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Never get tired of Chambeyronia macrocarpa var hookeri new growth.

I have a lot of hookeri in my garden so iam expecting a bit of pop this season! You’re looking pretty good though in sunny warm Melbourne!

A stroll around the slope today… mild winter and warm days between drizzle never hurt anyone…

This is a common drive through South Orlando post-freeze

This is the Jubaea you can see behind the little trailer in picture from last year. We have been having an unusually warm winter with plenty of rain. I have two Jubaea at 5’ one at 3’ and two others at 1’ . I messed up last winter and left my potted palms out for a freeze . I lost several and set most of the survivors back a year.

Another flushing Zamia. This one is Zamia tuerckheimii.

More trees flowering around here, maples are looking good and red. Pollen is starting to accumulate on surfaces. I can confidently say we are now in Spring in the FL Panhandle. I also still think we get another freeze before the end of March. For now though, highs in the 70s approaching the low 80s at the end of the 7 day period will certainly get all the tropicals going again, especially with the lows only being in the 50s and 60s.

Here’s the one in Mt Joseph University Cincinnati, OH This was planted in 2000 it was cut down for unknown reasons by the Landscapers around 2020~ and yeah came back strong! Somerset opens at 2PM so we will check that out later!

Chrysalidocarpus Basilongus

So, I was going to say......this is my favorite genus, but it seems almost every genus is my favorite. Ok, I really like this genus and it contains some wonderful species. Here are a few from the garden, from medium large to rather diminutive. Great leaf color and some interesting trunk/crownshaft marking. Easy grow, relatively pest and disease free and not fertilizer hogs. Veitchia subdisticha, a small grove of seven, full sun, and on a steep slope. They love the extra good drainage.

I purchased these ones as poiveana, but again palmpedia says they are solitary palms. Most of these ones are suckering except for a couple of them. So what variety are they, one is flowering but not open so I might have to wait until they open for a proper identification perhaps.

Looking beautiful, so I might have the real deal?

They take a fair bit of cold, you might just be borderline in getting away with it in a protected area. I have seen them take 0 degrees Celsius.

Lepidozamia peroffskyana has grown a bit, going to be a lot of seeds of this one!

I really wanna know what was going through the landscapers mind to decide to randomly cut it down

I think it is just wait and see at this point. I am sorry to see this but , hopefully , by Spring you will see new life. Harry

There are two species; N ritchiana and N baluchestanica which is the blue/silver one from Iran. My understanding is that N ritchiana is still variable from green to bluish, but never as silvery as N baluchestanica. I feel like the one pictured in this thread is likely N ritchiana. Photos are N baluchestanica I’ve seen seem to show them being ghostly white/silver from the first frond.

Very similar temperatures and observations here in Fort Myers (in town, with a combined urban heat island and some protection from the river.) Overall this event was comparable to Christmas 2022, the only two times I've seen evidence of frost, both times in a small dip in the lawn where the weeds turned black. Only thing I'll add is I have a small Areca catechu, regular form, which has grown quickly and beautifully up until now but every day since the cold looks progressively worse, leaves are now all completely covered in spots and it will probably end up mostly defoliated. Not surprised at all but I'd say this species is worse with cool weather than even Pritchardia pacifica. Overall I feel like I dodged a bullet, not much permanent damage to speak of, just lots of slightly yellow leaves and several long months of hand watering ahead of me.

My Robusta isn't very leaf hardy. Low 20s , the fronds will turn brown, all of them. I see some they look exactly like mine but seem to handle the cold better. At least mine is pretty bud hardy and recovers fast. I leave the fronds on until they're crispy but the new frond that is currently seeking daylight doesn't look bad at all.

I'm in zone 8a/b and I just planted some Sabal species seeds (Caribbean giant and Miamiensis x maritima) in the backyard. Hopefull I'll have a couple of sprouts this summer or spring.

I reckon those odds are pretty good! Would be super keen to give them a go, that's for sure. Great idea to put in mass plantings for seed production...that was also the idea behind my little Lepidorrachis plantation. I'm surprised that these haven't been split from the Isalo form yet, clearly a very different beast.

Cibolo TX Post Winter storm report: Temps in my neck of the woods hit 19F or 20F, with some freezing rain. As usual, I think the freezing precipitation was the bigger problem. C. radicalis with East Northeast exposure and partial overhead protection from the eave of the house. P. dactylifera was almost immediately dead. It was about 3 ft in overall height and very healthy going into this event. I covered it, but not until it was already wet. So it's spear pulled almost immediately after the freeze. It's leaves were brown within a few days. I cut the trunk down and there was no living tissue left, despite treating it with hydrogen peroxide within a couple of days of the ice. Butia took a little longer to show damage. It was covered with a large patio umbrella, but it blew off during the storm. It was a couple of weeks before the newest leaves started losing color. Spear pulled, and I have been treating it with H2O2 as well. No signs of a new spear yet. Even my S. mexicanas (No protection) have a leaf or two that have lost their color. This surprised me: My Washingtonia that grows like a weed looks pretty much perfect with no protection: Not all Washingtonians are created equal though. This is what another one just a couple of houses down from mine looks like: Small trachycarpus F x Ws took no damage with a bucket to cover them:

Yeah Cincinnati! The palm bug has arrived! Siting and microclimates are your friend. Also, bricks as thermal mass!

Dioon rzedowskii with its first flush

Dypsis basilonga seedlings looking good, somewhat a few years behind @Hilo Jason but they will get there.

I was able to stop by my old garden today and got these pictures of the parent plant. Much taller than it was about 18 months ago.

Some pictures from today mid summer. Going for 32C today and forecast overnight thunderstorms. It doesn’t get better than this.

After a few months : dictyocarium lamarkianum first leaf !

The bulging crownshaft on this almost twenty year old Chrysalidocarpus decipiens makes me think there’s something good lurking underneath it. Could it be about to produce an inflorescence? Will have to wait ‘til the attached frond dies and falls off.

In Chile, they can withstand sub-zero temperatures. But they must be large. Michael Lancel's Belgian friend sells them to Europe at very high prices. He lives in Chile and ships them in containers.

Last one. V. joannis. Another beautiful species, pendant leaves are the feature. The crownshaft not near as nice as V. arecina in my opinion. Growth pretty much the same as V. arecina. (this spell check is driving me nuts, gonna have to check into that) Hard to get a good photo of this one, but it's finally starting to have a presence. Tim

V. sessifolia. Another small palm and looks similar to V. vitiensis. Even slower and more fragile than V. vitiensis. I think I had six and managed to lose five of them. This one pulled through and seems happy. Crownshaft not quite as nice as the others.

V. vitiensis. Great little palm with a nice droopy habit. Good crownshaft color too. Got these back in 2011 as seedlings......somewhat of a slow grow and seemed a bit fragile in the beginning. I should probably get some more and fill out the grouping. Great leaf color. Small palm, good scale.

I could see them as far north as Chesapeake Bay, maybe in 75 years with some help. Even birds could do that much. The bay is a pretty large barrier.

You had the benefit of ground heat and snow cover but many butia die of wet cold

I bet in a hundred years they will be natural all along the east coast probably even up to NY and maybe further. they are already planted all over in Delaware, Virginia and Maryland. that would be cool to see but probably all of us will be dead by then. I wonder if there's plants in heaven lol.

Thank you. this community is much more helpful then the Facebook one. it probably will take along time to recover and its in shade so i don't know how many more years it will be able to survive it is just a experiment. I wonder what the coldest a butia has ever taken. maybe i do have a special specimen ill see in the next couple years and ill update on it.

It seems alive I guess. I have one butia in the ground so far but I protect them every winter so if this little seedling does survive and doesn’t spear pull, you must just be very lucky or have a one of a kind palm.

It seems like my brazoriensis for me is the toughest of them all but they all fall into this 0F-5F range it seems

Wow Tyrone they are beauties! One I’m not growing but would love to.

Good question, and one only you can ultimately answer. For me, the palms here that have survived I'm giving the time to attempt a comeback. They may eventually croak, but that's life. Anything that goes will either just be removed and returned to the yard, or replaced by something bulletproof at 20F. No one would blame any of us for just starting from scratch, though.

Just saw it posted on the FB group and surprisingly, it wasn't mentioned here, yet. The newly described Attalea taam from the Colombian Amazon 🎉. That is a really cool looking trunk!! Hopefully some seeds will make it to Jeff eventually 🙃. Abstract: https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.739.1.5 Full article as PDF with pictures: https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.739.1.5/53627 Some more pointers in this FB posting: https://www.facebook.com/Palmsmithy/posts/really-pleased-to-have-been-involved-in-this-paper-providing-the-illustration-of/1679777533474493/

There’s a lot of valuable nutrients in those burnt fronds with green rhachis. Leave some substantial ‘stubs’ 2-3’ if you do remove the burnt foliage. They’ll also protect spear from wind events

NOTE: In the temperature ranges below, the lower temperature in ranges typically comes from an Ambient Weather model and the higher temperatures come from a fan-aspirated Davis Vantage Pro 2. If there is no range, both stations were within a degree of each other. If you own an Ambient Weather station, know that the low temperature will be slightly depressed most nights compared to the DVP2. For a full write-up on the comparisons between these models: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/76970-weather-station-experiments-and-brand-comparisons/ Overall Winter Synopsis (thus far): This cold season started early and didn't disappoint people who love cold snaps. The first cold snap on 11/11/2025 brought the yard almost uniformly down to 36F. This was a full 8F lower than the previous daily record low of 44F here. 11/12/2025 followed with 38F-39F here. December 31st finished off 2025 with a bang as the temperature dropped to 34F-36F in various areas of the yard. Most of January was up and down, with cold events within typical norms frequently interrupting warm periods. The low for the month in the garden was 31F on 01/16/2026. The garden recorded a daily record high of 86F on 01/25/2026, while the airport crushed the previous record high by recording 88F on the same day. The cool-off came swiftly, with multiple nights in the 30s leading up to the February cold blast on 02/01/2026 that brought 24F with 13MPH wind gusts. This event was followed with consecutive nights of 26F-28F, 30F-31F, 38F-39F, 42F-43F, 34F-35F in the garden. The stats below summarize this section, using the DVP2 numbers for the garden temperature: Thus far, most coconuts and crownshaft palms look like they were hit with a blowtorch. Especially affected have been Archontophoenix alexandrae and Dictyosperma album 'conjugatum'. Most Adonidia merrillii, Wodyetia bifurcata, various species of Veitchia (arecina, joannis, winin), Beccariophoenix fenestralis, Roystonea regia, Ptychosperma elegans, Pritchardia thurstonii, Chrysalidocarpus prestonianus, Carpoxylon macrospermum, Hyophorbe (Bottle + Spindle), Caryota mitis, Chambeyronia (macrocarpa, oliviformis, various forms) and Satakentia liukiuensis are heavily damaged to defoliated (80%-100%). It's likely that any Adenium (Desert Rose) left outdoors is dead. More moderate damage (40%-60%) has appeared on Phoenix roebelenii, Beccariophoenix alfredii (some are undamaged), Latania lontaroides, Carpentaria acuminata, various former Dypsis (Chrysalidocarpus decaryi, lutescens, lanceolata, cabadae, pembanus, letptocheilos), Ptychosperma macarthurii, Syagrus schizophylla, Saribus rotundifolius, Cryosophila warscewiczii, Encephalartos ferox, and 2 x Thrinax radiata where the fans face the wind. Light damage has shown up on Howea forsteriana and Hyphaene coriacea in a few spots. No damage has appeared thus far on Coccothrinax argentata, Leucothrinax morrisii, Pseudophoenix sargentii (some in town do show damage), 1 x Thrinax radiata with fronds parallel to the wind, Chrysalidocarpus decipiens, Kerriodoxa elegans, Zamia furfuracea, Zamia integrifolia, any Livistona (decora, chinensis, saribus, muelleri, australis), Arenga engleri, Copernicia (alba or fallaensis) or pineapples. Medemia argun has no cold damage in the ground or in a pot, but they have other issues here. The typical bulletproof palm genera ( Sabal, Serenoa, Acoelorraphe, Chamaedorea, Chamaerops, Butia, Brahea, Syagrus, Phoenix, Rhapis, Rhapidophyllum, and Washingtonia) had no issues, either. This is why many of these were the backbone of gardens before Lethal Bronzing. Silver Buttonwood appears unaffected at this point. Trachycarpus is fine through this event, but is difficult for most areas to grow. My potted plants were placed in a cage near the Atlantic tall coconut bed and suffered no cold losses as they were completely shielded from wind by a cement wall and plants in all directions. As far as hardwoods, it looks like all of my tropical hardwoods will defoliate, but the branches feel solid. This includes: Ficus aurea, Delonix regia, Bursera simaruba, Mange (Glen), Avocado (Choquette), Coccoloba uvifera (Sea Grape). Philodendrons were laying flat on the coldest morning, but perked back up in front of the house. A few neighbors weren't so lucky. Their plants look like spinach. Crotons and Ti will likely defoliate, minus a few branches that were low enough to stay safe from wind. This cannot be considered a final report. The full extent of the damage won't be known for a significant amount of time. My hope is that everyone's favorites will recover and the rest of this winter won't be as terrible. That said, I have heard rumor that another similar outbreak is expected sometime in late February or early March. For now, a few positive photos: Areca vestiaria survived at Hollis since it is small and surrounded by really tough cycads. The former Lytocarium - now Syagrus weddelliana - did really well If the tree trimmers let it alone, the Satakentia near the parking garage should make it. A few of my coconuts show growth for now.

Yeah totally. I'm still in high school and I would love to have a career owning a nursery and a landscaping company. I would love to specialize in palms and exotics but obviously that's not what everyone wants in their garden.

That reminded me of a time I rented a cube truck, took the ferry over to the mainland and loaded it full. I spent $3,500 on plants alone. In all fairness, much of that was re-sold which ultimately paid for all my expenses & plants.

Satakentia, trunk is clean, smooth, and straight as an arrow. Looking good in the afternoon sun. Tim

My Jubaea this morning, 3-17-25. Almost 4 years in the ground now. Not much taller, 5' total but the fronds are deep green and healthy. They new leaves started out a little stunted but it seems to be growing out of it. At some point, hopefully in my lifetime, the Queen palms in the background will be edited out Tough plant.

I have grown a bunch of these from seed over the years. Frankly, the easiest way to do it is simply to throw them in a part of the garden and forget about them. Germination usually takes the better part of the year or more. But the germination rates are usually very good. The one that I’ve kept for myself is about 15 years old from seed, and has a base of about 8 inches now. It’s definitely on its way. As someone else has noted, they definitely pick up speed as they get ready to start growing vertically. The big ones planted here in San Diego around Mission Bay were planted probably about 1960 or so, and I assume they were all probably 10 or 15 years old by that point in time. I have absolutely no interest in mine growing faster, it’s definitely in a place that it shouldn’t be. I’ll snap a picture this afternoon.