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VThe garden is holding up to the usual winter weather not a problem 2 degrees celcius this morning, and iam sure the low lying areas in the valley most certainly would have seen a very white ice blanket on the ground possibly even a minus degree reading somewhere.

Good luck, and if it doesn't work out we can always try again.

It is a very unique microclimate with sandstone rocks for thermal mass, a little ocean influence from the east, one of those little wet areas that seems to get showers of rainfall. If you tell a local truck courier you live at halfway oh yeah i know that place the highway in that area is frequently wet from passing showers. When the rest of the area is dry. The eastern side of the highway complete paradise, cross the highway to the western side and it’s a completely different microclimate that is the opposite to my area. Ten minutes west as the crow flies and its temperatures down to -2 and frozen with thin ice puddles of water, the very rare black frost does hit the area with two in 25 years that burns the sugar cane fields near Maclean 30 minutes north. The only disadvantage is when the drought is on the gum trees are water pigs drinking and storing all that garden moisture. And the living in the bushfire threat is extremely dangerous at certain times. Would I want to move to North Queensland and grow palms, no way they can have there cyclones and constant heat. It’s only a matter of a few degrees in difference for subtropical conditions that make a huge difference, if you were just that few degrees warmer in winter a complete game changer in what you can grow. A beautiful part of the world to go check out the surf at Angourie. Glad iam born and bred here, iam biased for me it’s the best part of the world 🌎

Spring is only another 5weeks away, now is the danger time for any of the new plantings, so far so good with only one palm taking a bit of burn.

Where to buy seeds or palms. The only site i found was rarepamlseeds.com, among us only and 19 year old out of business companies. I'm looking for some variations of Trachycarpus, butia and maybe a butiagrus.

Hi everyone! I’m a newer palm grower in Southern California, and I’ve recently fallen in love with Chamaerops humilis. One of my favorite things about the species is how variable it can be. I recently found a beautiful var. cerifera with small, star-like fronds, as well as a wispy form with a completely different look. It’s been a lot of fun searching for unusual specimens. I’d love to see what everyone else is growing! If you have an interesting Chamaerops—silver, weeping, long-petioled, compact, or anything else—please share some photos. I’m always on the lookout for unique forms.

You can create a microclimate, if the conditions are to harsh its amazing what a canopy will do for that game changer. Microclimate and time are two factors that build a garden. Iam in a very unique position for growing a lot of tropicals and temperate plants. With the temperate stuff iam up against the heat and with the tropicals cold is my enemy. Now with so many great palms available it’s a bit of trial with a bit of error. Yes there are certain tropicals I won’t bother with but iam yet to really get into the temperate palms, as they become available I will try with them, but for now I will leave them up to the refrigerator growers @Jonathan @Tassie_Troy1971 and @tim_brissy_13 they have the real cool tolerant stuff that I can’t grow for now but that’s not going to stop me from trying. Also being realistic is a good approach as well, but as for the rule book it’s thrown out the window in my garden! A great example is I planted a Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana yesterday with 2 degrees celcius this morning, they are from altitude and I know they are cool tolerant and with spring coming up bring it on!

Actually plant size is a bit deceiving, because it is disproportional to root size (smaller root size, larger aerial parts). You do not need special experience to imagine, what would happen, if you plugged the plant directly in to the ground in such condition. Whatever intial advantage relates to seemingly lower price, is canceled through the horrific transport fees. Long story short no need for us to beg for a deal with this enterprise.

Yeah I don’t think there is any purely perfect place to grow palms. In the tropics you could grow anything but with cyclones you are always trying to rebuild. Too far south it can get cold but then the high heat that effects cool loving stuff is avoided. The trick is to work your microclimates where ever you are to bend the climate zone to what you are growing. You can only go so far though. Then it comes down to just being content with what you can grow well. Then visit a place that can grow everything you can’t when you go on holidays. Your area is a pretty good mix and you can grow many good things.

Here’s enough breakfast blueberry’s to last a lifetime and more. 100 acres should keep you going with a bit of all bran breakfast cereal!

Here is a blue and silver tinted Brahea dulcis in front of a nice, almost white cenizo in bloom. I couldn't remove the cage without knocking off a bunch of flowers.

Macrozamia johnsonii I grew from seed is now coning. 1996-2026. These are large plants with 10ft+ leaves.

When is the best time to plant a palm 20 years ago, time for that sancona to go in the ground!

M amicarum seems to be building some momentum…

I haven’t been watering the garden, trying not too wet the foliage. In the morning would be the best time for waterings, but with plenty of rainfall the garden doesn’t need it.

If you are after young seedlings, I have bought several times from palms.de and also babypalms.eu and I am very happy with the plants that I received.

Also, yucca-palm in Spain ships all over the EU, as does coldpalm.nl. There is also a site called garden palms or something similar. Sometimes the box stores ie B&Q in Ireland ship canaries to Irish addresses.

www.achat-vente-palmiers.com/en/ French shop with a good selection. There's also a Spanish site palmseedlings.com that has a good selection of seedlings and seeds

Onszaden.com ships from The Netherlands, it has a few of cold hardy palms there but mostly out of stock. Trachycarpus Fortunei is the only available seeds for now

The mid north coast of Australia a subtropical paradise. With thousands of hectares of rainforest that covers a fair chunk of it. Before settlement it would have been one very unique piece of land. Now it has been fragmented into isolated areas broken up by farmland. Much of it is either state forests or national parks with a lot of special reserves locked up for conservation purposes.

A vine that was scrambling along the ground.

The peace and quiet and with a lot of areas inaccessible to the family car there’s always a spot where you won’t see anyone at all except for the animals!

True, true. I don't think I'll buy from him again. I bought a Veitchia Joannis and it was literally the only one I found on sale in Europe back then, so no choice.

They are not always multi stemmed . I planted one over 25 years ago that just grew straight up , single trunk. . It has never produced pups or offshoots. It was a very small plant that I got from a palm nursery near San Diego , California. Harry

With very unique plants that have adapted to cope with all sorts of climatic conditions, and relying on the animals for that symbiotic relationship to survive for a lot of species and visa versa with a lot of animals dependent on that ecosystem for survival.

I just sent you a PM private message.

It’s a nice area you live in their Richard. Semi open Eucalyptus woodland will protect you from extreme cold. Yesterday morning I was one of those places down in a valley. The ice box. -1.2C recorded near me. White lawn crunchy bird bath ice. Canopy saving my delicate palms. Spring 5 weeks away. Bring it on. 🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴😁 It’s great to see so many Lepidozamia getting into your shots. It’s a really nice look. They’re a beautiful cycad.

After spending the last 30 years growing palms and cycads, I have settled in with a greater fascination for cycads. They are quite diverse in color shape and form and have proven to be mostly adaptable to my given space, soil and climate. Among the many beautiful and interesting genera among these plants, none seem to quite possess the magnificence of the Macrozamia giants. This M mooreii sits close to the pool so therefor it receives a high and tight haircut each Spring.

To be seen to be believed, some populations in different areas are just covering the understory while others are just small groups or single individuals scattered in one area. But wherever they are it’s deep shade mostly!

Thanks Rich, will put them in individual pots today. My propagator is set up basically at room temperature 20-24c, so not too hot, Ceroxylon parvifrons are germinating happily in there at the moment, so hopefully it's a comfortable temp for these guys.

True; babypalms is not responsive, nor very polite. He is my last option. He has decent size palms at good prices

A little goes a long way, less is best. A good rich well draining soil medium is another good way to feed palms, get your soil right from the start and a lot of your nutrient deficiency problems are less of a problem. Also overwater will cause a lot nutrient problems, locking up your soil. This is critical to container growing. If in the ground good rich healthy mulch will greatly help, and animal manure.

Liquid seaweed extract, fish emulsion, osmocote or nutricote slow release. Chicken pellets. There are so many different brands of fertiliser out there on the market. What is available in Australia may not be available in other countries. It depends on if you want organic or synthetic fertiliser.

Some blueberries on the dreadlocks. Also my breakfast raspberry substitute fresh off the guava tree. Yellow.

Hydriastele splendida living up to its name. Tim

Calyptrocalyx albertisianus popped a new leaf. Blue sky……a rarity lately. Tim

Does babypalms send again to Greece?

Jonathan, I would strongly advise that you sow the seeds in individual small pots. I was the fortunate recipient of Richnorm's generosity and obtained 12 sprouts in a community germination pot. When I separated the small seedlings to install them into small pots 10 of the 12 died immediately.

More lost time stuff. Crape myrtles are blooming and I'm honestly a little disappointed that my Colocasia Redemption doesn't match. Every woman I've ever dated is like a croton. When all is right, they're happy. One thing goes wrong and they go psycho. Decapitated Golden Crocodile.. I thought i took pics of my alocasia Dark Star and Yellow Dragon. I guess not. Here's a regal shield.

Calyptrocalyx pachystachys

Areca vestiaria "Maroon" seedling

A bit of winter colour in the garden today.A couple of Chambeyronia hookeri and a nice Japanese variegated rhapis kannonchikushima

Some color…

Making up for lost time. Caladiums, bananas, and an Aegelsomething "Really Red"..

Yet another photo of Prestoea acuminata var montana in bloom. Opens pure white, then becomes pink, and finally dark red with green fruit. Never fails to draw in visitors to the garden. I'm not sure if the geckos are hunting the many bees attracted to the flowers, or something else. But you gotta love those blue eyelids. Geckos were introduced in Hawaii decades ago and now number in the billions. The Kalij pheasants love eating them, but don't put a dent in the population. Plenty of geckos make themselves at home inside my house. And my first Pinanga speciosa has gotten too tall to appreciate the colorful crownshaft, so I've planted some babies. Just starting to hint at the coming show.

A big Macrozamia boy in the neighborhood, a couple of blocks in the photo below. The caudex girth can be put in perspective by comparing it to the telephone pole. I don't recall which species this is. I thought he had a label next to it, but its either been lost or was hidden among adjacent plants.

Hello, for ma Yes, I like L p as well. I like their look in large containers and they seem to do well for many years with it.

When it comes to user friendly cycads, you can't beat Macrozamia's cousin Lepidozamia peroffskyana. They get big, but have soft leaflets and unarmed petioles & rachis. I don't recall cold hardiness on these. Have you grown this or hopei?

Another giant, this Macrozamia johnsonii was started from seed over 20 (25?) years ago. Patience is certainly the key as these plants will sit nearly unchanged above the soil surface for many years before exploding into growth. Already dwarfing other cycads in the garden, this specimen is still a pup.

I agree, Tom is right, causiarum is one of the nicest to grow, the photo that Matty posted of his neighbor's sabal causiarum is what got me going on my sabal obsession, enough to plant almost a dozen. I am reposting that photo below. I don't know who the dude is, is that Matty or Matty's neighbor? I am new to sabals, but I can relay what I observed so far. I planted a lot of sabals this Spring, among them causiarum and dominguensis from 15 gallon, and I put growth lines on all at planting time. Causiarum has been the fastest, with several inches of growth per month, but dominguensis is pretty darn close in speed and is a younger specimen, suggesting that what Tom is saying is right and it's actually faster. I was concerned sabals would be slow in my climate, but they seem to be doing ok. Causiarum and dominguensis are both fast compared to some other sabal species like mauritiformus. My mauritiformus is just slowly putting out a new leaf, I will be lucky to get even one new leaf this year. All trunking sabals are supposed to be like kentias in that they are quite a bit slower until they form trunk, at which time they speed up. I don't have a single trunking sabal so I can't speak from direct experience. One note about dominguensis: the plant I received had a fungal problem, which I fixed with some lime sulfur. This is only one data point, but it does suggest dominguensis might be more prone to rot in cold wet chill conditions. It was exposed to 27F in January at the nursery where I bought it. They are one of the most tender sabals at seedling stage, PalmKiller told me his got fried by 25F last Winter. Causiarum doesn't seem to have this issue, I think it's the best sabal to grow. One last suggestion: water them like crazy. All sabals except sabal minor are drought tolerant, which means they won't let you know they're not getting enough water and will just go dormant (i.e. just sit and do nothing) in dry conditions. I've noticed that speed in my garden seems to be a function of how much I water them. I had a sabal riverside that I thought wasn't growing because of shade, but it turns out it was the lack of water that caused the issue due to the rootball drying out. Once I fixed the watering issue it took off gangbusters.