Leaderboard

First new leaf since planting out our Lepidorrachis mooreana, obtained from @Darold Petty last autumn.

This Dioon caught my eye . Actually it happens every year about this time! Harry Bought this in a 10” pot many years ago.

Chambeyronia, Areca vestria and kerriodoxa elegans getting my attention!

After about 2 years i waited, finally its getting pinnate😄

Sabal Yapa

Areca vestaria, looks like it might be the red form.

Buenas días, tengo está plántula de pseudophoenix ekmanni, que transplante a tierra a sol directo. En 3 semanas se puso color amarilla como seca, se le daba los riegos cada 2 días a 3 días, decidí sacarlo y volver poner en maceta para darle cuidado. Que tendrá mi palmera? Cómo le puedo ayudar a que no se muera? Será alguna clase de hongo? Anexo foto antes y después. Lo blanco que se ve es bicarbonato de sodio. Saludos.

Love the glossy leaves on these

Did you ever pull the trigger and grow one? They get big over time. I am in a different climate zone but do have experience growing a couple of Caryota species including gigas now lumped in as obtusa. I would not underestimate the project it will be to remove it someday. The one I acquired as gigas is well over 20 years old. The trunk is massive in diameter but it hasn't gained the height of some around town in Encinitas and adjacent communities.

Just planted this lipstick queen hybrid palm In zone 10b Whittier California ( So Cal ) Los Angeles County It has two suckers growing on it Filtered sun Wish me luck 6/9/26

They fit into any part of the understory!

Bit of an unusual trait for a flower to have fasciation. Somewhat of a different flower trait, not uncommon, but a bit rare. Definitely makes for an interesting bit of a conversation piece.

An old favourite that’s been around for a while. A real classic chamaedorea, perfect for container production, a true landscaping palm that’s very predictable in growth. A great indoor plant, patio or a bright shaded spot in the garden. And best of all super easy to grow!

Well I got plenty sand and a pinch of dolomite it shall be from the doctors orders. Thanks Tim.

That I can provide, I shall move it to a sunny place. Thanks. I just some seeds from rps and got 4 to germinate out of ten seeds. And that was after a six week delay in customs. So rps come good on this batch.

A few more years and it’s going to be looking pretty good!

Looking at habitat is always a good start. They occur on dune sand or limestone. I’d say a good starting point would be a very well drained mix with pH above neutral. Maybe add some dolomite lime? Full sun also seems to be the way to go for these based on what I’ve seen, but I’ve never tried growing one myself.

Ravenea Rivularis are water lovers but , crucial to ant potted plants is good drainage . You can water them as soon as the top 1-2” starts to dry out but if the water doesn’t drain well and the soil gets mushy at the bottom of the pot it can cause problems or , eventually , kill the plant. Also , any direct , hot sun on a non hardened off palm can cause burning. Welcome to the forum and good luck with them . I know they are very common palms and if you lived in a more favorable climate , I would recommend planting them in the ground . They like being out doors rather than indoors . I have two potted ones and they are in mostly shade under other palms . I also have one in the ground and it got huge. Harry

I have always loved chatting about palms/cycads and plants in general with Maria. I've known her and her sons for the better part of 10 years, and she has always been so kind. Maria was the owner of Sago Rey Palms in Fresno, where she continued the business after the passing of her husband Thomas Wash. I was very saddened to hear of a horrible incident at the nursery over Easter weekend, and further saddened to learn of her passing. She will live on in the memory of many of us here in the area (and out of the immediate area) who have crossed paths with her. My garden is full of plants she cared for and nurtured. If any of you got those really blue Sabal uresana seedlings, they came from Maria. A few photos from her obituary: https://kmph.com/news/local/nursery-owner-dies-after-easter-machete-attack-nephew-faces-murder-charge

Brahea edulis, or the Guadalupe palm, is a slow-growing, hardy palm native to Mexico's Guadalupe Island, known for its large, fan-shaped, green leaves and edible black fruit. It's highly tolerant of drought, wind, and poor soils, making it a popular ornamental plant in warm climates, though it's considered rare in the wild due to habitat threats like feral goats. This self-cleaning palm grows to about 30-45 feet tall and is suitable for full sun and well-drained soil.

They are so odd as seedlings. Robust and fast to push out the first frond, then they are just so touchy for a couple of years after that. I suspect they have some unique nutritional requirement so once they run out of seed reserves the seedlings can struggle.

Nicely grown one there Tracy. Seems like near the coast, they don't suffer much brown tipping. Mine is going nowhere fast fortunately. Probably 15 years old & still has held onto all its leaf bases. Looks like a giant fern at this point, as does yours.

Es una palmera muy sensible, incluso los jardines botánicos tienen dificultad en cultivarlo. Es muy probable que tú palmera ya se haya muerto.

You are great botanists. You know about exotic things.

My first impression with the 20-25 jubaeas in containers and hybrids Ive seen is that it looks like JxB, the jubaea mother. These are great hybrids if they can be happy, and they grow much faster than jubaea. If its a pure jube, I haven't seen one like that in my limited experience. Its surely not a J x B which tend to be much more recurved in the petiole. It also doesnt look like any pure butia species I have seen.

My latest success in germinating . Chambeyronia Hookeri . This sat in my garden all winter , one of two seeds gathered from Sullivan’s palm. Harry Sort of a “Where’s Waldo” situation . I only noticed it a few days ago. Just to the right of the perlite chunks. The seed was very large , almost filling this wee container . Harry

When I first moved to Florida, I planted a Bismarckia in mid2010 and a sabal uresana in summer 2011. Uresanas are often mentioned as alternatives to bismarckia in 9a. These palms have stood next to each other over the years making for an easy growth comparison. Bismarckias are generally regarded as fast growers and uresanas are said to be slow. First, Bismarckia several months after planting a 5 gallon bought at a big box store. Everything but the spear had heavy mold spots so I kind of treated it as a rescue. It seems to have that purplish hue after winter that is often associalted with a whiter leaf. It adapted fast to sun after being tortured inside the box store with palms stacked in a pile around it. It put 5-6 new leaves out the first year. late july 2010 bismarckia then about a year later I planted a sabal uresana "icy blue" I bought from tejas tropicals in texas. It was a strap leafer and I put it in a pot. About 6 months later it was ready to go into the ground as the pot was root bound. A little over 2 years later in sept 2013 both had grown well. IN this pic the uresana looks a bit bigger than it was (relatively) since it was closer to the observer. It had turned darker with less "icy blue" color but was clearly not just a green sabal. The uresana was about 6' overall and the Bismarckia was closer to 10' in this pic At this point the bismarckia was trunking and growth was accelerating and here is the pic from june 2015. The uresana not trunking was putting more leaves for a bigger crown About 4 years later the uresana had lengthened it leaves and had gone into trunking mode. It went skyward chasing the bismarckia but still 6-7 feet over all behind the biz in height Last week I took another pic and noticed about a 10' gap even though the uresana had sped up and grown to about 25' tall. compared with 35' for the bismarckia I thought it was interesting that the growth burst of each happened at trunking, as we are often told by the literature. Yes even sabal uresana grows well after trunking. I also though it is interesting to note that Sabal Uresana has a wider crown, that was a surprise. I had always thought Bismarckia would be wider as it throws more shade but its a couple fee less in width of the crown. The Uresana crown is more open though, and it took a lot less damage than the Bismarckia in hurricane Milton(oct2024). Part of the lesser damage suffered by uresana could be due to less wind damage as there are higher wind velocities at height, but also part might be the Uresana having an open crown with smaller leaves that have less wind drag. I do think Uresanas will have more blue than mine in a drier hot climate. Bismarckias are very versatile, they don't need much fertilizer and mostly they are self shedding. Just keep them happy and the weevils wont come to dinner(I had a sick one attacked by weevils and killed). I treated the Uresana same as Bismarckia, limited fertilizer compared with my other palms The Uresana has persistent leaf bases which are still strongly attached near the ground. Since I do the trimming, I am happy that Uresana is a slower grower, as the Bismarckia is now too tall for me to trim from the ground. And the Bismarckia(female) is a mess, dropping 150-200 lbs of seed a year. I just got done raking up half a trash can full of Bismarckia fruits, and there is at least that much still hanging on the tree. Uresana has not fruited yet at 15 yrs. Sabals are notorious for liking heat to grow fast and they both had plenty of Florida heat. For those thinking about Sabal Uresana, its not Bismarckia fast but its more of a medium grower for me after trunking.

The direction I took the pics from provides the best overall ground to crown visual. But it has the least reflective sunlight to show off the grey colors at that time of day(AM). If you want get a better white grey view, you put the sun at your back, this would be the opposite direction in the AM. This is optical physics applied to plant reflectance and diffuse transmission. I placed these palms so that I had the better view from my yard, not the street view. Here is the opposite view where the sun is at the obvservers back. So consider the view you want with either uresana or bismarckia. I try not to give the street the best view.

I finally see a sprout from one of two seeds I got from Sullivan’s gorgeous Hookeri . I was talking to Terry while admiring the palm full of fruit when I looked down and saw two red fruit on the ground . Terry said to take them , but be patient. They are slow to germinate . Harry I will have to swing by to see if there is any more fruit on the ground . Unfortunately it is too tall to reach .

Not only is the growth impressive for 4 or 5 years, but also it looks to have grown at least 2 pups! Nice job and what a statement it must make in Michigan!

No wonder they are a popular choice for the garden!

Variegated rhapis, iguanura broad leaf and a nice Dypsis species for a bit of colour floating around the garden!

Red Latania

Chambeyronia hookeri doing its best cyphophoenix impersonation.

Cyphophoenix elegans doing its best flamethrower impersonation.

L rupicola and friends…

Thank you, that looks to be about right, another mystery solved! Cheers.

Carpentaria

Bismarkia

Mines looking a wee bit rough these days…

Red Latania

Areca macrocalyx. Crown shaft color really varies throughout the year, but today it’s looking great. Tim

I think this the Eophyll (First leaf)

Temps under 30 here caused severe damage to mine. But that's with frost, a big killer of all marginal plants. The same temps also killed small Urens and some Mitis trunks, though the rest of the cluster always grows back. I'd think the main cold risks are either frost or high and really dry dessicating winds at night. If you don't have either of those, there's probably not a lot of risk around 30F. Depending on the size you get, you could either cover it with a cardboard box or frost cloth initially. I did that here with a few questionable ones like Corypha, Elaeis, Attalea, etc. This helped prevent frond damage on the one or two really bad nights. A touch of fungicide in the crown during the winter would help prevent crown rot.

Mine is almost 25 , no flowers yet but plenty of frond size . Not nearly as tall as Urens . Harry ‘Caryota Obtusa at over 25 years old on the right. , Caryota Urens even older on the left . No flowers yet🤞. Already talked to the tree service about cutting them down when the time comes. I was quoted $300 for the Urens . I may be able to do the Obtusa myself , neither one have flowered. This pic was taken over a year ago. Harry

Obtusa grows in Fresno, and urens will bloom and seed in Fresno. I dont know of an obtusa old enough to bloom in this area, but I know of at least 3 big juveniles, and one trunking palm in the Fresno area (Old Fig Garden, Sunnyside, Del Rey, Tower District). It's only a matter of time before one of them does bloom - likely the one in Del Ray which is the oldest and biggest. This is a picture of mine from a year ago. It's put on some size since then.

I would say about 6 years from a Jeff Marcus order. They were 1gals. Yeah they can be bushy-but not a very big palm.

Mine is slow but steady. Recently started flowering too.