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The longest day of the year and gloriously gorgeous. Maybe share thoughts or pictures or both.

I’ve had this Syagrus Schizophylla sitting by my front door for a while now . It is pushing a new spear and roots out the drain holes of a very deep nursery pot . What does a “ palm dad “ want to do for Father’s Day? PLANT A PALM. Perfect weather and you know it’s gonna be a great day when you can dig a deep hole in good soil without hitting a rock. When I picked out the spot , I chose a place with full morning sun and afternoon shade . There were a couple of seedlings sprouting ( I have a habit of pushing seeds in the ground in random places about the yard.) I easily dug them up to place in pots , the soil was very easy to dig so I didn’t disturb them too much. One of the seedlings is a C. Radicalis , they are everywhere. The other looked like a Chamaedorea until I got the dirt away from the plant ….attached was a C. Decipiens seed! Yay. So I guess one of the many seeds I had planted , germinated , a very special surprise. The planting of the S. Schizophylla went well and I was done in about an hour . This after a lovely ride to Ventura on my bicycle. I hope the rest of you are having a great day. Harry My special surprise! Chrysalidiocarpus Decipiens It sprouted right next to this C. Radicalis on the right. A very deep pot means a very deep hole! The “birth certificate was buried in the container . Nice info to have I know….my Sketchers are no match for @DoomsDave red Converse!😂 The new spear is just recent , since I acquired the palm. I think it will be happy here , sharing space with a young Archontophoenix C. that is growing rapidly. Harry

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.

Just looking awfully photogenic this morning. Tim

I am happy to report that my 40+ foot tall Royal Palm is pushing out new growth. I was very concerned because it is so close to the house. If it had succumbed to the cold, I would have had to call in someone with a crane to get it out of here. I couldn't take a chance it would fall on the house... But, it is growing. So, a mature Royal palm can survive brief cold down to 24 or 25F.

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.

I've been collecting palms for 23 years and have never had a flowering Chambeyronia. Looks like this C. hookeri in my yard could be my first! 🤞Can't wait to get seed from my favorite palm species!

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!

Chamaedorea Ernest augustii, an old favourite of mine!

Iguanura wallachiana , dypsis minuta!

I just love them, such beautiful palms. And being an ocd collector they suit me just fine! Richard

Blue latania

This view

Oh man , that is terrible. We were in San Diego over Mothers Day and I saw a few naturalized specimens along the freeway that had been infested . Hard to look at. Harry

I have always loved chatting about palms/cycads and plants in general with Maria. I've known her and her sons for the better part of 10 years, and she has always been so kind. Maria was the owner of Sago Rey Palms in Fresno, where she continued the business after the passing of her husband Thomas Wash. I was very saddened to hear of a horrible incident at the nursery over Easter weekend, and further saddened to learn of her passing. She will live on in the memory of many of us here in the area (and out of the immediate area) who have crossed paths with her. My garden is full of plants she cared for and nurtured. If any of you got those really blue Sabal uresana seedlings, they came from Maria. A few photos from her obituary: https://kmph.com/news/local/nursery-owner-dies-after-easter-machete-attack-nephew-faces-murder-charge

Many years ago I got seeds of this hardy north anerican palm and it thrives well in my subtropical climate with cold winters and humidity year round and with fresh/warm summers because of the aktitude : 1030 m (= 3379 feet)

What are those scratches on the crownshaft?

They are very nice. Pretty fast growth , even for Hawaii. It would appear that they like that location . Harry

After two days of 35C / 95F and the hottest day and night in May on record, yet another record breaking heatwave is on the way this June. But first to document the May episode in here… Now onto the current heatwave. Some proper disgusting model output. ARPEGE has Wednesday as the hottest day with 41-42C / 106-108F temperatures. UKV has the highest temperatures on Thursday but is also showing 41-42C / 106-108F. No surprise to see Red warnings issued by Met Office for extreme heat with 40C expected. Probably the most shocking chart yet is the 30C / 86F nighttime minimum on ARPEGE in Somerset for Wednesday night. That is just insanity. Watch this space…

Beauties, one of my favorite palms. I tried one years ago in an exposed location which did not survive. However I’ve had two under canopy since then that are doing just fine. Veitchias in general just scream “tropics”.

It looks like temperature shock, growing in a warm spot, perhaps acclimating to its new home. Let it dry out and keep it in a warm position. Trim of the dying leaves. And as for a rain plan as long as it has good drainage I can’t see why you cannot just place it outside and treat it like any other container palm. Dont fuss over it they are as tough as nails.

Who is growing or at least germinating seeds of this spectacular "cold hardy " palm? Who has more info about the botanic aspects of this apparently new species? I am fortunate to have some seeds germinating. Rarepalmseeds describes it as follow: "A spectacular new Lanonia found at high elevation on limestone hills in northern Vietnam. It is related to Lanonia dasyantha but differs in its larger, very heavily mottled glossy leaf and significantly larger seeds. Like Lanonia dasyantha, it is tolerant of prolonged cool conditions and temperatures that can occasionally go down almost to freezing even in habitat. This is despite its very tropical apperarance, and very much unlike similar palms such as Licuala mattanensis 'Mapu', Licuala sp. 'Kalimantan Mottled' or Licuala maculata, which are very demanding and only grow well in hot humid tropical climates. Lanonia sp. 'Large Mottled' will actually grow successfully not only in tropical but also in warm temperate climates, where it appreciates a protected spot in filtered light. Our seeds were collected only from a very remote, high elevation population where every single plant shows a heavily mottled leaf. Lower elevation populations, also in northern Vietnam show a less intensely mottled leaf even though their seeds are a similar size, see Lanonia sp. 'Less Mottled'" ( pics from the RPS site)

A rare flowering Australian plant, due to habitat lose and fires. This little flower is being seen less and less in my area. They are still in patches here and there, but those patches are getting smaller and smaller. Often seen on roadsides but due to grass cutting in those areas you don’t see them like you used too. It is illegal to pick them as they are a protected plant. They grow in sandy soil in coastal heath land. Such a magnificent flower, being pushed to ed

Never employee him again! Remove the nails and get some pruning wound paint, at least seal the wounds. Oh and good luck!

I know many recommend removing the seed stalk. This may be true but I'm inclined to leave them,I figure the plant knows how to take care of itself and may make it prone to disease or fungus. Wisconsin, man you're one of the few on this forum who have it worse than me. 20 years is legit in Wisconsin. Personally I'd just keep doing what you're doing because it seems to be working

It looks like most of the street views over that way were last updated Nov. 2025. Peninsula Ave. and Atlantic Ave. typically showcase the better microclimates over that way. Last I spoke with the CFPACS president, his was recovering.

I have seen a squirrel eating a lubber last year (2025). It's the only time I have seen it, but I did some research and there is evidence that squirrels actually do snack on the occasional lubber, of course, not enough to help. I did take a picture of it, not sure if it's still on my phone or not. And, yes, I fight the lubber fight every year too, they love my spider and rain lilies most but also seem to eat anything else that is soft tissued, like my Asian pitcher plants (Nepenthes). I also do the roach spray when they hatch but try to use as little as possible. When they mature, I catch them and throw them in the lake. I tried putting them in the pitchers of my Nepenthes, but they always crawl out, I have even had them chew their way out, might be better for the plant anyway, don't know what their toxicity would do to the plant.

I just happened to be driving through Seguin today, and I spotted some nice old palmettos at a city park: Given their height, these are likely quite old. I imagine they have seen some pretty extreme cold, heat, and drought over the decades. I hope you all have a had a happy Father's Day!

🥶😢😱

Metroxylon amicarum gaining size while the feral hogs mine the adjacent landscape.

Hi folks, I'm planting out part of my property with a Dwarf Coconut grove. So far, I have found five distinct dwarf cultivars to try. Interested to see what else is out in the world...I'm sure there are quite a few other dwarf varieties...looking to obtain some if anybody has fruiting specimens... :-) Golden Malay for example...

It’s always been one of favourite palms, knowing they grow so easy in my climate. I just had to order 1000 seeds from rps and ended up with about 700 of them. One of my number one selling palms. A palm as spectacular with black petioles, no thorns and a beautiful silver underside leaf. A perfect deep shade understory palm. They make great patio plants. They will always have place in my garden any day.

They plant out in full sun. My burned a bit at first but the new leaves were fine. My sun is quite a bit stronger here in southwest Florida than your location too. Mine also has 6 foot plus of clear trunk under the crownshaft in 10 years.

I think mine has some watermelon traits. You can see some variegation in the crownshaft. Also, the petioles on mine are green, not the chocolate color one sees on some. There seems to be some variation in hookeri palms.

Mine has flowered 2 or 3 times now but no seeds yet. The spathe and inflorescence looked somewhat dwarfed. Will see what this year brings. Has a larger one now. Started flowering with 6 feet of clear trunk below the crownshaft last year. Planted out in full sun as a 3 gallon in May of 2016, so now 10 years in the ground. Has much more shade now since the gardens have grown. This picture is from September 2025. Good luck with yours.

I’m lucky to have been given a few seedlings of L sp ‘Large Mottled’ Alberto. We’ve had a very mild June so far, so it’s too early too tell how it will go in cool conditions long term but I’d suspect it would be similarly hardy to L dasyantha based on habitat. At the one leaf stage, it looks nearly identical to every other Lanonia I’ve grown from seed.

Yep. Fresh seed makes all the difference. I have a batch of about 40 of these going myself. Now, it's just a matter of time to get them up to my preferable 5 gallon selling size. 😄🌴 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Fair point, I was surprised with how much rain we got in April here on the coast.

Some of my favorites that have no problem with desert extremes include Bismarckia, Brahea, Coccothrinax, Copernicia,, Hemithrinax, Pseudophoenix, and Sabals. Unfortunately, most are slow growers, and somewhat difficult to locate, especially in larger sizes, on the west coast. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Beautiful ! They look quite happy. Harry

I have to say it was beyond disappointing when I worked and prepared 14 years towards finally moving to Hilo, HI, and had everything set up to establish myself there, only to be met with a housing crisis, living out of my car/hotel, and subsequently having to emergently find a new job, which just happened to be in El Centro, CA. If I had moved to Hilo, HI only 6 months earlier, none of this would have happened 😔 Now I have my eyes on Mexico in 5 years to finally have my permanent garden, as it looks like Hawaii and coastal southern California are no longer realistic options for a large palm garden. Either way, though, it's been fun experimenting with palms in the desert and seeing which ones can take the heat. Many palm trees have pleasantly surprised me!

can't say I have ever moved one but mine seems to be a delicacy to gophers and seems to wear the root damage really well. so maybe that's a sign that they dont mind having their roots messed with.

Sabal DeFuniak - May 29, 2026

Perhaps multifrondis or debate sis? Encephalartos natalensis × horridus male flushing. I never removed last year's cones on this boy. It is developing a sizeable caudex with no pups. I have another on the other side of the Aloidendron Hercules, but it has put out a few pups in the last several years. This is a fast grower.

They are beautifulpeople and a wonderful Nursery. About 30% of my collection has came from sago rey and Maria. Her son recently delivered some more palms to me. RIP to maria

Sad to hear of her passing, especially in the manner it transpired.

Good question. Time will tell. If there is a nasty cold snap like back in the 1980s, who knows if the roots will survive and allow the foliage to come back from the ground. The all-time low in Fernandina Beach is 4F, so that would be a challenge.

Here's a pic of the four I planted, taken August 2021. BTW, I have a couple of pots of around 50 rapidly growing seedlings that I have no idea what I'm going to do with.

Yes here is the base of one of mine. The main palms have been in the ground since c1987, planted by the previous owners. The tallest one is about 8 feet. The seeds of these get spread around all over here and they pop up everywhere. That's why I have so many. We live on the edge of a state wildlife preserve so lots of wildlife out here

One more idea: seeing Needle Palm in habitat made me think that perhaps the needles exist to do more than just protect the developing, calorie-rich seeds. Biting ants sometimes colonize the litter and palm "fuzz", too. The ants certainly provide an effective deterrent to a seed predator, I can attest to that! Biting What was quite apparent is that the needles also trap abundant litter. I suspect that the trapped litter isn't incidental, but part of the species' nutrient-collecting design. Since Needle Palm often is found on slopes above river floodplains, litter-trapping might be a strategy to capture nutrients from fallen leaves and other debris that might otherwise wash downslope and be unavailable to the plant.