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I finally got around to building (assembling a kit) a small greenhouse for my seedlings. I had so many taking up space between other palms in the garden and also dominating my work bench. I really don’t have much room around the house so it had to be very compact. It took me about a day and a half to put together , including a 4x4 wooden skid to give it height . I finished it today and quickly put all of my babies in there to enjoy the nice , warm environment. I have a few varieties now and more sprouting so it was time for a dedicated space. Harry It is squeezed between two large Syagrus R with enough room for my ladders. A nice vent to keep it from getting too hot . The wet pea gravel will hopefully raise the humidity a bit . I just opened the vent more to allow it to cool down and circulate the air. I plan on adding a solar powered fan at some point. These are very reasonably priced but take a lot of assembly time. There are many sizes to choose from . I chose the 4’ x 6’ . Harry

Borassus flabellifer were looking good at sunup this morning...

A fan is going to be your friend in there. Damping off and pithium are going to be your enemies without the fan. 🪭 Richard

Dypsis utilis, dypsis rosea, and Calyptrocalyx doxanthus. All doing well in winter.

I guess it keeps them in a job! It’s hard enough to remember that many palms in a collection, you finally remember the name and they change the name!

No, unfortunately Tas has pretty strict quarantine laws, but there are some mainland nurseries with accreditation to send them here, just not many very interesting ones! I've been pretty lucky with FB marketplace recently including finding a Bromelia humilis, which is a species I wasn't expecting to find down here, or even looking for. I think the lady I got it from bought the original plant from the botanical gardens sale a few years ago.

This heat might make me extinct Another musa pink nono baby popping up.

And even has some cool tolerance for growing in refrigerator zones!

Rain in any amount is welcome when you grow palms! Richard

Really growing like a weed now that our temps are consistently above 100F. As mentioned above, a very vertical growth form. All the new branches are literally growing straight up off the trunk.🚀 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Getting a bit of trunk these days, looking good today. Tim

Hedyscepe canterburyana dropped an old frond and the freshly exposed crownshaft is looking great!

They love there water, as suggested above. Your little palm has been on the dry side of life. In habitat they thrive in wet gullies creek beds, almost cool temperate conditions in dark shaded areas. They break through the canopy and take all the sun they can get, while there root system is in dark forest wet conditions. They dislike drying out.

Pitaya bud🤩

Even sometimes called the Areca lutescens!

The correct name is Chrysalidiocarpus Lutescens. Harry

I've been over to Indonesia a few times in the last couple of years. Always interesting to see the sights...beaches, rainforest, volcanoes and all the local culture etc...so very different to home in Darwin! Suprisingly not as hot as I thought it would be. But all that volcanic soil, good rainfall and tropical temps makes for a very lush landscape...Have seen quite a few native palm species growing in natural habitat, plus the milions of coconut palms everywhre (although the Rhino Beetle is doing a fair bit of damage unfortunately) Fortunately it is only a two and a half hour flight to Bali from Darwin, and reasonably priced. Internal fights are super cheap. Over the top of Kilingking beach So many volcanoes on the flights from Darwin to Bali and from Bali to Java Rural life Plenty of bamboo forests Rural villages everywhere in Java Pinanga javana Caryota rumphiana Calamus sp Corypha utan Areca catechu Caryota rumphiana Plenty more if you'd like to see...

Good ole Chinensis. They look small in the pics, but they aren’t that small. Maybe 10+ foot of trunk and double that to the tops. They were planted long before I ever lived here.

It's actually pushing out a new fronds 2 weeks after planting. 🤪

I appreciate you posting previous rainfall totals for Phoenix and Tucson during the monsoon season. I feel like I've been severely deprived of a real monsoon season since I moved to the area in late 2021. There were some nice storms shortly after I arrived and in 2022 but I feel like we're due for a real big season...of course mother nature doesn't care what I think haha. I miss some of the rain and lightning from the east coast. I don't miss the cold weather, though.

Just keep up the water. Very good chance it will come back. Not much different than when people prepare for a hurricane, or when we get a freeze that completely defoliates. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

I don't know if someone had previously shared this. An Internet horticulturalist went out to Anniston, AL and recorded a conversation with Hayes Jackson.

The calocasia looks great, but that wooly mammoth 🦣 leg, argh no wonder they went exstinct 🤣

Im so excited about this roebelenii hybrid I found. What do u think its mixed with?

A nice example of variegation, and the usual Chambeyronia for a touch of red!

I seem to be having better luck with Jubaea now. Crossing fingers.

This spring my Butia yatay has a big crop of seeds developing on more than one blooming spike. The squirrels will be interested!😉

I have 2 Bismarckias. They are getting really big. They are at a really nice size now. One is also starting to seed. I have a couple of questions. Is there a way to slow the growth of these? Should I do anything about the one that is going to seed? I usually cut the seed fronds off my other palms to avoid propagation and clean up issues.

Yes, although it might make steam shoot out of taxonomist's ears, elegans=sumawongii in the local horticulture trade. I don't know how big these get in Florida, but they thrive in Hawaii reaching maybe 15 ft after many decades. I would recommend a minimum of 10 ft separation in Hawaii, but in Florida they might look better spaced around 6 ft. They can tolerate a surprising amount of sun here, but might appreciate more canopy in Florida heat. Protection from wind is the big concern. I don't know how difficult (effective?) it would be to wrap a tree in a sheet before a tropical storm arrives. Typical results in residential Big Island gardens. About 5 ft tall & wide after 7 years in the ground. Overwhelming 35 year olds at the former Donn Carlsmith garden on the Big Island. 4-5 ft of trunk. 8-9 ft petioles. 5 ft wide fronds.

That area is semi protected but in a real cold year it may get a mild frost. I haven’t seen below zero since the winter of 2023 thankfully. In open exposed areas I’ve definitely seen below minus 2C. Not good. These guys yellow a little in that situation and sail through. By summer they’re crankin. The sun came out today after a bit of drizzly rain. I thought I’d take a picture of the water flowing through the area. BTW further back in the thread Tim said I’m closer to Sydney weather than Melbourne which is true. I wish I had Sydney winters though. They’re glorious and sunny. Anyway to give my climate an eastern states perspective the closest I can find to my winter temps is Nowra. I may be a tad cooler at night in winter but definitely wetter by about a factor of 50% to 100% more than Nowra. My garden has already seen a min of 0.5C with no damage this year. There’s a lot of winter to go though. Generally though if my lakes fill up, the risk of a hard frost disappears. There could be an exception though but if the rains are late, beware. My lakes filled up on June 15 but it can take until early August to do that in a dry year. The earliest I’ve seen was May 3rd. That was the year the place flooded. No frost that year. I think once the atmosphere gets more moisture in it, the chance of cloud cover increases and the risk of frost decreases.

A bit of colour with a Chambeyronia and a couple of chamaedorea flowers!

Those beloved rats that all palm growers could do without, have a fondness for chamaedorea seeds. Clever little sods I say and on the menu is chamaedorea adscendens seeds. If I didn’t place these simple clip lock sandwich bags over them I wouldn’t get a lot of seeds. It’s a proven method that works for me.

From an observation over 23 years of growing blueberries, I have noticed Cunninghamiana starting to grow in the bush next to blueberrie farm. Birds have always been a VB problem eating the blueberries on harvest. And it is this monoculture that has attracted birds away from the normal habitat in search of food. Bringing with them the seeds of archontophoenix from there nearby habitat. There has never been archontophoenix in this area before, the monoculture of crops and the excess water at the bottom of the blocks of blueberries next the bush has expanded their habitat range. There are no fruiting trees in the area only seeds dispersing by the birds that are attracted to the blueberries, exclusion netting is the only way to protect the crop, and if you don’t day by day all the blueberries get eaten in front of your eyes. Mostly lorikeets are the culprits and a few other species of birds like native pidgeons are the seed dispersal ones! Having an intrest in palms is what made me notice the habitat migration of archontophoenix Cunninghamiana.

This came straight from Australia (the seeds) I made about ten of them

Here’s my little grouping. Excuse the weeds. They go mental when it’s wet. The ground is sloppy and saturated and water runs out of this area all winter. These pictures were taken a couple of mornings ago when it was about 2C. Brrrrrrrrrr

First pics were taken june 2021 and the following two today. It isn't slow after forming a trunk.

Bismarckia nobilis winter colour.

I purchased seedlings from a reputable seller on palmtalk probably 7 years ago of Brahea calcarea ‘blue’. He stated the seeds came from a known specimen in California and differed from ‘Super Silver’. The most obvious difference being this palm is blue from the start. I unfortunately am down to one but the palm has rapidly developed over the past 2 years. Up until the last flush or so the petioles had stayed pretty much “unarmed”. A trait of calcarea. As of this last set of fronds, nubs or small teeth have started to form. The palm has a lot of similarities to Brahea armata except A)it’s fronds are flat and don’t have a crease in the center like armata B) the palm is drastically faster than a neighboring larger armata. The calcarea was probably a 3/5 gallon 2 years ago and the armata a 15 gallon when planted. Likely by the end of the growing season or early next year the calcarea will have caught up in size. I know that’s not definitive but of note. Both survived mid teens (Fahrenheit) with minimal damage. I covered the calcarea and it took no damage unlike Brahea clara that had minor burn, but was also protected similarly. Does anyone know of the origin of Brahea calcarea ‘blue’? Identifying traits? Any other useful information ? If this one is accurate then it appears to be a hybrid likely with armata. Thanks Brahea calcarea ‘ blue’ in front, armata in rear : Brahea calcarea ‘blue’ old petiole New petiole: Brahea armata petiole:crease in Brahea armata frond:Brahea calcarea ‘blue’: Brahea armata:

Brahea elegans

Brahea clara

Brahea ‘Super Silver’ is thought to be a variant of calcarea, and the petioles appear to confirm that.

A few more species of mine to compare to… Brahea dulcis ‘silver’grows in the eastern half of Mexico

Chamaedorea metallica inflorescence looking colorful today. Tim

Here's a good picture to judge the size. They were both planted together and were the same size. Now the bigger one is producing.

Variegated rhapis, and a nice little dypsis lantzeana!

Small queen palm showing some nice colour.

Spot on I think - most look bad because of neglect and not enough natural rainfall rather than it being too cold. Some of the better ones I’ve seen are out in the outer Eastern suburbs in the foothills of the Dandenongs where it gets pretty chilly but receives more rainfall than near the CBD or around Bayside suburbs. Same goes for Archontophoenix. I will say though, that Ravenea rivularis was susceptible to crown rot for me when young in Spring. It’s grown out of it now, but I suspected it didn’t like cold and wet conditions while it was still establishing. I planted in a cooler area of the garden in mostly shade intentionally based on what I’ve seen with specimens that dry out too much, but I think that’s the opposite risk when you go too shady and cold. The best one in Victoria I’ve seen is the one at Geelong Botanic Gardens. It gets morning sun but is well protected from all sides from wind and looks to stay quite moist in that area. There are a few mature specimens around Melbourne - this one down the street from my place looks pretty good. Doesn’t look like it gets extra attention but I assume the roots have tapped down deep now. The tree to its north must help with preventing it drying out too much too. I planted this one nearly 25 years ago. It’s the only survivor of about 5 originally planted in this garden. Soil is nearly pure beach sand and no irrigation. This is the result 🤣. And here’s an interesting planting - Singapore Botanic Gardens have them as aquatics. They like it in there in the tropical climate, but I’m certain it would be a death sentence in cooler climates.

I planted these Veitchia joannis as small 4" pots last year and they are rockets in our cool montane tropical conditions growing next to our coast redwood trees.

Got a couple hundred of them in tubes, they seem quite tough and easy to grow so far, already taking 5 degrees celcius this winter. No special protection just sitting outside. And showing good mottling at a young age!