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I just spent the last few days driving around Southern California and photographed the Newport Beach Hyatt Regency palms, the South Coast Plaza Mall palms, and the LA Arboretum up in Arcadia, CA! Click here for the complete album with labels Clinostigma savoryanum - Newport Beach Veitchia arecina - Newport Beach Coconut in Long Beach, CA Coconut in Santa Ana, CA Chrysalidocarpus lutescens - they are common, but I love them Flawless Roystonea regia Coccothrinax crinita - LA Arboretum Thrinax radiata LA Arboretum allegedly has some of the tallest Washingtonia robusta in the world Ravenea xerophila Livistona lanuginosa Calamus caryotoides

Hi all, been on a here for a few months now just quietly observing and learning from the wealth of knowledge. Thought I'd make an introduction with my garden and make a bit of a log of progress as I go. I'm based in a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia which from what I understand has a bit of unique temperate/mediterranean climate of hot/dry summers and cold/wet winters. Frost is possible but very rare in my area really only getting to lows of 2°c/35°f Perth is known to have some of the worst sandy nutrient deficient soils in Australia however we are quite lucky in my area to have a bit of a mix of sandy topsoil and moist clay subsoil. We purchased our modest 900sqm/9687sqf property 8 years ago without a single tree or garden other than a just starting to trunk, Syagrus romanzoffiana. For a few years we didn't have much of a garden other than a few randomly placed frangipani trees and native grasses whilst we focused on renovating inside the house. (I have never been much of green thumb or even cared all much about gardens till recently.) Most of my time and money went on modifying and drift racing cars but all that changed when I inherited a 30 year old severely stunted A. cunninghamiana and asked on the facebook group for identification where @tim_brissy_13 replied that it was infact a native palm to Australia and that peaked my interest (Before then in my eyes all palms were messy cocos/queen or washingtonia palms) It was all downhill from there when I started to hyperfocus and research all about different species of palms and botanical nomenclature which sort of itched something with my autism and love of new knowledge. Fast forward to just over a year back I decided to hand dig out cubic tonnes of sand and grass to create gardens whilst collecting as many palms I could get my hands on. We have quite strict biolaws here and are not able to bring live plants over the border quite easily from the eastern states so its quite limited to seeds only or buying from the limited palm specialist nurseries. I have made a fair few mistakes resulting in sun and wind burnt palms, placing stuff in wrong locations and also over crowding stuff a bit too much but will hopefully all be worth it one day. For now it's just creating the canopy which i'm hoping the mass planted Archontophoenix will provide. Very happy to have criticism or advice with my work in progress. Anyhow my current list of species is as follows: Adonidia merrillii Areca catechu Archontophoenix alexandrae Archontophoenix alexandrae × cunninghamiana Archontophoenix cunninghamiana Archontophoenix maxima Archontophoenix myolensis Archontophoenix purpurea Archontophoenix tuckeri Bismarckia nobilis Carpentaria acuminata Caryota albertii Caryota mitis Chamaedorea atrovirens Chamaedorea elegans Chamaedorea elatior Chamaedorea klotzschiana Chamaedorea radicalis Chamaedorea seifrizii Chamaedorea tepejilote Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. flavopicta Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. hookeri Chrysalidocarpus decaryi Chrysalidocarpus lastelliana Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos Chrysalidocarpus madagascariensis Chrysalidocarpus pembanus Chrysalidocarpus lutescens Howea forsteriana Hyophorbe lagenicaulis Hyophorbe verschaffeltii Livistona decora Phoenix roebelenii Pinanga coronata var. kuhlii Ptychosperma elegans Ptychosperma nicolai Ptychosperma propinquum var. macarthurii Ravenea rivularis Rhapis excelsa Roystonea regia Syagrus romanzoffiana Trithrinax acanthocoma Wodyetia bifurcata House when we bought it, nothing but dead grass. South facing patio garden, quite shady. Have A. purpurea, A. cunninghamiana, Howea forsteriana, Pinanga kuhlii, Rhapis excelsa, and Chamaedorea sp scattered. Hoping one day the bigger palms will emerge and make the canopy to replace the shade cloth. 3x Wodyetia biffurcata for the newly installed pool area. We are in the middle of winter right now so everything looks a bit ratty. This area has alot squished in here however they are all very young specimens and hard to make out. There is about 20x young Archontophoenix sp planted along the rear fence line to make the canopy one day and a mix of Wodyetia, Carpentaria, C. madagascariensis, lutescens, pembanus, Bismarkia and two Areca catechu. Little garden leading to my wifes veggie area. 3x double planted Archontophoenix sp, Chambeyronia watermelon and a hookeri, C. leptocheilos (Not doing too well) and a Wodyetia to the left. Work in progress area, have some small fish and frogs down here. Just a Chamaedorea elatior and a tepejilote amongst other plants and my small potted seedlings. This side has the Archontophoenix albang hybrids multiplanted, Roystonea regia, Ptychosperma macarthurii, Carpentaria acuminata, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis and verschaffeltii, Chysalidocarpus lastelliana. Other side of the front more Archontophoenix sp multiplanted, Wodyetia biffurcata, Adonidia merrilli, Carpentaria acuminata, Ravenea rivularis, Ptychosperma elegans, Roystonea regia, C. lutescens and a solitary pembanus, Chamaedorea radicalis. Thanks for reading my ramblings. Jayce.

It’s been a long wait for a first inflorescence since planting a tiny strap leaf Syagrus matafome in the ground twenty years ago. Today, this recently popped open one surprised me. Will be interesting if it produces any fruit.

After many years in the ground from a strap leaf seedling, my Copernicia rigida is finally starting to impress. Still no trunk, but at least the fronds look good. Closely related to both Copernicia cowellii and macroglossa, all 3 do very well growing up in the Arizona desert. As a side note, be very careful while near all 3 of these as they are lined with saw teeth on the edges of every frond. Yes, they will grab you and cut you. Ask me how I know...🤦 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Wondering around the garden this morning and noticed my Slick Willy/Bef is flowering. This palm is at least 15years old from a 15g pot. Slow in a pot but speed up considerably when planted. worth the wait!

One of my Brahea dulcis

Fishtail new frond

Congrats , Jim! That’s a nice palm . It is interesting to me that as fast as the Syagrus Romanzoffiana grows , that other species in this genera are nice and slow . For me , that is a bonus. 👍 Harry

Very warm and very dry start to summer. Multiple days over 100F, and long stretches between rain. I fertilized a month or so ago, and been watering a couple times a week. Getting some beautiful green growth. All discoloration was from transplant shock last year, and will probably trim it all off next spring. So far, just been clipping the burnt-ends. It’s putting out its 4th frond of the summer, and all the new ones at over 7ft long. Easily my favorite plant in the yard, and very exotic looking for the area. NC Zone 8a.

Hey Jayce. The bug has well and truly bitten. Well done. You have done a good thing taking early shots of the garden. Keep adding progress shots and you will be amazed by the growth over the years. We will enjoy it too. I see you’ve planted bamboo too. That’s my sort of garden. In 5 years time that will be a thick jungle. Keep the water and fertiliser up in summer and it will explode. 😁🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴

Very full plate there! Looking good , as they get larger they will create a very lush jungle . Thank you for sharing. Harry

That’s a great start Jayce, looks good! I can tell you’re already a full blown palm nutter when you’re using the new correct name Ptychosperma propinquum for the old P macarthurii 🙂. Very glad to have played some part in adding a new member to this obsession!

The dioon you have is a spectacular example of one. They do get a little spiky and even when dry on the ground as mulch they still spike you. Shade or sun they are both equally as good. But I prefer the shade growing ones. And I just love my gardening it’s that simple for me when iam in my garden, it’s my dream land! Richard

That will last for a while . It is amazing , to me , how fast they fill in again. My favorite time is about half way to trim time. We have our very tall W. Robusta trimmed about once a year. Some like the skirted look , I do not. I have very specific instructions for the trimming , about like you have done there. Harry

To all my American brethren, happy Fourth of July! Somehow, my life schedule generally keeps me out of the garden during the morning hours. But I’m lounging around today and even by San Diego standards, the weather is absolutely perfect. Mid 70s, high clouds, couldn’t ask for more. Just a few random shots. Kentiopsis pyriformis starting to look good now that it’s approaching its 10th birthday. An Allagoptera arenaria under an umbrella tree, stretching like crazy, looking for sun. A nice petite Pritchardia perlmanii.

It recently finally got described as Chrysalidocarpus comptus. Good news for a palm that has been known without a formal name for so long.

This Thai palm has been in the ground awhile now and the large, attractive,segmented leaves are pliable and relaxed rather than stiff and thick. Well behaved and good scale. Me likes this one. Tim

The title I have chosen is self-explanatory I guess... As we all know selling/sending plants from the US to other countries is highly restricted while on the other hand it is totally free and unregulated among the countries of the European Union. It would help us members from European countries if we had our own thread for swapping and selling seeds and plants. The UK should not be in btw since sending plants to and from the UK is also subject to strict regulations after Brexit.

Here’s an Archontophoenix species, seed collected from McBride Gardens in Kauai as purpurea. It is not, but it is lovely nonetheless. Another store-bought “tropical foliage” palm from years ago at a home center. Just a beautiful example of Archontophoenix, although I don’t know which one. Sabal mauritiformis at the best possible size. Long petioles and 6 foot diameter leaves. Lastly, another Home center purchase from 15 years ago, Crysalidiocarpus lutecsens. Common in the tropics, much less so here. But just such a glorious palm when it is content with life.

Happy 4th of July! Well, I am really impressed with how well my Mexican Fan palms have recovered from the freezing rain event this past winter. They really did take a beating and there was a bit of spear rot in both crowns. The first several fronds that grew out were damaged and smaller sized, but following 12 or so inches of rain combined for May and June that is just a bad memory. Growth is going full force and the fronds are now well over my head. We’ll see what this forecasted El Nino winter brings to San Antonio, but it would be great if we avoid any freezing precipitation at the very least. We have gotten freezing precip at least once in each of the winters since I’ve been living here.

Nice looking palm . I don’t have any Copernica’s in my garden , but I have others that will set their barbs in skin if you get too close. Harry

Copernicia cowellii and macroglossa also appearing , just to document their growth progression in a desert environment...🌴 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Hit Kyle’s link. You won’t be disappointed!

I have a few Syagrus species in the garden and yes, they are all much slower growers than S. romanzoffiana.

It seems like yesterday that in my garden there were only small palm trees, now some reach the roof of the house

Great Job scott! Slow growing palms have a special reward for those patient enough to grow them!

Stoplight recovered slowly after 2021 in South Texas but they did recover and haven’t been bothered much since, at least in urban areas. It is one of the best crotons for here, having that rare combination of hardiness plus good color. I also have something from Jesse Durko that he used to call Super Stoplight, so far it seems to be as good as the original. My personal favorite the past few years has been one that I think is Caribbean Star, it has been easier to coax consistent color out of it on my bad alkaline well water.

I'm a big fan of lots of epiphytes. I feel like they add a depth to the garden and give it a more tropical feel. I say leave all of it!

Take no prisoners Jayce. That's a fearless plunge into the murky depths of addiction...good stuff!

I'm not sure which species of Hura these are, most likely Hura polyandra. These are growing in my hometown, they went through 2011 and 2021 and they're still growing nicely. These have been becoming popular slowly, I still don't know where people get these from. I know they are native to Mexico but I have never seen them on sale. There are more trees in town but are not as impressive and old. I think these could grow well in South Texas if they do well here. They gain size pretty fast like if it were a tropical Ficus. Locations: https://maps.app.goo.gl/xBJXPKgQX6wmMWuo8 https://maps.app.goo.gl/99u4HkwB8g9s2mMR9

Beautiful!

You absolutely right. I just did not hav3 enough time to act in the proper way. Plastic bags will surely cost me too may of otherwise pollinated flowers. I will be lucky if I get a handful of pollinated fruits.

Maybe .010" in the next 7 days? Lucky me.

Survivor stories: IT'S ALIVE! I was able to cover up my pandanus utilis pretty good during the hard freeze. All the leafs got fried but the center held a green hue giving me hope it would live. I pampered it and over time noticed the crown had green, but no growth for months. One day i took the top between my finger and thumb, gave a gentle tug and the whole top pulled out with a mushy rotten bottom. I thought "well, that's dead and i just didn't know it yet." So i stopped watering/fert, let the weeds grow around. And had been planning to dig it out and put something else there. But through the combined powers of indecision and procrastination that never happened. Months later i spotted a little green shooting out of the middle and was surprised to find the crown growing back. Now it's getting pampered again and looks like recovery is possible, which is a big chance from a few weeks ago when i considered it a dead body in the front yard i needed to get rid of.

Fun pic

Thanks for the pictures. never been to animal kingdom before. Really liked the strangler figs on the trees, looks awesome. I have a few smaller ones growing out of cabbage palm boots in the backyard and always wanted to ask if that kind of braided encasing is a "man made" guidance of how the roots come down or just happens naturally and they sell the best looking ones? I always figured as the root come down i could shape and twist them to my liking.

I'd leave it too Alberto, looks great to me!

And perhaps a few tough cycas species for a bit of ground eye candy. More orchids as well. A

New here! Took some pictures on my last trip to Disney's Animal Kingdom a few days ago, that I thought some here would take interest in. Overall, it looks like the trees went to war, and didn't necessarily lose, but did come back with heavy casualties. Asia: \ Pandora: Not a great photo, but one of the few visibly browned trees / palms I saw all day. Towards the back of Pandora by the River Journey queue, hidden between a few other trees: Huge credit to the horticulture teams working with the landscaping at this scale. I couldn't imagine the work involved with maintaining so many exotic plants during a freeze as bad as this last Winter's was. A number of these trees look like they're wearing leafy armcasts around their heavily trimmed limbs haha.

Two year old hybrid cross of Cycas panzhihuaensis x multifrondis. Been holding on to these until they started showing split leafs. Plants pictured are examples of what I have growing, as I have about 75 of these. Currently growing in 4x4x12 Stuewe deep pots. Plants will be shipped bare root in damp peat moss. I can ship multiple plants per box. Price including shipping listed below. 1 - $50 2 - $95 3 - $135 4 - $175 If you desire more than 4 plants message me. Payment accepted via PayPal or Venmo. Apologies in advance, but absolutely NO shipping to California or Arizona. Thanks.

2026 update

Whack that syagrus in the ground, nows the time to let it be free, to go forth and multiply! Richard

Sabal miamiensis that I bought from Christian Faulkner probably 9 years ago as an almost seedling. There are 3 of them there, but they became shaded out by my Jaboticaba. This one found the sun about 2 years ago and shot up.

Friendswood/SE Pearland today The pre-2021 Bismarckia start appearing here The queens around here are more green than not. Fat Butia

SW Houston today just outside 610, in person this thing is nearly glistening in the morning light. No burn in sight, but it's a warm area (the young queens are green, the split leaf philodendrons and giant bird of paradise have living aerial crowns, pristine citrus, etc). It was installed in 2021 to replace a big queen palm. Met this guy who is REALLY into zone pushing (he even has a lipstick palm). Becarriophoenix and foxtail pictured. For hardier stuff he also has Bismarckia and hardy Chamaedorea spp.

Just wanted to post some pics of the mass Washingtonia planting behind the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center. The buildings are close enough and the palms large enough that you can't actually get all of the palms in one photo. So, one photo is taken with my back turned to the big med fan. The two pics capture the whole group. I also wanted to include this shot since it has a second-story roof closet to the palm for scale.

Here's some massive Sabal uresana at Dyer's nursery in Weslaco. Photo doesn't do it justice - note the thickness of the trunk. @5am for scale in both photos.

Pics from the ice overnight. Currently 25F. With some cold cold ahead.

just some updated images after repotting 3 years later...