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Home grown chamaedorea metallica seeds, 70 germinated from 70 seeds, the other ten seeds went to @gyuseppe, so waiting to see how many he gets, but so far 100 percent germination in Australia. Fresh is best!

Customs and border security took the fun out palm seed sharing, we where not doing anything wrong in sharing a rare palm seed!

Never a dull moment in the garden with a dypsis louvelli and a Chambeyronia hookerii for a touch of colour.

Just planted - 4/3/2024 ~1 year - 3/18/2025 8 AM ~2 years - 3/20/2026 8 AM

While we are on the subject of alogoptrea caudescens, here’s a couple floating around the garden!

Humming birds do love this Dyckia, but I was noticing that this one is blooming earlier this year than in "normal years". It sort of fits into a them of a number of posts. I was in the backyard and noticed a humming bird nest in my Chrysalidocarpus onilahensis. I think the abundance of Aloes and different species which bloom at different times are the big attraction for the humming birds. So perhaps in addition to thinking about species that attract the humming birds, think about which will flower at different times, to keep them in your garden.

A couple of weeks later and it is really starting to look like a flush as opposed to a few little pale green nubs.

It's really filled out—wonderful! You've got a great specimen there, Feng 🤗

For the collectors here that are interested in hybrid palm trees, I have an online mail-order store with a few of my rare crosses. I'm certified to ship in-container to all lower 48 states and also internationally with phyto (extra fee). https://seabreezenurseries.com

Thank you my friend @gyuseppe for the rupicola seeds. Both seeds sowed side by side.

Sharing seeds is a wonderful act of kindness on this forum. I have received quite a few from Sullivans garden and also @DoomsDave. . Freshness is key for success as some of Dave’s have already sprouted . The problem here , for me , is sending out of the country . The post office is very strict for most other countries. I mostly sow seeds from my own palms and that works out quite well . The Dypsis Decipiens that I sent out are sprouting for some of you , they seem to be a bit hard to germinate. I sent out hundreds of them and I am getting reports of some success. Harry

So these coconuts were planted in October 25 gallon And I noticed something interesting today we’ve been doing a liquid fertilizer by a company and Lesco 13-3-13 Palm and tropical And we just got into this warm spurt with the rain last week Weeks ago they started doing the March trimming and I noticed that the trunks on these are now growing so quickly that they’re cracking the old boots and they’re on pace to be a 16 to 18 diamater trunks Nothing like the Maypan, which looks fantastic I was just curious if anyone same progress after the period of cold that we had in west Palm beach

Iam confident you can germinate them, if I have spare seeds I don’t mind sharing them around, after all the another mafia gang member must look after the Italian connection!

Thank to you Konstantinos, I don't know how many seeds you sent me! The Chamaedorea klotzschiana seeds are all black, but I want to wait another month to send them, so they will be sure to be ripe.

You learn to know your garden after a lot of years. The symbiotic relationship is a natural feeling. You create a unique animal habitat in your garden, after all we are an animal. In time your garden gets depth, a true gardener never stops planting and changing their garden. You even get familiar with the animals live in and around your garden. All you have to do is just look into the space you have created then you see the answers to gardening!

Plants feel your energy, you cut them and they feel it. A true gardener grows with his garden, it tells you where to plant new plants, a garden is a true biosphere created by the gardener. Plants know who we are they are grooming us knowing one day they will get the chance to eat us. So the next time you look at your garden just so you know that garden has other plans for us as we all know dust to dust ashes to ashes make good fertiliser! I think like a plant when in my garden, you water your plants and you can see a certain vibrational energy. I bring a new plant home and say to that plant welcome to your new home, then say to garden say hello to your new friend. It’s not crazy it’s being in tune with Mother Nature! Richard

Yep, that's an embryo!

First one has a lovely honeysuckle fragrance

They are a fast growing palm, I used them as pioneer palms in my garden originally, creating that much needed canopy. You think there fast in your area, should see them in habitat growing.

I can vouch for this vendor as well. I purchased one 8 years ago and have been very impressed, both with the color and growth rate. Eric does offer smaller, shippable sizes as well. And yes, it does have Jubaea blood in it's DNA, I confirmed this with mine when it flowered this year, as many of the flowers had more than six stamens.

‘Illawara’ are the fastest here. Three feet (1 meter) of growth per year and sometimes more is pretty typical.

Well , yesterday I spent the day working on a section that had been cleared by my wife . There was a fern that I had planted that was taking a bit too much space and crowding a few other plants . A large Rhapis palm had to be trimmed back so we could get to the water valve . I spent a lot of time finishing up the work she started and spreading fresh mulch (wood chips) . The trunk of our large Archontophoenix Alexandrea is now fully visible and I could feel the sigh of relief coming from the garden . With fresh mulch , a bit of trimming , and time consuming cleaning of the beach pebbles ( while sweating my arse off!) things are back in order. Harry Our little beach pebbles river was so full of debris from all the wind we had this year , it took over an hour on my hands and knees to pick the bits out and rearrange the stones. I just love the bottle shape of the Alexandrea trunk now that the encroaching fern has been cut back. The large Rhapis is now trimmed and not taking over the side walk. The container holds the garden hose. This courtyard gets very warm in the afternoon and yesterday was no exception! Harry

Yep that’s the one, they feel pain!

Your palms look very happy. What you are doing is obviously working well. However, it looks like you are cutting the oldest fronds off while still green. I would recommend not doing that until they are brown. I see that you have a walkway and that is a valid reason for cutting. Maybe just cut that side? The less you cut, the more the palm will appreciate it. As for the width of the base, I planted 3 of the same germination batch and each one was a different size. One was huge compared to the other two so that’s just the variety of nature.

We grow many bromeliads in our garden, including those that produce a very short flower stalk, such as any of the various forms of Aechmea recurvata. Though the flowers are more of a Violet color, the flower stalk blushes bright red (often the whole plant gets pretty red), which I think would be a beneficial adaptation to attract hummingbirds. I know for some Aechmea, hummingbirds are their primary pollinators, though I'm not sure for this species. If you have hummingbirds around, which bromeliads attract them when in flower? Do any of the "short-stalked" species deliver? Some photos below, to make things more fun. You'll notice many of our bromeliads are still immature. Neoregelia marmorata Racinae (Tillandsia) fraseri Dyckia marnier-lapostelii, very very slow to establish, but now putting out a few pups Tillandsia raackii Tillandsia hildae Puya mirabilis Tillandsia neglecta and a couple clumps of T ionantha showing a single flower Aechmea racinae Aechmea recurvata var recurvata forming a flower Same clone, but with a mottled appearance A recurvata var rubra, post-bloom, each with a single pup Same variety, this one getting ready to push what looks like a very small flower Aechmea recurvata var benrathii

🤗 soooooooooooo beautiful

Great, Bruce.

Thank you very much, Harry. Wow, amazing, Harry. What a beauty 🤗

I'm sure a few of us have been down that road. I know I have.😁

Some orchids are blooming! Even with an extended , unseasonal heat wave they are doing good so far . They have been outdoors , next to the house for a couple of years now . They only get a couple of hours of early morning sun. Harry

Mile high winter..... Or is it summer?

After the freezes, it looks as though there were more freezes (21 ° and 22 °). What was the one on the chair that looked like it WAS bothered.

I planted this Hospita a couple of years back from a 7g. Soil was loose, and I inadvertently busted off a couple of big carrot-like main roots. Planted in full all-day sun, gave it plenty of water and fertilizer…. no ill effects. It’s now 8 feet tall and has done great. You have to be careful, but I’m not sure Copernicia are really as root sensitive as people say.

Last year was its first bloom. No seeds set. There is a new spathe and yes it would be a handy donor , no ladder or scaffold necessary .

PM if you're interested in potentially selling at the CFPACS sale in Hastings on May 2nd.

They're not very cold hardy before they get some size on them. You didn't say how big your palm is or when it was planted. First winter in the ground usually requires some protection from a freeze. My alfredii juvenile (not yet fully pinnate) planted in 2025 had zero damage at 27°F in a radiational freeze covered with a tee shirt.

Another picture of the Butia x Jubaea in Augusta, GA.

An old favourite of mine, even if it’s in a subtropical climate.

Sounds like Dyckia rariflora is the one for the hummers, so I hunted and was lucky enough to find some nice little plants to hopefully fill out this small bed a bit sooner. Don't know what the silver Dyckia at the top, left of center, is... It was a landscape plant at the local private high school (sidewalk planting) that looked to have been separated from it's clump by some sloppy work with a line trimmer. It only had a few leaves and no roots, looked dessicated and left for dead, so I helped myself assuming it was headed for the bin anyway. It's taken a couple years, but now it's growing nicely. I think they removed them from the landscape later, but I remember them having orange or yellow-orange flowers when I saw them in bloom. A young Puya dyckioides below. The Epilobium that dominates this bed will surely get all tangled in there. It's never satisfied with its allotted space, but it's a favored plant and will be forgiven. Supposedly this is one of the Puya more attractive to hummers; time will tell. The plant itself I've seen in photos look very attractive in the landscape and also not so much, but right now it's a nice looking plant. A but of summer water is probably the ticket. Mystery Puya below, and not much to look at. Alive though. Leaf margins are only very modestly armed. Don't know what it is or what sort of flower it will produce, just that it'll be quite a while though get there.

I have some Dyckia with orange flowers that seem very popular with th humming birds every year. I don't recall the species or hybrid names. The plant below is in bloom right now. Puya miribilis is a consistent bloomer every year but the yellow green flowers aren't the most popular with humming birds. The turquoise flowers with orange in the center of Puya alpestris definitely attracts humming birds. The problem with both subspecies of Puya alpestris is they don't bloom very frequently. I have had one bloom each on the two clumps over 15 years. One on each ssp.

D. rariflora is probably the " nicest " Dyckia you can get your hands on... Leaves may be fairly rigid/ tips a bit pointy, but, no spines along the leaf margins at- all-.. Is also tough as nails.. When i repotted my specimen, a smaller offset broke off w/ out any apparent roots. Stuck it in a pot w/ my remaining Boswellia sacra where the soil is basically sand and Turface MVP.. Barely water either and ..While it did sit not seeming to do much for several months, is moving -a bit faster- now. Doesn't seem bothered by sitting where it gets more sun than the main plant either, and neither has flinched w/ those brief 33 -29F morning lows we can see in January. Bigger plant that went into a 16" wide / 9" deep clay pot? is quickly filling it.. Soil is basically Turface MVP, wash grit, Pumice ..and some Cocopeat.. D. choristaminea has leaf margin spines, but they're tiny and seem pretty flexible / brittle -compared to many other Dyckia i've seen / handled at least.. It too seems to really like the chunky soil i dropped it in when i repotted it last year.

Thanks for your input, I have just sourced some seed of Pitcairnia ringens. I'm not growing Vriesea simplex, but I do grow a small plant of the somewhat similar in appearance Aechmea racinae. Nathan, I haven't seen this one available locally, but I have ordered a small plant from the same Nor Cal seller I'm getting the Pitcairnia seeds from. It doesn't look too nasty either, which of course makes weeding less arduous (and less painful). I missed it last year, but I intend to check out the SF Botanical Garden's bromeliad plant sale this year. Their offerings are hit-or-miss, but when the SFBG has uncommon to rare plants, they tend to price them very reasonably and don't make a big fuss about it.

very worthy topic. catering to hummingbirds is an extraordinarily noble endeavor. in terms of bromeliads, vriesea simplex and pitcairnia ringens come to mind.

Between Dyckia rariflora and choristamina, Hummingbirds will fight over a preferred spot nearby when rariflora is in bloom.. When it decides to flower, hummers will also visit chioristamina, ..but for the moment, rariflora is the " it " Bromeliad for them in the yard.. Recall seeing plenty of hummingbirds buzzing around the Puyas at the Huntington as well.

Spectacular deisgn! I have mine 15 feet apart in Fresno. They're touching fronds now.

@Jadd Correia nice to meet you! As @sonoranfans pointed out, alfies get big. I'm gonna say, REALLY big, across the base, 30" is pretty average; they can be bigger. Bismarckias are also big, both across the crown and the base. Like about 25 feet for the crown and 30" for the base. I'd find a spot far from your alfie for your bizzie. The more sun and heat the better. Put them too close together and you'll have kind of a King Kong v. Godzilla effect as they grapple for space. Also, see my PM (Private message.) Again, WELCOME!

This palm is a real winner. Just so cool. Wish it grew a bit faster, but, can't get instant gratification all the time. I've got about 30 in pots, big, small and in-between.

Here are some pictures for comparison, with a picture in cultivation, and in habitat of each. Juvenile B. madagascariensis Adult B. madagascariensis (a picture I found online) B. fenestralis (at Jeff Searle's nursery) M Habitat pic of B. fenestralis: Juvenile B. alfredii (at Jeff Searle's nursery): B. alfredii in habitat