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I photographed this beautiful Jubaea chilensis palm tonight. I hope that when it grows up it will be the only beauty in the place.

I am happy to see some future prospects. They all waited a long time and popped all at once.

After trimming some tall fan palms day before yesterday I was greeted with a boom late last night as the rain came down. Its more like w whumpff! One of my mature royals decided to release a leaf with a wet crownshaft. The leaf stem and leaflets were completely dry, but the massive crownshaft was quite wet and heavy. Seeing it there on the ground I was grateful I didn't have to trim that sucker from below! So I went out to see it in the morning and took a pic with Adirondack chair for scale The palm is a fattie for a royal and is approaching full recovery from hurricane Milton in oct 2024. The older these royals get the more I appreciate the self shedding, saves me being on a ladder underneath. These royals cost me $160 each with delivery and 90 for planting (each) with a bobcat. They had 3-4' trunk in late 2011 as delivered. We are aware when a leaf dries out or even looks half dried out and avoid being under them at that time. Credit florida weather and a popup automatic irrigation system for its appearance, I don't really put too much care into them! Its nice to have something bullet proof and low maintenance. Most of the time they dont drop with a heavy wet crownshaft but when they do its like what I imagine a big dinosaur sound like with the heavy footfall. I have two large royals, this is the smaller of the two and they are enough for me. Warning! You should be able to see why you should not have these in a place where you walk (or sit) regularly like a front yard path to the front door. And if you park a car under one like this, expect a big body shop repair bill as it is about 50-60 lbs falling frm 25+ feet.

Socratea rostrata always gets my attention! Both in the container and in the ground. Iam buying a Time Machine just to fast forward and live 40 years from now. Just to see the palms in full glory!

Yes like a lot of us we see both good and bad in technology, and we thought the industrial revolution was a big leap forward. Just look at what the internet has along with computers. If used for the good of humanity it’s a wonderful thing. Put it in the wrong hands and we know the consequences of that decision. Money has now become just a number on a computer screen in cyberspace, that can be used to our advantage in many ways possible. It’s hear to stay like it or not so it’s much easier to embrace and utilise than buck and go against the system. It’s incredible what that little screen in our hands has done for travel a world once so far away is so accessible, that’s one thing you’re daughter would think nothing off but second nature to her, but for you and I it’s a wow thing. Ps I nearly caught the yellow robin in flight. Richard

Hanging leaf base leftover from a hurricane snapped frond. Also growing out of a little frost/freeze damage from this winter. Probably one of my favorite palms for sure. Photo taken this evening.

Hi, can you tell me where in Italy you're doing this experiment? Keep in mind that the problem with palms and subtropical plants in the central Mediterranean isn't the minimum temperatures, which are sufficiently high, but their long-term persistence. I've been experimenting with palms and other subtropical plants in Palermo for over 50 years, and I can tell you that there are many more cultivable palms than you might think. If you're interested, I can provide you with a list of those I've successfully tested, but unfortunately not coconuts.

Among other things, these did.

These are real Chilean jubaes

Hu Palmeras, I am a hobbyist and grow cold hardy palms because it can freeze where I live. Luckily Santa Barbara is much milder and old palms producing seed are easy to find. So I collect palm seed in SB then grow them out over the hill in Buellton. (close to Solvang) The Jubaea and Parajubaea haven’t had to deal with anything below 23F but it can get into teens here and the only hundred year palms I see local are Brahea Armada and Canary Date Palm.

Only some nurseries sell Butia capitata (Odorata). I think the one in the photo is a hybrid with Jubaea.

Do you have many Butia in Chile ? They are far more common here than the Jubaea.

Hmmm, are you sure that's a Jubaea? The arching leaves suggest Butia to me.

Hu Palmeras, Persistence yes ,but no special skill required. I treat the Jubaea seeds just like I treat Parajubaea and Jubaeopsis. 70-79 in my living room , no bottom heat, damp 50/50 coir / perlite in a Rubbermaid container . You want condensation on lid but damp/ dry medium. Wait months or years. I had another tray of Parajubaea Cocoides pop a couple weeks ago and potted a dozen. The ones that didn’t pop may do so a year from now, I really don’t understand why they can wait months and months then all pop at once . Jubaeopsis are truly fickle and uncooperative yet on occasion I can get some of them to go.

All I know is that you're a great botanist and you like exotic things. If it were a dinosaur, what kind of dinosaur would Jubaea chilensis be?

What size was it when you bought it? I would imagine it would have been 36-42 box if you needed a bobcat. I would have so many palms if I lived in Florida. I paid $150 for a 15 gallon flame thrower. Prices are so expensive in California.

Thanks for the replies. I tried a new pH kit and came up with 7.5 in 3 spots about 20 cms deep. Here are some better photos of the palm .

I don’t know about coriacia but my thebaica is slower than slow!!! It is neat but I will probably never see it trunk!!!

I wish it’s rarer than rocking horses poo and chickens teeth. I do know of one grower who has them, and I respect their decision to hand pollinate and keep those plants. But omg it’s in my holy grail list like a lot of other palms.

There are very few fibers on @jwitt picture of his "hybrid". For me, my filiferas from seed have started to push out split leaves about 4 to 5 months after germination. Here are a couple of pictures of mine. Note: Germinated March 6, 2025. The first pic is from August 9, 2025, shortly after first split leaves despite having a grasshopper problem last summer. Second pick is today May 30, 2025, that are currently between 12" and 18" overall height.

After mowing my lawn today, I did take the time to get the grass a little further back from my filifera as well as my little mule: I also spotted a pair of Texas spiny lizards on the side of my house while I was out working:

I would say female, if it is a chamaedorea elegans they can be difficult to tell until they open up. First glance I thought female!

So get things moving heres a tray of Adonidia dransfeildia! in pots

Before I had my land I was renting, so I learnt how to container garden. I used to arrange my container plants around like a miniature tropical garden. It was fun and helped me learn about growing. For containers soil is the key!

After 5 months

@happypalms You're a very good container gardener. By contrast, I'm the world's worst container gardener LOL.

I do concur. C. pembanus. Tim

I’d say that’s a pembana, @Cape Garrett ! They kinda sit awhile then EXPLODE in height. Here’s some of mine after about 10-15 years in the ground.

Tip of the iceberg…

Wallichia densifolia new leaf, and the Chambeyronia off in the distance. And a nice bit of colour with the Chambeyronia, dypsis cabadae and archontophoenix purperea!

I have some pictures that I took a few days ago. I'm growing 3 Filiferas. The two in the backyard seem to finally grow faster after being in the ground for three years. The one in front, I grew from seed, grows way faster and has been in the ground only for two years.

Being so dry in Arizona,falling fronds are not a concern. I've purposely weighed several of them and they are always only 5-6 pounds total. Don't think I've ever seen one fall off 'wet' around here. Location, location, location. 🤷‍♂️ aztropic Mesa, Arizona.

Aloha Kostas, We have three growing in our garden which is on the hot and dry side of the Big Island. They were 4' - 5' when we planted them in late 2009. All three are planted in very little soil. The first one is basically sitting on the roots of a giant silver oak tree where there are no more than 6” of soil. The middle one is in approximately a foot of soil. We were able to plant the third one in an area that has a rich soil fill. Tallest is now 15'. The shortest in about 12' Two of the three are in bright sun. The other one is under the Oak tree and in semi shade. The average temperature here is about 82 degrees in the day time. Our annual rainfall is about 40” inches so I water them every couple weeks. They've only been fertilized once.....about a year ago. None of them has ever had a problem; they are very hardy, totally majestic and one of our favorite palms. Go for it! Here’s a picture of one of ours. Mike and Lee