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@LowDesertBoil Your plants look great with the backdrop of all of the deep green! Hope your tiling job went well. That's a blue collar job that is more of an art form. A lot is happening in the garden to get it ready for a few planned Fall showings. The weeds have been out of control this year, so there are currently three large piles waiting for their return to the earth... from a single garden bed that is not yet finished. That said, negativity is bad for a person, so here is one of the piles from my driveway bed, flanked by plants with some new borders. The bamboo has used this year to start annexing property. The clump has gotten wider than expected. Some of the new shoots are oval-ed in red. Even in a bad year, you get some kind of harvest. This year, we got our first pineapple. It's good to have friends in high places. This December will mark ten years of me and @DoomsDave trading seeds, stories, mistakes, dreams and aspirations. One of the seed batches Dave sent included Chrysalidocarpus plumosus. All of them that I haven't sold spent the entire winter outside. None took damage, including this one that has been in the ground for a while and put out its first pinnate frond earlier this month. 24oF and not a scratch. Often regarded as an impossible palm here due to our extreme heat and humidity combined with copious amounts of nematodes, Chrysalidocarpus decipiens from @Fishinsteeg234 went in the ground last June as a 2-leaf seedling is still going strong through its second summer, come 24oF or 101oF. I did lose the companions I bought for it, but that doesn't mean more are out of the question. This photo shows the first split-leaf, a new occurrence since the last photo in May. After seeing the performance of the Zombia antillarum at Lake Hollingsworth, I decided to start adding a few in some of the spots that opened up in the yard. This is one of a couple I plan on adding. The one just got a small layer of cut-up pine bark nugget mulch today. My host gift plant for the Fall 2022 CFPACS Meeting was an Encephalartos ferox. It has started to cone. Since two of my large coconuts survived the big freeze, two more were added. On the left is an Atlantic Tall seedling from @redant 's large 2010 survivor. On the right is a Panama Tall I got from @Plantking165 .

Here’s my youngster.

Here’s a couple for you @Hu Palmeras in the Aussie bush showing you how it’s done with foxtails, just a master of the garden we create!

Ok we mostly have had a pet or two in our lives. And these special little creatures are the love of our lives. They ask for nothing in return, with souls that reach into our hearts beyond the furthest reaches in our mind. The love they offer is like no other. So what’s your favourite palm and pet picture!Sari the Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana!

Put a bar in there for a pit stop with all the top shelf goodies. That’s the plan spring, you gotta see how many new seedlings I have to pot up, I couldn’t do them in winter. Made that mistake before and lost to many.

You could try a few Australian Livistona palms. They’re pretty tough! I can’t grow coconuts due to being ten minutes inland from the ocean, but they can grow them on the coast just ten minutes away, so that’s a great example of zones being totally different. Yet all classed as a subtropical zone. So understanding microclimates is a big advantage that you can only fully understand if you live in that zone’s microclimate. Australia has a lot of beautiful looking tough plants, especially the wildflower small shrubs and trees, while not a country known for having hundreds of unique palms we do have some good ones. I live 3 hours south of the Queensland border and that border region is very rich in microclimates that is pretty well much up there with the other top palm growing areas. My climate suits Madagascar, New Caledonia, South America and the Asia regions. While you can’t grow a lot of the top tropicals, you certainly can grow a lot especially with all the new palms coming into cultivation. With a microclimate that I understand and know it’s one of the advantages of knowing your climate. I don’t go by the books or internet saying it needs this zone to survive, some of the top tropicals from around the globe are in my collection once unthought of growing in a subtropical climate.

Iam in it for the love of palms and I love palms that’s for sure. As I quoted before I will sell more golden canes than joeys in any given sale day. Iam also in it for a ten year plan and if i havent made a go of it by then iam wasting my time. It’s the passion for plants and gardening that drives my bus. I have a mate he does the markets with all those easy to grow granny plants, we discuss our business ventures together, I know he will sell more of the granny plants than I will sell rare and exotic at the markets, so as you say out come the golden canes from my nursery to the markets or I will miss a sale. But in the other hand I only have to sell 4 rare palms and i equal my mates sales. I know the market iam after, my prices are what I have paid for rare palms in the past and will continue to pay what I think is a reasonable price, the grower deserves what he asks for his plants I should know because iam a grower and understand what it takes to procure and grow such beautiful exotics. Go giving them away and somebody else will profit of my hard work. It’s not easy importing seeds only to get one seed to germinate out of a hundred, or even worse nothing germinated out 300 seeds, better still pay all that for seeds only to have them confiscated at the border. Fairs fair and it’s crazy palm nuts like you and I that are taking the risk, both winning and losing. But look on the bright side I get the best of the best for my garden plus some!

It certainly does depend on location, the are I live in has some of the highest unemployment in and some of the lowest wages in Australia. Drive 3 to 4 hours north and you can smell the money in the air along with the extravagant lifestyle and spending that goes with it. That extravagant lifestyle is the market iam after. When you factor in the cost of electricity and freight costs, you can buy a $10 dollar plant on eBay and pay $20 postage. It’s the whole economic situation that keeps on driving up the cost of everything while wages stay the same, and at the current rate the way the world economy is going the cost of everything is totally out of control. So if iam spending x amount on things just to produce palms, let alone the cost of seeds and the import fees, add into that you have to make a living, Iam going to go broke real fast. For sure locally sourced seeds and seeds from the garden will reduce the price quite a lot, and market availability like any other bussiness supply and demand sets the prices on thise locally sourced seeds.

Here is my 5 gallon Attlelea cohune from FB that went in the ground in 2015. Still no trunk despite heavy fertilizer over the years. I almost never cut off an old frond. Not sure how that works. The specimen that Tim showed above will get another visit by the Hawaii Island Palm Society in two months. We will tour Davis Dalbok's beautiful Mahonu Garden in Opihikao assuming they didn't suffer any serious hurricane damage. I'm guessing 13 years growth will have produced an even more impressive specimen.

Pretty much warm afternoon sun . The courtyard is sort of boxed in a bit so it gets warm but sees morning and late afternoon shade . Full sun from about 1-3 in the afternoon. Harry

Iguanura wallachiana beautiful little seedlings!

Licuala bracteata.

Of my three, this one’s the first to recently show a trunk ring.

I don’t see a specialty nursery as a good source of income . The ones I’ve seen around here have all gone . As a hobby they can be rewarding . As they say …don’t quit your day job! If you spend enough time , I guess it could be a supplement if you were able to maintain your inventory , but the economics are challenging. Harry

I got about 30 nice seedlings just germinated this season, so a few more floating around the nursery.

Locally prolific near Nha Trang

They will always be your best friend no matter what. I lost my 19 year old kitty Kat, she passed away in the wife’s arms I couldn’t take her to the vet.

Particularly silver Brahea aculeata. Planted this past spring in my backyard. Very solid growth rate for a Brahea, which makes me wonder if it’s 100% aculeata.

It may change to green/greener as it gets older, at least this had happened to my onwn specimen. On the other hand it nay also have some genes from Brahea armata.

Iam a hobby grower or is it hobby obsessed grower who loves palms. It’s my retirement fund my hobby something to help pay the bills along the way, and if I can make a few extra bucks even better, a lot of what I make now goes back into the hobby. To survive in business nowadays it’s a tough act, you also need to spend money to make money. Sooner or later theres a cut off point with any business it has to pay for itself. Even if I was an accountant I would still be doing this as a hobby at a lose or profit. Time is another factor with palms, grow 30 joeys to sell and by the time you get to sell them for a few decent bucks, you should have been growing them by the hundreds, saying to yourself I wish I had more joeys. You can’t put a cost on your hobby otherwise I stops being a hobby and a business that either goes broke or makes money!

The day I purchased the Dicho, Gene was there and welcomed us with a short preview. It was my first time stepping in there even though I had driven by it hundreds of times. My mother happens to live in the neighborhood (pobrecita) so I always drive by and look at the Bismarck palm in front of the nursery. So a couple weeks ago I met his wife and she gave me some good tips on how to get my young Bismarck rolling since it seems to struggle to grow in height. The Ramo I purchased at Bach’s and I’m thinking it’s from a cutting and not from seed. They have them in the large covered greenhouse so I’m sure they live it in there with the heat. So what’s your experience with Chinese elms? The one have I planted about 6 years ago from a 15 gallon. It’s now ruffly about 15 tall with the canopy stretching about 15-20 feet. The spot would be about 8-10 fr away from the trunk. I would hate to yank that thing since it’s producing some nice shade now. Plus, I’ve seen how my neighbors have had their mesquites and paloverdes torn down by the storm winds.

@Robert Cade Ross It would be great to get some fruit off the Arenga when it fully ripens. I don't know of any up in Houston that are fruiting or even close to that size.

I finally got a palm planted this afternoon. I’ve been waiting for cooler weather but it ain’t happening so impatience won. I came home with this palm after visiting @DoomsDave a few weeks ago. It is one of about 5 or 6 palms I adopted. This one is just a bit of a push for my climate but I’m pretty confident it will be fine. I chose a nice spot that only gets sun after about 1:30pm and only for about 3 hours this time of year. As it grows , it will see just a bit more . Palmpedia says these like a warm tropical to sub tropical climate and like a rather sunny location. Digging holes in rocky soil with many mature palms sending out feeder roots is a chore , especially in 89f temperature! I dug out three fist sized rocks and chopped through a bunch of roots . There will be enough room in this spot for a few stems if it decides to clump( very likely). Harry It doesn’t look like much right now but in a few years, it will be looking great! If you are growing this species , post pics so I can dream!😂

I am 50 miles inland in SoCal. I have one that’s in my front yard where it’s in full blazing all day sun with a mini block wall on one side and my drive way and on the other side my driveway reflecting heat from the sun. It’s 2 years from a small 5 gallon and is now almost 7 feet at the top of the newest leaf. I give it copious amounts of water. These are tough palms that grow faster than its flamethrower cousins. As was stated above I believe the wax protects against both heat and frost which it gets each winter as it’s on the south east side of the yard and has seen 27-28 at night last winter.

I couldn't help thinking about the space that takes just to cut up a dead old frond when it comes down. Living in an urban area where our green waste gets picked up and hauled away, the other challenge is how much space in the waste bins just one dead frond would take. And before that, the damage that one of those fronds dropping would create in a huge footprint. Not something for a little garden like either of mine even if they would grow here. They are beautiful though to admire in other gardens better equipped to handle them.

He's on thyroid pills now. Losing lots of hair. Still a puppy, i don't care.

Thank you @James B ! Luckily I have a seedling from one of my adult trees to plant. I think some of the variation was that this cold lasted three consecutive days and there were very high winds for the first day (40-45 mph). Ironically, my younger palms that were much closer to the ground faired much better than the tall stuff that was completely exposed. Even varieties that are 10b palms. Like Calyptrocalyx.

Iam impressed on that bracteata! Nice palm, they do well as young plants in my subtropical climate.

Took this photo of A. cohune at a garden tour in lower Puna back in 2013. I can only imagine what it looks like now. Yours is beautiful. Tim

You could try a few Australian Livistona palms. They’re pretty tough!

That’s the home ground advantage, I have no real sense of the climate in this case in Florida, it’s like me saying I got this palm taking temperatures down to such and such, when all microclimates and climates are different, just because it’s zoned a 10a doesn’t necessarily make it a zone 10a. All palms are different in there requirements and cold weather and blazing sun are the game changer for a lot of gardeners. Those couple of factors one predict a lot of what will live and what won’t live.

Hmm , not sure who has any Alexandrae. You might check with Green Thumb in Ventura , call first. Perhaps put a post on the sub forum of Palm Talk classifieds . I’m not sure if @DoomsDave would know of where they could be found , but he is pretty knowledgeable about who has what. It would be worth a drive to get one , especially from one of our private growers . Harry

So here is the tally; Chambeyronia divaricata - 2 specimens 3,5ft, both dead. The 5ft specimen had split near ground level a few years ago and had 3 separate heads Chambeyronia macrocarpa- only 2 survivors, 1-20ft tall and 1-4ft tall, 5 younger specimens 3-6ft all died Chambeyronia macrocarpa (hookeri form), 2 specimens 4-5ft both perished Chambeyronia macrocarpa 'Watermelon' 1 3ft specimen survived, 1 died Chambeyronia magnifica- 2 specimens 4ft tall both died Chambeyronia oliviformis 2 specimens 4ft tall, both survived but slow to grow back Chambeyronia pyriformis- 2 specimens 4ft tall, 1 of 2 survived

Chambeyronia macrocarpa, the only juvenile survivor

I just planted my first Ptychosperma. I had the same opinion as you , I thought it was much too tropical for my environment. Then I went down to @DoomsDave place in La Habra , very similar climate to mine , even closer to your climate. He had a beauty down there . I was so excited to learn I could grow them , if I get the right species . I came home with a juvenile Ptychosperma Sandereanum and planted it in our courtyard. It gets warm afternoon sun from about 12:30pm -about4pm depending on time of year. It is planted not far from the A. Alexandrae. It has been in the ground a couple of weeks and already opened a new frond. Harry I have hope this will be a great grower in my warm inland climate. The one Dave has is superb . Maybe partial shade out there where you are. If you go to Dave’s in La Habra , he has a great selection of palms that may work in warmer climates. He has mature specimens in the ground so you can see what they will look like , also a great knowledge of what will work for you. Edit- I will say , we water A LOT! I have fast draining soil and a sunny south facing lot.

Alex will take that fine. Where I am we get up to 43c / 109f for a few days at a time, keep the water up and mulch over the roots then you wouldn't have issues. Agreed, I've found atleast till the bangalows are trunking they just get burnt. I have two Ptychosperma elegans planted both do okay in the sun, cold winter winds here make them a bit straggly. Normanbya I only had very young ones and they got fried even in dappled shade. Kentia bit like the alex and bangalows, keep water up and they can take it but definitely do better once they trunk and emerge from shade also.

Oh my gosh, this is where the reports are. Jason, I was looking for a report from you, so good to hear damages were minimal. Mike, do you have a measurement of the inches of rain you got during Lala? Those videos look pretty fierce. I really dislike strong winds. 😬 Rick, good to hear you also fared pretty well. Brad52, sorry to see the downed bamboo and the trouble it's caused. I've been very skittish about planting any, despite the obvious beauties I see in other people's gardens. I wasn't present for all the excitement and neighbors report all is well at my place. The power was out for 7 days, but my fridge was mostly empty anyway.

fruits of Causiarum are small, 7-8 mm, Domingensis fruits are 12-15mm. Further Zona describles in his sabal monograph that the causiarum has 3 orders of branching and domingensis has 4. I was sold a palm that was labelled domingensis, and I found out it was causiarum after the inflorescences arrived and it fruited. There was a huge mix up in seed 15-20 years ago at RPS and other normally reliable seed sources. The orders of branching is described as the branching off the main inflorescence spike. I consider all those dominagensis that are unusually cold hardy are more likely misidentified causiarum. I also expect that near a building is good for at least +5 degrees if it is a heated building. Temps near heated buildings or even large concrete structures are warmer than the reported ambient temps especially when it gets really cold. Out west under canopy I have measured over 5F warmer advantage under canopy in a radiational(low wind) event. I had some phoenix roebelinii out in the open and under canopy in arizona when it hit 21F. Those under 6 closely spaced healthy queen palms were not touched, no leaf damage. The ones in the open had no green matter left, even leafbases fried. Consider that canopy best works for heat retention when there is no wind and when the cold events are shorter. As the wind kicks up(advective cold is more common in the east) that advantage shrinks drastically. To fight winds you need windbreak and a fire pit in the wind break area would help a lot.

Thanks for checking in after hurricane Lala. We had strong winds and 18.5” of rain but thankfully not too much damage. A limb on the monkey pod tree snapped and several palms had fronds torn off. A few small palms blew over but they’ve been propped back up and should be fine. Thankfully our area of the island did fairly well, it’s the southern part of the island that received a lot of flood damage.

A couple more from down the beach... Rainbow Pitta Whistling Kite Australian Hobby

She looks very beautiful, my friend. Mine is still very small. I hope to see her with her original leaves very soon.

Was down the beach this morning and there was a flock of around 90 Red Tailed Black Cockatoos hanging around...

Looking good! Love the new frond coloring next to the silver blue of the older ones. Maybe it is just getting everything it wants or needs. Harry