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This Spring’s annual order from Floribunda has arrived! Three one gallon Basselinia glabrata, two Pinanga coronata, two Cyphophoenix alba, and three 4” container Prestoea montana. Are are robust and big for container size as is usual.

It’s nearly 13 years since I had the great fortune to first meet the legendary ( and extremely generous) Tassie Troy and I thought it’s time to pay homage to all those who have helped me , and those in the Palm pantheon , like Darrold and Colin and Jonathon, who visited in the early days ( when there were only tiny plants) and didn’t wonder, at least out loud , if anything would ever eventuate. Here are a few pictures .There are around 25 species including 12 of chamaedoria. Some like the big baueri , trachycarpus and forsteriana are hard to depict . Nothing can keep up with the torallyii. Of course all 4 Lord Howe Island palms love it here in Hobart. Mike

Dave, I’ve always been a “plant them even when they’re tiny” kind of guy. Many of my big honking palms were planted as 2 or 3 inch seedlings directly to the ground. Here are just a few of them…

Just one Sabal (burmudana) in my garden of well over 100 different palm species but I love it. The photo doesn’t show how massive it actually is very well.

A somewhat bit of a rare Howea species, there about the place if you look hard enough. But not that common, the fosteriana got all attention and the bell was left second place. A nice palm with that punk look about it!

Had a nice dinner under the Roystonea regia: grilled up some cevapcici, which are caseless Serbo-Croatian lamb and beef sausages with some mushrooms in wine and garlic sauce. And a politically incorrect beverage. .

I spoke with the person in charge of the French Guiana Botanical Garden in South America, at the Palmetum de Guiana. They explained that they have two Tahina spectabilis palms, one in the Palmetum garden and another in a private garden in Cayenne. In total, there are three Tahina palms in French Guiana. They also explained that they obtained the seeds from RPS Germany in 2008, and that many palm trees originated from those seeds. Those in Thailand also originated from the 2008 RPS sale. They also mentioned that there is a Tahina spectabilis in Venezuela. These are probably the only palm trees in South America. In our conversation, they also noted that there are Tahina palms in Martinique and Guadeloupe. With all this information, it is very likely that it could flower in the French Guiana garden in 2038, if it flowers within the minimum 30 years required for this highly sought-after palm. Below is a photo of the Tahina plant. Its trunk is thinner, which will likely accelerate its flowering. Hugo Aravena Chile

Everytime this palm loses a leaf sheath is quite the event. Who needs sun on a rainy day with this in the front yard, It’s really quite the chunk. Tim

Update on this guy. It’s now spit into two trunks. Still lots of color. If officially named it “dypsis sp. quaman” until I get a better ID.

Flowering Oraniopsis appendiculata at the Royal botanic gardens in Sydney

Been MIA from here for a while (you know life got busy), but I'm really excited for my Brahea Aramata to be blooming for the first time ever. I bought it almost 20 years ago as a tiny plant from Lowe's and I know how dramatic the flowering can get on these. Finally I see some flower stalks forming. Not as exciting to my friends and family so I thought I'd share with fellow palm enthusiasts 😆

Thrinax radiata

Here is a better shot of the whole palm

To my knowledge, the only Worldwide example of Archontophoenix alexandrae “Alba” came from a batch of regular Alex seed germinated in SE Queensland a number of years ago. Subsequent seedlings were distributed amongst a few lucky Aussie growers and are now maturing. Seed from these first generation palms appears 100% true to the “Alba” form. Not only do they have a yellow crownshaft, but some also produce pink/red new leaves. Gorgeous palms. Look incredible planted together with Archontophoenix pupurea.

This little Veitchia always looks great, especially sporting a large spathe. Flowering is infrequent and I can only surmise that it’s a function of having just the right amount of rainfall. I’d throw in temperature and humidity, but those conditions don’t fluctuate much in East Hawaii. We’ve had over 100” (2500mm) since the beginning of the year. Here are a few updated photos. Tim

I am curious if other SoCal gardens have had their KO’s bloom and/or set viable seed? This is by far the biggest and best flower mine has set.

A few from LHI.. Last one is a red leaf emergent fosteriana

Here’s one I’ve grown from seed. It’s been flowering about four years, and is just now developing seeds. It’s growing away from a big Beccariophoenix, & is surprisingly stout. Nor is it very tall, maybe 2-1/2 meters.

Help Guide Our Update Over the coming weeks, we will be introducing a major update to PalmTalk. While PalmTalk has always been an incredible source of palm knowledge, inspiration, and friendship, the technology and design behind online communities has changed dramatically over the years. This update will help PalmTalk remain the best place online to discuss palms for many years to come, and we can’t do it without you. Why are we updating PalmTalk? We want to make PalmTalk easier, more enjoyable, and more engaging for everyone, whether you are a long-time member or discovering the forum for the first time. The new version will bring many improvements, including: A modern mobile-friendly experience PalmTalk will work much better on phones and tablets, making it easier to browse, post, upload photos, and participate from anywhere. Improved navigation and organization We are redesigning the layout to help members find discussions, growing advice, travel posts, and species information more quickly. Better topic discovery New tools will help surface discussions and content that match your interests, including trending topics, recommended discussions, curated collections, and featured content. New live and real-time features We are exploring live topics and live discussion features that will let us offer our IPS webinar series live and convert each program when it ends into a Palm Talk topic to continue the conversation. Improved image handling Photos are at the heart of PalmTalk. The updated platform offers modern image handling with better display, resizing, galleries, and mobile viewing. Cleaner and more engaging design The updated theme and layout will create a more welcoming and visually appealing experience while preserving the PalmTalk community spirit everyone values. Your content is safe Most importantly: Your posts, photos, discussions, and account history will be preserved. PalmTalk’s enormous archive of knowledge is one of the International Palm Society’s greatest resources, and protecting that history is a top priority during this transition. We want your feedback PalmTalk has always been built by its members. As we work on this next chapter, we would love your input. What do you enjoy most about PalmTalk today? What features do you use most often? What keeps you coming back? What helps you learn or connect with other members? What would you improve? Are there things that feel outdated or difficult to use? What would make PalmTalk easier to navigate? What new features would you like to see? Please share your thoughts, suggestions, and ideas. Your feedback will help shape the future of PalmTalk. Thank you for being part of this remarkable community.

Hey palmtalkers. Just wanted to share the progress of my bailey palm. I planted this one from an overgrown, rooted in the ground, 1 gallon baby palm back in May 2016. A picture of that at first planting is shown as well with it being the tiny palm, center of the pictures. It has about an overall height of 9 to 10 feet now to the top of the leaf. Has been slower growing for me than I would like. It gets way to much shade from the surrounding palms now that they outgrew the bailey. It's hard to show in the photos, but this one has that blue-green color. One I prefer. Has been through 3 major hurricanes. Irma, Ian, and Milton. Some winds from Helene as well. It still holds damaged leaves from Milton, but I didn't want to over trim. Took some leaves off and left the others. Hopefully now that it's getting larger and a bit more sun, it will start to grow a bit faster.

Two different palms have come in over the years as Dypsis (now Chrysalidocarpus) Sp. Ambanja. The first was a multi trunk palm somewhat like Baronii. The second was a larger solitary palm. Mine has just revealed its first ring of trunk and is a really nice looking palm. Has similar characteristics as Leucomalla (white spear and coloring) and Sp. Dark Mealy Bug with the black flecking. But has a unique look of its own. Anyone else growing this?

Close to all day full sun 1.5 miles from the ocean.

A great palm for SoCal

H rheophytica and Bismarkia today

Hey y’all, I had a question. I’ve had this palm for probably 12 years. A great grower, looks good all the time, almost no burned leaves ever. A few years ago, it began flowering. A little sporadically at first, but now it’s to the point where every leaf base has a flower spathe underneath. The upshot is that it flowers like crazy, millions of little flowers falling, all throughout the year. But absolutely no fruit has ever developed. Any thoughts is what might be causing this? It just looks and grows so dang good in every other way, it’s hard to believe that it’s missing nutrients. Thanks in advance!

Don't see them actually eating the seed, but they sure seem to be attracted to them.

Yeah, a Royal Palm would have a long bright green crown shaft on its trunk beneath its canopy of fronds. $500 sounds reasonable for a Majesty that big but starting out with a vigorous younger one would probably make more sense.

Trachycarpus princeps

Really good looking palm, Tim. Here's another Hawaii entry - my quartet, planted September 2013. Photoed from my third-story balcony.

This isn't entirely palm related, but I wouldn't be here without the love and knowledge I've learned from this community so I'm posting it here. I live in a small town, downtown is like old skool buildings, think Mayberry. A lady bought out an old storefront on the main street downtown, and plans to turn it into a plant boutique. Her mom, her aunt, her baby - they showed up with a squad to buy some colocasias from me. She's seen my social media feed and seen my whole operation now. Welp, it's gonna be early next year, but it looks like Sancho's Green Paws plants will be available for purchase in her store. I'm both stoked and terrified at the same time. On one hand, I'm trying to set up a Palmstreet store so I can pay some bills and on the other hand, it's like now I need to hang on to stuff to grow it out, and- I mean, I'd also kinda like to keep some stuff for myself. Y'all, anxiety is not cool.

The solitary one I have in Leucadia is getting more light now that I removed a Guava tree to its west and a little north. The top of the wall is 6 feet high for perspective.

Mine has been a great grower for me. The colors on the crownshaft and petioles are great. I just recently took a close up photo of the trunk showing the coloration:

How bout a small ‘BUMP’. So, how are all of the posted specimens doing? Thriving I hope. Here is a photos I took yesterday of a grouping grown from seed back in 2012. The tall palm in the center surrounded by B. condapanna is B. nicobarica. Tim

A great chamaedorea variety to have this one, right at home on jungle floor in the understory of the garden. If you create the palms habitat in the garden they certainly reward you for that microclimate, and thus chamaedorea is right at home!

Hello everyone, My name is Sebastián Vieira, and I’m writing from Colombia. I’m a naturalist and currently the Executive Director of Salvamontes Colombia, a non-profit organization focused on the conservation and restoration of threatened species and their habitats, mainly through the creation and long-term care of private natural reserves. Although I didn’t come to conservation through a formal biology track ( I originally studied and worked as an engineer and spent many years working in telecommunications ), my interest in plants and the natural world has been with me for as long as I can remember. Over time, that curiosity slowly turned into field work, conservation projects, nature photography, and taxonomic research, especially on Pleurothallid orchids. It was that long, hands-on relationship with nature that lead me to be a co-founder of Salvamontes, and nowadays, its leader. Andy Hurwitz invited to come and participate in PalmTalk, and share with everyone here our amazing story, so it’s really nice to finally introduce SalvaMontes and our work here, especially thanks to the invitation from the International Palm Society, whose support has been fundamental for one of the projects I care most deeply about. That project is the Sabinaria Natural Reserve, located in the Darién region of northwestern Colombia, close to the border with Panama. This is an incredibly rich rainforest area, still poorly studied, and it happens to be the only place on Earth where the striking palm Sabinaria magnifica is found. A few years ago, while visiting the area, it became clear that much of the known habitat of Sabinaria magnifica was privately owned and increasingly exposed to deforestation and land-use change. Given how limited the species’ distribution is, it doesn’t take much habitat loss to create serious long-term risks. With that in mind and with crucial support from the International Palm Society, we were able to acquire and legally protect 50 hectares of tropical rainforest, securing what we believe is a meaningful portion of the global habitat and population of Sabinaria magnifica. Today, that forest is permanently protected as a private natural reserve. What makes this especially rewarding is that Sabinaria magnifica also works as an umbrella species. By protecting its habitat, we’re also conserving many other threatened organisms that depend on the same intact forest. This includes species like the critically endangered harlequin frog Atelopus fronterizo and the rare tree Magnolia sambuensis, along with many other plants and animals that are still little known. For us, Sabinaria is much more than a single-species project. It reflects a broader way of doing conservation: protecting habitat first, learning directly from the field, working with local communities, and committing to long-term stewardship rather than short-term interventions. I’m really glad to be here and look forward to learning from all of you, sharing updates from the field, and exchanging ideas about palms and their conservation around the world. I am also sharing some images showing the Sabinaria palm and its natural habitat. Finally, it is very important to thank and recognize the important support and participation of biologists Norman Echavarría, Norberto López, Saul Hoyos, Gloria Galeano and Rodrigo Bernal. Without them this project would not be a reality. PS: I will come back soon with additional information and images. Warm regards from Colombia, Sebastián Salvamontes Colombia

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A couple pix of bliss!

The latys are coming alive!….

Dave, I’ve always been a “plant them even when they’re tiny” kind of guy. Many of my big honking palms were planted as 2 or 3 inch seedlings directly to the ground. Here are just a few of them… @Jim in Los Altos. I have done that as well and been ok. I was just curious how others have done it . Some of them stay in pots for a while just because I am deciding on final spot or don’t have time to dig the hole. Harry ‘These two came home from Maui with me in 4” pots . Pritchardia H. above and Chambeyronia M. below . Planted within a week of coming home .

A somewhat bit of a rare Howea species, there about the place if you look hard enough. But not that common, the fosteriana got all attention and the bell was left second place. A nice palm with that punk look about it!

Bactris gassiapaes, Chambeyronia watermelon and a rather well dressed moth.

Most sabals are slow compared to the alternatives for most people. Washingtonia robusta or filifera are popular widely out west and are fast growers. Among many palms enthusiasts I think fan palms in general are not what they are looking for. Feather palms are more popular in general. There are many choices in california, and some members do have sabals and they look very happy so its not the weather. I think sabals are most popular in colder zones, 9B and lower. They do grow a bit faster than CA sabals but "sabal steve" has shown that S causiarum grows fast in california, he has a monster. If you go to a palm nursery in california you might see 100 species available and the vast number are pinnate palms. I'd say the choices there are vast and if you are unlimited by weather few will be sabals are hundreds of species are available and pinnate palms look more tropical in general. Sabal palmettos and some other sabals are slow in florida to so they plant them with 10' of trunk. I have grown my sabals(uresana, causiarum) from strap leaf seedlings. But in my yard they represent only 2/65 palms, a small percentage.

Repost of the tallest Thrinax radiata's I have seen in a local residence

My twenty+ year old C. Decipiens (formerly known as Dypsis decipiens) is bulging in its crown shaft. It’s never flowered before and, for those in the know, do you think an inflorescence is hiding in there?

The Encephalartos laurentianus flush is progressing better for this time of year than normal. The mild weather has allowed the flush to emerge without wind and rain damage. Sometimes the portion of the leaves above the adjacent 6' block wall succumb to wind shear, but not yet at least on this flush.

Zamia pseudoparasitica has grown well over the last few years. Tim

The palm tree that I've been asked for a lot from abroad, especially in Latin America. I'm sharing just my five Juania australis palms. I hope to receive more seeds of this species and genus soon. From CONAF Chile, the park ranger tells me it's false that this palm dies. It's a myth. And if they have died, it's due to poor care, or even small palms exposed to terrible heat. And you already have your rare Juania australis.

Harry, all but one are planted as of today. One more to go into the ground. I rarely keep any palms potted for long. I don’t like to wait until summer. I did put the Pinanga coronata palms into a big decorative pot however.