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I had 8 very large brahea moorei, about 20 years old, I only have this one left, about 10 years old

A nice batch of rps seeds if I do say so myself. Bottom heating 30 degrees Celsius coco coir perlite mix and about 3 months time is all it took for this little science project to be a success. There is a debate thats always going on about imported seeds and everyone has his or her own opinion about what germinates and what doesn’t. Let’s just say if I harvest seeds from my garden knowing that they are fresh and export them to some far off destination halfway around the globe. And the grower germinating them gets nothing to germinate. It’s not the person who posted the seeds fault to there best of knowledge they where viable when harvested. The person sending them did the best they could to provide rare palm seeds with the thought of providing the best seeds they could. I have had batches of seeds that never germinated from imported seeds that’s growing for you. It’s no different than buying a stack of rare palms and having them die in your greenhouse or garden after you got them it’s not the seller’s fault. Like they say no one is twisting your arm to buy them!

I took this pictures in Taormina. Some looks better than others as everywhere despite the location but in general they do grow in open non protected spaces

A quick update. Man, a couple of the stems are starting to get kinda tall with no increase in girth. Still nifty little palms though. Tim

Bill, i have posted the below palm on FB before. I just took a pic tonight after i removed a leaf base. Is this the same palm as yours? I'm still confused as to if it's true C. nauseosus. Or C. Highland Redneck. It is about 12-13ft tall now. It was collected in habitat in 2007. Sold to me as Dypsis lastelliana.

I had a few spare adscendens in the greenhouse and a nice little spot in the garden for a group planting. There was already three mature ones in the spot so why not a group planting to accompany them. I think they look rather cute like little turtles running around the garden. Now all I have to do is plant the other three hundred I have around the garden!

I had made about ten of them, I only have 3 left, one is much bigger than this one

I'm following up on the Aloidendron "Hercules" hybrid and blooming. I took photos of blooms today, and as you can see they aren't as large and showy as some Aloes. Mine is now about 14 1/2 years in the ground, so it first bloomed about 4-6 years ago. You probably will see more heads and a larger trunk before you can expect to see your first blooms. They do get immense as you can see. I water the adjacent plants via drip, but stopped watering this several years ago to try to get it to slow down. I do worry a bit about its proximity to my front wall. Size Large (US size 10)Men's sandal for perspective on the trunk girth.

You really should come visit someday - You would be surprised at how many palm trees there actually are here! But seriously, big palm trees are not yet common in the City , mostly because people here don't think that they can even grow them anywhere in the five boroughs . But I do remember when I was a kid, there was once a huge needle palm bush and good sized Trachycarpus fortunei planted for a while in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. That Trachycarpus even had a really nice temporary frost protection greenhouse with heating during wintertime ( I may be dating myself, but back then New York City was still a Zone 6B ). When out-of-town people think of New York City, they always envision Manhattan , but it is just one of five boroughs that make up the Big Apple, each with it's own unique environments. Needle palms, and Sabal Minors are definitely now foolproof in in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, The Bronx's and Manhattan. And once local gardeners and landscapers realize that they could also grow Trachycarpus , Butia, and possibly even Chamaerops humilis and Sabal Palmettos here in our current Cfa humid subtropical Zone 7B , you will definitely see them more and more in New York City in the future. But I suspect that only once we hit Zone 8B in a decade or two, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation will feel comfortable in planting full size palm specimens in public spaces. But for now, any palms currently being grown in the city are now in private yards and gardens by zone pushing pioneers like me.

From my December 21, 2024 visit I finally visit this pair of Washingtonia x filibusta hybrids in Seven Bar Ranch, that it seems all of you talk about. Looking good! . I assume this is a Washingtonia filifera, which I remember seeing as a small 2 ft plant, when I still lived in ABQ but traveled to the west side a few times. It looks like there are at least three 'Stokes' Dwarf Yaupon Holly shrubs in front, sheared tightly. Driving around that part of town, between Ladera to Taylor Ranch, there was a surprising amount of escarpment live oaks, Italian stone pine, and other interesting plants compared to what I remember. Most were probably there when I lived in ABQ into 2013, but have simply grown in size over the decade. SOme were Texas and western honey mesquites that were in a 1990's design I specified for a park design, still growing nicely at an overlook of the city and Rio Grande. I may post on some of those in that subtropical but hardy plants area here.

Few more volunteers from today's bike ride.

Brush/knock it off. Your palm leaves will stay colder, longer with the snow on them. It takes 144 Btu's (heat) to change 1 pound of 32f snow into 1 pound of 32f water. That is the same energy needed to warm 1 pound of water from 32f to 176f. I would rather that energy(sun/air)going to the palm leaf, not melting the snow. That snow as it is in a "solid" state, can get super cold on a radiatonal night. That leaf will not warm above 32f until that snow changes state into a liquid. If you are dealing with a ground level palm buried in snow on a zero night, yes the snow will probably "insulate" from the colder air due to the warmer ground. Short story, a palm leaf will warm faster without snow as opposed to with snow. I knocked the snow off shortly after the morning picture. 11/7/24 11/16/24

cycas circinalis

I went for a visit to the Coffs Harbour botanical gardens and they have a few plants for sale at the gift shop, I couldn’t help myself when there was a tray of echinacea plants there for sale 11 all up. Well what do you do when you have a garden the size of my garden you gotta buy the whole tray ones not going to do much of an impact statement. So I splashed out and got the lot Iam sure the garden will look better for the purchase. Iam sure the wife will be happy with the flowers I know iam.

RIP to the mule palm after 8 years. After much agony I decided to cut the mule palm. It is already done. While I was able to protect the spear and mid fronds a few feet up it had grown too tall to be safe to reach on a ladder and I felt unsafe the last time I tried to wrap it. Also the palm is soo tall that the fronds are above the first floor and we can't see them out our windows. it is going to be replaced in spring with our large potted waggy. Thanks to everyone for following along. Since we first planted it I told everyone this would be the eventual result. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFKT2zlcMbU&lc=UgzhStMwFhGE08fGJrB4AaABAg

Don’t jinx us Marcus.

the stations here directly at or near the harbor all had low temperatures this morning between -2.7 °C at the harbor directly to -3.3 °C and we -5.2 °C, extreme differences for the fact that it is only a 15-20 minute walk.

Just love this thing, keeps getting better and better. Tim

I think you are correct on the 1990 map using a different number of years: The Arnold Arboretum map remained the standard over the 1960 USDA map until 1990, when the US Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the U.S. National Arboretum, updated the USDA hardiness map, using data from between 4,800 to 14,500 weather stations. Various publications by Dr. Marc Cathey, who oversaw the map project, have given a wide variety of radically varying weather station numbers. I expect the low end would be more accurate. Although Cathey also claims to have used a 15-year dataset, the 1990 map actually used a 13-year dataset from 1974-1986 (US) and 1971-1984 (Mexico). This revision shifted most areas into zones that were one half to one zone cooler than the previous Arnold Arboretum map. https://www.plantdelights.com/blogs/articles/plant-hardiness-zone-maps Additional Links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardiness_zone https://tpacker25.medium.com/an-illustrated-history-of-americas-plant-hardiness-zones-with-a-closing-look-at-one-north-carolina-county-694dd2185803 https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/planting-zones/shifting-hardiness-zones.htm https://farmflavor.com/lifestyle/garden/guide-to-the-new-usda-plant-hardiness-zone-map/ https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/pages/map-creation If anyone is interested in reading it, there was a short article in the December 2023 issue of The Palmateer discussing the history of zone maps: https://cfpacs.com/org/wp-content/uploads/publications/2023/palmateer_2023_04_84.pdf

Euro completely botched FL last week and now wants 3F in Dallas same as 3F in Minnesota 🤣 GFS has temps almost 30 degrees warmer (I like this one)

This is my baby Beccariophoenix Alfredii. I just received it right before winter and put it in my heated greenhouse. (Zone 8a) I didn’t repot because it had a long journey to get to me. It arrived in great condition. It took it about 2 months before resuming growth in my greenhouse, but now it is taking off. Has already put out full spear with the new one coming in nice behind it. The temperature in my greenhouse never falls below 65 degrees Fahrenheit at night and peaks at about 85-90 during the winter months.

of Chamaedorea stolonifera, I had 6, but I have this one left, and it's also the least beautiful

1 photo female specimen 2 photos small seeds (sterile) 3 photos male specimen 4 photos a small high rupicola

Equatorial rainforest trees, coconut palms & more. My island also had its own coconut forest 🌴. Lots of beach erosion endangering the costal coconuts of the island. Also was amazed to spot a date palm growing in equatorial climate. Amazing tropical holiday in the Maldives ( Ari Atoll )

Thought I’d offer up a few from “the hood”. My neighbor’s alfredii is just massive. It could be just the climate that we’re growing them in, but their proportions seem just enormous compared to madagascariensis and fenestralis.

Yes it a saintlucei a lovely palm to grow. It grows so easy in my climate.

Montage 5 years in ground and 3 in pots! Protected in zone 7

some of my rhapis excelsa

I am inclined to add, that whatever damage is manifested in April and towards summer is not a winter foliage damage but it is what it is, namely root damage because of the coldest soil temps. Another argument for sandier soil, which warms up faster!

Thanks for those links, I'll dig in to them. Something I notice is how many people assume the USDA cold hardiness zones use only weather station data. It also uses PRISM (Oregon State Univ.) climate / terrain modeling, which is good, but it is in no way without some issues. It makes some questionable inferences and assumptions about thermal belts (warm slopes) here in the west that do not line up with reality, let alone extreme cold events where thermal belts and microclimates can really break down - wind advection. I also don't know if PRISM verifies their initial mapping of zones with various state or local meteorology and horticultural people, but even that can be good and bad - bad when there's a local bias or agenda that some places have. Here's a great climate zone mapping system for Florida, layering USDA cold hardiness zones over Florida native plant communities: https://www.fann.org/plant-communities/

Another top little dypsis the poiveana. Cool tolerant taking temperatures as low as 2 degrees Celsius in my climate and taking the heat up to 40 degrees Celsius so a real winner for a little palm with such beauty and tropical appearance. Iam putting a bit more effort and space into the new gardens I have been creating looking ahead 20 years or more for growth and spacing. But still jamming them in the garden. This one is in flower so hopefully a few seeds will set. Iam sure a few collectors out there would like a couple or more for the collection. n

@Palmfarmer that is a nice Howea you got there! On the one hand, Howea forsteriana are a lot tougher than many people think. Just growing in your house makes them tough; peoples’ houses aren’t great plant homes. On the other hand Durango City is about 6,500 feet above sea level, and a desert climate, though I suspect not like Phoenix. Also, @Josue Diaz’s comment gives me pause, particularly since his situation for his plant is a lot like yours, though yours might be more sheltered. And, when I had that death ray heat wave in July 2018, the entire crown of my mature Howeas both burnt, though they later recovered. On another hand, looks like your palm is getting big in your living space. (Hell, I’d take it if was close enough!) If you really want to try it in the spot you suggested, maybe give it a pot a couple sizes larger, and put it there and keep an eye on it. That way, if it does get burnt, it’ll be easy to park back inside in safety. I really think if you want to keep it in Durango, maybe sell or give it to someone with high ceilings, like 20 feet. Whatever you end up doing, please share your continuing journey!

Sadly, I've never seen any Sabal mexicana sold in Las Cruces or El Paso. Are there any growers of it in South Texas and the lower valley there, I wonder? It's tempting to talk with the Deming hotel's manager, to try to collect all the seed there, assuming it's viable. After the Feb 2011 freeze, which seemed to graze central Texas more than how it hammered much of NM, in Fredericksburg the few Sabal mexicana were slightly damaged or browned and beginning to regrow when I passed through nearing April, while all the Washingtonia robusta looked dead.

The royals are a long shot, but the Veitchia are outright delusional. I’m guessing the whole yard dies after next week’s cold front. For the record, this is located at: 2140 Hagerson Rd Sugar Land, TX 77479

Interesting choice for someone to plant Royals in this part of Texas.

Well the indicator Ficus umbellata did not melt neither did the Monstera and other aroids. So at this point I'm not worried about any kind of damage. Just gotta get through the next 40 days 😆. I really really want to see the next Cyphophoenix leaf open Hit 31F last night after two consecutive nights of 30F earlier in the week

Well that one wasn't that bad. Hopefully this is all, but I hear of another (potentially) rough cold spell around January 21st or so.

Thank you! Do you maybe have pictures of them? we have a sylvestris and a canarensis

One of the best looking Trachycarpus fortunei on the Bogue Banks (Emerald Isle, N.C.) Link to Google Street View: https://maps.app.goo.gl/aZ3ASVgpWsbdUrxTA

Thanks! It may not have been had I not have knocked the snow off. In the back/right of the picture is a forty foot(ash) tree that lost some limbs from the snow. Looks twenty foot high with the snow weighing it down.

Multiple Mule palms in New Bern, N.C. Link to Google Street View: https://maps.app.goo.gl/5r2WVbvyqVawoidZ8

Fort bend county yesterday warmish 9A

Here are a few photos from last night at the Botanical Gardens. I've never seen bananas fruit here.

@MarcusH I’d toss Any and all sabals to the trash if we could grow Jubaea “More easily “ and if they didn’t take 1000000 years to grow lol 😍😍😍

When you see this it’s time to go to the beach you cannot stop it your life becomes the only thing you think of everything else stops and you think should I stay or should I go I know what Iam going to do palms or no palms.

Hi everyone. My first post. I often travel along the east coast from Virginia down to the Keys and am also fascinated by the change in hardiness zones and vegetation. Here is a photo of some palm trees on the western shore of Holden Beach, NC. I thought they were very tall for an 8b, relatively northern location. They are by far the tallest I have ever encountered on the island. I thought only palmettos grew in NC but maybe I'm wrong?? Hope you enjoy viewing the photo.

@JRVL here is a Sylvester in AZ that I've had in the ground for almost 3 years. It is planted in Clay and watered once a week during the summer. Planted in full AZ sun and loves it.

That depends on several factors. In small/young specimens I avoid removing still green leaves, while in larger, mature specimens I often follow this practice, in order to create more free space, because older leaves spread horizontally.