Richard, ask and you shall receive. These have growing for a few years, actually faster than I expected. First off is J. altifrons #1. Both are planted fairly close to one another. The ole shovel for scale. Tim

USDA zones are a crude tool. San Francisco is 10a, the same as many places in Florida. Once, I was asked why I don't grow coconuts!

Ambositrae with might well be an inflorescence about two leaves away, just showing itself on the right hand side.

Quite an incredible example of perseverance over the years!

Yes I'm thinking a type of Onilahensis perhaps. This is my Madagascariensis on the right In these photos, it had a much smaller secondary trunk but it was growing under the eaves so had to be removed. Carpoxylon on the left with Onilahensis in front and centre. Leptocheilos to the far right and behind.

Front palm may have at least some C madagascariensis genes in it based on the crownshaft colour and emerging spear colour. Are the fronds plumose/arranged on multiple planes? The one in the back I can’t tell for sure but looks to be plumose which would rule out the true C ambositrae. Possibly C plumosus which did get confused for C ambositrae when it first entered Aus.

If you got em post em trust me. Nice palm by the way. Post as many stories as you like freedom of speech I do believe. Just be yourself and post away I do 🤣

I had an orchid list like that before and will here again. I love lists lol

Of course you can use a 600 watt broad spectrum white bulb but ~ 400 watts equivalent in blue and red light is wasted when reflected on leaves. 5000 Kelvin in the figure below will get you the brightest image based on its green/yellow wavelength centroid. None of these lights actually looks natural to me, kind of hard to do that with unnatural light to start with. But better reflectance with less power makes for much less eyestrain and yet good illumination. Trunks, especially white trunks, I do not want to illuminate with my spots since they would wash out the illumination in the leaves. SO I just illuminate the crowns and my yard looks like a bunch of huge crowns suspended there.

That's it, I'm moving to Hawaii!!