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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. 😊

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.

Coccothrinax borhidiana.

Syagrus stenopetala.

Beccariophoenix alfredii.

Copernicia macroglossa.

Copernicia baileyana hybrid (I think).

As noted, the crownshaft on these is just beautiful; here’s one of mine. Forgive the blow up pandas, my wife won’t let me get rid of them. One of those battles not worth fighting..:)

I have finally been able to bring the three main species of Beccariophoenix together in my Oakland CA garden. B. Alfredii has been growing well from 1 gallon and has really picked up speed this past year (prob close to 4 ft or so of frond length. B. fenestralis has been slow but solid from a 1 gallon as well for the past 3 years (hard to see this palm as its protected and covered by other plants). B. madagascariensis has proven to be very hard for me to track down until this past week in San Clemente! I was able to get a masterfully grown 15 gallon and drove it back to Oakland in my car with palm fronds slapping my son in the face in the passenger seat! B. fenestralis with nice windows! 3 years in the ground. B. madagascariensis with Acanthophoenix rubra in the ground for 2 days lol. Looking good with the recent rains! B. alfredii with beautiful purple petioles and fast growth.

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.

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.

Leptotes bicolor is blooming. It seems a little early but I should check photos from past years to confirm my suspicion.

Beautiful sunset at Mission Bay Park during San Diego’s hottest March weather on record.

Greigia sphacelata, a big Chilean bromeliad with edible fruit. I grew these from seed several years ago, easy and tough.

Some Vandas I got to take care of recently while I was in Florida.

I think I've figured the I.D. of the remaining two original post broms. The grey bloke flushed pink in the sun and is I believe Aechmea pineliana. The red spotted one looks a lot like a cultivar of Neoregelia marmorata. They perform a suitable explosion out of the gelignite box!

Hi everybody I was just browsing googlemaps to have a look at places, that I know are interesting for palm enthusiasts in Greece. In this case, there is a very nice private property with lots of palms. Just next to it, I discovered that particular specimen (see link below), that looks a bit like a Cocos, but I think it is a Beccariophoenix. I would rule out Cocos Nucifera, because I don´t think the climate in Katakolo would support a Cocos in long term. Can anyone confirm this? Other suggestions? Λεωφ.Ομήρου - Google Maps

Hi Tracy, no they haven't flowered yet, so no fruit. The fruit are known as Chupones or Chupon in Chile and are sold in local markets, according to this website: https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/chupon/ I don't know how old or big they need to be before flowering but my biggest ones are already a metre high, so hopefully not too much longer...I'm keen to try the fruit.

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. 🤞

I am moving and unfortunately need to get rid of some of my larger palms that I can't easily move or fit into the shorter greenhouse at my new place. I have grown almost all of these from seed over the last 15 years or so. I am located about an hour and a half NW of Houston, TX and am not sure who would be interested/able/willing to buy these? Maybe donate to Moody Gardens or some other botanic garden for a tax deduction? Trying to avoid just cutting them down and not getting at least something for them. Anyone have any ideas? These include: Adonidia merrillii, Ptychosperma elegans, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, and Cocos nucifera 'Tahiti Red Dwarf'.

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.

I live in Southern California about 20 miles from the ocean . With our soil , I have never found the need to fertilize Phoenix Roebelini. They do like a lot of water , especially when it is hot out . As @Kim said , it was a very warm , extended heat pattern early this year. That could’ve had something to do with what is going on with yours. I would continue with regular watering and it should grow out of it . Harry

Super cool for you to assemble the avengers. I have always wanted to plant fenestralis but have been wary of it being "less hardy". Not sure how it would do with occasional frost/prolonged cool/wet. Alfredii just grows right through our winter in Fresno, seems to be the easiest to grow maybe?

@dimitris most probably can give an explanation on the existence of this odd palm in Katakolo lol!

Thought I'd share a few pics from my yard after a rather chilly winter - the Central Valley of California had a record-breaking fog event from late November through about the end of 2025. Temps stayed in the 40s for 360+ consecutive hours - no freezing, no frosts, just consistently cold and wet with next to no sunshine for nearly a month. Most palms grew right through it, but a few of the more tropical species really hated this - I rehomed a few to warmer (drier/sunnier) climates down south. Here are a few shots from today - everything in growth mode as we're getting 80s and 90s consistently - racing toward the 100s too! In just a matter of weeks winter will be a far memory as we bake in the 100s until we cool again in October. Archontophoenix tuckeri - grown from seed from @DoomsDave. I'm pretty sure you threw a handful of seeds at me during one of my visits to your place. Trunking archontophoenix cunninghamia in the back. Seed-grown howea forsteriana & allagoptera peeking in behind tuckeri. Syagrus rommanzoffiana - nothing special, but I recently did clean up the trunk, which makes it look 10x nicer. A shot of my front yard - the pink Handroanthus is just about done blooming. Below it I have Brahea Super Silver, Brahea Pimo, and closest to the bottom is a Jubaeopsis affra, recoving from an irrigation mishap in summer of 2024. The irrigation timer went offline mid June while we were out of the country traveling, and this whole area went without water for 2 weeks. Jubaeopsis took that personally. It's been slowly recovering from that 'drought' event. Handroanthus umbellatus was in bloom just a few weeks ago. This is Livistona speciosa. I grew this from seed, and gave the rest to folks in Southern California. Does anyone have any still growing? I think some of them may have gone at palm society auctions. Chamaedorea hooperiana - The ficus roxburghii looks so pretttyyyyy in the back with all that new growth Sabal uresana - looking stretched. This thing is slowwwwwwww This is the view out our back door. Arcontophoenix tuckeri on the left. The red amaryllis is an heirloom passed down from a neighbor before she passed. Phoenix rupicola. You can spot the Brahea Super Silver in the background. The silver-ish palm below it is Chamaerops humilis var. argentea. There's a Cycas deboaensis on the bottom right that will need to find a permanent spot. I have a habit of putting plants in temporary spots, then moving them when I decide on a permanent spot. I feel like plants develop much better in the ground than in pots. They also benefit from regular irrigation being in the ground, and I don't have to worry about forgetting to water them in pots. This little corner area is filling in so nicely, and will become very thick with vegetation as plants keep growing. Beccariophoenix alfredii is in the far back. Ravenea glauca is center toward the left. Sabal mauritiformis is off to the right. Cycas revoluta x deboaensis is front and center. Lastly, a shot of a Clytostoma callistegioides flower, and a Dendrobium chrysotoxum which I have in bloom. The Dendrobium is grown inside a greenhouse. The last photo is of my plumerias waking up after a chilly nap. I had lots of rot to deal with this winter. BONUS - see if you can spot the Chrysalidocarps prestonianus... It went into the ground directly as a 4-inch plant from Floribunda some 5 or 6 years ago. Almost forgot the Chrysalidocarpus decaryi as well. Decaryi doesn't like the prolonged cold/wet conditions, but it grows out of damage fairly quickly - and we don't always get those particularly cold/wet winters. Some years we are dry and sunny like the rest of Southern CA.

That Butia is nice. It does have some tattered older fronds, but I really like that large crown. I wish it was possible to know which Butias would get that large when buying smaller potted plants.

Friendswood/SE Pearland today The pre-2021 Bismarckia start appearing here The queens around here are more green than not. Fat Butia

Mine came from the same FB batch as Kim's. It went into the ground in March 2019 from a 1 gallon pot. After seven years, it is now about 15 ft (4 m) tall overall with about 4 ft of bare trunk. The color of the trunk is a dull red-orange. Totally carefree. I had never noticed any spines on the crownshaft, but when I looked closely today, I do see very widely separated short spines about a half inch (1 cm) long. Much more conspicuous are the white hairs on the leaflets. I have not noticed these on any other palm species growing in the garden. Could this be a reliable diagnostic character in addition to the coloration? Mine has developed a swollen base.

Thanks for the photos Mike and for starting this thread Kim. It's really striking to me how similar the size of my palms in California are to the ones in Hawaii for both rubra and rousselii. And I know of others with both rubra and rousselii from similar time frames that have plants similar size to mine, so it's not just me getting lucky. When comparing my palms to Hawaii grown palms, it's most common that I have palms still looking like seedlings while the Hawaii growers have palms from the same batch setting seed. Growth rate difference is often 3-5X per year and this compounds over time. For some reason these Acanthophoenix seems to grow nearly as fast (and look about as good) in Hawaii and California. The descriptions do not indicate them growing at particularly high altidudes, and as far as I know La Reunion is quite tropical. No idea why this is the case, not complaining. These are pretty high on the list of tropical palms that have surprising cold-hardiness and ability to grow well in cooler/dryer climates (Heterospathe barfodii is maybe top of the list for me). Matt

Hi Bret, I gave up on trying to clean the seeds, it's just too hard. They germinate anyways. Disclaimer that I have never waited it out to see if I actually get a good overall germination rate. I got ~10 germinated seeds from several hundred, and then gave the rest to Len, then he got several and I think tossed them. I thought it was maybe because our climate is not ideal that the seeds were not great, but Jeff Marcus said he has had the same experience, super slow and then very sporadic germination. The seedlings seem pretty easy despite the starting so small. This all applies to A rousselii. My A rubra haven't flowered yet, but I germinated from three different years off of Dennis' plant. One batch gave very high germination rates and the seedlings were very robust - I literally did not lose a single seedling after germination out of maybe 50-60. I just could not kill those plants. The other batches I got either no germination, or low germination and all the seedlings died within a couple months after germinating. I'm generally convinced that conditions during seed development can impact not just germination rate/seed quality, but also the health and robstness of seedlings for at least the early stages of development. Matt

In an area full of Copernicia's:

Fascicularia bicolor looking fancy today. Growing next to its fellow Chilean, a young Jubaea. Pup for scale!

Achmea recurvata var. benrathii, as ID'd by @Looking Glass a year ago...looking pretty.

Have no idea what any of these are, I just like the variety of shape, texture, and color they give the garden. If it’s not a palm, a memory deficit disorder kicks in. Anyway, the lighting was perfect this afternoon and my phone was in hand. Tim

Also, also on the subject of broms...Puya chilensis flowering for the first time at my place. These pics are from two years ago but thought they might be of interest. Big, spikey, unruly plants, wouldn't recommend for small gardens!

Same crew plus a few friends, one growing season later. Have coloured up nicely. Still no idea of the identity of the grey strap leafed bloke in the third pic.

That's interesting. The Archontophoenix teracarpa (not an official species, and who knows what it might actually be) at Hollis Garden are in full sun as well, and don't seem to mind. Archontophoenix alexandrae are also at Hollis in full sun.

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.

I finished up most of the backyard, and have a LOT of free mulch. This stuff is ridiculously stabby. I spread it all around the main rear and SW beds...I bet the local bear won't like it much! I've started calling this the World's Meanest Mulch(TM). Here's the center backyard before pruning: And after pruning and taking out most of the weeds: There's a Copernicia Fallaensis on the right of center, just behind the Sabal Lisa. It took 100% burn, but just opened up a brand new frond. The small Beccariophoenix Alfredii triple in the center back are probably all D-E-D. Two of three spear pulled with 100% frond burn. I'll probably yank these and replace them instead of waiting to watch them turn to mush. The Encephalartos Gratus (bottom left) and triple Ituriensis/Whitelockii (behind the Fallaensis) provided a good 20+ foot diameter layer of the World's Meanest Mulch(TM). I made it by clipping off the ~10' tall frond and then using the hand pruners/loppers to just knock the leaves off the rachis: I'm impressed by the Fallaensis. The new fan was a growing spear during the cold front, and looks almost perfect. The old fans were burnt, but the stems/petioles are mostly green. There's another green spear tip about halfway up the left side of the below photo. Despite not being super "leaf hardy" the palm skated right through 22.5F...

Have you tried the fruit yet and if so, did you like it. Photos of the ripe fruit would be appreciated too. The only flower/ fruit from a bromeliad I have eaten is pineapple. I am always interested in edible tropical to add to the garden.

Thanks for the replies. Maybe one of our greek friends in PT passes by and takes better pictures

How probable is it, that by cutting out competitive roots, one creates entrances for root pathogens? Could such a side effect be prevented or the risk be reduced with adding special trichoderma strains in to the new hole?

Selling 2 Archontophoenix Myolensis I have that are outgrowing some 5gal pots and would love to be planted in the ground. These are the last of a group that I started from seed of the mature specimens that I have in my yard. Asking $30 ea. Local pick up in Huntington Beach, Ca. only. Direct message me if you are interested in purchasing either one of them.

Packing some orchids for the orchid show in Connecticut this weekend: the Nutmeg State Orchid Society. They usually have a very colorful show being in March. Some phals and this 40 year old baggy baby cattleya that must have mossiae in its background. I have at least 5 divisions of this noid and here are 2 in bloom:

Yes, thank you, it does look like Aechmea recurvata benrathii...I reckon you've nailed it. Might need to wait for some flowers to figure out number three.

The one with the black base looks a bit like Aechmea recurvata benrathii, but I’m not 100% sure. The Neoregelia looks like it needs more sun to see what colors emerge. The 3rd…. Who knows?

Geia sou kosta , If you want we could arrange to come over here when you are in Pirgos and take a closer look to my garden ! So you can check closely my Archontophoenix and the other plants in my garden . The big cycad is Cycas circinalis , in its pot are some neoregelias , in front of it the most palms are Beccariophoenix alfredii , one Syagrus sancona , Dypsis leptocheilos , Allagoptera caudata and Arenga englerii .