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Don't see them actually eating the seed, but they sure seem to be attracted to them.

A couple pix of bliss!

Save yourself lots of time and hassle and buy a new one when you move. You can buy one that size for 50-75$ if you look around on Facebook marketplace. Be very weary of where you move in Port Charlotte though if you are not near the Peace river of Charlotte Harbor it will get just as cold as Central Florida in a cold snap. Saw multiple mid to upper 20 degree days in the area over the last few years.

Unlabeled large and spiny Aiphanes horrida:

You’ll see them around in Southern California, though they’re a lot less prevalent than most other fan palms. i used to think that they were slow and that’s not entirely true - though slow is a relative term. They’re definitely sturdy, in Sam Diego, and worth the wait (in my opinion). Shoot me a DM if you’re having trouble finding any. Here’s a link to a thread which documents a lot of my experiences: Not the best picture, but here’s a S. Uresana and a S. Mexicana type, from the other day. I’d estimate that they are around 10years old, from a 5 gallon. They’ve been on their own, without any care, and are self sufficient where I’m at 10a (maybe even 10b). 92104 zip code. There’s also a S. Bermudana (maybe) and a S. Causarium further to the right, which can’t be seen. Those are also living on their own, with no help. These are growing with a lot of other palms in the 3500-3600 block of Wightman St, and there’s a Livistona Chinensis, Arenga Engleri, and a big Sabal Mauritiiformis two houses south, on Wilson Ave, if you were in the area.

I planted out this weddelliana yesterday. The soil in this part of the garden is heavier than the rest (takes about five minutes to drain 2" of water). The area gets consistent summer "rainfall" from fog dripping from the neighbor's Magnolia grandiflora overhead. It also gets almost no sun any time of year and as a result is continuously moist. I know this species is prone to root rot, so I cut off irrigation to the plant. It will be our only palm that isn't irrigated. What does everyone think of this strategy?

Day Geckos love nectar, not seeds - most likely looking for that or insects attracted to the palm.

That’s where I got mine!

Red Latania opening a new frond

I got my weddelliana from JM today. I got permission from the boss to splurge on a 15g since they are so slow 😁 Here it is in its approximate eventual location next spring. I have another tiny one from Jeff Marcus which I’ll plant alongside it…hopefully neither one croaks.

Cattleya mossiae coerulea 'Blue Bird' x C. mossiae coerulea 'Herrerae' Watering day in the orchid room, so glad to find this cattleya in bloom: also, the color really intensified on that vanda I posted a few days ago.

Howea, Chambeyronia,chamaedorea!

Sabal Yapa opening a new frond

This poor old cocos looks like it has endured many a hard day, but still growing that’s how tough they are. Having seen extreme heat up to 42 degrees Celsius and lows down to -2 it’s, drought conditions I would say it’s one surviving example of a tough palm.

They used to wash up on south facing beaches in Grenada when I lived there. My friend has a nursery there and collects them and managed to germinate a couple, however none are naturally found there. I'm not 100% sure, but o think the population in Trinidad is a relatively new arrival, or at least the range is expanding there. Here's a pic of took of some seeds in-situ in Grenada on Fort Jeudy Beach, which is where they seemed to end up mostly.

Lanonia dasyantha

It’s Nannorrhops. I’d say probably N ritchiana. This trait is consistent with the genus. Think of costapalmate as a subset of palmate; in reality many, many palmate palms are costapalmate. From memory I think Nannorrhops is actually one of the few palm genera with fronds without hastulas.

I picked up a large Hoenei and a smaller 3g Wedellianum at the MB Palms open house in Orlando yesterday. How much sun are you giving these guys? Given inland central Florida sun may be a different beast.

Outside of the Malone United Methodist Church there is another DeFuniak or Brazoria looking palmetto. Malone is about 60 miles from DeFuniak springs. It definitely isn’t a palmetto. Most likely a sabal minor and palmetto hybrid. It could be the same as the DeFuniak palm or a brazoriensis or some other hybrid brought in and planted there.

How did they do? I wrapped my robustas, and they have sprung back to life quick. But lost some young filiferas.

Hello Gringo! Χαιρετίσματα στην πανέμορφη Πάφο! You hit the nail on the head, and since you brought up the "second desert in Europe" hypothesis, let's look at the hard numbers. The comparison with southeastern Spain (Almería and Cabo de Gata) is inevitable, and mathematically, they are almost twins. Let's do a deep dive into the actual data: Almería and Cabo de Gata are famous for being Europe's reference points for desert climates. Cabo de Gata is historically cited as the driest spot in the Iberian Peninsula, with an average annual precipitation of roughly 150 mm to 170 mm. Almería Airport officially hovers right around 200 mm. With a mean annual temperature of roughly 19°C, their Köppen Hot Desert (BWh) threshold is 190 mm. This means Cabo de Gata is BWh, while Almería city dances right on the BSh/BWh line. However, there is a massive catch with Spain: the official meteorological time series for Cabo de Gata is notoriously plagued with missing data and huge chronological gaps, making absolute long-term climatological normalizations a massive headache. Now look at Xerokampos. Τhe in-situ Davis station (2020–2026) recorded 219.5 mm. But Xerokampos is significantly hotter, with a blistering mean annual temperature of 20.9°C. This pushes its BWh desert threshold up to 209.0 mm. That means Xerokampos is hovering a mere 10 mm above the strict absolute desert line! Basically Xerokampos is at the exact same proportional distance from the BWh climate as Almería, just with a much hotter baseline. We just updated the research with deep ERA5 satellite data, and the findings are absolutely mind-blowing. Here is the exact breakdown of why this place is a structural anomaly: 1. We ran the historical reanalysis (1940–2026), and Xerokampos has seen a 9.5% precipitation drop in the last 30 years. But it gets crazier. For a continuous 15-year period (Feb 2004 to Dec 2018), the Mean Annual Precipitation locked in at exactly 208.02 mm. That means for 15 straight years, Xerokampos operated strictly as a BWh Hot Desert! 2. We finally proved why global models usually miss this micro-desert. Models like ERA5-Land use 9x9 km grid cells. Because the coastal strip is so narrow, the model accidentally averages the beach with the adjacent 753-meter high Ziros mountain, predicting a false 354.3 mm. But when we isolated the pure, undisturbed offshore marine cell right on the coastline (0m elevation), the model returned 212.0 mm! That is a less than 4% deviation from the station (219.5 mm). The coast literally behaves like the open sea. 3. The rain shadow here is brutal. As the air descends the Ziros mountain, it heats up rapidly (dry adiabatic lapse rate of ~9.8°C/km). We calculated that roughly 140.6 mm of rain per year evaporates in mid-air (virga) before it even hits the ground at Xerokampos. 4. To prove the orographic shield, we looked at extreme weather. During the catastrophic Storm Daniel in Sept 2023, the windward Toplou monastery recorded 64.6 mm. Xerokampos? A measly 3.6 mm. It received barely 5.5% of the regional rainfall because the mountain completely cut it off. When you look at these numbers, the conclusion is unavoidable. Xerokampos isn't just dry; it is a topographically isolated, borderline desert microclimate. And it's not just the Ziziphus lotus telling us this. The ecosystem is uniquely adapted, hosting a suite of North African and Saharo-Arabian thermophilic flora, including the desert grass Lygeum spartum and the drought-resistant Periploca Angustifolia. The harsh sandy and saline soils of the local Alatsolimni (salt lake) complete this extreme xerothermic picture. Not to mention the sand dunes immediately west of Xerokampos or the fact that the Sitia UNESCO geopark officially characterizes the climate in Xerokampos as ''semi-desert''. You are totally right, we might get a second hot desert in Europe provided the numbers hold up as the Davis station in Xerokampos expands its operation. Here is the updated paper in English and Greek (I kinda helped methodologically but I chose not to be listed as an author): Xerokampos desert EN.pdf Xerokampos desert GR.pdf

I can see how this Cycas Siamensis “Silver form” got its name. I wish the leaves would stay silver like this but they usually start turning green in a few days after this stage.

We have a young one, it has a lot of burn but growing out.

Leptotes pohlitinocoi with its first flower in my garden. It isn't putting on the same display that my Leptotes bicolor are but it is a younger plant. Maxillaria tenufolia is sharing it's fragrant blooms again too.

From the looks of that building, it’s WAY WAY older than the Queen palm that is about twenty years old. That building certainly wasn’t built in 2006 or later. I’ve seen many cases of palms “hugging” the walls they are right next to.

I'm keeping mine in a 50°F - 58°F environment and it has grown another inch though fall to current. None of the other species I have ATM are showing any signs of growth. Started in 2023.

The first two of them ended up surviving. Freeze damage combined with sooty mold and rot took out the other two. The first one bounced back super fast, it couldn’t wait to burst out new fronds. It was still pushing out growth throughout the winter, making big fronds too. The second one is putting out small sized fronds and is struggling a bit with ants on it that I have been trying to get rid of, same pest problem I’ve been having with the other palms also. Sprayed the thing with fungicide also. I’ve been using ant traps nearby too. My two largest windmill palms also got sooty mold and rot problems, both had spear pulls and I poured peroxide in the holes recently and they still fizzed. It looks like this biggest Washingtonia has some strong genes or is lucky because it is the only palm I planted last year that is very healthy at this point.

This year the SBP ( Sociedade Brasileira de Palmeiras) will meet again on the 30 and 31th of oct and 1th of november. This time it will be in my region, the "Campos Gerais", 2nd tableland. One day the meeting will be held in my garden, in Carambeí, ( 1030 m altitude) state Paraná, southern Brazil. Another day in the "Parque Estadual de Vila Velha" to see a population of the endandered small Butia microspadix palm ( also Butia eriospatha, Geonoma schottiana, Allagoptera campestris and Syagrus romanzoffiana) in the impressive scenery of the rock formations of the Vila Velha Park. There is a lot to see in my state Paraná. For example the natural wonder of the Iguaçú Falls are located 500 km from here. Of course, you are welcome!

A somewhat bit of a rare Howea species, there about the place if you look hard enough. But not that common, the fosteriana got all attention and the bell was left second place. A nice palm with that punk look about it!

Just a few pictures of each, they were looking happy with the recent rainfall. The first two photos are of S. hoehnei which has a more upright leaf habit, and the S. weddelliana showing a weeping look. They both get a fair bit of sun. Tim

Yes, those are Attalea guacuyule in Puerto Vallarta. The species runs in dry coastal forest from Nayarit down through Jalisco, Colima and on down to Guerrero. Significantly smaller than the gargantuan A. cohune (which takes over further down, in Central America) and it is quite coconut-y in appearance because it dispenses with the strict shuttlecock crown and when not overtrimmed has leaves hanging gracefully below the horizontal, as can be seen in the photos above. A splendid thing and you can see it in The Night of the Iguana, which was filmed in Mismaloya in a forest of these palms. This would be a great palm for the low desert of SoCal and Arizona as it loves heat and endures a seven-month dry season in its native habitat. Unfortunately it seems to not be in cultivation in the states and of course difficult to import seed at present. I'm not aware of any specimens in California, and just one that the late Al Bredeson grew from seed he brought back from Puerto Vallarta and planted at his house in Captain Cook, Hawai'i. His property was sold after his death and status of that palm, and any seed that may come from it, is apparently unknown.

It's a bit hard to tell for sure, but my first thought due to leaf shape, structure & clumping habit was Accoleraphi wrightii. Which I was keeping to myself until you mentioned the palms came from Florida.

It comes down to money. How much does the nursery invest, how much demand is there, how quick is the turnaround. If the market in California supported Sabals, they would be mass-grown by Monrovia and sold by all the big box retail stores.

Here is a preliminary cold damage to my personal palm collection. I live in Altamonte Springs, about 14 miles north of Orlando. Its a little colder than the metro Orlando area. My yard does have some good tree canopy in the back but this didn't make much difference with the winds. The first night of the freeze was 23F with 20-30mph winds all night and it was below 32F for over 10 hours. The 2nd night dropped to 28F but it was still with frost. This was the coldest freeze since the record Christmas 1989 freeze. It was also the first hard freeze with high winds the entire night. PALMS Acoelorrhaphe wrightii (4’)- no damage Aiphanes horrida x minima (6’) -100% burn, already had about 25% burn from earlier cold, it always showed damage below about 35F every year but always quickly recovered, not sure this time Archontophoenix cunninghamiana (20’) -major burn Archontophoenix purpurea (7’)- 100% burn Areca triandra (3’) -100% burn Arenga engleri (7’)- surprisingly burn on one leaf Arenga hookeriana (5’)- all tall stems 100% burned, shorter suckers green Beccariophoenix alfredii (15’, 10’)- both have severe burn but green in center Borassodendron machodonis (3’)- COVERED, no damage Brassiophoenix drymophoeoides (5’)- 100% burn Carpentaria acuminata x Adonidia merrillii (25’)- 100% burn Caryota mitis ‘Variegata’ (3’)- severe burn Chamaedorea elegans (2’)-100% burn Chamaedorea ernestii-augustii (3’)- 100% burn Chamaedorea metallica (2’)- 100% burn Chamaedorea microspadix (6’)- no damage Chambeyronia macrocarpa (3’)- all leaves burned except newest Chelyocarpus chuco (4’)- COVERED no damage Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos (3’)- 100% burn Chrysalidocarpus lutescens ‘Nana’ (3’)- COVERED but partially blew off, 50% burn Chrysalidocarpus madagascariensis (Mahajanga form) (6’)- 100% burn Chrysalidocarous onilahensis (3’)- light burn Chrysalidocarpus pembanus (15’)- 100% burn on the 2 tall trunks, suckers have some green leaves Chrysalidocarpus psammophilus (3’)- 100% burn Chuniophoenix hainanensis (3’)- no damage Clinostigma savoryanum (4’)- 2 newest leaves have no damage, others burned Coccothrinax barbadensis (3’)- light burn Coccothrinax crinita (3’) – severe burn Coccothrinax spissa (3’)- severe burn Cocos nucifera ‘Green Malayan’ (10’, 3’ trunk)- almost 100% burn but a few green leaflets and petioles still green, already push new growth, it already had about 20% burn from frost a couple weeks prior Copernicia alba (6’)- no damage Cryosophila stauracantha (4’)- 100% burn Cyrtostachys elegans x renda (3’)- COVERED no damage Dictyosperma album (furfuraceum) (3’)- 100% burn Euterpe edulis (10’, 5’)- both have 100% burn Gaussia attenuata (7’)- 100% burn, new spear opening Gaussia maya (5’)- 100% burn Heterospathe negrosensis (4’)- light burn Howea belmoreana (3’)- severe burn Howea forsteriana (7’)- severe burn Hyophorbe verschaffeltii (6’)- 100% burn Lanonia dasyantha (2’, 3’)- no damage on either Leucothrinax morrissii (5’)- no damage Licuala kunstleri (2’)- light damage Licuala peltata (3’)- light burn Licuala ramsayi (6’)- slight damage on 1 leaf, very delayed reaction Livistona decora (10’)- no damage Livistona muelleri (4’)- moderate burn Livistona saribus (15’)- no damage Normanbya normanbyi (8’)- 100% burn Phoenix acaulis (3’)- no damage Phoenix loureiroi (Kashmir) (8’)- no damage Pinanga coronata (4’)- 100% burn Pinanga gracilis (3’)- 2 stems, 1 no damage, other 100% burn Pritchardia hillebrandii (3’)- moderate burn, still lots of green Pseudophoenix sargentii (4’)- severe burn Ptychococcus lepidotus (5’)- 100% burn Ptychococcus paradoxus (6’)- 100% burn Ptychosperma elegans (10’)- 100% burn Ptychosperma propinquum (macarthurii) (12’)- main stem 100% burn, suckers mostly brown but some green Ravenea glauca (3’)- light burn Ravenea hildebrandtii (5’)- 100% burn Ravenea rivularis (6’)- 100% burn Reinhardtia latisecta (2’)- no damage Rhapis excelsa ‘Zuiko Nishiki’ (5’)- no damage Rhapis humilis (8’)- no damage Sabal etonia x palmetto (2’)- no damage Sabal mauritiiformis (5’)- very minor burn Sabal miamiensis x maritima (6’)- no damage Sabal palmetto (10’)- no damage Sabal palmetto (Miami Rockridge form) (2’)- no damage Sabinaria magnifica (3’)- COVERED, cover partially blew off, light burn on a couple leaves, very delayed damage Schippia concolor (3’)- moderate burn Serenoa repens, silver (3’)- no damage Syagrus romanzoffiana (20’)- light burn Syagrus sancona (7’)- severe burn Syagrus weddelliana (6’)- severe burn Veitchia arecina (3’)- moderate burn Wodhyethia bifurcata (4’)- 100% burn CYCADS Bowenia spectabilis- no damage Ceratozamia hildae- no damage Cycas debaoenis- no damage Cycas thouarsii- 100% burn Encephalartos ferox- 100% burn Stangeria eriopus- light burn Zamia furfuracea – no damage, in pot and taken in Zamia integrifolia (narrow leaflet form)- no damage Zamia integrifolia (Palatka Giant)- no damage Zamia integrifolia (wide leaflet form)- no damage Zamia nesmophila- moderate burn Zamia sp. “Spots”- severe burn PANDANS Freycinetia cumingiana (4’)- main stems dead, some green shorter stems/leaves Pandanus furcatus (15’)- 100% burn but green already pushing out Pandanus letocartiorum (decumbens) (2’)- 100% burn Pandanus penangensis (monotheca) (5’)- 100% burn Pandanus polycephalus (3’)- severe burn Pandanus pygmaeus ‘Variegatus’ (2’)- moderate burn Pandanus tectorius (spineless form) (3’)- 100% burn Pandanus tectorius, dwarf spineless variegated form)- 100% burn PALM-LIKE PLANTS Cyclanthus bipartitus (4’)- 100% burn, this is root hardy, foliage dies every year as it declines around 35F but rapidly regrows in spring Dracaena arborea (4’)- severe burn Ravenala madagascariensis (15’)- 100% burn Ravenala menahirana (Honkondambo) (3’)- 100% burn, new leaf emerging Sphaeropteris cooperi (Cyathea) (10’)- 100% burn Strelitzia nicolai (10’)- 100% burn

Thanks! I have a friend in New Jersey who built a greenhouse on a flat roof of her house that she can walk out into from a door in her bedroom. She has been growing orchids for 40+ years and has an extensive collection, and always has at least 10-15 things blooming simultaneously of all different genera. Its kindof a desire of mine to have that....but there are some genera I don;t grow (the Calathea alliance comes to mind) so mine are mostly Vandaceous, Bulbophyllums and some Oncidium alliancne, as well as Phals which I mostly rescued from the Lowes 1/2 price markdown when they stopped blooming and mounted around the place

Look, my great lord and friends. Look at the little Juania Australis. They are like your beautiful palm trees too. But just look at them. You know that every palm tree gladdens the heart of us all. This one, of course, gladdens my heart. The more I search, the louder I will applaud it, the more shouts of joy I will raise, and the more trust I will place in it. This other unique kingdom has been added to my collection.

Sedirea (Aerides) japonica in bloom.

It is such a pleasure to have something much color popping all at once. I enjoy walking around my garden with my granddaughter and showing her the orchids that are both in bloom and yhe ones with flower spikes getting ready for the next display. She really warmed my heart when she said she wants to grow orchids "when she gets big". We wi)l see what a 3 year old considers "big" in the coming years. You have a lot of variety blooming now to enjoy. Hopefully some are also fragrant to appeal to a different sensory mode.

One of Royals opening a new frond

Yeah, there are issues with using anything and everything. Even with the NOAA stations, I've seen instances where the reports don't line up well with the personal stations nearby. For reporting purposes, I compare them to models that tend to report very accurately, like a Davis or, if that brand isn't close by, Ambient Weather or Logia. ----- All: The Feb. 2026 map has been updated to include a few more stations that had not reported yet as of the last iteration. One example is Bartow: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1QwsArS8xqOQ1Bbw_4LqRrurwD6cf3Q8&usp=sharing

Yes they’re always in or near water in natural habitat.

They shouldn't have built that so close to the palm!

Thanks, it’s clearly hardy enough but the fronds did sustain quite a lot of damage. I noticed a widespread -5C in large parts of London this winter.

We missed the Easter freeze by a few degrees in this area, but the valley areas got zapped. It looks like a similar cold front is headed this way later this week.

It now completes, height-wise, with the house.

Check out this beautiful, good sized coconut in El Golfo de Santa Clara, a little over an hour's drive from the Arizona border. Definitely makes Yuma/San Luis, Arizona seem like possible Cocos territory. The town is located at the northern end of the Gulf of California near the Colorado River Delta. There were some other smaller coconuts in front of the Hotel San Antonio that seem to have been removed when it was renovated, but this one is still there as of a year or two ago and looks really nice! https://www.google.com/maps/@31.683575,-114.4937887,3a,15y,288.97h,93.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1snXEasyqVGz0kX9fBbWhI7w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en

I found nice coconuts in Hermosillo using Google Street View, and documented it in another thread...I think Cocos are really a lot stronger than people think, but they can only handle chill for about three months (rather than the six months found in the SoCal coastal areas); and they have to have heat during the growing season to make sure they have a good number of 'solar panels' to keep going. But one thing I have learned is that young Cocos should be protected from the heat of the low desert. I believe the La Quinta coconut, which is now exposed in full sun and looks pretty good, was sheltered under other vegetation (a Plumeria and possibly other plants) while it was getting established. I had young Cocos shrivel up and die in full sun a couple of years ago in Rancho Mirage.

Less than 200 miles south of Yuma or San Diego latitude! The climate of Puerto penasco compares very favorably to Puerto libertad. In fact it shows the nights in Winter being slightly warmer in the more Northern City, uper vs mid 40s, both near 70 during the day. Both get far too little rain but have decent average humidity.

In many gardens here people just do nothing but watering. All soil here is volcanic and it is a good one in most areas of the island. If the area is good, then palms grow well - Acanthophoenix to Zombia. A non-fertilized specimen is much slower, but if the spot is fine, it grows often more robust than others. Less nitrogen growth often means less nutritional deficiencies... thinking of micronutrients. When I give a look to the palms around here, I often complain more about pH, salt, or lack of water, rather than on lack of "food". And if they show pests like scales for malnutrition, then it is often due to lack of microelements, not to lack of NPK. Carlo