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I’ll have to check on that one, never noticed it. There was another famous one in South Daytona near the ice skating rink that I thought was the one being referred to. It was taken out, but not from cold damage

Nifty little palms, although they eventually can get some size to them. The crown has dense, tightly packed leaves, and they exhibit virtually no petiole. Coming true from seeding specimens can be really hit and miss. Tim

Thank you. A friend (who has minimal horticultural experience) calls it “controlled wildness.” Aside from what was already here, the entire (small) yard is deliberately designed and planted, however I often let volunteer plants that possess a little appeal just do their thing. I’d like to think the spontaneity gives it some visual interest without looking too chaotic.

I think there’s already enough to tell it’s not a Cocoid. Looks like Nannorrhops.

This is such a cool tree! So glad I was finally able to get one in the ground. It has performed flawlessly for me, so far, even with temperatures up to 110F. I really enjoy watching it go through its calisthenics routine everyday. Every morning, all the leaf stalks are oriented towards the east, and track the full sun all day to the west, where they finally start to fold up each evening, and close when darkness approaches. Looks to be a fast growing winner for Arizona. 👍 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

I like your style @Manalto . Sometimes it's better just to take the layup rather than shoot from half court. It looks great!

I guess the concrete jungle wins over the common sense of a green city. Let’s heat the planet up a bit more and cut down some more trees and cover it with concrete that should do the trick on warming the planet up. Crazy world when money is the power over the environment!

Palms such as Howea and archontophoenix are always potted up as multiples, so they sell faster in the nursery. It’s these two varieties that do look good as multiple plantings over time.

@Manalto good to see you again! Sabal minor are ordinary and as such AMAZING. You see them all over, even in Oklahoma, I might have to tell that story yet again…. I have one here and it seeds and the next time it does I’m gonna save some for some nutty soul somewhere who wants them.

Harvest season and progress on a flush after I returned from a short vacation.

Iam unfamiliar with the import process into the US, you have one advantage on your side for growing rare exotic slow palms and that is your age. Due to the fact it takes so long to get advanced palms by the time your 30 years young you will have cracked into the exotic market and by the time you hit 50 you should have some pretty good stuff behind you that is well advanced!

Just picked up a 7 gallon, 8 foot tall (seedling😄) Colvillea racemosa tree to plant as a commemorative birthday gift. (makes it easier to remember when planted) We already have 2 Royal Poinciana trees that flower every year, so this Madagascar cousin should also be a winner in time, in the Arizona desert... Don't know of any others planted in Arizona, although they are known to grow well in our neighboring California, (but with sporadic flowering) which is the whole point of growing this species. The fall flowers literally will stop people and hummingbirds in their tracks; they are so bright orange! 🤯 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

I wish I had pictures but I was a gardener at a botanic garden in Jax FL and we had first year papayas in heavy compost full sun beds that survived several nights in mid to upper 20s in Jan 2024 (lowest of 24). The beds had a wide road on their north side so exposure was significant. This was with leaf loss but they did rebud. These were very thick plants so the diameter helps. I think under a sparse evergreen canopy they’d do better long term. I’ve seen a few longterm plants in the jax beach and ponte vedra area (9b) and they all were more nestled. If one doesn’t care about fruit, Chaya looks similar and is surprisingly hardy and is a terrific pollinator plant. It’s on my top 10 exotics to acquire again once I have a garden to work here in the Austin area.

Read about the Texas Palm Weekend by IPS, the nomination of a state palm tree for Texas, and the start of the 2026 Biennial in Hanoi during Tết (Vietnamese New Year) in the March-April edition. Apr 2026 newsletter.pdf

You’re correct on the Chungii, the D minor ‘Amoenus’ and the variegated Malay, I do have Asper, but none of them are in these photos. I’ve got the black form and the straight form. Bambusa Lako is the black one with the philodendron climbing it Gigantochloa atroviolacea is the other black one in these photos. Chusquea coronalis is the wee tiny leaf one, yellow is Sacred Bali not Eutuldoides, there is D brandsii, Schitzostachyum Murray Island is my preferred screening form - Australian native I believe, the green bushy form. What you were calling Nana was at one point sold as Nana, but that is Nana what it is - real name Thrysocalamus liang from Thailand. Wispy higher foliage with narrow culm base is T siamensis or Monastery Bamboo. Lacy leaves with black/white mottled culms is Nastus elatus, there is D sikkmensis there and some mis or un ID’d forms. I also have several other species, not depicted here - let me know if you have questions about specific photos if I know what it is I’d be happy to tell you! Otatea acuminata I forgot to include and it has a unique sloppy grass form.

There are quite a few showing signs of growth, even one west of US1 in Ormond Beach. The famous South Daytona coconut was removed in 2023. Lots of others have popped up all over, with some wealthy folks getting mature tall varieties near the water. Oddly enough, the coconuts look to have the same ratio of recovery as the Foxtails in the area.

I wonder if there is a plant hormone treatment that would inhibit flowering? There is for other trees, so it may be possible here too. If it stresses the plant so much, then forcing a break may be a good idea

@Chester B that’s interesting, aren’t you in the Houston area. I would have expected they would never be fazed there. I’m 8 hours north in Big Spring and mine spear pulled the first year but were completely unfazed this last winter after we saw a low of 5 F when that northern came through in late January. That was essentially the only winter we had was those 3-4 crappy days but it made up for it in below zone minimums and freezing rain.

Spring has sprung here: Jacaranda hybrid, Hakea laurina off season bloom, and Brachychiton hybrid

Hybrid Latania opening a new frond

I already made a post with just one of my butias but I want to make a post with all of my plants. I also have my Musa basjoo and Musa velutina hopefully going come back. zone 7b northern Va my almost completely unprotected butia with a sled on top to limit moisture because it’s raining now.the butia without the sled My protected butia it got burned from the lights (I took off the protection)European fan palm no spear pull even though it looks terrible. It had some wrapping and lights.sabal minor unprotected undamaged. so far no spear pull on anything so that’s great we will see what happens in the spring, summer and fall. Hopefully the bananas pop back up too.

@Meangreen94z the vast majority of cycads are in good shape now. Only two are questionable at this point: a Cycas Guizhouensis that suddenly turned yellow and almost all the fronds collapsed last week, and a Zamia Vasquezii that was defoliated and hasn't flushed yet. The other 5 or so Vasquezii have all flushed, so this one still concerns me. Speaking of things that concern me...this evening was time for the Foxtail triple to go. The tall solo in the foreground is opening a new frond (sort of) but the other 3 just behind to the left are clearly d-e-d: And here's as far as I got tonight, I'll have to try and dig out the bases tomorrow. The trunks all showed serious internal discoloration, and the bottom center one is badly rotted: The trunk bleeding is a classic Thielaviopsis sign: The smallest of the three had lots of tissue degradation all the way to the base. Here it is just after cutting it: The fact that it was heavily degraded all the way to ground level makes me worry about Ganoderma. I may end up just not planting a palm in this spot again...ever.

Here’s my Dioon Edule “Querataro Blue” form pushing what looks like 5. I want to love this plant so bad but it loses its blue color between flushes and subsequently isn’t nearly as striking. Cone still hanging on. The plant is a heavy pupper and I actually just cut off quite a few large offsets. I’m terrible at keeping pups alive so we’ll see what happens. -dale

Pure Enc. Longifolius working. -dale

Thanks for the replies. I tried a new pH kit and came up with 7.5 in 3 spots about 20 cms deep. Here are some better photos of the palm .

A before and after showing what once was, and hopefully what will be, its permanent replacement. If the Colvillea freezes this coming winter, I will have to find something else to replace it with. I am already considering a spanish lime, or maybe a chico sapote if it comes down to that... 😄 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

I've never seen or even heard about a single example of this tree in the Phoenix area, so my experience will probably be the first documented. Looks like I picked a promising tree for a new opening I just created.😄 As with palms, I was the guinea pig trialing many different subtropicals to figure out which ones could survive our extremes. Turns out, species native to the Caribbean or Mexico are the best adapted to our hot deserts. Species like Copernicia, Coccothrinax, Hemithrinax, and Pseudophoenix just keep plugging along,year after year. I love to grow palms from seed, just to watch them grow. I'm probably responsible for getting some of these species into Phoenix gardens, as I have sold many plants over the last 30 years. Pseudophoenix has always been one of my favorites, so I am always starting new batches of those.👍

I have had a few people ask me if I had pure Butia odorata 'Super Silver'. I do have a limited supply of 'Super Silver', Strictor, and a Relaxed Form of Butia odoarata available this year as well. If you are interested just let me know. Super Silver is posted above, and I will add pictures of the other two below. Butia odorata 'Strictor' Butia odorata (Relaxed Form - This is one of my favorites. The fronds are so relaxed that they flutter in the wind almost like a Queen, and have a great color.)

Boy, living in San Diego in the 90’s and early 2000’s and had known this palm was available, I would have had a yard full of them. Oh well, I had a chance to make up for it and plant five here in Hilo. Here’s a C. hookeri, missed the red leaf this go around. Tim

These are fairly carefree in this area of the SF Bay Area. Just need to keep them well irrigated in the summer. Two of my twelve are in full sun and occasionally suffer some leaf burn but grow well otherwise. Partial to full shade works best here.

I talked to Larry the guy who planted them and he confirmed that it was 1991.

I know these two palms are different species, but I can't get over how much these two palms look like one another. I have no doubt they belong in the same genus. My understanding is that lepidota is smaller in stature. I've never seen a large lepidota in person, so I have no reference point. Hoping one day to get a high elevation form of the C lepidota. C houailou C lepidota: