Leaderboard

Rhopalostylis sapida peeking out in all its splendor. Vergara Palace Garden. City of Viña del Mar in Chile.

Here it was when I first planted it! I really had no hopes it was surviving up here 😂 Crazy how much it filled out this corner in only 4 years with suckers lol

When I first moved to Florida, I planted a Bismarckia in mid2010 and a sabal uresana in summer 2011. Uresanas are often mentioned as alternatives to bismarckia in 9a. These palms have stood next to each other over the years making for an easy growth comparison. Bismarckias are generally regarded as fast growers and uresanas are said to be slow. First, Bismarckia several months after planting a 5 gallon bought at a big box store. Everything but the spear had heavy mold spots so I kind of treated it as a rescue. It seems to have that purplish hue after winter that is often associalted with a whiter leaf. It adapted fast to sun after being tortured inside the box store with palms stacked in a pile around it. It put 5-6 new leaves out the first year. late july 2010 bismarckia then about a year later I planted a sabal uresana "icy blue" I bought from tejas tropicals in texas. It was a strap leafer and I put it in a pot. About 6 months later it was ready to go into the ground as the pot was root bound. A little over 2 years later in sept 2013 both had grown well. IN this pic the uresana looks a bit bigger than it was (relatively) since it was closer to the observer. It had turned darker with less "icy blue" color but was clearly not just a green sabal. The uresana was about 6' overall and the Bismarckia was closer to 10' in this pic At this point the bismarckia was trunking and growth was accelerating and here is the pic from june 2015. The uresana not trunking was putting more leaves for a bigger crown About 4 years later the uresana had lengthened it leaves and had gone into trunking mode. It went skyward chasing the bismarckia but still 6-7 feet over all behind the biz in height Last week I took another pic and noticed about a 10' gap even though the uresana had sped up and grown to about 25' tall. compared with 35' for the bismarckia I thought it was interesting that the growth burst of each happened at trunking, as we are often told by the literature. Yes even sabal uresana grows well after trunking. I also though it is interesting to note that Sabal Uresana has a wider crown, that was a surprise. I had always thought Bismarckia would be wider as it throws more shade but its a couple fee less in width of the crown. The Uresana crown is more open though, and it took a lot less damage than the Bismarckia in hurricane Milton(oct2024). Part of the lesser damage suffered by uresana could be due to less wind damage as there are higher wind velocities at height, but also part might be the Uresana having an open crown with smaller leaves that have less wind drag. I do think Uresanas will have more blue than mine in a drier hot climate. Bismarckias are very versatile, they don't need much fertilizer and mostly they are self shedding. Just keep them happy and the weevils wont come to dinner(I had a sick one attacked by weevils and killed). I treated the Uresana same as Bismarckia, limited fertilizer compared with my other palms The Uresana has persistent leaf bases which are still strongly attached near the ground. Since I do the trimming, I am happy that Uresana is a slower grower, as the Bismarckia is now too tall for me to trim from the ground. And the Bismarckia(female) is a mess, dropping 150-200 lbs of seed a year. I just got done raking up half a trash can full of Bismarckia fruits, and there is at least that much still hanging on the tree. Uresana has not fruited yet at 15 yrs. Sabals are notorious for liking heat to grow fast and they both had plenty of Florida heat. For those thinking about Sabal Uresana, its not Bismarckia fast but its more of a medium grower for me after trunking.

Another one in the garden.

Some photos of the Summer Meeting in Melbourne are attached below. A special thank you to @Jdash for hosting! It was great to see @PalmJuan , @kinzyjr , @chuckg , @CodyM , @Fishinsteeg234 , @Maddox Gardening-youtube , @rick , @D. Morrowii , @Midnight Gardener and plenty of others today.

Putting palms in bunches helps with sunburn resistance, watering, and wind resistance(to drying). I would plan that spot with a multi of some crownshafted type. I would also be careful with how inland you are. If you are even in Irvine its hot and dry a lot and some of those palms will take a lot of attention to keep them looking good. WHen I see a chamby in a forest of trees, the sun exposure may be some directly overhead by not late day. My macrocarpas burn a little towards the western summer sun. Chambeyronia oliviformis doesnt have a red emerging leaf but they are more sun tough and wind dessication resistant due to a waxy leaf. And they are IMO more attractive than a macrocarpa aside the red leaf. They will grow taller than the macrocarpa for sure but not so fast as an King. Might be interesting to plant (2) oliviformis to the west and one macrocarpa to the east in a triple. The dark green of the oliviformis and the marcocarpa should have a striking appearance and witht he oliviformis protecting the macrocarpa from western sun. Here is oliviformis(center, dark green crownshaft) 13 years in the ground from a seedling.

Yes , especially during Fall when the Santa Ana winds blow . Our humidity drops and the temperature climbs , sometimes into triple digits . Archontophoenix can burn too but not as bad as a moderately sized Chambey . @DoomsDave has a Chambey forest down in La Habra and they look awesome . He has a few varieties that have survived years there . I’m pretty sure they would survive at that spot in the OP’s driveway but there isn’t a lot of cooling from other plants and palms ( none ) . We certainly don’t have the humidity that you guys have most of the time . Harry

A few seeds are setting on the lytocarum in garden. A fantastic palm that’s easy to grow. Super tough and very forgiving. I would say a bit slow growing to reach maturity in a subtropical climate. But once they get there they don’t look back. Very predictable and a great learning palm to grow, just put them in the shade as seedlings and away they grow.

Beautiful palm🤩

Awesome and interesting comparison Thank you for sharing

Private growers PLEASE! I concur with Merlyn. There are other growers but may need to drive a bit . Rancho Soledad Nursery may have them . Maybe @DoomsDave can get you some , he is in La Habra and has nice stuff! Dave is a super cool guy , very knowledgeable about our area , and he may introduce you to Conan the cat. I’ve gotten some very nice palms from him. Harry

The short answer is yes, you can and should cut off the female seed cone. The plant is using up stored energy to grow seeds. It might kill it, but probably not. I have a big female sago as well, and I cut off the seed pod every spring. I use a sharp pair of shears, but a sharp hand lopper works too. Snip the "hand" shaped fans above the red line. There's no need to cut them super low, just snip below the fan shape at the stem. I snip the horrendously stabby thorns as well. Cutting the cone is slightly risky for infection, because it's a lot of small cuts. You could sprinkle the top with a fungicide like sulfur powder, or squirt with Daconil or similar. Cycads have "coralloid roots" around the base, generally just below ground level. As long as the top or trunk hasn't rotted, it is still gaining new energy every day and should flush eventually. But it might not be for a month or so.

@OCKev not, I repeat, NOT Moon Valley. 🤣 I don't know any nurseries out there, but I have read enough horror stories about them. Jungle Music is highly regarded here, but I am not sure where they are compared to you.

Yes , it's a girl. Technically it's a Megasporophyll Male penis is called a cone. I don't know know if cutting the Megasporophyll will induce a flush or not. The plant is drawing nutrients via the roots so that may be enough. Does the female flower photosynthesize,IDK? Unless you just don't like looking at it I'd leave it. Perhaps some of the cycad gurus can give some input @Merlyn @Tracy @GeneAZ

Sounds like a Dr Zeuss book to me, something about a king and mice, lions and elephants!

I often open PT using my iPhone and I am happy to see today there is a big improvement in speed of searches, editing, posting, looking for unread content etc. I know our moderator Palm Mod has been working many hours on our behalf to sort out issues arising after an important upgrade. Thank you! Anybody else now seeing speeds closer to what we had before the upgrade?

yes, I agree. The first 2 to 3 influorescence typically don't produce any fruits, but I am going to use my knowledge from hybridizing to try to store some pollen and then apply it once the females open, perhaps I can get a fruit set on the first or second influorescence.?.. JD

That's what I was wondering. I've grown Flamethrowers in full sun here in swampy FL, the only problem was exposure to frost and getting defoliated. But I've read a bunch of people having sunburn issues with them in full sun, both in Tampa and Miami, and also out in CA. One big connecting problem seemed to be planting near reflecting walls and lots of concrete, just amplifying the heat and torching them. But I've also seen some great photos in CA with literal forests of Chamberyonia, so it sure seems possible! @OCKev I'd also think about whether you want something that gets tall fast, or takes decades to get there, or stays somewhat short forever. For example, a common Bottle or Spindle might take 10-15 years to grow to roof height...but a King could get over-roof height in 3-5 years, depending on the size when you buy it. Likewise a Jubaea might take 20-30 years to get over roof height. Others like Parajubaea are quicker but the fronds might be too big for that area. A Butia (Pindo) would probably work in that spot too, and be quicker than a Jubaea. If you wanted a smaller palm the Pygmy Date (Phoenix Roebellini) or Chamaerops Humilis (European fan palm) are slow to gain height and pretty tough. If you want a BIG fan type palm that's slow to gain height, Copernicia Baileyana or Fallanesis or Gigas might work.

Lots of people don’t realize that this species DOES actually form trunks.

Chambeyronia are very nice palms though, depending how far inland you are. They tend to burn easily in full sun until they get large , and even then. Slower growing palm and would grow in that spot but not as vigorously , quite a bit more $$ than Archontophoenix. Harry

Hard to get pics while driving but a royal and a bunch of foxtails and idk what this other palm is

Encephalartos Lanatus throwing a nice flush. I have had this plant well over 20 years.

Three palms for the future of the garden caught my eye! Lanonia calciphila licuala sallehana var sallehana Areca laosensis

A spot of afternoon colour.

A late winter afternoon has the polyandrococus caudescens feeling fine about the cold.

Soaking up the morning light…

I didn't realize it's been so long since I posted an update here after years of daily updates. My brother got the central hvac replaced so I copped mom's window unit and put it in the grow room. The same grow room that I used to go check the heat every 2 hours, yes. If I was an intelligent and reasonable person I'd tie it to a smart plug and let it run for an hour or 2 before I planned to go out there, but if I was smart like that.....anyway. The heat index in there regularly hits 130, I've been trying to keep some rehabs in there but it might be time to load them on a tray and put them outside where the heat index is only 105 or so. I've made a few more sales, I tried a Whatnot live show but their shipping absolutely sucks unless you're selling tissue cultures and plugs. I've since figured it out but I stand on the hill that it sucks. They also promise the world to new sellers and deliver on nothing. I've also been dabbling with various fertilizers and stuff - it's super cool when everything wants a different fertilizer and a different ratio and this one also wants this and that one also wants this and everything gets cal mag and I'm mixing a gallon at a time so I'm too impatient to add the silica since it takes 20-30 minutes to properly absorb into the water and blah blah blah. Anyway let me see if I can just photo bomb for those of you who boldly and bravely refuse to submit to the evil empire. I salute you. I am @sanchosgreenpaws on Instagram and Sancho B Plants on the world's largest collection of AI slop and user tracking for those who care. That Thai Giant is just insane. I have a couple more that are taking an eternity to sprout and a couple smaller ones, and they've been getting weekly feedings of 20-10-20. I just haven't had the energy to dig holes, but I need to dig a lot of holes. I need to build some trellis for the dragonfruits, they haven't even seen full sun yet and they're going insane. Hibiscus has chosen to remain a stick. The 5g Alocasia Batik is INSANE, I thought I was done rearranging lights until it got cool. I've got a 1g I should flip before it gets any bigger, and it ain't gonna be cheap. I've also snatched up a couple Portora and what we believe are Regal Shields, others have said Buddha's Hand. They came from Wal-Mart so I'm more likely to believe Regal Shields and of course I go through all the pots looking for multiples. My alleged Regal Shields had 2, straight to 1g pots in evening sun. The portora has a total of 7 (!) Pups, got a Stingray, I forgot the name of the gigantic yellow one, a couple Yucatan Princess, 2 Sebrina, a Zebrina, pink dragon, several Cuprea, Macro Camouflage, there's..... there's a lot. Unfortunately it seems like most sellers harvest corms before shipping after they advertise it as a corming plant so they can kinda go to hell for that. I'd do the same, i just wouldn't advertise it as a corming plant. I have a few I've grown from corms, I've got some corms marinating but my confidence isn't high - they're from a big box Melo that was on a shelf a few plants down from the worst mealybug infestation I've ever seen and i still paid $10. Whatever. Anyway, Sancho is on thyroid pills now so he's up to 8 pills and 2 supplements a day, he's catching up to me but he's got a ways to go. On top of all of my mystery health problems, now I've lost a lot of flexibility and mobility in my left hip literally overnight. The physical therapist won't see me until I have coverage, I've been on hospital charity. Hospital says I need to apply for Medicaid, Medicaid denied me because they're waiting on the state and SSDI, and bless my Dr- I was telling him about all this and he just bumped my anxiety meds up. So anyway there's that.

Here’s the 2 year update on these Pinanga Coronata. In just 2 years these have gone from 1 gallon plants to seed producing adults! And I’m happy to announce that they are fully blocking the road now which was the goal! 5 gallon paint bucket for scale: Removed the grass that was in between these clumps and made a planter which is filling in nicely. fast growing 11 year old daughter for scale view from the road above thanks for looking! P.S. I’ll probably be offering some seed from these in the future if there’s any interest.

Pretty steady for me, worry-free and just so dang gorgeous in shade here in SoCal. As they've grown into some sun, they've seemed to tolerate it moderately well. July 2014: Present day:

I planned to hold off planting my Chambeyronia Houailou until spring but my palm had other ideas. Even though I'd moved it to yet a bigger pot a couple months ago, by yesterday it was sending out serious roots. I considered moving it to the largest pot I have, I bit the bullet and decided my Chambey had to go into the ground months earlier than planned. This palm is much faster and more robust than its more relaxed kin - how can they be the same species? Anyway, I will protect it with cotton flannel sheets as necessary to get it through winter. Does anyone know whether it is more or less coldhardy than standard C.m.? Chambeyronia Houailou meets FL soil Newest frond