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I usually walk the entire garden in the morning and the evening with the dogs and wanted to share some photos First stop was to check out this massive flowering Chrysalidocarpus. Barely trunking but flowering like crazy and a very large palm already. Check out the size 10 shoe for scale on the second photo. around the corner and lining the fence is a row of Chrysalidocarpus Sp Mayotte and here’s one of them. Most likely a hybrid as I have 2 very different looking palms as Mayotte grown from the same seed batch. This looks like a “white triangle” type hybrid: Chrysalidocarpus Robustus getting to the size that it will really get going now:

And now back to the house, looking over some of the garden from the side lanai. This is where the orchard meets the ornamental: and looking west as the sun sets: Thanks for looking!

Off to the side is this planter with Ptychococus reaching for the sky. Very fast growing palms here. Turning off the driveway to head back into the garden where I did my first rock work to divide what was a hillside into terraces: New Caledonia planter with a couple of Chambeyronia (Kentiopsis) pyriformis on each side or a narrow path through the planter: the Madagascar planter is next to the New Cal planter and a favorite there is this Chrysalidocarpus Robustus Hybrid. Orania Trispatha is on the left of it:

Into the “jungle planter” which is the first area planted about 3.5 years ago. This was all just bare grass hillside originally. Filling in nicely and creating pathways through it all now for the dogs and myself: Rocky 2.0 stopped to check out this crazy mutant Chrysalidocarpus Malcomberi Hybrid that has decided to split like crazy: Coming out of the jungle path you see Metroxylon Amicarum: looking down the driveway. Chrysalidocarpus Prestonianus hybrids on each side: further down the driveway are Chrysalidocarpus Hovomantsina on each side:

I have a few pictures of that palm at different stages , some of them courtesy of Oscar Contreras. January 2016May 2020Septmber 2022September 2024

It's really unfortunate that Texas is so prone to these cold snaps only a handful of times a year. Otherwise coconut palms could probably grow here. At least there's a lot of heat, so the cold hardy palms that can make it seem to grow pretty quickly. Here are a few before and afters of how quickly Sabals grow here. The first is 2011 vs last week. The second is a Sabal uresana in 2016 vs earlier this summer.

That’s what the label said, but I think it might be a plain old Archontophoenix. Whaddya think?

I paid an extravagant sum of money for a small start of this plant in 2021, but now I am gratified that I did purchase it. Here is the first flowering. It took a long time to really get established with active growth. It grows over a huge Platycerium bifurcatum in the crotch of a Metrosideros excelsa. My only complaint is that it wants to just sprawl outwards, and less to grow vertically up the tree branch structure.

A very intriguing and intresting palm the socratea. From South America making for a palm that suits my climate only on the cooler side and not as tropical but there are a lot of palms from high altitude that do well in the subtropics. I have had it survive a winter in the greenhouse so there is some hope and the only way to find out is plant on3 in the ground in a sun trap position with large rocks forming part of the embankment that I have landscape. Hopefully a bit of thermal mass and the warm sun trap position might be a helping hand in it growing, its a very protected spot giving it the best chance I can and being near the house water water and more water in the dry times shall be near by easily. One can only try!

Back in September when I made this seed available here, I threw a handful in some small community pots and just saw today that many are sprouting. I’ve heard from a couple of you that bought these from me that you are getting excellent germination. Thanks for the feedback! Very excited to see what these grow into, hopefully they look like the parent plant.

Royal palm, Chilean wine palm, and a healthy foxtail in all its vigor here in Far North Queensland (my yard this morning)

Can't say for sure -- which Clinistigma is it supposed to be? if I could see the entire crown, maybe that would help. And of course an inflorescence. I have learned that a species grown in California doesn't necessarily hold the same characteristics as the same species grown in Hawaii, so...? In my attached photo are 2 C. samoense (warburghii). Note the color and shape of the trunk, the wavy leaf scars, the lax leaflets, long tall crownshaft, number of leaves held in the crown. To my eye, they differ from your photos. But maybe the one you are showing is C. savoryanum? I'm not so familiar with that one.

Appears to be A alexandrae.

One of the prettiest Chrysalidocarpus in my garden is this C. arenarum that i got from Jeff Searle years ago. Thought i would add it to this older post. Trunks are black-green and half the width of a C. lutescens. Leaflets are silvery and very widely spaced apart which is indicative of the true C. arenarum i believe. Only pushes 2-3 leaves a year.

A nice little tube stock seedling goes into a space in the garden near the house where it can get some attention it will need and be in a good viewing position near the house in a nice protected spot.

One that could fit in a greenhouse is Chamaedorea pochutlensis, fronds are cultivated in Mexico and sent to the United States to make the color/ink of the US dollar bills since like 40 years ago. The fronds are very valuable, they can cost $10 pesos each (Half a dollar).

I saw that uresana last month it’s impressive how fast the growth rate is !

With the weather being a perfect for spring this season with some wonderful rain and electrical storms what a better way to end spring with some great soaking rainfall I love it. I had to go out and take a few pictures it’s a perfect time to be in the garden. So enjoy a trip around the garden in the rain I know I do ☔️

I can see why you paid good dollars for it, a real show of a flower. I don’t hesitate in paying what the grower wants as a grower myself, I understand what’s involved in exotic rare plants. There is a saying if you see a plant you have always wanted or just want it and don’t buy it you may never see that plant again for sale. And a few coins should never stand in the way of obtaining that plant!

Would love to see so many more Sabal Mexicana and Palmettos planted all over the place, mixed with Filiferas here in San Antonio. We're on the right track as I can see.

That did the trick. Plus my recently delivered 'Long Prong' from the outback to pry out the chunks. Thank you gents!

@fr8train @MarcusH How cold did it actually get there last winter in San Antonio to defoliate them like that? I didn't think you guys had to deal with anything major last winter, unlike in the 20/21 winter and the 22/23 winter. My small CIDP didn't defoliate last winter and that is with no protection out in the rural countryside with zero UHI. I probably saw 19-20F on two separate nights, when central London went down to about 26F, in what was otherwise a pretty mild winter generally speaking. So you guys must have had colder than 18-19F to defoliate those things!

It's because they've completely fried in the cold every winter since 2021. They all defoliated last winter too, so all of those leaves are just from this year. If you look around on street view you'll see they look normal and full like everywhere else, unfortunately there hasn't been a winter without a bad freeze since 2021.

My Wash.Robusta is the first palm I planted in March 2022. It went through some cold winters with regular defoliation. The palm grows extremely fast compared to my others palms I have.

Bactris militaris is looking good

My hybrid has fruited! now what? pick them? Dry them? Trade them? Let them fall and germinate? Are they viable?

Palm Island Nursery Channel on YouTube. Episode 1 Palms. Includes discussions of wild collections, germination, hardiness and growth rates. - Brahea, Livistona, Caryota, Syagrus, Jubaea, Parajubaea, Phoenix and more.

Some palms come up with a reddish-tinged cotyledonary sheath and ligule. So if it's kind of brownish-reddish and firm it's normal. If i's brown and mushy then it's rotting. Can't tell from the images they're not taken close enough to understand detail. The leaves have to come out green, but those first reddish/brown nubs are not leaves, so that coloration can be perfectly normal. It depends on species and light conditions.

Great place and very well taken care of, should’ve came more often. Lots of rare plants and palms such as the Lodoicea maldivica, which I forgot to take a picture of. The butterfly garden was beautiful as well. My only mistake was not taking enough pictures.

A bit of Sunday funpotting up a few palms. With the weather warming up now’s the time to do a bit of potting up of the seedlings. A few chamaedorea adscedans from my own seed this time I choose the seeds from the biggest most healthy seeds this year picking some solid genes in these seeds. And a a nice batch of rps dypsis brevicaulis seedlings. A nice healthy haul of some good rare palms destined for the garden. It will be interesting growing the brevicaulis in the garden a great small dypsis understory palm.

For a pinnate palm they recover very fast. We need a stretch of 9a winters to heal all the wounds that these few past winters caused .

Marcus, those Sylvesters lost everything but the inner spear last January. They looked terrible. They don’t yet have as big or as nice a crown as they did 2 years ago but hopefully this year they, along with all the canariensis and dactyliferas, can maintain and hit the ground running next spring!

As @fr8train already mentioned it's because they keep defoliating since the last almost 4 years . Nothing we can do about the recent freezes it is what it is. We can only hope for milder winters so they can fully recover 🙏.

Time for an update! The 23/24 winter was another terrible one. My yard saw a low of 12F with some pretty heavy rains and humidity afterwards. I did protect the palm with a frost cloth and hay. Theo defoliated but I can't recall whether there was a spear pull. Luckily, temperatures did not go below freezing much that winter and spring came early. The summer also wasn't too bad as we had some good rains in the heat of July. Unfortunately, it was exceptionally dry in August Sept and October (no rain, but I much prefer that to a 3 month dry stretch starting in June like the last two years). Theo did not receive any supplemental water. November has been good for palms with relatively warm temperatures continuing and good rain. The weather forecast for December seems similar thus far... The palm seems alive and well though it does not appear to have grown much due to extreme weather conditions. I'll provide some growth charts in January. I've attached a picture! As for 'companion plants', the heartleaf rosemallow continues to impress. Although the tough earth-kind climbing rose hasn't started climbing, it does seem like the deer are leaving it alone. I also planted a Barkleyanthus salicifolius behind the palm (willow ragwort, TX native from the SW arid uplands). The latter is not a great backdrop while the palm is small but I am hoping for a mild winter and for fronds to remain on the palm (dangit, we're supposed to be 9a! 😛).

This is a common thing in Texas and I always think it has something to do with heavy clay soil. Could be wrong, though.

I notice all the CIDP's you post around SA have tiny stunted crowns, and as a result, the trunks look huge and fat because the crowns are so much smaller than they should be. At first I was wondering why the trunks were all so fat on the CIDP's you posted, but it is actually only in relation to the dwarfed crowns/foliage. Is that from the 2021 freeze damage still? Or are they struggling for other reasons? I am well aware that CIDP are tough as nails and won't really die where you are (providing lethal bronzing doesn't get them) but at the same time they clearly don't look right. I have honestly never seen such small fronds growing out of such fat CIDP trunks. It's kind of bizarre looking. The trunks are no doubt normal size, but it gives off a different perception due to those tiny, sickly crowns. 🤔

Linospadix monostachya with its sweet rose petal flavours. Even better tasting in habitat.

I will go with Dave's advice and try a few of each. Chances are not all will survive, but I won't know until I try.

November 2024… I pulled up all the multiplied bromeliads and remulched the bed. Once again, a million fireballs got swamped with weeds and greened out. These guys are too small to battle the weeds. Fertilized and put everything back. The Teddies dropped a bunch of leaves quickly over a few weeks, revealing hidden rings underneath. Pembana has caught up, doing fine. I just ignore this one and it stays happy. No extra fertilizer or water. Overall fairly quick bunch with a lot of fertilizer and water and sun.

My favorite edible palmate palms is Buriti (Mauritia flexuosa). Its fruit is edible, has a high vitamin C content, and used to make juice, jam, ice cream, and a fermented "wine". An oil high in vitamin A is extracted from the pulp and is frequently used to treat burns because of its soothing qualities. The inflorescence buds are eaten as a vegetable, and the sap can be drunk fresh or fermented (palm wine). My favorite edible pinnate palms are the Peach Palm (Bactris gasipaes) and Pindo Palm (Butia odorata).

Today it’s a Metroxylon, L grandis 2x, and L glabra var glabra

Love me a nice thick sabal palmetto or phoenix canariensis. Jubaea chilensis is legendary and though I’ve never seen one in person, I’d imagine I’d love them. Adonidia Merrillii are stunningly beautiful and compact which I love about them. If I lived somewhere I could grow them though, the number one is definitely the quintessential palm tree - the coconut palm

It’s not easy to pick favorites but I have to say my current #1 is Phoenix Dactylifera, they’re what got me into palms and they’re just so stately and regal. Close 2nd is the classic coconut. Grew up around these and they’re just the essence of tropics imo. And third is a tough choice too, i’ll give it the bismarck. I would say medemia or borassus but i haven’t seen those in person yet. Just can’t beat the blue on a healthy bizzy.

A shadow of Kerriodoxa leaf on leaf picture anyone.

Holy...! Thank you very much sharing! All the best from Okinawa - Lars

Sorry, forgot!😳 Here is one of the Caryota Mitis that I have. Pretty old , I just cut 3 dead trunks out of the clump. The palm that just keeps getting thicker. Harry

Hedyscepe

Well I just got the email a couple of days ago. Close to $3,000 will be deducted from the $9,000 plus original cost for two. Two things....this will most likely be Andrea and myself last biennial we attend and then the board at the audacity to offer " all the attendees " a chance to submit our refunds back to the IPS. AND I DID....I sent them nothing.