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We've crossed the midpoint of the year. The daylight hours for us in the northern hemisphere are counting backwards now. As everything in the garden that didn't die or get removed begins recovery mode, a photo of the Livistona decora and a small Copernicia alba and then @palmfriend's Okinawa Garden featuring Livistona chinensis and Arenga engleri. Happy Summer!

Good photos to illustrate the difference. I think the only thing I can add is that if it is armed, even slightly, then it cannot be pure B calcarea. Brahea sp can be prone to hybridising and I think there’s still a bit of confusion in general within the genus so I can’t give any more insight.

Min of 20c/68f with a high of 34.6c/94.3f. Much higher humidity than usual whilst it got down to 38% in the afternoon most of the day was very humid. Partly caused by a supercell thunder storm last night that practically appeared out of thin air. Extremely powerful positive cloud to ground lightning as well. The max dewpoint was 72f/22.2c. Some areas got 31mm of rain in 2 hours. currently 77f/25c at 2am.

Mods: are we allowed to brag/skite/be big headed on this sub forum ?? Never mind...here goes : "Hi Doug, It’s Larissa Romensky from Gardening Australia. Thanks for meeting with us and showing us your incredible garden. I’d love to include you as part of the Darwin episode - we’re filming between the 18th and 29th May. I’m just working out exact dates. What’s your email so I can stay in contact that way, if that’s okay? Cheers Larissa...." Bit of saga for me as I'm in Camden, NSW ( 4,000klm from home in Darwin ) atm, so I have to get my backside into gear to be home a week early so I can prepare as in watering, picking up palm fronds, clean up after the cursed bush chooks that will have moved cubic meters of soil onto garden paths etc... ( cursed things )...lol So anyways, I flew home from Sydney for a week to do the filming... 'Well they wanna film at mine on the 18th May ( confirmed today ) so I will fly home a few days prior and then back down here to finish off cleaning and then disposing of Mum's place. They said they'll be at mine all day filming to get enough footage...and to leave my old busted / broken rusty trailer full of palm fronds in the driveway....lol. I'm thinkin' a few thawed out cane toads from the freezers strategically placed, a coupla fruit bat carcasses and with a bit of luck the resident carpet snake will make an appearance.... oh and I will put a coupla green tree frogs in the downstairs tpilet and washing machine ( if they're not in there already... hehe'. 'The crew from Gardening Australia filming at my place today... Been a long day but of course very interesting seeing how its all done and how it all comes together... I think they needed an old school Darwin palm garden and someone who is fulla B/S and talks crap .... so I fitted the bill....lol The ABC boys hiding the beers I fed them ...hehe, I was under no such constraints... [img] [img] [img] [img] So basically they were filming at my place to show off an old style Darwin palm garden that was planted 35-40 years ago.... the storyline exploring how palms have fallen out of favour in modern Darwin gardens/landscaping. I was able to show them the ravages of the Ganoderma disease, some exotic wins and failures, damage from TC Fina that tore through my place 6 months ago ... and of course the mountains of fronds/green waste that I have to deal with... all on a suburban block of 900 square meters. Oh and the fact that I'm mostly a 'lapsed' enthusiast who has forgotten the names of some of my exotics, and that I never had ( and still havent a 'plan' re plantings ... nowasays if a bird or a fruit bat poops out a seed and it sprouts, I mostly let them grow... as in keeping with the shady jungle theme. Anyways a days worth of filming for perhaps a 5-10 min segment on a national TV show... yeah, I'll calling it a win...lol The show goes to air on 25th Sept 2026 on ABC TV.

There’s some photos from Colin of C yumutumune on Palmpedia so I’ve always assumed it must be one of the hardier Calyptrocalyx sp. Would be good to know how it is going now further south in NSW @palmtreesforpleasure . I think many Dypsis species are actually relatively hardy to cool conditions as long as they aren’t subject to frost. I know heaps are thriving in Sydney so no surprise most grow well for you Richard. I think I’m near their limit here in Melbourne; my D rosea is relatively happy and fast growing but gets a bit burnt by both sun and cold each year. My D ‘Yellow Seed/Wilsonii’ seedlings from Colin are actually finally coming along too, but I’m not sure how much further I’ll get into the genus. Hard work for palms that may never thrive but I do enjoy a good zone push.

Spot on I think - most look bad because of neglect and not enough natural rainfall rather than it being too cold. Some of the better ones I’ve seen are out in the outer Eastern suburbs in the foothills of the Dandenongs where it gets pretty chilly but receives more rainfall than near the CBD or around Bayside suburbs. Same goes for Archontophoenix. I will say though, that Ravenea rivularis was susceptible to crown rot for me when young in Spring. It’s grown out of it now, but I suspected it didn’t like cold and wet conditions while it was still establishing. I planted in a cooler area of the garden in mostly shade intentionally based on what I’ve seen with specimens that dry out too much, but I think that’s the opposite risk when you go too shady and cold. The best one in Victoria I’ve seen is the one at Geelong Botanic Gardens. It gets morning sun but is well protected from all sides from wind and looks to stay quite moist in that area. There are a few mature specimens around Melbourne - this one down the street from my place looks pretty good. Doesn’t look like it gets extra attention but I assume the roots have tapped down deep now. The tree to its north must help with preventing it drying out too much too. I planted this one nearly 25 years ago. It’s the only survivor of about 5 originally planted in this garden. Soil is nearly pure beach sand and no irrigation. This is the result 🤣. And here’s an interesting planting - Singapore Botanic Gardens have them as aquatics. They like it in there in the tropical climate, but I’m certain it would be a death sentence in cooler climates.

One on the grounds of the Hacienda Santa Engracia just north of Cd Victoria Tamps, circa 2003. Last time I was there (2021) I did not see any Acrocomia

This is one in Laredo from late 2017, it’s not there any more on Google Street View

Actually it’s on the north side of Harlingen. But there are some in Weslaco (and a very old totai if they haven’t cut it down)

I planted these Veitchia joannis as small 4" pots last year and they are rockets in our cool montane tropical conditions growing next to our coast redwood trees.

This species of Coccothrinax, native to a small beach in N. Cuba, is definitely one of my favorites. Similar in looks to the old man palm, (Coccothrinax crinita) but apparently much hardier. Great palm to grow in the desert, even in full blasting sun. Unfortunately, like many others in the genus, it is a rather slow grower. 5 gallon pot grown from seed in Arizona is already 10 years old! 🤯 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

The hybrids of these can look really nice. This hybrid is probably my favorite cocco in the yard.

Stoplight has gotten a bit huge now. Comfortably over 7 feet tall at the peak. I have to think about trimming back at this point. Has enough roots now not to droop too much in the summer heat and sun, and it drops seeds and babies pop up in the mulch.

Welp i was pulling weeds with Sancho (he really does help, he eats this wild mint/clover stuff) and right before i absolutely faceplanted in the yard, I noticed this lil guy! Not only that, but look at the size of this new leaf. Uhh house for scale. Ok that's misleading, but still.

Here are most of the palms I own

They look great Richard. Winter for you still gets to at least 20C with sun during the day doesn’t it. The rebounding day temps really make a difference coming from low single digit minimums.

Right in the 🎯 bullseye. You could not ask for a better natural frame Tim.

A faster growing option with similar looks, is a hybrid with a borhidiana parent. Not quite as hairy, but way faster growing and just as hardy. This compact species fits in well with today's smaller gardens. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Here’s a better picture of my large one; it’s starting to rival the ones in Hawaii, at least a bit

My Licuala ramsayi growing in Loxahatchee Groves.