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I've had one for a few years here in Lakeland: My Progress Thread: Palms and Others of Interest

How things are looking here. My large Grevillea (right) has the vegas lights. Large cat palms, some dwarf Heliconia, and everflowering bottlebrush are on the left - they needed a serious haircut to get them to fit this year. Kangaroo paws and small Grevillea behind the car also have lights. Mountain bottlebrush and narrow leaf bottlebrush aren't getting covered this year, just a little mulch. Everything else gets mulch (or nothing). Arenga sp. usually get buckets over them, but they have now outgrown that. Cham. mircospadix. These seed grown ones are much more vigorous than a large one I bought. They just get mulch poured on them. Cham. cataractum and Cham. radicalis seed. Figured I should actually save some. Only a fraction of what they set this year. The large Heliconia just get mulch piled up around the base. There are three new flowers coming on x 'Coral Surprise' that I'm sad to lose. I'm not wrapping any citrus this year either, only mulch.

Stacks of canopy around here guys, and a stack of kerriodoxas. When is the best time to create a canopy 25 years ago!

But 90% of your yard needing protection is usually far more interesting. Atleast protection from the last few years, not an eventual average one. I drove into Pearland and spent about 4 hours protecting various palms and other species, some didn’t need it, but there’s a good chance all will survive another year . Sounds like a lot but less than most have spent staring at weather updates. last summer

Couple of nice varieties, the masoala has been a bit tricky to work out there specific needs, Iam learning they are a bit like Howea species, in my soil and climate. And I got the basselinas worked out they seem to like my soil and climate. You learn your palms after a while some are tricky others are easy.

His went from worse to catastrophic to just flat out psychotic this is in TN….. that’s insane…. This shouldn’t here ALREADY

Man that is coooooooold!!

It takes patience sometimes . I have learned some tough lessons on easier palms than those . For many years I just grew easy ones , then built a greenhouse to make it easy for some more difficult palms . When I moved to this place with no greenhouse , it got real . I am learning too. Some good looking seedlings , good work there . Keep pushing the boundaries and learning what the little ones want . Harry

ATL at 43° and dry all day

In those conditions it’s hard to keep your plants safe . Even with lights and covering it will be colder than most living things can handle. Good luck . Harry

Wish I got some daylight pics. This is before everything got mummified. Crazy I haven't protected at all this winter and now the forecast is 15F🤦‍♂️

Here’s my smallest. It gets more sun and doesn’t look ideal but again, I’ll take it. -dale

LOL toasty Brownsville actually clocking in a heat index with its 70F dew point

It sure is a challenge and I'm not really sure what the outlook for the next 20 years are. Vegetation just looks stressed . I'm not trying to be all negative I might be overreacting a little bit but I think we really need to keep an eye on how climate change impacts Texas's climate now and future.

This is 100% truth. I got all my protections done. I feel a lot better. This is only my third winter but I have quickly learned that whatever temp they predict during these arctic outbreaks is going to be higher than actual values we'll see. All my palms have been planted this year and a few from the year before so they are not established. I have to take extra precautions. I'm a broken record on this forum saying that I just want an average winter.

I just wanted to say I hope everyone in the path of this nasty winter storm is safe and here’s hoping everyone’s palms and other tropicals make it through.

It’s supposed to be on and off tomorrow and trail off into early Monday, I got everything wrapped and weather proof so nothing should snap and burns. Will see how things do

We shall see. I'm at 16f at the lowest. Not really what I was hoping for but hopefully it gets a little bit warmer. Fingers crossed.

I drove past today and they are still alive

Eh I mean we are leveling off due to the forecast being within 3 days it won’t change as much, the -5F is in 4 days+ so it’s fluctuating. Now -4F but yeah I’d say within 1-3 days least fluctuation 4-10 days don’t trust it yet.

The situation with the ice storm is very very bad. This amount of ice in TN.. ALREADY is a very bad sign. Models could have underperformed this will be going on for a bit longer. I think the “catastrophic level area” has moved away from AR and more into MS and TN.

I’ll look into that. NWS is saying 20 tomorrow night and 21 the following. We’ll see.

NWS even though they have the coldest forecast. Really hope they are wrong but they usually aren't.

I'm encouraged by @Davidlon's remark about its speed. I hope to plant my young guy in a couple of weeks. I'm not in Florida but I bought it in Florida. I've heard that they do better here than alfredii. Mine came with windows too!

I'm always saying that San Antonio isn't zone 9a it belongs in zone 8b with some winters going even lower to 8a7b. Overall what I'm saying is that we aren't anywhere near the winters Texas has seen before 2021 and I don't have a crystal ball to predict future winters. The truth is that we see more weather extremes in both ways due to climate change. Climate is changing in Texas as well and not for the better. There were Queen palms growing in San Antonio for almost 20 years with some already died in the 2010s. Since 2021 it's impossible to keep them alive without proper protection. I'm not going to bet my money on warm winters. Not in this city at least.

Not from the cold just wrapped the spear on 2 of my Butias and covered my 2 Trachies with a plastic bag. I know it's not effective that much but since artic blasts are the new norm now I just say " whatever" . If they pull through , great if not I might just go all Sabal in the future.

Gotcha! Canopy is what I am lacking too. Big issue

Here’s an update on my largest. Growing but not necessarily thriving. Has trouble holding onto the lower leaves before dying off so it doesn’t have that coveted Hedyscepe look. Just happy it’s alive! 🙌🏻 -dale

I spoke with a Maryland game warden yesterday who told me that he found a grove of apparently wild sabal minor growing in the woods in Dorchester County near the town of Hurlock (Eastern Shore / Delmarva Peninsula - Zone 7A). I find this to be somewhat implausible, as it’s my understanding that the nearest naturally occurring S Minor is on Monkey Island in northeast NC about 100 miles south. I’m not even aware of S Minor occurring in Dismal Swamp at the VA-NC border (only unsubstantiated reports). Perhaps someone spread some seed? Anybody else heard of such a thing?

I can get these if there’s enough interest. Smallest/Stoutest Hurricane Palm from Round Island in Indian Ocean. .25 each.

Looks like low/mid-30's here in Brownsville, which sucks because I hate the cold but isn't going to damage anything I have if it warms up during the day. If we had like last year where it was 33F-38F for three straight days and then a dip to 28F one night, that made a couple things sad. My coconut will go unprotected but it's in a super sheltered spot so it should be fine. If we get a really bad frost - which I'm not expecting - my Chamaedora cataractarum will probably have some leaf burn. Up at the property in Laredo they're saying 27F-28F. Again, not terrible, but still a freeze.

Hello everyone, My name is Sebastián Vieira, and I’m writing from Colombia. I’m a naturalist and currently the Executive Director of Salvamontes Colombia, a non-profit organization focused on the conservation and restoration of threatened species and their habitats, mainly through the creation and long-term care of private natural reserves. Although I didn’t come to conservation through a formal biology track ( I originally studied and worked as an engineer and spent many years working in telecommunications ), my interest in plants and the natural world has been with me for as long as I can remember. Over time, that curiosity slowly turned into field work, conservation projects, nature photography, and taxonomic research, especially on Pleurothallid orchids. It was that long, hands-on relationship with nature that lead me to be a co-founder of Salvamontes, and nowadays, its leader. Andy Hurwitz invited to come and participate in PalmTalk, and share with everyone here our amazing story, so it’s really nice to finally introduce SalvaMontes and our work here, especially thanks to the invitation from the International Palm Society, whose support has been fundamental for one of the projects I care most deeply about. That project is the Sabinaria Natural Reserve, located in the Darién region of northwestern Colombia, close to the border with Panama. This is an incredibly rich rainforest area, still poorly studied, and it happens to be the only place on Earth where the striking palm Sabinaria magnifica is found. A few years ago, while visiting the area, it became clear that much of the known habitat of Sabinaria magnifica was privately owned and increasingly exposed to deforestation and land-use change. Given how limited the species’ distribution is, it doesn’t take much habitat loss to create serious long-term risks. With that in mind and with crucial support from the International Palm Society, we were able to acquire and legally protect 50 hectares of tropical rainforest, securing what we believe is a meaningful portion of the global habitat and population of Sabinaria magnifica. Today, that forest is permanently protected as a private natural reserve. What makes this especially rewarding is that Sabinaria magnifica also works as an umbrella species. By protecting its habitat, we’re also conserving many other threatened organisms that depend on the same intact forest. This includes species like the critically endangered harlequin frog Atelopus fronterizo and the rare tree Magnolia sambuensis, along with many other plants and animals that are still little known. For us, Sabinaria is much more than a single-species project. It reflects a broader way of doing conservation: protecting habitat first, learning directly from the field, working with local communities, and committing to long-term stewardship rather than short-term interventions. I’m really glad to be here and look forward to learning from all of you, sharing updates from the field, and exchanging ideas about palms and their conservation around the world. I am also sharing some images showing the Sabinaria palm and its natural habitat. Finally, it is very important to thank and recognize the important support and participation of biologists Norman Echavarría, Norberto López, Saul Hoyos, Gloria Galeano and Rodrigo Bernal. Without them this project would not be a reality. PS: I will come back soon with additional information and images. Warm regards from Colombia, Sebastián Salvamontes Colombia

The world needs such conservationists like yourself. Great pictures, keep up the good work. Iam doing my bit by growing as many as I can!

i was pruning some of the taller canes out of this diminutive palm which was acquired as Dypsis soanieranae about 5 or 6 years ago. After searching for info, it’s obvious that’s not a correct name. One reference even said it is extinct. Anyway here are a few photos of an interesting little palm which hopefully can be identified. I think its a Dypsis, but that’s as far as it gets. I’m hoping that some of you Dypsis sleuths can parce this one out. I’m talking to you Hilo Jason and the other Tim, Mr. Brissey. Thanks. Tim

This is exactly what I do and how I feel about the hardiness zone map. I look at currentresults and extremeweatherwatch to see records of the lows. Then I can kind of get an idea about what to expect. What makes me upset is that in the past five years we have been getting zone 8b winters in Houston. I was hoping for at least ONE mild winter so that I can enjoy full growth over the summer. We also had a nasty drought in 2023 that ended my palms that survived the 2021 freeze. I just couldnt keep up with the watering when we had several days above 105 degrees and no rain at all for like three months. It was very extreme. My lawn was brown and crunchy that entire year, I even painted it green lol it was so ugly. Then hurricane Beryl came in and knocked down branches of my oaks and my queen palms. So it's been extreme. It's not just the zone numbers to grow palms in this area. There's a lot of other factors too. ANOTHER thing is the darn pests. I wanted to plant canariensis palms but that beetle has caused havoc on all palms in this area so that's a no. It's a challenge growing palms here.

Hi I live in delmarva I find this very intresting that there could some small populations that spread in delmarva because since it not studyed its possible in secret unfound populations exist. If anyone has any more information on this please email me and if you hear from someone if you can getting there information to would be nice. I have noticed winters are warmer these days then they used to getting into the 50s and 60s much more common and I have noticed grass being green way later in the years

My beccariophoenix alfredii seed grown over 1 year. The seed took 7 months to germinate and it seems to really enjoy the climate here in Ibiza. I have left it outside all winter and it’s still rocking. Can’t wait to do an update at the end of the year.

If you've lived in pennsylvania or do, you know this image is very true LOL

Here’s my Prestoniana Hybrid from FB. Got it about 6 months ago and immediately grounded it. It didn’t care one bit. Doesn’t look like much but it’s definitely gotten bigger and shed those ugly stretched fronds most FB plants come with. I have no doubt it will catch steam from here on out. -dale

K elegans fan dance caught my eye so I shared my orange with it.

Veitchia vitiensis, one stunning smaller palm. A grove would be nice, but at least I have the one to oogle. Tim

A welcome bit of summer rain never goes astray. The garden certainly appreciated it.

Phoenicophorium borsigianum, a Seychelles palm. Tim

Pinanga maculata. Tim

Pinanga disticha, Licuala grandis, Licuala glabra var. glabra.

This is my only trunking one. It’s been a long journey from a small seedling, about eighteen years, but it’s putting out several new leaves per year now. Much faster growth than years ago. I hope it manages the sun after it gets up above the roofline.

Merry Christmas Eve!

@CascadiaPalms I actually sprinkle cinnamon on top of the soil to prevent pests and mold.

Here’s some habitat photos from just below the summit of Mt Gower

I have a small princeps X fortunei hybrid that is really cranking. It has stiffer fronds with the white undersides. Growth has been pretty phenomenal. It was just two strap leaves last spring.