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Been MIA from here for a while (you know life got busy), but I'm really excited for my Brahea Aramata to be blooming for the first time ever. I bought it almost 20 years ago as a tiny plant from Lowe's and I know how dramatic the flowering can get on these. Finally I see some flower stalks forming. Not as exciting to my friends and family so I thought I'd share with fellow palm enthusiasts 😆

Tricky an organic method to kill a palm. High salt solution is one way! I trust you want to keep your soil organic and not use a herbicide. I do know with bananas they use diesel injected into the suckers to kill them. But I don’t think this is the sort of thing you’d want in your soil. Just overfertilise it with some prilled urea!!!

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Those are massive and pretty close to the house! I had a thought that you could pre drill a few holes and put copper nails in the trunks. I have killed a ficus benjamina stump that wouldn't die with stump rot etc this way. It kept coming back till I put the copper nails in. It took a few months to kill it, now Im waiting for the rot to set in. The Cu nails themselves will need a hole drilled as they are mostly copper and not stout like iron nails. I purchased them on amazon. Dave, I remember your archies from 15 years ago, I didnt realize they got this big! I will cut back fertilizer and irrigation water on mine. I see royals come down here after drying out, seems like they dont topple but just waste away. A dry palm is likely less than 1/3rd the weight of a live one. Might be better to let them dry out before felling them. It does prevent a garden redo for years I expect. After seeing these pics I am looking around my yard at what will one day come down. I used to think I wanted fast growing big tall palms, at some point my view changed due to aesthetics, but now safety and removal are looming larger.

Yikes! They're so much bigger on the ground! I have an 8 metre pole saw, long ladders and climbing ropes to deal with trees without branches crashing down onto plantings below. I tie off (which sometimes requires climbing) then cut and lower in manageable sections. I don't think killing the palm would save much weight. If in doubt just write the cheque!

Edited a palm and it tried to edit me.

Happy Mothers Day in the US. It’s been a mother of a day here in La Habra; tried to remove an Archontophoenix maxima and it fell the wrong way, and hassles ensued dealing with it. I have other Archontophoenix I want to remove, and I’d like to kill them first, then wait for them to dry out at which point they lose 90-95% of live weight and become MUCH safer to handle. One method suggested is to use a very high salt saline solution funneled into holes drilled in the trunk. Any thoughts, experiences to share?

Well it’s a lot more than it used to be and I want to DIY this.

Can vary specimen to specimen, but, ..what i've noticed at least, trunks thicken as they gain height.. Have many in my neighborhood here in Chandler and even the younger / smaller - sized specimens have a very obvious thick trunk compared to Mex Fans. Absolutely no issues in 9b.. Many people here on the forum from New Mexico ..and some cooler ..like 9a.. areas in other parts of the country grow them w/ out too much trouble. FYI, if looking at other palm options in addition to the filifera ..in the future? Brahea sp. ...and Sabal uresana, our regionally native Palmetto sp. laugh at any cold they might see in 9b areas of the valley /nearby. Boyce Thompson Arboretum, if you haven't been up there, Tohono Chul Park, and the UofA Campus Arboretum in Tucson have plenty of those to check out in person, to get an idea of what they look like / size/ etc.. if they interest you. Like most things, given more water as they grow, the faster they will grow.. That said, even the smaller specimens in my neighborhood grow at a decent pace w/ out any extra water ..and look good. Honestly, have never estimated how much height the ones in my neighborhood have grown in the 10 years here, but, ..definitely noticeable. As mentioned above, more water you provide, even after they're well established, quicker they'll gain height. ..And yes, lol.. they can take a good amount of water, esp. this time of year. Some really nice specimens worth checking out whose roots are literally in water are located in a park, up near N/ Tempe / S.W. Scottsdale. ..A couple shot of some of them. ...Another great place to check out, if you're ever in the area? Agua Caliente Park, located in the Tanque Verde area east of downtown Tucson.. Lots of Mex Fans, and crosses between it and filifera, but some good looking, pure filifera there too.

Beautiful palm . The inflorescence will envelope that palm when they developed. Harry

You're doing exactly as you should ...Keep moist, but not waterlogged.. ..Deep watering, 2x a week right now ..Emphasize deep ..which means putting the hose next to them and letting it trickle for 30+ mins. Morning or evening is better than mid - day. Yellowing you're seeing is perfectly natural right now as well, esp. if these came from a nursery where they were grown under some deg. of shade cloth. .. Kept moist, they'll start pushing out of that / push better looking fronds once we reach Monsoon season and the heat isn't quite as brutal / air holds more humidity ...and they get some natural agua, ..hopefully, lol. Regardless, it takes about a year for new roots to really start digging in. If you have access to any, you can take leaf duff from below Mesquites and pile it around the bases ..staying a few inches clear of the trunk(s). ..Will help keep moisture in the soil, and slowly release nutrients. Other than that?.. Since they don't have established root systems yet, no strong fertilizers. A: they won't utilize any of it, so if you applied any now, it will be wasted effort and $$.. B: salts in non- natural fert sources ..or improperly cured organics like Manure, can burn root tips. Have a sharpie? mark the base of newest spear poking out from the center of the crown and watch how quickly ..or not.. in moves. That will provide good hints regarding how well they're settling in.. Good luck

@Jonathan here’s the ABG specimen back in 2018. I remember ABG being about 30 mins south of Auckland and no body of water close by so makes sense it gets chilly Richard. C lutescens looked terrible there as a point of reference, so I guessed it probably has similar winters to me in Melbourne.

They certainly see sub-zero. I think the one at ABG would have seen -4 or -5c and many nights below freezing with no ill effects. There's also a nice one getting away in Christchurch. They are some seeding here now.

Iam in the cant stand the leaves they drop and no more are getting planted in close proximity to the house garden. Some will get planted as pioneer palms on the outer edge of the garden expansion. They are pretty tough so for those hard to grow places they will be used as a microclimate buffer zone. You’re right though the colour of them is variable and you can’t beat them really for that. If they were to be introduced as a new palm into cultivation today they would be in such high demand and be selling for hundreds of dollars. Richard

Update…like nothing ever happened. Why it would have shut down for months is a mystery to me! Looks better than ever now though..

Juvenile but my favorite palm:

How tall was the Archontophoenix? Was it difficult for you to behead it? In such case you would remove as many as possible of the fronds and the cut off the part right below the crownshaft.

It’s important to note that palms vary a lot in wood weight and density. Some, like Syagrus and Caryota have heavy hard wood. Others, like royals and Archontophoenix have very light, spongy wood. I had three royals die at my place when they were mature size, about 30-40 feet (10-13 M) tall. All were left standing and only felled after they were thoroughly dried out months later. They were relatively easy to handle; the wood was very light covered with hard but not impenetrable “bark.” None had fallen over of their own accord by the time they were felled. I would say they weighed about 10% of their live weight; certainly no more than 25%. HUGE difference in handling.

Here's an update on growth speed from my neighbor, Ray, who bought one of my 5 gallon jubaeas just 4 years ago. Full, blasting, all day Arizona desert sun, planted in a 24" box equivalent cement planter. Tree grows like a weed with little to no burning, even after experiencing occasional 120F daytime summer temperatures. I'm super impressed with his growing skills. I think consistent moisture has mainly been the key to his success. Jubaea chilensis is definitely a viable species for a low desert growing environment. Congratulations Ray!👍 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Here’s one for the hybrid fans. This one was identified a while back on palm talk.

It’s actually one hybrid that I like the look of. Alas iam not a fan of hybrids. But I can see why a lot of growers like them. Just giving you seeds is a great joy, to see seeds from my garden grow overseas is a great joy. I ask for nothing in return. But iam sure we could trade palms if we were neighbours!

Dark mode!

Nice one gyuseppe!

Out here in Phoenix Arizona. Had the pleasure of my coworker special ordering me my favorite species of palm Washingtonia filifera from my store. Got a great deal on them and planted them all for my parents for their house by the pool. I dug the hole twice the size like everyone says to do and used Kellogs palm soil, earth worm casting, and some of the natural soil mixed together after digging out all the caliche. It's only been a week since I planted them They are still green in the center and I have been watering it for them twice a week. but some of them have this yellowish leaves to them as now which I think may be shock. Havent used any fertilizer yet. (I have arizonas best but am going to wait to use it) Still a bit of a newbie when it comes to growing but let me know If I should do anything different or what could be wrong with them. Im willing to learn and love these palms!

Pritchardia martii. Tim

Congratulations! These are beautiful palms and a big investment in time and money.

Syagrus Schizophylla a super tough palm.

A toasty, 104 -107F currently < 1:44PM > out there under wall to wall sun. We'll see what we max out at in an hour or so. While tomorrow's currently suggested high backed off a deg to 108F, have a suspicion we'll notch 110, if not 111F if the " actual high seen exceeding the forecast high " trend keeps up.. If that is achieved at Sky Harbor, it will tie ..or break.. a long standing record for the date. Thankfully, still looks like temps will back down to the hot ..but more reasonable.. 98 -101 range mid -week, before wavering in that range as we reach / head past mid - month. ..Other than that.. Standard mid -May forecast look across state 48.. While Hurricane Season will get underway, ...officially... next Friday, models still aren't seeing anything developing just yet.. A tropical wave may enter the Pacific off Costa Rica around the 20th but ..depending on the model run.. development beyond that may struggle. Plenty warm down there, just need to get the atmosphere cranking. Additionally, after Friday, clock will be counting down the remaining 30 days until the " NOAA start " to Monsoon Season 2026.. As most are aware, while the NOAA set up a set start date, season doesn't actually start until we see 3 days ..in a row.. of Dew Point readings reach or exceed 55deg. ..The " Native Arizonian " means of ushering in the season.. How soon that occurs? ..we'll see. ..Has been a lot of chatter over the past few days about how we could trade " dry " heat for wet / humid heat as we kick off the season, ..and progress thru it.. Hopefully that arrives sooner than later this year. May thoughts from the Copernicus seasonal / long range model suites are out and .. for the most part, all individual models used to compile the C3S multi -model ensemble continue their lean into the potential for a reasonably wet summer ahead, esp as we reach Sept.. A few toss around the potential for some dryness in say August, but the potential for a hard lean in that direction still looks pretty low at this point.. Still, ..something to watch.. We'll see what June's update looks like. CPC's seasonal thoughts will be released late this month ..on the 21st, ...so, we'll see what they look like then. CFS Monthly thoughts? ..still hanging tough with the same " solidly wet " look they've has since ..January.. ..A pretty good sign, but one we need to see continue, right up until the season begins. For now, lets complete the trek thru the rest of May ..and Spring, 2026.. and see where we end up when we reach the finish line.

It would be good to have a list of topics started by me somewhere in my profile info...currently it's not easy to find them unless I've been recently active in them. Unless I'm missing something obvious, which is always pretty likely!

I’m honestly not sure. Just my experiences with them. Maybe get a small one; if it croaks at least you won’t lose a lot of money.

Heh, heh, the security camera footage made me laugh when I saw you acting out. You one ‘lolo bruddah.’ Tim

Hey all, I purchased this at a botanical garden in Hilo back in 2017. It was just one of those plastic wrapped touristy things, like plumeria cuttings that they sell. I remember it looking like a chunk of wood, and I didn’t even know what end was up when I planted it, but it’s sprouted roots within a few weeks and actually started growing pretty nicely. A few months ago I had somebody working on my roof and he clearly dropped something on it, because when I came home, it was basically lying on its side, not completely snapped off at the base, but really wobbly. I straightened it up and put a pole in it and cross my fingers. Then I started noticing the fronds browning in a really strange way, just segments of them. And I couldn’t figure it out. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the fronds were actually dying down toward the base, but we’re maintaining as much green as they could as long as there was some energy being pulled up. Anyway, long story short it looks like the base is beginning to heal itself and for the first time in a few months, it’s actually throwing a new frond. Tough plants!

Barring some miracle I think it is very dead. I lost one to crown rot unrelated to cold, looked very similar though. Like palms, they can't recover from losing their central meristem like this. As a small solace, the trunk, root ball, and any fibrous material that's left over make excellent media for orchids and other plants. Definitely don't let it go to waste. I used a sawzall to cut several plaques out of the solid mass of the central root ball of mine. It's not quite as dense as the New Zealand stuff you can buy commercially but it retains water while being very rot resistant.

Thrinax radiata

Nice purple flush on this Dwarf Horridus.

The first thing that caught my eye today is the fact that despite me having been unable to work in the yard for months, plants are growing but some sure need mowing. I see my volunteer palms that hitched a ride from Floribunda are keeping pace with my remaining stilt palms - I had one cycad pot that had two volunteer palm seeds in it and another with one.

Garret, yours an excellent looking example of copernicia baileyana! Mine started growing faster once it trunked. They are not fast for sure but the slower growth at that height is desirable, its a better view than looking up there. These are great palms for florida, but as they get tall, the hurricane damage is greater. Milton hit my yard at 100-110mph, the damage increased with height seemingly regardless of species. My bailey was spared some as it was about 15-16 feet tall, as tall as the house. My C. Fallaense was not so lucky at 25' overall, about 70% damage to the crown. Palms taller than the house saw the worst winds. My neighbor said my 40' royal was bent horizontal in the wind and it lost all 18-20 leaves, just a spear left. My bailey is still in recovery mode, it lost half the leaves to wind damage, lowest first. At this time 3/4ths of the crown is back, though it still holds 6-8 leaves that saw some damage in Milton. Milton seems to have stimulated trunk growth some as it has for several other palms of mine. This palm was planted in this time of year in 2011 about so 5 years older from a 3 gallon. The trunk, from ground to the last dead leafbase is 10' first, 6months in the ground sept 2011. New growth had smaller leaves since it was grown in shade and I put it in full sun. Next 15 months later Dec 2012 it was pumping out leaves at a good rate. Then it started to go vertical and carry more leaves by june 2015. Then it was hit by a hurricane IRMA in 2017 and suffered a spear bundle infection (caused by spear fracture) that persisted for two growing seasons till I managed to kill off the fungus with repeat treatments of daconil. Just when I was wondering if it the fungus was still present, it started to grow faster. This was a period of slow growth for 2 seasons as the infected spears grew out. In sept 2020 about 10 years in the ground, it was trunking and looking fully recovered with a good growth rate. Here it is with a full crown sept 2020, pictured with my larger Fallaensis. Frankly, I wish they both stopped growing at that size as the colors are best when you can see into the crown. Then it was hit by two hurricanes the next 4 years. The sharp thorns on petioles of the newer leaves shred the leaflets on the older ones in the hurricanes. Now here it is 20 months after Milton damage, still recovering. It is 16 years in the ground. I am hoping for a full crown late this summer. Trunk is about 6 1/2-7' clear and 10' including the dead leafbases waiting to fall off in the wet season. Let it rain please!

just goes to show even in FL where its hot & humid copernicias are still slugs ! That is a nice size now - only took 10 years. Gives me an idea what mine will maybe look like down the line.

Wowo very nice growth on copernicia baileyana as well as other palms . I see a nice chambeyronia hookeri in there as well

They look great in my opinion! Skinned not too much and not too little to even notice.

Lol..Yes sir.. the bit of the trunks that were skinned..was a truck load.. should I shave em higher?

The same tree in March

It was a great trip, we saw some very nice palms, especially the Lanonia's. And really fun catching up with old friends and then meeting a few new ones. Jeff

Glad you got one of these. Yours is doing great - especially for a palm that can be a bit fastidious. One of my favorites in my yard. Here is mine now flowering. This came as a 7 gallon from JDA in 2008. Little more history on the palm. JDA had two similar palms at the time “Betefaka” and “Honkona” (note the ‘o’). Both grew very similar. Betefaka being more glaucous, Hankona green. This is the plant Ron Lawyer once called the “butt-ugly betefaka” because the original Betefaka was such a looker from a young age. That original betefaka turned into Oropedionis.

I can understand the coconut being a prize before air travel was common. Reminds me of this scene from the film Victoria & Abdul: