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@iDesign , I’ve usually taken extra care when bringing palms home from a greenhouse environment , but you probably already know that. I would start with a mostly shady spot , leaving it in its pot for a while , and hopefully getting some advice from those that know that species. The Dypsis palms I brought home from @DoomsDave were more common ( Lanceolata , Basilonga) and Dave was good about giving advice so I planted in a filtered light situation . They are doing well but they weren’t dealing with an environment change . Dave’s climate is similar to mine . The seasonal timing will work in your favor though so I expect you will be successful. That is a beautiful palm , single or even if it splits off later on . Harry on a side note , after thought- Your situation reminds me of a risky purchase from Phil at JM back in about 1998 or so . He had drug out a lovely looking palm , not quite as large as your recent acquisition , actually about half that size in that size container. It was a Roystonia Oleracae ( he referred to it as Venezuelan Royal) . It was love at first sight but expensive . Phil said that it would not make it through a single winter at my place and strongly advised against trying. I had to have it! It was planted as soon as I got home with little protection. It is still going strong and I had no experience or much help. If it’s meant to be…….😊 I know different palm , just thought I would share. Harry

My interior NorCal/Sacramento suburb garden: Bauhinia bloom bonanza this month. Keeps local hummingbirds well fed (B. candida and B. blakeana). That's a Butia yatay in the foreground.

Bauhinia variegata 'rubra' blooming in a 5g pot at a friend's house yesterday-from seed from my tree. Mine lagging behind this year so no blooms yet.

Beccariophoenix alfredii for sure.

My youngest and smallest Encephalartos arenarius is the first one to flush this year.

Mine are blooming too, but almost no leaves after a quick January freeze and no rain since December. Not sure but maybe the same species as yours. Plenty of seeds coming!

I can't imagine soil conditions where organic matter wouldn't be of benefit, maybe in a cactus garden? Humus aids uptake of nutrients by increasing mycorhizal or beneficial fungi, increasing cation exchange, directly physically improving the soil structure and drainage by encouraging earth worms...ie basically brings the soil back to life. Rainforest soils are often a layer of leaf mould humus over leached clay subsoil, and palms, notoriously, like growing in rainforests! I'd say that if you already have the palms planted on mounds for drainage, then mulch can only be a good thing.

Like a lot of tropical fruits,they do ripen quickly. Green one day, black the next! 😄👍 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Yes, it was a perfect picture, I didn’t even need to crop it. Not too much rain here in San Diego, but very warm to hot weather all winter long. I believe I had only two morning lows of 44 degrees this whole winter with many days above 80 and even 90 degrees. Pretty unbelievable, even for San Diego’s inland urban areas.

I had the pleasure of getting a tour of @oliver's garden and thought I would share a few photos of the palms he has growing that survived 2021 freeze and I was able to photograph. He also has a Raphia sp. (sese?) planted next to a resaca so it stays wet. First up Tahina spectabilis.

Last night I realized the boots of my seed-grown Roystonea violacea were ready to fall off. I peeled them away and discovered about 18" of pink/purple trunk. It's the real deal! It is the sole germination success of 20 seeds I bought from RPS 6-7 years ago before customs cracked down on plant material from overseas. See link below for more info on this rare, endangered palm from the eastern tip of Cuba. https://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Roystonea_violacea It survived Hurricane Ian last year with only windburn and a 60-degree lean to the south. It has since straightened to almost vertical and replaced damaged fronds so only the boots remained to hide its trunk. In the photos below you can see scars on its crown shaft from hurricane debris. Eventually, it will grow out of that damage. It will be smaller (up to 50') and more gracile than behemoth Roystonea regia. Still a juvenile, however, but I hope I live long enough to see it flower. Roystonea violacea, Cape Coral, FL, October 2023

Germinated Chrysalidocarpus onilahensis sprouts from my tree. Not exactly sure how may are in the bag but my guess would be 75-100. $50 for the whole bag. Shipping in CA only. PM if interested

Copernicia fallaensis.

Medemia argun. He has a flowering male and female but not getting any seeds yet. He hopes to do some manual pollination as soon as the female is ready. 😊

Coccothrinax borhidiana.

Syagrus stenopetala.

Beccariophoenix alfredii.

Copernicia macroglossa.

Copernicia baileyana hybrid (I think).

The first 2 hippeastrums in bloom this year, I have about 100 in the garden

Bringing back this older thread since I was able to join the “Malcomberi hybrid” club. 😎 Was in Josh’s greenhouse (he just had this one), and I’m loving the brilliant white color of the trunk (top covering has some minor marks, but I’m being careful not to touch the base). I set it down to take this photo, but am now debating its final placement. I assume I shouldn’t give it full (California) sun, but can it handle a “mostly sunny” spot? Or should I give it one of my few “mostly shade” spots? I’m pretty nervous about this palm, due to the low success rate by growers near me that are much more experienced than I am. FYI, mine is a single trunk at the moment. Josh showed me two in his garden… one is still single, and one has split. Both were stunning. Thank you for any care info you can offer, esp in regards to light levels. ☀️ Oh, and the white doesn’t wash off in heavy rain, right? I know it comes off if you touch or scratch it, but i don’t need to shelter it from rain, right? (not that San Diego gets much). 🌨️ Really hoping this one thrives. 🤞

2026 update...and yep, still thriving! The overall width on the last several sets of fronds has widened substantially, with them starting to encroach on my Syagrus campylospatha. Also, comparing the trunk height, the new growth appears to me to be emerging several inches taller; last years shows about at eye height on the statue, this year eyebrow height.

Seed grown, beautiful specimen in a 15Gal pot. 8” caudex, ready to be planted. Located in SoCal. $400obo

The difference is that I am not claiming a theory, just stating a hypothesis that weather is disrupted or altered(not catastrophically so) locally if enough cloud seeding has been done. I would be interested in data. I don't need to be spoon fed science, and data will be necessary to disprove an hypothesis. If the podcaster doesn't have knowledge of sufficient data to back his assertions, its just an alternate hypothesis that is untested. And untested hypotheses ( like mine about cloud seeding altering regional rain amounts) do not prove anything. Bring on the peer reviewed research data, hold off on the podcasting. Science that is not empirically backed has its limitations, especially with complex systems.

https://www.sfwmd.gov/weather-radar/sfwmd-forecast Side note but if you live in southern Florida and you're not using the SFWMD page as your primary rain forecast, you should be. It's remarkably accurate, I check it every day when they update it around 9:30 am. TWC can't tell you with more than 50% accuracy if it's going to be raining an hour from now in Florida. I'm not sure if the other Water Management Districts in Florida put out a similar forecast or not. I couldn't find anything the one time I searched for them.

That Medemia is incredible! I had no idea there were any mature specimens in cultivation, let alone any of that size. A second generation of those two palms would be a great achievement. Ryan

I live on Atlanta red clay. I had a similar thought many years ago. Organic matter helps a lot here and pine straw on top helps trap soil moisture. Another enthusiast, from the low country of NC, said absolutely NOT where he lives. He said because of the mucky ground up his way, many people plant on berms. It made sense. Every place has different soil issues to contend with.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12728217/ Now that is some advanced hand waving, not enough real science here either way to prove or disprove a hypothesis on impact of cloud seedling. I want to look at data before making conclusions, Scientists of the day didn't believe Newton saying a large ball and a small ball fall at the same rate till he took the data. This is much more complex to take data and render conclusions. I don't think there is even close to enough data to fully support a theory, and we are not even collecting the kind a of data needed and never did. If data isn't collected does that mean it doesn't happen? I support data collection/monitoring and reporting of cloud seeding events in terms of tonnage of silver Iodide dropped as it is toxic to aquatic life and yet its overwhelmingly the seeding method used. If it doesnt work, why do they increase its application? As for what happened in the distant past with drought without cloud seeding, you assume only cloud seeding can cause drought which is a flawed argument, not science. Changes in ocean thermocline patterns are known to have changed the jungle in north africa to the sahara desert, but that took about 10,000 years to rearrange the flow of thermohaline currents. Cold ocean currents are why the west coast is dry and the east coast is humid, if they change so will the climate. Obviously humans struggle with weather prediction at longer time scales than a month or two. When we fail to predict the weather patterns in the future, we look at them after time and try to deduce the cause. Theories for causality determined after an event are interesting but are not certain in linking causality, they just show just correlation. I won't close the book on hypothesis involving cloud seeding based on anything said here. Some limited records on cloud seeding are available in the above link and 13 western states have done it since 2000. And over the last 2-3 years it has increased. As far as prior to 2000, there are no records and the cost was likely pretty high. More important is how many tons of Silver Iodide have been sprayed into the atmosphere each year by each state? Could be 10x more weight in 2025 than 2000. Its cheaper than ever these days to seed, but tonnage is not even recorded as far as I know.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWprkBLDd1d/?igsh=MTBoc2JrZWY4dDQ3NQ== Alocasia Polly split. Got 12 corms out of it before my dumb ass threw the old soil in the yard. Guess who went digging with a flashlight? I found 10, I figured that's enough. I'll find the others in the morning. Or I'll have alocasia growing in the yard, whatever.

A nice bit of red and green getting around in the pots! Chambeyronia macrocapa Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana Johannesteijsmannia Altifrons

This big Encephalartos Hildebrandtii also got completely burned. But the Dioon Rzedowskii in the bottom right looks like nothing happened! The Attalea Butyracea on the right side took about 50% damage but should pull through. And after pruning it has about 6 great looking fronds, and a new flush starting on the offset. They flush bronze, so it it hard to spot. Just around the corner one of my big Beccariophoenix Alfredii just opened up a new frond! The tips of the new frond are a touch burnt, but otherwise it looks great! Below it from left to right are an Encephalartos Kisambo with 2 or 3 short fronds in good shape, a Natalensis "Oribi Gorge" with no damage, and a Turneri "Boila" that took about 75% burn. These are the Encephalartos after pruning, with a new flush in an Encephalartos Chimanimaniensis "Choala" circled in the lower left: And this is what it looked like before, with the photo taken from the right side of the above one:

There’s always room for one more palm (somewhere) Iam tucking them in anywhere I can!

Hippeastrum sending up inflos at the correct time of year.. Salmon flowered Four O' Clock awakening from it's winter nap. " Beavertail Season " begins.. Looks like the specimens planted in this yard will beat the ones at the old house this year. More buds on these than the ones over there this year too. Dracopsis amplexicaulis Clarkia amonea ( Farewell- to - Spring ) getting ready to say goodbye to Spring. Good morning, Delonix regia. Nice to see you awake..

Down here in south Florida, my Pseudobombax ellipticum has been dropping leaves the last month, and today at 5pm these six leaves in the red circle are the last leaves to fall. and flower buds about to open. and the very first flower this season already dropped.

Next set of actors on the " Spring Season " Botanical Stage : Vachellia farinesia starting to really kick into gear after several hot days.. Flowering enough now that the scent will waft across the street at night from time to time. A muchly subdued " Grape Soda Season ".. Could be the hot winter, Could be the lack of rains but ..while they are blooming, overall, this years' show isn't as great as others for the TX Mtn Laurel across the street / elsewhere around the neighborhood. Bursera fageroides continuing to take it's time shedding seed. ..while it and B. silviae, from the pacific section of Oaxaca in far southern Mexico, start showing signs of awakening form their winter naps. Will be interesting to see if it ( B. silviae ) has an enhanced flowering cycle this year. Can't remember which year it was but, after a similarly mild winter, it exploded with flowers. Much more than it has in subsequent years. Wet looking branch tips = good sign these trees ..the ones that go nekked for the winter, will be leafing out shortly. Uncarina peltata awakening ...about 3 - 4 weeks ahead of schedule. Adenium x also responding to the heat. Other specimen next to it has started moving again as well. Clitoria mariana = Love that blood red, new foliage. As with the winter / dry season - dormant Bursera, Wet / glossy looking stem / branch tips = next step in Plumeria awakening from their naps.. Watching the second carefully since, if ..what looks like a hint of inflo formation to come is legit, it would the first of the seedling plants to attempt flowering. Erythrostemon palmeri responding as expected to this weeks' heat Penstemon palmeri and Oenothera pallida trial plots coming along nicely.. weird how they are much further along than the P. palmeri i planted against an east facing wall, that gets sun earlier than the plants planted in the back bed that gets sun until it descends over the back wall. Fingers crossed but, this attempt at growing ..which ever.. Asclepias species i'd collected down south is looking like it might succeed. Wild Sunflowers should be in bloom ..shortly.. Senna polyantha, currently hidden behind the Sunflowers, is also starting to move. While it won't be a great year for these TX natives either, at least this years batch of Lupinus texanus made it ..Most of 'em, lol.

Butia purperesisSometimes you get a a hundred seeds and for some reason or other you only get one seedling, and then that one becomes pretty special. Here’s a couple of one offs that I may never get a chance to get seeds again of that variety! Geonoma bondariasyagrus duartedypsis heterophylla

I posted the same photos and info in the Freeze Damage thread here: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/92659-2026-florida-palmageddon-observations-and-damage-photo-thread Here's a view of the windy 22.6F and then 24.4F with light frost does to the backyard: The two Bottles on the right were already badly damaged from previous upper 20s frosts. The foxtails and fishtails on the right are almost completely brown. Oddly enough the Ptychosperma Schefferi just behind the Bottles looks discolored but maybe ok? I really thought that one was a wimp? The Alfredii looks much worse today than yesterday, and has turned a sickly olive. To the right of the Alfredii a Cryosophila Warscewiczii looks really good, but Cyphophoenix Nucele and Elaeis Guineensis "Whole Leaf" mutant are torched. On the left a Dioon Spinulosum and Dypsis/Chrysalidocarpus Lanceolata are torched. Elsewhere Lutescens and Pembana are equally burnt. Not quite visible is a badly burned Attalea Brejinhoensis, and of course on the far left a Sabal "Lisa" looks like nothing happened. Up front I had more tender species, since it's usually a few degrees warmer in the front yard: The 3 Kings on the right are likely dead, the Arenga Pinnata hard to say, and the giant Encephalartos Ituriensis is defoliated. The Arenga Pinnata new spear is brown at the tip but green further down, so it might grow out soon? Around the front a bunch of Encephalartos are also badly burned, with Ituriensis, Laurentianus and Gratus x Laurentianus at least partially defoliated. The "Jesse Durko" bamboo is rapidly becoming a mass of sticks: On the East side the Philodendron Selloum turned to stinky mush the first night. On the far left a Butia shrugged it off, but a pair of Kings are scarlet red. Just below the octagon window another Elaeis Guineensis is torched just as bad as the background fishtail and right foreground Arenga Pinnata. The box in the bottom foreground covered a Corypha Umbraculifera. With the box as protection the fans were burnt off but the petioles and new spear still look ok: Just to the left of the above photo a pair of 20+ foot Alfredii still look tattered but reasonably decent. The Encephalartos Kisambo shrugged it off:

Big honkin pot.

Cocos nucifera in Malta update. A sunny day after a series of rainy and windy days. There is some significant damage, hopefully it will make it through winter

Hi Jon, we'll keep you updated on Facebook... I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year on the forum.

At it again with a few seedlings that need to be lifted and potted up. The usual method, standard approach that is a bit of afternoon fun. A few rps dypsis confusa, along with more rps Calyptrocalyx forbesii, some local are a vestria red form, and a gift of 3 Chambeyronia seeds that have a close resemblance to cyphophoenix elegans apparently, some imported licuala punctulata, they all should keep me out of trouble for a day or two over the next t few years.

January 2026 Cocos nucifera in Malta update

Richard I didn't know that monitor lizards existed in Australia too. I thought they were only in Asia ? never seen one in my life

2025 update...still thriving! Looking at last year's pics the trunk does appear to have swelled in diameter.

This should be a good temp/humidity level for my room? (yeah i know its HOT)

oh, OK.... I went and took a pic.. just shy of 4' diameter at base, maybe 44".