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In January 2020 I received my Mule Palm from MPOM. Over the last 5 years its grown substantially and now I am faced with a decision to up-pot yet again, sale it, or plant it. Of course I chose to plant it. A new pot the next size up would be about $300, and then what? In 2 years I'll be faced with the same predicament. This mule has endured the last 3 seasons outside since it's been too large to come in the house since 2022. The lowest we've been since then is 10F and its suffered minimal to no damage (granted - I laid it on the ground and threw a bed sheet over it when it got that cold). Otherwise it's stayed outside year-round. Now, before anyone comes for me about planting it (Yes, I'm in zone 8) my logic is that considering its survival and knowing its marginal palm here - I am willing to see what happens. Who knows, maybe we won't have anymore century level events for the next 100 years. *fingers crossed* Anyway, the predicament has been WHERE to plant it; the backyard is quite full these days. So, the decision to remove my Namwah banana mat was made yesterday, and plant the mule in its place. While I love my bananas, and they do extremely well here - the Namwah was the right plant in the WRONG place and was a constant pain to keep off of the fence, and off of the patio. Not to mention I have plenty of other varieties of bananas. I made the right move. After 9 hours with only a quick dinner break today I managed to somehow remove the established mat of namwahs, and excavate a planting hole for the mule. (word to the wise - do not plant bananas without intent. Be sure that's where you want them for all eternity and have ample room around them. Oh, and use heavy lifting equipment if you need to move them.... ugh😫) Post trunk chop from winter and now the heavy lifting begins... About 2.5hours into it and I'm questioning my life choices ..... QUEUE 200 LB POTATO..... After about 6 hours I finally managed to get the giant potato from hell out of the ground and dig out a 2 foot deep 2 foot wide meteor impact crater .... *notice the red clay - if you know you know* Once removed from its prison... er, I mean pot.... I had to do some root pruning/releasing. It was extremely root bound and swirling. Once the mess of roots had been freed from themselves - the rest is the easy part. To settle in I made sure to add plenty of plant tone and water in incrementally as I back filled the hole using a mix of seaweed extract, superthrive, and root stimulator water. Hopefully that will minimize transplant shock. Fingers crossed. I do expect to lose some of the lower fronds just from how aggressive I had to be with the root mass. Finally after about 9 grueling hours, sunburnt and bleeding .... Hopefully the Mule likes this spot as much as the bananas did, and I get to see some explosive growth. As per usual it will receive nothing but regular waterings with seaweed and unsulfured molasses water to establish the root/soil microbiome this season with no fertilizers for the next 90 days. IMG_0208.HEIC

There was quite a display of some lovely collectors palms on display, along with a vast amount of palms and cycads for sale. There was something there for pretty well anyone who was interested in starting a collection that’s for sure.

Added a few more plantings - papaya, hibiscus, Chrysalidocarpus pembana and Phoenix paludosa hybrid. Unfortunately I had to move my Sabal uresana. It was sitting in standing water and slowly dying. Hopefully it'll survive the move - I did my best to avoid damage to the growth point and roots.

A baby Ravenea glauca went into the ground today.. Hopefully it likes the location.

I bit the bullet and planted a California Fan Palm (or what I believe to be a very pure Washingtonia Filifera) at the advice of the Plant World staff in Albuquerque. I planted it in a protected spot near the house by the fence. Got a really good deal, massive 15 gallon for $200. Asking for care advice, and also if these need protection. The California Fan Palms outside of Bahama Bucks seem to be thriving, but they are protected. There are also many unprotected palms in Roswell. We had an exceptionally cold winter and all the established palms seem to be fine. Pic attached.

The annual pacsoa show is on this weekend and the buy of the week is this Itaya amicorum. What a gorgeous looking palm never heard of it but I have now. Hopefully it will take the cold you just never know until you try.

Talk about a kid in a candy store omg. What fun it is to have so many new palms to choose from and some absolute bargains. As a palm grower myself I could not resist a kerriodoxa even though I have 700 of them in my greenhouse I just had to buy it. Even a nice Cham genoformis, dypsis poiveana I already have quite a few in containers and in the ground but I still had to buy them I just can’t help myself. So the list of palms I purchased are as follows. cham genoformis, pritchardia martii, licuala pelata sumowongii, synecanthus warscewizianus, hydriastele pinangoides, dypsis managenerensis, dypsis rosea, Cham elatior, ptychosperma cuneatum, rhopalastylis sapida, dypsis poiveana, dypsis pinnatafrons, Cham nubiums Pinanga insignis dypsis arenarium blue form, dypsis robusta, Chuniophoenix humilis, Calum’s muelleri and an Arenga caudata. An absolute feeding frenzy of palm buying and the best part was a total blast of fun doing so. Just a couple more for the collection.

Good luck with it! I hope you get many good years out of it. That looks like a really tiring day...and exactly how every weekend should be. Thank goodness spring is here.

Chambeyronia Macrocarpa just got the ring

So I'm just wondering about other people's experiences when buying from this company? Specifically any reviews of their Butyagrus seeds that they have been selling in recent years...? Someone in the UK brought a batch about 2 years ago and I was able to source some of them from him via Ebay about 20 months ago now. I paid £36 / £48 for 8 of those seeds from him plus UK postage. I think he had ordered 100 seeds for about $250 and had to pay about $40 postage to get them to the UK. Some of those he was able to sell on to other collectors like myself. Well fast-forward almost 2 years now and I haven't had any of my 8 seeds germinate and I haven't heard about any germinating from the other guy's seed batch. I also know there is a member in Spain @Peachs who has purchased 50 seeds from them for 192 Euros / $205 around the same time and he has not had a single one germinate either in 2 years now. So there is a definite red flag there and a common theme of European buyers being sent 'dud' seeds at least. Whether or not others in the States have also had this issue...? Has anyone else got any experience with dealing with this company and specifically purchases of their seeds, as it does seem we may have been sold 'dud' seeds that were not viable. If they were cheap, then like 'whatever'. But the two other buyers who I mentioned have clearly paid enormous prices to ship dud seeds across the Atlantic. It's not really good enough, is it!? 🤬

A visit to Brisbane botanical gardens. Quite an impressive garden with a lot of age with the plants on display throughout the garden. They certainly have there work cut out for them with this garden. It’s absolutely gorgeous. With some very large mature palms.

That seems about right unless , of course , there is a rain event that waters the palm for you. Be sure to do the finger in the soil check to make sure it is not drying out or getting too much water. Weather can affect the requirements. Harry

1)High drainage check, 2) green sand worked to help the appearance, check. Its a potassium deficiency but there could be other problems as well. When we talk of sand or gravel changing the soil chemistry two factors matter. Solubility in water, and surface area. SUrface areas of gravel decrease rapidly with gravel size. Therefore granite 3/4" will do nothing on both counts, its big so has a low surface area/lb and its not appreciably soluble (dissolvable). Limestone is another matter its quite soluble in water for a stone. I would expect that unless you have limestone or dolomite, minimal chemistry changes will occur from gravel. But the low surface area also means low cation exchange especially if the gravel is deep into the soil. Low cation exchange in high drainage soil is exactly what is in my yard. White/grey sand is the worst soil, bring on the ammendments to up the cation exchange and moisture retention. Lack of moisture retention means more frequent watering which can lead to a hardness accumulation from irrigation water if it is of a significant hardness. That further prevents soil wetting and water/fertilizer uptake. I would go straight to sulpomag(langbeinite) and consider some soil ammendment, perhaps turface MVP.

I didn't take a picture of when it looked its worst, here it is today, 4 new green fronds shooting up.

Here are some mature Sabal mexicana in Plazuela de San Pedro, Antigua Guatemala. They had the boots removed by chainsaw and have an interesting trunk pattern now. Seems to me that Sabal mexicana is synonymous with Sabal guatemalensis. There were no fruits to be seen on any of the palms, the birds stripped them clean.

A soaker hose seems like the easier of the two options.

The list of donated palms for the gardens in Coffs Harbour. Kindly donated by Lyn Crehan and Colin Wilson.

$200 for this massive 15 gallon! There's probably 2 foot or more of trunk there, we have a pretty tall fence.

An update on one of the coconuts in the last post - it is now known fruiting and is a Golden Malayan to my surprise. It has no foliar damage at at all from the cool spell and is loaded with fruit.

Wow, that is some swampy-looking ground. It is probably great for those hibiscus. I hope your uresana recovers for you. They are really nice palms. It would be a shame to lose it.

Thanks for the grow tips . I have a spot in mind for it, but my garden is so packed under the canopy iam going to plant it in the middle of pathway that’s like a three way intersection, to heck with the pathway I can walk around it I say but it’s a prime spot with great thermal protection out of the wind. It’s one beautiful palm that’s for sure. My low temperatures are around 2 degrees Celsius so iam hopeful it will make it. Be shame to kill it now, after all the years it has been alive to get to the size it is in a container.

I agree with @Las Palmas Norte - even in East Texas they don't look good if they are in full sun and not irrigated well. Brahea species and Sabal uresana would do much better although they grow slowly. Majesties aren't going to last long at all due to their thirsty habit and lack of cold tolerance.

Trachycaprus fortunei Windmill palm doesn't perform well in arid, high heat areas. I think the best you might hope for is a shaded (especially during the hottest part of the day) area and routine deep irrigation.

Encephalartos cerinus flushing in late winter. Counting the days until Northern Hemisphere spring begins. It is just 19 days away.

I put my existing pots of Dendrobium speciosum onto larger pots as they grew. The three in the tall ceramic pots were the ones that Harry recommended that I put in shallow pots after blooming season ends. I threw in the photo of the Dendrobium speciosum ssp grandiflora that I planted in a shallow layer of bark on a partially exposed rock. All Dendrobium speciosum in this group are ssp Pendiculatum, Grandiflora or Curvicaule.

Wow! What a haul!

Here is Adam's Tahina.

Zamia hamannii starting it's yearly "flush" of a single spike. My favourite of the plicate zamias

So I guess I would have looked like this one then in the picture. I really didn’t have much of walk around the gardens as the car was full of palms and we all know you can’t leave plants inside hot cars especially in sunny Queensland. Iam glad you at least talked her into buying a kerriodoxa if we can convert one person a day into a palm nut we are getting there slowly. Richard

Mt newest addition is an Anthurium seleri. This is a young plant but seeing the mature plant leaf structure was the attraction.

That is an awesome palm for the price Richard. Itaya has always been one of my favourite tropical palms I wish I could grow. A friend of mine has a nice one growing down here in a heated glasshouse. I think you’re a chance in your location but maybe keep it protected until it establishes. Here’s one at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. Photo taken 9 years ago.

@5am Here's Texas Ebony in 8b Chappell Hill, TX prior to 2021:

I'm making way for new plantings and a new fence this spring.😁

It’s kinda buried under the Hummingbird Hibiscus but the bush went decidedly deciduous and there it is! Any idea about the species?

They do fine in zone 10a here, even though our 10a is more like 9a in the US, so it wouldn't be surprising to see them thrive in US zone 9b.

They do get large, forewarning! Mark the spear with a sharpie and keep it deeply watered when growth starts(anytime now). Do not water starting mid to late October. You may want to protect anything below 10f until clear trunk is attained. Guess I will need to go to plant world! Nice palms!

PLENTY of gravel in landscapes -and elsewhere- around here and like you, absolutely no ill effects on 98% of plants planted.. As far as any potential deficiency issues related to Gravel / rocky soil, all comes down to the chemical make up of the rock / gravel.. Volcanics like Lava / Pumice ..and rocks like Granite / Granitoids can contain lots of K ..depending on their origin.. Look at Hawaii, plants grow like weeds right out of the Lava in many areas.. Sedimentary rock types ( Limestone / Sandstone / Shale / Mudstone, etc, ) can contain lots of Calcium ..and / or Gypsum.. Too much of both can cause issues w/ plants not already adapted to growing in those types of soil.. Outside of specific areas like parts of S. Cal, most of the deserts, Nor' eastern CA, Sierras, ..and the coastal / central valley areas -which often contain a lot of alluvial " stuff " ...and Clay.. soil in numerous spots in coastal CA can contain lots of Serpentine / Serpentinite < Metamorphic in origin > ..Soil derived from it ..if there is any.. can contain high levels of stuff like Cadmium, Cobalt, Iron, and Nickel / is often severely deficient in Calcium and other, more essential nutrients. A lot of plants that did not evolve in it, don't like it / often will perform poorly when grown in it.

Start an IV STAT. That palm needs hydration.

@Jayme J did the new fronds grow out with the random brown spots, did they develop just as the flush was "hardening off," or did they turn brown later? Manganese deficiency shows up during or near the end of the new flush. One possibility is hail damage, since it is so random. It is not Magnesium, as that would show up as yellow tips on the oldest leaves. I would also check for CAS (Cycas Aulacaspsis Scale) on the underside of the fronds. I don't see any in the picture, but sometimes they only infest the bottom side at first.

1st March Cocos nucifera in Malta update. Some look quite beat up. But when I check trunk it's strong and rigid not mushy. I believe that most will make it except for one small specimen. This winter it rained frequently which was a disadvantage. There are some other plants in the pictures including aquatic plants

Waggy planted where mule was. Couldn't take seeing the empty dirt spot any longer! https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HMSAP001GTw

I have successfully air layered a tall Chamaedorea metallica, to a shorter size. However I doubt this video for two reasons, if there were actual apical meristem tissue at each leaf node then why would not secondary growth points arise, especially with the support of the full root system ? Also, 70 days is far too short a time period to produce the growth of the plant shown at the end of this video. I say false.

Snapped this pic while parked at a traffic light on the way hone from work.

Obi Island today…

Now up to 8 people that I have spoke to who received Butyagrus seeds from the 2022 batch and had 0% germination. I am yet to hear of a single person who even got one seed to germinate as it stands. Some of these people not only spent hundreds of dollars, but they have also spent the best part of 2 years trying various methods to get these seeds to germinate and have consequently wasted their time as they clearly aren't viable. This is completely unacceptable. I have a hard time believing that Mule Palms of Mississippi weren't aware of this at the time of selling these seeds, since they grow Mules from the seeds themselves (to sell on) and would have tried germinating seeds from that same batch. They must have noticed that nothing was germinating at all, or that the success/viable rate was exceptionally low, if not 0%. Or they didn't bother to test any of them and just flogged them out to customers to make money ASAP, which is equally unacceptable and unprofessional. Either way they have a lot to answer for. If Vic Silver can't get something to germinate, nobody can. He is on the IPS and highly respected in the UK and European community and a master at growing palms from seed, so the fact he is one of the ones who had no success really speaks volumes. Those 2022 Butyagrus seeds all seem to be duds and that is that. 🤬 I would contact the supplier myself, but I technically didn't source the seeds direct and thus have no order number. However the multiple people who did, who spent hundreds of dollars importing them into Europe for us, and those in the States too, should be due a refund and an apology. Again, Mule Palms of Mississippi will be well aware of this issue with their 'dud' seeds. They can't not be aware at this point. I am curious to see just how many other people may have been screwed over with these seeds from 2022/2023...? And I will certainly warn some of the others who I know are looking to get hold of Mules in general... @Bigfish @Mattpalm28 @Dwarf Fan @Ben G. @Foxpalms @Scott W @ChicagoPalma @gurugu @Swolte @Little Tex @VA Jeff @SeanK @OC2Texaspalmlvr @RJ @Xenon @Axel Amsterdam @Xerarch @Chester B

Good looking plants.

I’m so tempted to make a drive south to a nursery like that, if I lived any closer I would have already left. I’ve never seen one in person, but the more pictures I see of Brazoria’s they’re fast becoming one of my favorite palm tree!!!!

The leaves in this pic look more like a Live Oak than Sand Live Oak (they really look more similar to a Laurel Oak).

Norfolk, VA

While they are not large mountains, the Ouachita Mountains of Southeast Oklahoma are a beautiful area. Maybe my favorite landscapes in Oklahoma. They look a little like the Appalachian foothills. Courtesy of google: