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I just got back from a brief road trip to Bahia de Los Angeles to see the northernmost red mangroves on an island in the Gulf of California! It is a tiny coastal village in the middle of nowhere with no cell service and only satellite internet. Nevertheless, I stumbled upon some incredibly rare palms in a random garden! Anyone know any information about this garden? I tried knocking on the doors nearby but nobody was home, but there was a house pipe with wet ground beneath it so it looks like someone is tending to these palms. Click here if you want to see ALL the photos from the road trip First is the trip's purpose: the colony of red mangroves with the second pic being the particular northernmost mangrove in the colony. I'm guessing palms are Medemia argun, Bismarckia nobilis, Copernicia baileyana, Hyphaene coriacea, Cocos nucifera (only one in the village), Sabal riverside, Brahea armata (native), and Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera.

These three varieties of palms are a must have for any palm collection. All easy to grow and all have that exotic look so desired by gardeners and collectors. So if your climate is good enough these ones are a must have. I should know they are my best selling palms I have, proof enough they are popular! lanonia dasyantha kerriodoxa elegans Johannesteijsmannia altifrons

@Foggy Paul I have one that is just starting to get rings . Pretty fast grower here , thirsty palm. Harry

Had a quick visit to the gardens yesterday and snapped a few photos. We’ve had a few extreme heat days this summer up around 44C/111F but for the most part there’s not too much damage. Good to see more new plantings and there’s more to come. Geonoma undata. Pretty exciting new addition to a new cleared area where some South American species are being planted. Chamaedorea tepejilote Licuala ramsayi new planting off to a new start. Let’s see how it looks after winter but they are proven to be hardy here just very very slow. Hedyscepe canterburyana Arxhontophoenix maxima with a bit of heat damage to a new frond. Brahea armata in flower. Puts on a great show. The colour on Butia odorata in the background is eye catching too. Both such great palms for here. Parajubaea cocoides loaded with fruit Jubaeopsis afra is really becoming a standout feature specimen now. Beccariophoenix alfredii. Such a beast. Livistona mariae. This is a very old plant. Been about this size since I can remember. The smaller Hedyscepe canterburyana. Appears possible a bit heat damaged with its lower fronds dropping hopefully should recover with our long cool season coming up Chamaedorea woodsoniana still going pretty strong Syagrus schizophylla One of the big old Jubaea chilensis caught my eye with half of its crown shining silver reflecting the light off the fronds’ abaxial surfaces.

wonderful, Garrett 🤗

Not a palm tree, but our loquat. While the surrounding Cfb zones by the sea are still in their early spring dormancy, my loquat tree began a massive growth spurt around March 15. As you can see in the photo, the velvety, bronze-colored new leaves are already several centimeters long and are sprouting with incredible vigor. This early start (about four weeks ahead of the regional average) fits perfectly with my nectarine blossoms, which also burst into bloom around March 11 or 12.

It hurts so much to watch a palm suffer in the dry, I have palms all planted on same day from the same seed batch, some are 5 meters tall or more the ones that are in that sweet spot on my land are doing great while some are still the same size they where when planted if not even smaller than there original size, and yes they are the ones that didn’t make it due to water. They where planted 27 years ago, so time is a great way to judge the affects of water, with have and have nots!

I will be when this growing one of these calyptrocalyx pauciflorus, as soon as this one arrives in the post @Jonathan, a new addition to collection!

They get rather tall at least 5 meters on this one and still growing!

Chamaedorea microspadix and a slow growing cocothrinax eckmanii standing the test of time.

Thanks Harry. The more you can do yourself the cheaper it is, to buy a structure this size you would be looking at around $6000 plus labour to put together and the machinery costs for excavation of the site, plus benches, irrigation potting bench’s and sundries, you would be looking at around $12000 give or take. Growing palms is not cheap nowadays. So I have learnt a thing or two after working in the horticultural industry for 41 years.

Looking good! C plumosa is a crownshafted palm, right?

Chamaedorea plumosa doing its best impression of a crownshafted palm, with very little encouragement from me. I’m sure this has something to do with our recent heat wave and continued warm weather.

@Mazat Beautiful , so lush and green. Harry

We can only report here on two Trachycarpus fortunei that are thriving in partial shade in a marshy area next to a pond belonging to friends of ours in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley. They look good

That really surprises me too; I have to agree with doomsdave. Unfortunately, ours died in the observation room—she had plenty of water and warmth... It's sad.

a beauty, Keith 🤗

Who’s getting old now hey @Jonathan dragging that one out from the vault🤣

Wow, this thread was a blast from the past and quite interesting...looks like I learned a bunch of stuff that I've subsequently forgotten! I imagine that we probably know a bit more about the highland palms of NG now?

Oh my they are some of the toughest looking palms around, look at that environment! Most likely Sabal one looks like a coconut! But that’s about the rest I have no idea but tough they are.

This part of the garden definitely caught my attention after I planted this anthurium, just the pop that spot needed!

I could only image your climate, it is possible to create that microclimate with water, but you need a lot of it and constantly relying on it. I noticed I wasn’t watering any near enough after a full year of good rainfall with record breaking rainfall. The garden just grew all 4 seasons. I have black sandy loam and drainage is my moisture downfall, absolutely fantastic for growing palms in. But when it’s dry it’s dry in the garden and the surrounding gum trees drink and store all the water they can get. But on the other hand when it’s wet it’s like tropical rainforest the transition is amazing. As you say water at the right time of season, especially in summer, it is critical to a palm gardens success. Also I learnt something new today that palms cannot feed when it’s dry, no matter how much you feed them, thanks for that info.

Water is one element we need for our survival!

Thanks Richard. Maybe makes more sense how it’s been able to handle Melbourne’s heat for a long period. I think I might’ve only seen one other G schottiana up close before and having a look back at my photo it does look close-ish, certainly fronds, leaflets, growth structure and leaf bases. I suspect this one is more self cleaning because of a subtropical climate. Hope the owner of this G schottiana doesn’t mind me posting - it’s a beauty.

The old Jubaeas and some others date back to the late 1800s. It’s definitely a nice place to visit and now the diversity of the palm collection is increasing quickly.

A few more goodies going into the garden. This lot should get the garden looking like a tropical paradise! anthurium tilarance x vietchiidypsis pinnatafrons pink crown trachycarpus princeps socratea rostrata

My understanding is originally it came from a former Palmtalk poster who moved up north years ago and left some of his collection with the gardens. As Kyle’s notes below, this could be G schottiana and that was actually my first instinct before checking the label. Either way I’m pretty pumped that there’s a Geonoma that has been kept happy in Melbourne for a long time. I’ll continue to give the hardier species a go, such a cool genus.

They are a god send the plastic pallets as much as we dislike plastic. It is a horticultural weed mat, potting benches next one either end, plus a storage shed, and then irrigation to be set up, going all out on this one. I would be half tempted to put gravel floor in, but iam not as young as I was, plus the good old hernia iam not going back there in a hurry, 4 operations later not anymore I say.

It’s great to able to be part of a longer term project with botanical gardens, it’s one for the future of palms to get them into botanical gardens, and if it’s boosted along by a few palm nuts all the better. Giving those palm nuts a bit of recognition for at least knowing about the palms that stand a good chance of long term survival in there area.

Rhapidophyllum and Serenoa prefer to be dry when cold. Serenoa is a challenge in red clay. Acoellorapphe I think is ok with wet feet.

I think you could put a bag over the whole spathe . It is beautiful in all its glory.

I fell in love with this palm with my first visit to the gardens and through the years I always look forward to seeing it there. This is a highlight reel of pics since 2018. It doesn’t seem to change much. I’m grateful it has never been given an unnecessary pruning. Second to last pic is a month after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. To the right you can see the heavily wind damaged Corypha (which HAS recovered). The last picture is from earlier this month I do have one of my own growing in a container for now. It’s good to have some things to look forward to down the road

I bought my 15G Brahea Clara exactly one year ago from Josh @ Fairview Nursery in Vista - https://fairviewnursery.com/plants/palms/ He grows them from his own parent tree, and had a TON of them when I was there, and pricing was very reasonable. By appointment (not always open). Sadly far from you, unless you know someone doing a road trip. Here's mine as of today. I assume any remaining stock would be similar in size.

I hear Rhopalistylus sapida will also grow in a swamp; true?

People will find their palms dying for many months after the freezes. I had a Pseudophoenix sargentii keel over dead 18 months after the 2010/11 freeze. Also, my Hydriastele beguinii 'Obi Isle' gave up on life 9 months from the same freeze. Lost all my young coconuts, Euterpe, Wodyetia and many more I can't recall. I'm still losing palms 3-1/2 years after Hurricane Ian. I hate to say this but for many of you the carnage has scarcely begun. You will have to make some hard choices on how much money, treatments, time and work you are willing to invest trying to rehab some of your palms. To be honest and not being snide, pygmy dates are common, cheap and easily replaceable. I'd go that route before I bankrupted and exhausted myself trying to save them.

Sarcoglottis sceptroides, 3.5 ft bloom spike

Iam finally getting back to the greenhouse, with a change in the season it’s time to get on with the property projects. So time to get the welder out put it to good use. So far total cost 2 rolls of welding wire and labour the rest of the materials from leftovers at work, the boss even gave me the two roll of shade cloth. About time as well after 24 years of working for them! My sister works for a trucking company so the plastic pallets were freighted up from Sydney. Not what you know but who you know in the palm growing game!

Is the Geonoma undata possibly Geonoma schottiana? great photos! For a second I thought the Livistona fulva was a Corypha with the Araucaria emerging from behind it like an inflorescence 😂

I was the lucky recipient of the Brahea edulis seedlings. Very happy with the shipping and the communication. Definitely would buy again.

In dry climates irrigation is number 1 issue for many palms(non desert palms). If things are not growing fast for you irrigation is the most likely suspect holding things back. The difference between the dry hot spring and the hot rainy season is quite dramatic, no marking of spears needed just count new leaves per month. When palms are dry they go into stress and that stagnates growth as they try to find water by growing new roots when all they need is to be watered. In high drainage soil this issue is magnified in a big way. When I lived in arizona I saw lots of people kill palms with frequent shallow(short duration) water schedules in clay soil, moisture at depth is not achieved as soil evaporation and runoff(in clay) dominate ground penetration. In our florida drought we are only allowed to irrigate once a week. This years growth could be seriously stunted as drought stress signs are everywhere. Did you know that palms cant feed on nutrients in dry soil? You can throw down plenty of fertilizer and still palms can be nutrient deficient if the soil depth where roots feed is dry. Moisture is required to enable the transport processes of nutrient uptake. If your palms are growing too fast and you want to slow them down, cut watering down in the hot season, it will do the trick.

1g pot with coir, perlite, a pinch of Mykos covered in a baggie with a mat set at 85°f.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/sanchosgreenpaws/3855775357870401742?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=d3Z1ejc1cWtnMHA2 Welp. 2 of my colocasia bulbs went mushy. But I found a white Monstera at Wally World. I dunno when it got delivered, but it's literally never been watered since they put it in that stupid self watering pot, it apparently took a ride in a storm since half the dirt was gone, a few snapped stems, and it'll absolutely piss you off to hear how much I paid for it. You ready to get pissed? Lol yes. I just bought a White Monstera for less than a box of Pop Tarts. It's already in a 1g pot.....

Need to work out logistics for Jubaea x Attalea and Attalea x Jubaea.

Well, I've been under the weather for a hot minute now. I've got so much 💩 to do. I've got a bunch of bulbs to pot in 5gal which means I'm gonna need to mix a lot more soil. 2 Hawaiian Punch, a White Lava, 3 Thai Giants and preordered 2 Redemption. I also have a Wellspring order of another Red Ensete, a Black Ruffle colocasia, some dwarf yellow ginger that was their giveaway, and hopefully some freebies or 2. On top of that, I had an Etsy coupon expiring so I rolled the dice and found a new colocasia I've never seen before - Jurassic Jellyfish - and I just had to have this thing. I also ordered an Alocasia Bisma Platinum and Cuprea "Red Secret" and a black cherry pink princess philodendron. If I can grow that Black Cherry out as well as I have my Wal Mart recovery philos we'll be doing ok. One of those is throwing a pup now so that's one more to add to the pile. And the elephant ears are getting stupid. The larger ones are more pup factories than anything else now which is fine, but the Jacks Giants from the benevolent homey Nate are blowing up despite being cut down 3 times, the cannas are starting to take form, the bananas are just effing ridiculous, it's time to pot a few seedlings into 1g, and I think I'm gonna take lessons from @teddytn and @Sabal King - bags. I hate them I do not like them but if I can pack 30 bags into the space I can pack 15 pots why not? The ones I bought are also panda film so no worries about leaving them in the sun. I still need to build another rack. I still need to get more lights, but at this point that can wait a few months. I'm glad the propane is on a flat rate plan but as it sits I'm using about $30/month in lighting. Add some more efficient fans and that'll offset some of that. I just need to figure out how to establish this social media presence and get my name out there.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU6yokMDQFf/?igsh=ZmlqYTloNWg5eXJk S/O @Bigfish It's also time to mix up another batch of soil. This is my preferred brand of coir, it's consistent and a fair price at ~$20. I did luck out on Black Friday and get it for $16 but that was about 100 gallons of soil ago. I *prefer* NorCal brand perlite because it's pre-rinsed. Practically zero dust, no facemask needed. I don't have a ratio, I just pour and stir and pour and stir - it's just like watering the coir, I just hit the brick with the drainage spade along the seams to break it up (like the old Hassan CHOP dude from Bugs Bunny) and dump buckets of water until it's saturated. Let it soak overnight with the lid on, go stir and stir and stir some more and then add the perlite. Wear a mask. I used to pre rinse it outside but I put plants in all of my buckets with holes in them so que sera sera. Anyway I got seeds to soak and this weekend I'll finish potting up the bulbs from @N8ALLRIGHT and get these seeds cooking. Pretty sure I put too much stank on it when I was cutting this brick and cracked my soil tote but whatever, I'll just trade it with another after this batch. More edit Yup. I done broked my dirt box.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTwlgCpjV6p/?igsh=d3pxemxhZDQ0bGc2 Choppin and proppin with UGK

More YouTube Shenanigans. One day I'll get a helper to film me actually doing stuff or something, or just figure out a way to set up the camera to watch my methodology and listen to me talking to the plants. But please, if I ever turn into one of those dorks with a crazy expensive camera and a $200 microphone and an Amazon storefront who says "please like and subscribe" every 3 minutes, I need someone to make the drive to Clarke County and kick me in the junk. I'll send you home with plants.

A couple longer videos, if you're a Ned Flanders about the sailor talk these might not be for you. Bokashi Soil Factory, coco coir explanation for beginners, and basically 11 minutes of a tour with some words I wouldn't say in front of most children.

No problem. I enjoy this thread.

This one was on the outside of the garden near the parking garage. Here's what I know they have: We might be able to add a few if you remember seeing any other species of Archontophoenix (possibly maxima there?) or can ID either of these.