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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…

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.

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

I have 5 acres but that’s on hillside so more land really, as they measure land flat and with a hillside you get that extra land due to the slope. So about 7 acres give or take, but plenty of room to garden in which is about 2.5 acres of garden!

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.

Lovely garden . That big Bauri is amazing! How long has that been in the ground , and planted from what size? I planted one about a year and a half ago (Cheesemania) . It is still sorta small but getting bigger pretty fast. I’m afraid I’ll have to walk around it when it gets like yours😄. Harry Silly me , I thought they were a bit smaller than R. Sapida!

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 .

@Jim in Los Altos sure an if yer not a better man than me! I always pot up and wait they’re rooted then move ‘em out or move to bigger pots.

This Pritchardia was obtained as Lowreyana but as you can see it is not that species. Any advice is appreciated

i Tim, Not remota as it has the droopy leaf tips and a cuppy leaf. I have one in my garden, Wollongong and Sydney botanic gardens, they all look the same. More pictures of the mystery Pritchardia.

I think I’d narrow it down to P hillebrandii or P remota Colin. The frond structure seems to have that P hillebrandii structure of being strongly undulate but still having relatively stiff leaflet ends. I think P remota tends to have droopier leaflet tips but I know this trait can vary. The cottony covering on the folds seems quite thick so I’d guess P wailealeana is out. I think maybe time to get out the magnifying glass and look for any lepidia on the abaxial surface of the fronds. I can’t tell if it’s there. If not, P hillebrandii I think. I don’t suppose anyone is in touch with Hodel? I’m guessing he’d be able to identify at a glance.

It’s a really good point Jim that I can’t remember seeing on here but I fully agree. Especially in temperate climates. Sometimes the only sacrifice when putting a ‘full sun’ palm is shade is a bit of growth rate, but I’ve noticed the same that shade or filtered light grown palms are often healthier than those in full sun. May have something to do with our occasional 44C/110F days with northerly winds in summer though! For what it’s worth I agree with the above. Definitely not Pritchardia and definitely Sabal. I’d stop short of saying 100% S yapa but it would be my best guess even without the influence of others.

Hi Michael, The gardens looks fantastic, it has been a while since seeing it. It has grown so much since the last visit well done, time for some more?😊 regards Colin

Definitely not Pritchardia so it can’t be native to the islands. I agree with Sabal yapa. If you ever read that a particular palm species requires full sun to be healthy, take it with a grain of salt. Dozens of my “full sun required” palms are in full shade and are perfectly happy. Many even look better in full shade than in the sun.

Greetings from the happypalms garden centre where we aim to please, I look on palmtalk and every now and then even I need a fix of some tropical bling! Richard

Hi Harry yes the dreaded old man winter is coming, autumn for my garden I get a lot of good growth from coming out of summer and all the high root activity from the heat, then when autumn hits the new spears are starting to crack open. But iam sure winter will take its toll on the new seedlings. Richard

I think you're probably correct. Hillebrandii, based on leaf shape, green back of leaves & being the most common cultivated species. Could possibly be one of the less common ones like forbesiana, but hard to know for sure until it's bigger & flowers.

Unwrapped her/him April 1.

I have one Sabal , a Riverside or Palmetto . Not sure which , but it grew about the same speed as our Brahea Edulis and Butia Oderata . Way faster than Livistona Chinensis. Mine was a gift from my mentor in 1997 or so . Just a strap leaf baby that I planted on our hill in full sun . Almost 30 years later , it is a full sized beauty . Harry ‘This was about a year ago . I agree they should be more common here in California . They grow so well and look great at all stages of growth. This species , whichever it is , takes a bit of room . Not for a small garden. Harry

….and Santa didn’t need to deploy his sleigh! Great haul , Jim . Reminds me of my visits to @DoomsDave . Just curious , do you leave them in a protected environment for a while , or plant them out right away ? Harry

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.

Agree with your observation. Doesn’t look typical of remota which usually has those heavy looking cuppy fronds. I think that leaves P hillebrandii by process of elimination? Is there anything else you think it could be? I’m also not seeing obvious lepidia in your photos however it can be hard to tell without looking late it in person, which would be consistent with P hillebrandii and would confirm ruling out most other species.

Could I freeze the seeds to kill pests or would that harm the embryos

Permitted Pritchardia species allowed into Australia Not all species in Australia are on this list IE Pritchardia napaliensis which was once, i imported one 2008 with a permit, it spent 2 years in Quarantine, Luckily the napaliensis has been seeding and the seed donated to many germinators here, You will see them for sale at the Pacsoa show next year, and on ebay from local growers soon even in Western Australia but not Tasmania nor Northern territory. regards Colin Pritchardia affinis Pritchardia arecina Pritchardia aylmer-robinsonii Pritchardia beccariana Pritchardia filamentosa Pritchardia filifera Pritchardia forbesiana Pritchardia gaudichaudii Pritchardia grandis Pritchardia hardyi Pritchardia hillebrandii Pritchardia kaalae Pritchardia lanaiensis Pritchardia limahuliensis Pritchardia lowreyana Pritchardia maideniana Pritchardia martii Pritchardia martioides Pritchardia minor Pritchardia mitiaroana Pritchardia munroi Pritchardia pacifica Pritchardia pericularum Pritchardia perlmanii Pritchardia remota Pritchardia schattaueri Pritchardia thurstonii Pritchardia viscosa Pritchardia vuylstekeana Pritchardia waialealeana Pritchardia woodfordiana

Here are some more pictures as requested sorry about them being sideways, posted from my phone, ok in gallery., regards Colin

A bit small but i call it a victory, my freeze damaged spindle i thought was a goner has survived the trunk cut and started a new spear! the white petiole seen above it is about 4 inches tall with no leaves, and was at the cut a week or so ago. hopefully it survives summer and a few fronds so it gets strength before winter🤞

I have several Yapa and in shade also which is healthy the one you are showing is definitely a Yapa

Hey Mike, looking great...everything has grown so well! Congratulations. Time to get the walnut tree festooned with bromeliads and orchids to complete rainforest transition. Did that Butia odorata that we dug up from down here survive?

Yes that winter that hit the US made the news here in Australia. Very rarely we get a black frost hits our area, two in 27 years. But that’s the one that goes the damage. So I feel for the gardeners who have lost advanced palms and plants in the Florida area and the rest of the US due that harsh weather that hit the US. Iam sure I will lose a few varieties from zone pushing but that’s growing palms. But iam also sure I will have some good unknown winners as well that will live. And that’s what it’s about expanding the collection and the growing range of palms once unheard of in cultivation, and that’s a great thing for the introduction of whew varieties of palms, you have to try. Hopefully healthy seedlings gives them an advantage in the cold.

I’m sure they mean to help but as you have correctly judged this is exactly what you should not do. The notion that yellow leaves are “stressful” to a plant is a common misconception spread among the houseplant community. But in reality cutting firmly attached yellowing leaves is doing more harm than good, you’re taking away leaves that may still have stored nutrients and may have some photosynthetic ability left. When you do this repeatedly without fertilizer it creates a constant cycle of yellowing. Now of course you will be fertilizing it but still it’s better to let the plant consume the leaves energy naturally and cut it off when it’s brown.

Growing in full sunlight, Santa Barbara CA. I'm guessing Pritchardia based on the leaf shape. Fronds are about 3' wide, the whole tree is under 5' tall. It's on a hillside, so it's difficult to photograph. Could it possibly be P. hillebrandii?

Juvenile at Ann Norton:

Congratulations! I got my spring order from Floribunda about 10 days ago. My container garden was decimated by Ian and last winter's nights in the upper 30s. For future orders I am sticking to Floribunda and sellers I know on PT. TIP: If a palm seller peddles stuff with outdated scientific names or cutesy meaningless monikers consider red flags raised high. 'Nuff said.

To be picky 😊, L.H. Bailey initially described the palm as Erythea clara, Gentes Herb. 6:197, 1943; basionym Erythea roezlii sensu L.H. Bailey (not Beccari), Gentes Herb. 4:114, 1937. Subsequently, after Erythea had been relegated to a synonym of Brahea, in 1993 Espejo & López-Ferrari proposed the new combination Brahea clara (L.H. Bailey) Espejo & López-Ferrari. To date, I am not aware of any changes in the synonym status of Brahea armata.

As you are going into Winter , we are enjoying Spring with our gardens coming to life . Our winters are generally not too bad but I’m looking forward to a break from all the bloody wind . It was a very windy Fall and Winter. The upside was all the rain we got . Harry

Stunning here this week. Warm by day, chilly by night. No clouds in sight and dry as a bone as we enter drought status already in many places. ☀️☀️☀️

Beautiful as usual, I’ve heard stories about them Tasmanian characters @Jonathan and @Tassie_Troy1971 I know what goes on down in the refrigerator! Happy gardening guys this winter and I for one am not looking forward to winter!

You’re doing everything correct, some palms sulk when planted out in the ground. Give your palms just normal love and care, they will be fine and in a couple of years you won’t even notice they had a setback on planting. After all it takes a lot of years to create a palm garden, instant results with palms is slow!

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing. Lars

Hi Tim, I will take a picture in the morning, I will also compare it with a remota. It has seeded at a height much shorter than hildebrandii i have seen before

Agree Colin definitely not lowreyana, can rule it out based on the small fruits. Here’s what I’m seeing: - small spherical fruits - abaxial surface of fronds either not or incompletely covered in lepidia - abaxial folds covered in a cottony layer - inflorescence divided to 3 orders - glabrous rachillae - infructescences shorter than petioles - fronds about 180 degrees or more spread from petiole. I think that leaves P hillebrandii, P glabrata and P remota as the likely candidates. I wouldn’t rule out P wailealeana either as I think it can have a small amount of cottony covering sometimes and I see the immature fruits are longer than wide. Got any photos of the overall palm Colin? I think having a look at whether the leaflets droop at the tips and the overall size of the palm would help narrow down further. It’s hard to tell, but I think I might see scattered lepidoa on the abaxial fronds surface too which would rule out hillebrandii but not sure.

It's just the outer trunk. When I scraped a piece away the fiber underneath showed but nothing soft. I still have a little bleeding...same spots as before. Nothing oozing but it looks a little wet on the quarter sized spots at times. Crown in recovery mode but doing OK.

just wanted to update this topic on what my fused leaf has grown into. It is about ready to go in the ground

Bill Austin sent me seeds of 1 of his many Pinanga's around 7 yrs ago and Bill's had a lot of dark orange in the C/shaft. Here, it's getting redder ea year. I have given it a high K slow release fert to induce flowering, which also add's color to most plants. Thanks Bill, trust your very healthy and happy mate. Pete

Update on the one I grew from a seed.

Be warned Tor tors are tempermental, with a capital "T" and prone to phytoptera rot. R I P 800 pound gorilla, up the chimney.

Oh, yes, in much the same way a Hummer is bigger than a SMartCar.

Looks like Glenn's is as big as mine, and he's got a nice picture of the whole thing.

I can't get a picture of the whole thing, either the trunk or the crown. It's hemmed in by other stuff. Here's one of me, next to it. I'm no dwarf.