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@SCVpalmenthusiast they wont take our full blazing sun in Phoenix I love the palm I have 3 but have killed 5 trying to grow 1 in full sun!!!

I might have to drag @DoomsDave in on this one and see if he has an idea as to if my one is similar to the one he has and gave you seeds from his palm.

If it’s blackie I wonder if it will look like the one I have.

Itaya, Pinanga and friends.:.

I would agree with ‘the other Tim,’ in that C. pembana has flatter, wider pinnae than C. cabade. I used to have a C. pembana which was removed. it was a more robust palm and a prolific clumper. The C. cabade, I used to have two, both bifurcated only once and grew rapidly with thinner trunks and ‘V’ shaped leaves. The remaining C. cabade, with two trunks, have grown into tall skinny specimens. Tim

It’s pretty but I’m pretty sure it’s not a blackii. Leaves and general configuration are totally different.

Yes , @DoomsDave is very knowledgeable on this palm . Hopefully Dave can shed some light on this for you on the palm you have. Harry

I visited The Huntington yesterday and took a picture of their large clump of R humilis, and a closeup of the leaves, so yes, probably that clump I have in Puerto Rico most resembles Rhapis humilis. Now I have another rhapis across from it on the other side of the path. I'll be posting images of that one soon to help solve the species mystery.

I like winter, I can get my projects done. Building is a lot easier in winter especially sheds and roofs. And the plants get to relax from heat. I can’t be breaking out in a sweat in the garden working to hard we can’t have that in a modern world. Richard

Whelp, this year everybody is flowering. I changed fertilizing around a little and that seemed to do something maybe, to several palms in the yard. Tons of flowers… and mess and seeds. Now three of the Pseudophoenix are flowering this year. I plan to cut them off before the seeds come, but after the stalks mature. The one-Armed Bandit is making another 4 flower stalks…. Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tree is making a few… This fast-growning subspecies turned out to be a slow poke, but an early flowerer… These two regulars out grow it by far, but no flowers yet. I am starting to think the Pseudophoenix Decline is strongly associated with flowering. It is a disease of only mature Pseudophoenix, and the flower stalks definitely create gaps in the crown that collect water all year. The stalk later dies off, and rots under fronds that won’t drop and reveal them for 1year+ sometimes. This seems to accelerate rotting and subsurface damage to the crown. I continue to treat prophylacticly with Daconil, but it’s getting close… where flower stalks sat pressed against the crown all year. I suspect this will turn into an observational study of Pseudophoenix Decline as these age and out grow my ability to treat topically as the gain height. They are already too tall for me to reach the spear. This area of damage penetrated the leaf base/wrap where a flower stalk was pressed all year.

What about an alfredii? I was deciding a few months ago, and im glad I chose the alfredii. Its an elegant palm with beautiful pinnate fronds.

Definitely worth a try if you can plant it on an eastern exposure, between houses, or under a covered patio so that it will have minimum exposure to our afternoon summer sun. I have one on the south side of my house that has been in the ground from a 5 gallon for over 20 years. It has completely defoliated at least 3 times over the years due to winter freezes,but has always come back. Be aware that most foxtails you will find for sale in the valley of the sun are recent Florida imports that are coming from humid South Florida,and have never experienced the extreme heat and single digit humidity levels of the valley. Every plant is an individual with its own genetics, and some may not be able to adapt to the new extremes before calling it quits. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

This was in December of last year . A spathe finally opened and the flowers were beautiful , but no fruit. Harry

A while ago @DoomsDave sent me some seeds . The first three batches were Chamaedorea Oblongata , Ptychosperma Caryotoid , and Chrysalidiocarpus Blacki. When I was taking the lids off to check moisture I think I may have mixed up the lids to the containers . The id was written on the top. I’m fairly confident they are not Chamaedorea . Harry trying show seed sorry , dirty hands. Been gardening Thanks for whatever help you can give . Dave said wait until it shows a jagged leaf edge . He’s leaning towards Dypsis/Chrysalidiocarpus. The pot in front has the two smallest sprouts . Happy with the yield on this micro batch. Harry

This cycas was a gift from a friend, it was too top heavy for him to pick up after it kept on falling over. Planted about 2 years ago and it has had a good flush of leaves, which leaves me wondering what is this cycas varietie!

Any leaf litter from trees or soil in the crown can do it too, mine is done from being laid down in the nursery before i bought it 3 years ago. All the fronds from then on had issues, i just thought it would grow out of it. Like you say, they dont drop old leaves fast enough. Not sure what to do with my others now, since the open yard will get frost most years. Hopefully yours are fast enough to push it aside

Bloom time for the Coelogyne In the garden. Tim

My guess is that it protects the apical meristem & soft, developing fronds/flowers from grazers/insects. Once fronds are fully hardened off they are less palatable. Much the same reason why many palms have red emergent fronds (red leaves resemble brown, dead leaves in monochrome, keeping herbivores away from leaves that have yet to harden off). Not sure how they would help in wind storms; if anything, one might expect an adaptation against wind would allow the wind to pass through more easily, not the opposite.

Only trouble with that idea is that most of the time the fruit hangs down below the crownshaft, which therefore isn't much of a deterrent, unless whatever it is that wants to eat the fruit is coming down from the crown of leaves.

Oh my , @Merlyn those were some beauties! Sorry for your loss on those. Harry

First year of multiple blooms on my Brachychiton discolor and on the skyrocketing shoot from the rootstock of my dwarf grafted Jacaranda plant.

Like the thorns and needles on other palms . A defense mechanism? Harry

“Cheap at half the price “ , as Mum would say! Sounds like Australia is as bad as US taxes ( aka tariffs) . I may have to take out a mortgage or sell my pedally for that .🤔 Harry Edit: actually $500 is pretty fair for all those super rare palms! I just looked them over . Happypalms has good prices , but I may have to trim my order a bit! Cheers!

Pritchardia pacifica opening a new frond

Geonoma pycnostachys, I absolutely love this palm!

Licuala fordiana.

Dypsis black stem, not black petiole.

Ouch! Those were expensive at that size. I do think they can be moved out of the way of the power poles. They haven’t been in the ground that long. It ain’t gonna be cheap though. Harry

You can see why they call the cabadae the blue cane palm, very distinctive colour.

Yes , and then , if the palm has fruit , it can take more than a year for them to turn red! Red is good.👍 Harry

Thank you for the response . I was pretty sure I had the lids right but couldn’t be certain. Learning as I go. Either way I am stoked. Now , if they survive the transition into the pots …… Harry🤞

Patience Grasshopper! Soon enough you’ll be up to your eye teeth in seeds. I concur with @Harry’s Palms .

I would say I'm 90% sure that those are Chrysalidocarpus over Ptychosperma.

One thing I can promise: they won’t be ugly! I’d never send anyone ugly palm seeds, or seeds to ugly palms.

Time will tell mon Ami!

So sweet , I just love these. I’ll take two of each!😂Harry

@sonoranfans About the same story around here , in SoCal. We had a few small , independent nurseries that were so cool . I would visit them regularly and they knew that I liked palms . They would sell me old stock , that needed to be planted out or potted up , at reduced prices . The big box used to have many varieties of palms for reasonable prices . The whole nursery business has changed so now I go to private growers that I met here on Palm Talk. We still have one nursery that sells some interesting palm species but they are not cheap , reasonable , but no deals. I did buy a neglected Livistona Australis there for $100 in a large pot , marked down from $140 . That being said , I just last week bought a couple of Ravenea Rivularis in 10” pots that were on the clearance rack for $3 each . They were healthy , just needed to be potted up. Reminded me of years gone by. Harry This was from the nursery that sells unique palms …..for a price! A Syagrus Schizophylla for $45 . Not a killer deal but given how slow these grow , fair.

I’d say that’s a pembana, @Cape Garrett ! They kinda sit awhile then EXPLODE in height. Here’s some of mine after about 10-15 years in the ground.

The Roystonia Oleracae is a better alternative to the Regia , in areas that can grow them . The fronds are no more deadly than a large Archontophoenix. True , not quite the statement as a Regia , but very nice looking palm with a more slender trunk . They are , as our friend @DoomsDave says , “swamp things” . Meaning they love tons of water . Harry

@Tyrone i hope you have success , they are lovely palms . The R. Regia has proven to be quite resilient here in Southern California . I just didn’t have room at the time . It had to be tough to have your prior collection removed by the new owners. My old house still has a lot of the palms I planted 30 years ago. Every time I pass by on my way home , I get a smile . I was only there 7 years so a lot of my collection was still potted and got planted here . I don’t know if the greenhouse is still in the backyard , I really miss that feature. Harry

My Roystonia Oleracae drops its fronds on occasion . I try to cut the fronds from the base prior to it happening to reduce the risk of any damage to my other palms. The Oleracae isn’t nearly as heavy as Regia ( also a bit more tender to grow) . I chose it because it is not as massive as the Regia . The tree is getting to the point of being too tall to reach though. Harry This was a couple of winters ago after a trimming of the Syagrus on the left . I was told that it would not survive in my area so I planted it under the Queen Palm for a bit of protection.

Very nice !! Those fronds can be dangerous if they fall at the wrong time. They can also wipe out understory plants. Harry

We need somewhere to post the brom flowers!

The One Armed Bandit’s first flower spathes (two) are emerging this week. Will be interesting to see what they do over time.

***update*** my burnt palm pushed out a new leaf. I have kept this palm under a shade cloth, 50% shade. It has thrived in that environment and the burning has stopped. Meanwhile the new leaf was slowly growing and here it is.

Thank you. The interesting thing is , I never expected it to be silver. It was such a dark green for the first few years. I know these palms hybridize easily so who knows. I bought it from a palm collector who has since passed on but he swore it was not Capitata. No way of knowing. Harry

As requested, a pic of my silver Butia. Planted April 1998, came in a seedling tube with bladed fronds only so very new to the world.

It is a shame that they would even consider demolishing a garden of palms after so many years. I hope the city sees the wisdom of keeping the palms , that is one of the tallest Hyophorbes that I have seen. We can’t even grow those here in Southern California where I am.

I am new to this forum but I will try to get a picture of it and post it. Yours looks like it has a bit of silver but it could be lighting.

@Palmlover1234 where are you?