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I’ve been observing this palm for probably 50 years now. It was planted at Two Harbors Catalina island around 1920-28. Its looking better now than a few years ago due to the drought ending. It gets only rain, no irrigation.

I buy standard plants at Big box and I don't feel bad about it. Why would I spend $90-$100 when I can get it for $25 or even half that on clearance. I can't justify that differential, I don't have money to burn. Now, about 3/4 of my plants come from local, privately owned nurseries and private sellers. Why? Because they offer species and varieties you can't get elsewhere. Most of my money at the end of the day goes to them. It's ok to shop at both. And when you're first starting out you're less likely to drop big cash on rare plants. These cheap common species are great to get you into gardening.

Our big boxes have expanded their selections in recent years. Trachycarpus fortunei, Thrinax radiata, Latania lontaroides, and Syagrus schizophylla have made appearances. I'd like to see more of the native species like Acoelorraphe wrightii or Pseudophoenix sargentii for sale. A good portion of my seed grown palms are from locally collected seed. We've been lucky to have a decent selection of native and exotic palm species flowering the last two decades, so offspring from some of our longtime cold survivors make an appearance here in my own garden. The seeds were at the right price and getting to see the entire lifecycle of the palm has been a learning experience.

Yeah in late 2024 I went to the zoo hoping to see it and it was gone. The whole place has changed. Many of the big old things that made the zoo interesting are gone now. They used to have WAs tallest Syagrus probably planted in the 50s. All gone. The rainforest walk which used to have misters and some interesting palms a little bit different to the norm is not much of a rainforest anymore. The shot hole borer took out a few huge Moreton Bay figs so it’s an open dry area and the interesting palms are gone probably with multiple years of water wise non irrigation of the area. It used to be the best botanic park in WA, but now it’s kind of ruined in my eyes. It was awesome 30 years ago when it had different management and staff. It’s what got me into tropical plants. I was really quite sad to see they removed that Jubaea which was probably germinated around 1900. 🙁

That is the nursery I was referring to! They are pretty darn good , not as good as when Karl and Helen Doebler were there , but Danny does a good job. The nursery that started my palm journey. Karl used to bring in seedlings from folks in the Palm Society and had dedicated a corner of the greenhouse to sell them. They still have some rare ones now and then . Harry

The cones continue to develop on this Encephalartos munchii. It is the first time it has coned, so I was curious about which sex it would be.

I have a nice white bismarckia 30-35 footer than I got from a big box store in 2010, one of the whitest I have seen. It was moldy with just a clean spear. I also have a livistona chinensis multi, dypsis lutecens, and a Livistona decora that are now mature that I purchased from big box stores. However, the selection is typically limited and sometimes not climate appropriate at these stores. I have about 60 palms purchased form palm specialty nurseries. Every other yard in my area looks like a big box store selection(s), terribly boring like the same selections yard after yard. They don't even carry silver saw palmettos, a native bluish silver palm. I have also received palms that obviously had better quality care from the palm specialty nurseries. Box stores let palms go into decline and if they don't sell fast enough they write them off. These days the smaller nurseries have been seriously thinned out unless I drive 3-4 hrs and the big box stores sell prices that make me very happy that I planted out when I did. These days palms are more in general but if I want anything outside the 7-8 palm species stocked at the big box, I order small palms from redlands nursery. https://www.redlandnursery.com/availability-list/ B. Alfredii 3 gallons are $25 today and look great, happy as potted palms, and copernicia baileyana one gallon tall pots are $25. I paid the same for the 3 gallon alfredii in 2011, $25, its now ~30'+ overall. A 25 gallon bailey is $600, it makes no sense to buy that size. I had a 3 gallon bailey grow to double the size of that 25 gallon bailey in 4 years. I had two bismarckias one a 15 gallon and the second that moldy 5 gallon. The 5 gallon blew by the 15 gallon one in height in 7 years. Planting a big palm is over rated by most people, and also more expensive. When I look at my growing(6' max height) copernicia hospita triple which cost $20 each (by mail) from redlands and consider the largest would sell for $800-$1000, or when I look at my 20' copernicia baileyana and consider I paid $40 for a 3 gallon in 2011 and it would cost 10k to replace it, I feel like I made some great decisions going small. I still don't see a reason to buy at the big box stores now, I guess I am lucky to be in Florida but also to be aware of what can be grown. The awareness comes from palmtalkers. I highly recommend anyone new to palms to lurk, read, and ask questions for a while before buying palms. My yard would be a boring garden without the knowledge I have gained from palmtalkers.

Harry, the Green Thumb nursery on S. Victoria Avenue in Ventura often has small, rare palms. During my annual SoCal road trip I always stop there.

You seemed to have worked out what went wrong. All I could say is that palms won’t live indoors permanently and do require a spell outside in a nice greenhouse or in a shaded warm are with humidity. And the recovery time involved in bringing your palm back to that glorious indoor stunner is a few years growing away. It’s been setback and it’s going to take a growers skill to get it back looking like it once did. Overwatering and underwatering are the greatest problem for indoor growing.

Nothing beats the home garden, and this one was even better returning with good rainfall while away. Only a true gardener knows what it feels like and meeting other such gardeners is even better for just talking about gardening techniques and then the sharing of such plants is even more enjoyable, a gifted plant is always a focal point and conversation piece to remember forever. Richard

Great stuff nothing better than heading on down the road to a palm grower to purvey all those goodies unseen in the retail trade sector. You would need a truck if you came to my nursery. In my area there are only about two rare and exotic palm growers. And even then it’s a full day mission to get there and back. Head further north with overnight stays and the world of exotic palms becomes a bank account draining fueled spending spree! Richard

Yes I agree value for money, but that’s where it ends in my book. All they have is common palms, yes those common palms grow easily and they are palm so that’s not the palms fault, it’s a clever palm that has learnt to utilise humankind ensuring its survival on the planet. Palms are losing their habitat daily and are being over exploited to the point where they are being wiped out, and it’s even more critical that exotic rare palms get into cultivation and into gardens to ensure there survival, otherwise those common palms will win thay race and be the major dominant palms left on the planet! Those big chain stores have driven just about every mom and pop nursery out of business, showing no mercy in doing so. As a grower who has a palm nursery it’s near impossible to complete with such prices. This is why I chose to grow rare and exotic palms. And if i could get the prices they are getting for a golden cane or bismack palm. I would throw out my exotics and start growing bizzies and canes. But this is where I have an advantage over the big chain stores. The exotic stock may not sell by the hundreds weekly but I certainly can supply the quality along with rare exotics. I don’t grow my palms to make a million dollars I grow them for the love of palms and for the next generations to look at in wonder and glee in such beautiful exotics. So the next time you want a palm don’t over look a rare and exotic palm grower, you will have a very unique rare palm collection that will stand out leaving all those common palms way behind. And in 20 years time you look back and think iam glad I purchased those rare beautiful palms.

If you want a palm that’s easy to grow and fit into any reasonable small space, the feather palm, wedding palm or the lytocarum weddlianum is the one. Easy to grow and germinate, single plants will set viable seeds. Quite cool and dry tolerant. Perfect understory or bright light palm. An absolute beauty of a great palm that’s gives a lot of effect for little work!

Now what is it they say, when is the best time to plant a grove of palms, 30 years ago! Seeds are yours next batch!

Anything is worth a try, I have successfully transplanted young joey palms, 2 out 6 lived so the odds on root sensitive palms are stacked against them. Iam sure though ifbi had one Joey to transplant it would most likely die. All the weddlianum I have seen transplanted have died.

I salvaged one with more than two meters of trunk from a defunct palm garden. Sadly, it did not survive.

A good root ball and not having the soil fall off would make all the difference, I do knowcwithe seedlings break there roots and they will die especially the first tap root not that palms have a tap root. I nice matted root ball should hold together well in heavy soil, as for my sandy soil to risky for me to attempt.

Chambeyronia macrocarpa var flavopicta on a rare sunny Melbourne winter day - this show never gets old. It produces exactly 2 new fronds per year for the last few years. Every late July it will open a frond which stays red longer in the cooler weather than the one that opens in summer.

Tom, my thought and hope when I saw Bob's photo was exactly what you said. We can only hope that a Santa Ana doesn't blow one across the channel someday.

They did what now?!!? It's hard to fathom how anyone could make a decision like that...humanity really is the worst sometimes.

Here’s a few unpollinated chamaedorea plumosa, there was 4 seeds that did get pollinated but alas the rats got them!

Female Encephalartos horridus is skipping a flush and going for another cone after finishing last season with a cone. My Lepidozamia peroffskyana male did the same thing earlier this spring/summer. In that it's cones came earlier in the season, I am still hopeful for a flush on the Lepidozamia.

I am not sure what varieties they are as there are so many hybrids in Florida , but I think your best bet would be to buy a more mature palm with some trunk that has distinctly dwarfed characteristics (not unhealthy). I have observed some beautiful dwarfs that seem to be a mix of types with trunks only 13 to 16 cm in diameter and leaves that are about 2.5 to 3 meters in length at most.

So nice to see you both! Always nice to spread palmy love and positivity in general. “You all come back now! Hear?”

Hi there, When going to the local DIY home center I ALWAYS start my journey through the palm and other plants section. I am usually doing it when in need to buy a tool or something else necessary for our house, so, I am not a weekly regular but go there from time to time. But today - I am sorry, I didn't take a pic - I came across some roughly two year old coconut palms sold for 9.800 Japanese Yen (60US$) , that is almost the double compared to three, four years ago and completely ridiculous if you know the places were to look for washed ashore seeds... Since my own company already throws germinated coconut seeds away due to lack of need - they have already asked me because they are aware of my hobby - I might consider starting a business over here....😂 One more thing. A couple of months ago some imported C. lutescens (Golden Canes) - in the meaning of shipped in from other parts of Okinawa - were sold for 8.000 Japanese Yen (50US$), a jaw dropping price if you know better - just to be replaced weeks later by local grown ones... ...almost men-high for 2.000 Japanese Yen (12US$). (I couldn't resist despite its commonness... A beautiful palm is a beautiful palm, period...) So, to keep it short, the pattern is so obvious that you just stay patient and wait for the right time or mind your own - alright, just my two cents - Lars

Bit of a push on the seedlings mid winter. But I had the chance to pick 50 Calyptrocalyx pollyphylus, at a very reasonable price for 75mm tube stock so I grabbed them. I have a few porphyllus in trays in the greenhouse already doing well over winter, so this batch should be ok. And while I was ordering a few palms I grabbed a few cordylines rubra and kaui beauty, along with some plumeria cuttings for the garden.

Great looking palm. Definitely one to plant for future generations. The one at Perth zoo that they cut down to put a set of children’s swings in for a new restaurant area was about that size and planted in the 1920s. It was one of only two mature Jubaea in Western Australia. The other one is at the zoo about 50m away luckily in a garden bed - for now anyway. I remember as a kid looking at it and thinking how big it was. Luckily I germinated a seed from it before they destroyed it.

Encephalartos eugene-maraisii female cone emerging. The cone has a guest, protecting it from any undesirable bugs.

That's a bargain.

@Xenon Those are the kinds of days that make me realize a few weeds in the garden beds aren't as big a deal as heat stroke.

It's good to see and hear about so many coming back. My Maypan and Atlantic Tall made it, but a few of the smaller coconut palms I had fizzled out. A few of my neighbors had coconut palms that lived and are recovering, but others decided to remove them. There are a few that were bearing fruit near Lake Parker that are still fighting the good fight. I've still got a Panama Tall and one of @redant 's Atlantic Tall seedlings in pots. They'll likely end up in the ground before too long. The removal of the I-Drive coconut near Charley's was heartbreaking. It was fun to watch it fully mature and survive countless cold fronts with minor or no damage.

Crazy HOT today, look at that dew point still holding in the triple digits 🔥🔥🔥

Areca vestiaria new red emergent leaf. When I bought it a few years ago it was solitary, now it seems to be clustering instead. to the left of the Areca vestiaria is a variegated Caryota mitis. it was quite variegated a few months ago, but the newer leaflets are mostly green. I wonder if they will become more variegated later, or this is a sign that the palm as it matures will have less variegation?

well, finally, the other side leaflets made an appearance. I have never had one that one side was tucked in for a whole week after the other side exhibited.

I’ll never say no to Lytocaryum seeds. I want to get a grove of them going. Awesome little palm.

I remember back in my landscaping days a client had planted about 6 and wanted them moved to the area I was constructing for them. I said they would likely die but if you want to risk it I will do my best. They were trunking plants probably a metre tall over all. I dug them up carefully and expected them to die. To my surprise none died or set back. They took off in their new area. I was very careful and took as much of a root ball as I could fit into a wheel barrow.

That's a great idea Alan I've done it many times with my palm trees home I have an award-winning Trachycarpus https://oak.conncoll.edu/notabletrees/ViewTreeData.jsp?selected=226222 that's in the Connecticut notable tree Association so that's a great idea. I could use some straw or leaves [I do that with at my home with the trachy]and it works out great. the only thing is it sometimes it locks the cold in there as well ,but as long as it stays relatively warm compared to the ambient temperature I think it would be fine. I think the swings of the temperature is really bad for the palm tree [the highs and lows ] and usually in a leaf cage, the temperature is fairly stable; so I don't know what you think about that but I think that's a great idea thanks for helping I watch your Channel all the time best, DrZnaturally

Richard, when a Chanaedorea infructescence carries overwhelmingly unpollinated duds, then it is not uncommon that the few normally sized fruits are actually bubbles with no seed inside. As for the reasons for their normal size I am largely still in the dark.

I went to “waytogopalms” mark and he had sold them all.

This female Chamaedorea oblongata which is only sort of an understory palm these days. I was a bit worried as to how it would handle increased sunlight as it grew and the palms around it grew. It has managed well.

Back in SF for a visit. Picture/video of The Presidio Parajubeas 7/22/26 IMG_0011.mov IMG_0012.mov

You may notice the year you get fruit it’s dry around flowering. Anthracnose fungus is the culprit, when they are flowering any amount of rainfall triggers this on the flowers. The usual fungicide treatments work well. But there’s nothing better than an organic mango. And if you give that mango to wife she won’t be so chainsaw happy to cut down your tree. I get the same with my tree, and i finally get fruit only to have the fruit bats get them. 30 year old mango tree and only ever gotten 7 mangoes to eat over all those years!

Alogoptrea arenaria throwing a new flower, viable seeds have been collected from this single plant, and germinating them was easy provided it was a constant 30 degrees celcius.

Dioon edule x argenteum

More fell afterwards, but its just not summer on the escarpment without at least one major flood event.

My neighbor, who is a negligent gardener at best, has these flourishing in his yard: These are the only caladium I have seen in the Mobile area that survive winter and extended droughts with no attention whatsoever. Can you identify the cultivar? Are there other caladiums you can recommend for their cold hardiness? [I asked a version of this question a while back and got an answer, but a search didn’t bring up the discussion for some reason, so forgive the repetition.]

Gorgeous palms and flowers @edbrown_III + @gyuseppe !

It is really a treat to find these where 90%+ of the palms are CIDP or robustas. Some folks are more adventurous than the norm.

Nice. I am digging the blank canvas threads on here. I'm feeling inspired. I need to get more cold hardy stuff since my indoor space is getting full.

That's true. 20 years ago Kmart had a roebelenii on sale for $5.00. It looked half dead in the Florida heat. Took it home. Still alive today. One of my first palms.