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Here’s my Cycas Panz x Debo coming alive. -dale

I have tried growing Vanda coerulea twice. The first one survived a couple of years and the second attempt was similar in duration. They don't seem to like my damp and cool winters. That is a lovely Vanda you have. I am happy that this third attempt with Epidendrum lacustre Panamanian variety is thriving still after 4 years. The flowers aren't especially large or colorful, but I love their structure.

These 2 Cycads basically never stop flushing and flushed right through the winter. Encephalartos Cleopatra x True blue Arenarius.

I have lots of Cycads flushing right now! Like Dale said this is an exciting time of year. Here is Hor Wood x Are Wood(aka bride of frankenstein) I can definately see the Horridus starting to come through.

When I planted the two (another a few plants down the wall), I realized that it could be a temporary planting due to the ultimate size. I'm just enjoying them while I can. I still have a few inches between the footing of the wall and the edge of the plant, so still some room before they cause a problem. Speaking of big green cycads, my wife actually likes the Encephalartos laurentianus on the other side of the wall best. She isn't a fan of getting poked by my cycads, so that says a great deal. One of my favorite greens is starting to flush now. It will never be as giant as the Encephalartos ituriensis, but with time, it can get big.

They shouldn't have built that so close to the palm!

squashed queen palm

Two more smaller but well tended. These trees are ubiquitous and when the fruit starts falling in early summer, it gets very messy!

What you said about the color of the Purpurea is interesting, as is your comment about its growth. Of course, I can't just compare its size based on how long it's been planted; there are many other factors. Although I read that it tends to be one of the more delicate varieties and grows somewhat more slowly than other Archontophoenix species... but I don't know if that's true, and many factors are involved. They arrived today, and yes, it's definitely a Purpurea. In person, you can see the difference in the crown cap, although it's young, and I imagine that when that old leaf falls off, it will be more noticeable, especially when it's a bit more mature. I love learning from such passionate people on this forum. I'm grateful for the patience you show in explaining things. I've had hardly any luck on another forum in my country, and nobody shares information there.

@Than this is my Albang entering warm season after a comparatively rainy winter. I think, given my xerothermic summer and water cost, is the best result I can achieve regarding its appearance. I expect from now on a progressive deterioration.

I can’t see any major problems that will lead to progressive deterioration. I have seen worse looking than that. I will say keep the water up to them in summer archontophoenix are thirsty and to look there absolute best they need to drink.

Lots of commonly planted palms in CA need extra water to survive. Syagrus, Archontophoenix, Howea, etc. They all need more water than most Sabal species. By the way, I have a humongous Sabal bermudana on my side yard.

CIDP is not nearly as slow as sabal palmetto, and they are one of the few choices for a really cold hardy pinnate palm. ANd people like the pineapple look architecturally. Most of the CIDP I saw in CA were public plantings and you can grow a phoenix in the heat with much less maintenance than any sabal. They are tough in the desert too, less needy of water than any sabal. Water is expensive out west in my recollection.

The Encephalartos ituriensis flush is progressing nicely and yes it will be big.

Bunch of stuff coming alive in the garden. I’ll post quite a few times here in the coming weeks/months. Love this time of year. Admittedly I don’t know the cross but I believe it’s Longifolius x Princeps. Could be Lehmannii x Princeps as it’s very blue. Who knows….its happy tho. Last year was a 2 Leafer, this year it’s 4. -dale

V. Manuvadee. A favorite blue. been looking for this one for years to replace the one I lost to cold one autumn. Just shipped from a wonderful grower in HI.

I don’t think I have ever seen a sabal in private or commercial landscaping. I haven’t seen them at ant box stores. Only place Ive ever seen one is at a specialty exotic palm nursery. Why is that? Im sure they grow just fine in California.

There’s some cones, there is some flushes but people often ask how do i propagate suckers/offsets or how do i pollinate a cone, how do i know when it’s ready etc….. today i removed a couple nice offsets from one of my female E. Dyerianus plants. A fairly easy process depending on plant location and soil. These happen to be in easy digging soil. I removed the excess dirt around the area of the offset. Today my tools consisted of a hammer and crowbar. Simply placed the crowbar between the offset and main stem and a couple love taps later we have a beautifully removed female dyerianus sucker. I treat these in a fungicide and add a rooting powder to the exposed areas on the offset. Place in perlite or pumice and give it a good water in. Sit back and wait for your roots to grow….

Yeah, it’s growing at a really fast rate. The Maypan Claude is amazing. I took old photos from when it was planted in November 2 today and using the size of the landscape lighting fixture It was able to estimate bole size and current crown diameter and it’s actually projecting that this is gonna have a 16 inch diameter trunk, which is pretty close to its bole size all the way up we even double checked it with a tape measure and gave Claude those measurements and it gave me a two-year estimate and it’s telling us when it’s gonna flower in the fall

Steve - you can't have it both ways mate. What's happening to you with CRB is devastating but you actually needed more government intervention, didn't you?

Speed of growth is important to those who think they may not be in their permanent home. Sabals like heat so they will grow fastest in inland CA. Sabal palmettos are painfully slow even in their native habitat with plenty of fertilizer and water. Nurseries dont want to keep a palm for 5 years so they can sell it. 5 yrs from seed for some sabals is a 10 gallon size. 5 years of care including fertilization means a higher price, less profit, and less sales throughput for a fixed size nursery. If I had a nursery I probably wouldnt offer any sabals aside causiarum, which is very fast. I grew what was called "sabal blackburniana"(bigger than palmetto) in arizona and saw the mother tree, it was not as big as a causiarum but the petioles were 2-3x thicker than palmetto. With 8" rain a year and super hot temps they did well. Sabals are a loser for nurseries unless they are selling in zone 8-9b where just 2-3 percent of all palm species can grow.

Most sabals are slow compared to the alternatives for most people. Washingtonia robusta or filifera are popular widely out west and are fast growers. Among many palms enthusiasts I think fan palms in general are not what they are looking for. Feather palms are more popular in general. There are many choices in california, and some members do have sabals and they look very happy so its not the weather. I think sabals are most popular in colder zones, 9B and lower. They do grow a bit faster than CA sabals but "sabal steve" has shown that S causiarum grows fast in california, he has a monster. If you go to a palm nursery in california you might see 100 species available and the vast number are pinnate palms. I'd say the choices there are vast and if you are unlimited by weather few will be sabals are hundreds of species are available and pinnate palms look more tropical in general. Sabal palmettos and some other sabals are slow in florida to so they plant them with 10' of trunk. I have grown my sabals(uresana, causiarum) from strap leaf seedlings. But in my yard they represent only 2/65 palms, a small percentage.

Exactly! They are east coast palms supposed to grow in the west coast with all implied complications. Water is one, soil pH is another. Put in to equation also the great variety of other more elegant, feather palms suitable for Califorinia, and there you have the answer.

Happy birthday Dear IPS 🎂🎉 Love, Kris ❤️

My biggest Mango is this little Alfonso variety. Not so big even though it has been in the ground here for roughly a decade. They are somewhat uncommon here. This one is actually threatened as well. My wife wants to replace it with a different tree because it so rarely produces viable fruit. It is trying to cooperate. It is currently loaded with flowers.

Likewise, mine seems to grow at pretty much the same rate as a typical forestiana, which is not fast, but nor is it anywhere near the slowest palm I've grown. I don't know about germination rate, but forestiana does naturally grow in big stands, such that the seedlings are very well adapted to and tolerant of low light (and will grow steadily in it for decades), and hence make good houseplants. I don't think belmoreana grows in dense stands like this, so it won't fair so well in low light and hence the reputation for being slower.

The Encephalartos laurentianus flush is progressing better for this time of year than normal. The mild weather has allowed the flush to emerge without wind and rain damage. Sometimes the portion of the leaves above the adjacent 6' block wall succumb to wind shear, but not yet at least on this flush.

Not quite spineless but a very narrow leaflet form of Encephalartos trispinosis on this boy.

Tracy, that looks like the spineless form🤔I have one just like it that just started to flush as well. I will post a pick when the flush gets a little bigger. Steve

Lol I guess if I need to cover it, the way it's growing is I could just coil it up like a hose.

The flushing pup on this Encephalartos trispinosis almost gets lost among the leaves of the main caudex.

An old photo of my parajubaea in the snow in 2018.

Plant it

Thanks for the ID Dan! I figured the botanist should have it figured out by now. I have had this plant well over 20 years!

Nice. Last picture I took of mine was 2023. Bad me. LOL Will get a new one as soon as the rains stop, maybe 3 days from now as we getting "another" Kona Low. This was a 1 gal in 2020.

Yeah dude, it's finally starting to push multiple fronds at a time but they're all crazy and viney. But I absolutely love it, I love weird bendy stuff that does whatever it wants to. And this definitely fits that mold. Maybe I'll try to get it something to climb the next time I'm in the lumber store.

I don't remember what @Scott W said this was hybridized with but I swear it's half sago half pothos.

Stangeria eriopus with a new frond coming

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

I love your garden😍

How its going.

This is my favorite thread. So many beauties! Here’s one that needs no introduction:

I forgot i visited the big Butias along "palm avenue"(old Gaston Av) that has some huge old Butia species that have made it so far this brutal decade! prob also will have many dead leaves again. Tony's unprotected Mex blue palms give me hope my beauties will be ok as they have a lightbulb protective the center bud! Brahea armata in winter coat & bulb the Sabal bermudana only mulched. Here is a couple others in the white ness of this cold Jan!

Needle Palms continue to amaze me! I used to live in Western Montana. I think that Boise is a half or full zone warmer than Missoula. Nevertheless, I would never have thought that a small palm could make it in the ground over even a single Boise winter. That's a good looking Rhapidophyllum.