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So when we do that, the flowers open within about 48 hours and then begin getting some pollination for seeds. Crazy, this is the only species that this is a problem with. Weird. First picture is today’s surgery. The second & third has some surgery that we did about six weeks ago.

Hey all, here’s something I can’t quite figure out. My neighbor and I have a couple of this species and they throw out flower spathes regularly. But they simply never open on their own. So… We’ve taken to performing surgery to free up the flowers.. The thickness of the spathe is just crazy thick. We have found that if we simply allow them to sit, eventually the contents of the spathe will just get moldy-and yet never open. We are generally perplexed at why this is happening, but it is what it is. It actually requires a combination of a sawzall, a vibrating saw, and some clippers deftly used to remove the woody section without damaging the flowers excessively. The walls are thicker than my thumb is wide.

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.

Freshly drizzled Pinanga & K elegans.

Thanks for looking!

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!

The bismarck palm is a very fast grower and a good trouble free choice for beginners. This one has 6 new spears at the ready, and will replace the entire existing crown over the next 2 months. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Horridus and Arenarius hybrids are winners in my book. They all seem to grow great. I’m sure yours will be even more fantastic looking in the future. Here’s my cross with the same parents as yours but swapped. It is a very blue plant. Encephalartos Arenarius x Horridus

Royal Palm first ring almost there

Iguanura sanderianumAreca rabaul Dypsis orange crushAreca mandacanii Licuala polyschitsia All are doing well considering the low temperatures around 5 degrees celcius.

Just having a little wander around after a bit of a holiday. And things are just fine, and dandy for the garden in mid winter! Licuala bracteata licuala triphylla var stenophylla lanonia centralis Areca warhbosabal mauritiformis

Our selection here in big box stores is just common variety palms . That said , I watch the clearance rack for flowers , and occasionally , palms (not often). A short while back there were two 3 gallon Majesty multi on the rack with very minor leaf tip browning . The palms were in good shape so I put t]hem on my cart . The clearance rack is marked 50% off and the palms would be great in pots along my fence line , original price $20 and about 3-4’ tall. When I got to check out I reminded the clerk that they were “clearance” items. He replied “how does $3 sound?” I repotted them and they are doing precisely what I wanted them to do. If you need fill in palms to maintain a tropical look , they are perfect . I will , at some point need to keep repotting them as they grow pretty fast here , eventually rehome them as I already have a huge one in my yard and the trunks get rather large. Large , corporate places have little concern over pricing when they want to get rid of old stock. Unfortunately , in my area , they will not stock anything of interest to collectors . They used to have many varieties but now it’s just the generic stuff. Harry

I like too see someone who recognises a bargain when they see it. Great value top palm!

The clinostigma samoensis aren’t looking to good for this time of winter, with a couple casualties and one that will most likely show some hope of living only to eventually succumb to winter and die! And I knew that the brassiophoenix schumanii were doomed from failure before with them. You just gotta come back for more suffering and try again with some varieties! 🤣

There are some very unique microclimate pockets up there for palms, as you know! And as a lot of growers know it’s the cold and wet conditions that do the damage. An old SAPS booklet writes even back then in 1987 they were onto it way before us. And another winter strange one is out of the Areca Rabaul I have one is packing it in for winter and out, while the other one is growing stronger. So it’s it’s disaster for tropical palms in the cold . possible it’s soil temperature to add to the factor when wet and cold conditions all meet with all three conditions

A couple nice trays of trachycarpus princeps and sitijong. Showing there cool tolerance as seedlings!

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

A couple nice ones enjoying the cool temperatures. Dypsis saintlucei Crysophilla warscewizianus

Keep us updated if you get viable seeds!!

They were very fast. Started in like a week. I found the flesh somewhat difficult to remove. Trying to get it off I think I accidentally stumbled on a good preparation technique. I used pliers to remove the last of the flesh and accidentally cracked the endocarp on one of them. I exposed a very clean hard kernel so decided to do it for all seeds. From that point, I put 10 seeds in a fertile potting mix I’ve been experimenting with for germination and 10 seeds in 70/30 coco coir/perlite. I put both containers on heat mats set to 26C. Within a week both containers started sprouting. After a couple of months now I’d say I’m up to 10-15 out of 20, evenly split between both containers.

Good advice here . I would wait it out now . Continue watering , as long as the palm isn’t sitting in muck and the watering is reaching the entire root ball. I have had palms linger for a year before showing good turn around. I would add wood chips to the surface to help insulate from the heat and reduce evaporation. I have wood chips everywhere around my palms . Don’t give up just yet! Years ago I would get “dead” palms and revive them . As long as I saw green at the growth point , I would try. I had many success stories! Harry

@Meangreen94z the Pearland palms are nuts, great work. Amazed by the majesty palm, very jealous of the A. totai. My yard is neglected and much less palmy these days, but a few things are chugging along: Sabal uresana from Barton Springs Nursery. Not as silvery as the John Fairey palms but still pretty nice. I am not sure what this one is. Also bought from Barton Springs Nursery in a 1 gallon pot years ago. I remember the pots and signage had different labels, some said Sabal bermudana, others Sabal domingensis. It has grown nearly as fast as my Sabal causiarum and looks very similar. The causarium is unfortunately dead... a transplant casualty during our yard remodel.

I ended up planting the E. munchii and the E. Horridus x Arenarus.

Very warm and very dry start to summer. Multiple days over 100F, and long stretches between rain. I fertilized a month or so ago, and been watering a couple times a week. Getting some beautiful green growth. All discoloration was from transplant shock last year, and will probably trim it all off next spring. So far, just been clipping the burnt-ends. It’s putting out its 4th frond of the summer, and all the new ones at over 7ft long. Easily my favorite plant in the yard, and very exotic looking for the area. NC Zone 8a.

That’s a beauty! Can’t beat the price. Harry

Very interesting! My B.Afredii is several years from being near flowering. But any full palm pics of your palm? Since there aren’t too many flowering Becarriophoenix in SoCal I’d be interesting in seeing the size of your mature palm!

Please look at the attached image. These Coconut palms have been growing at the corner of South Orange Ave. and Kaley Street in Orlando for a number of years. As I am sure everyone know, Orlando had not had a freeze of any kind in a number of years. This past February, that all came to an end as much of the area fell into the upper 20's briefly. The outlying areas fell into the lower 20's. My Winter Springs location, Northeast of Orlando hit 24F. These Coconut palms completely defoliated and the coconuts hanging on the larger trees fell to the ground. Well as you can see from the image, these trees survived the event and are well on their way to re-growing their crowns. So, not only will they survive, it looks like they will continue to thrive. There are also a couple of Coconut palms planted on the other side of Colonial Drive from Orlando Fashion Square Mall. I didn't get a picture but, these trees are also pushing out new growth and obviously survived the cold event. So, it's good news for Coconut palms in Orlando, Florida...

The coconut palms at the old Smashburger across from Orlando Fashion Square on Colonial Drive also look really good...

What winter?! Reminds me of when we visited my wife’s relatives in Viginia one November. The fall color was beautiful and the rain was nice . Then came nightfall . I went out to help her cousin unload his pick up . I had a very warm fleece pullover on and I was freezing . Cousin Jack went to hand me something and I was standing , shivering . He asked “what’s the matter?” I said “ it’s effing cold !”He said “ no , this ain’t cold !” It was 25f out !!! No thank you! Harry

I haven’t been back to Catalina Island since my sailing days . I never went ashore at Two Harbors so I never got to see those palms , they look very old indeed , almost 100! In those days , 70’s and 80’s , I would’ve never paid much attention as we lived on our sailboat , so palm enthusiasm was just secondary in my life. The narrowing of the “neck” tells a story of its stress during dry times. Harry

So funny! We are like peas in a pod , as they say. The first thing I do , after a get away , is walk about the garden to check if anything needs a drink or a trim . Sometimes , just to chill and relax. My garden is home! Your palms look like they are doing well but probably glad to have you back , fussing about as we gardeners do. Harry

Yea , sometimes you just gotta try! I dug up 10 little C. Decipiens seedlings at the Sullivan’s place and potted them up . Someone , here on the forum , commented that I had very little chance of them surviving. I put them under other palms on the side garden. I have two left , one ain’t doing so well and the other is just pushing a wee spear . I noticed it in the green house over the weekend , so maybe get one palm? The seeds were difficult for me to get sprouted , maybe 40% with the baggie method . The sprouts appear to have survived potting up but we’ll see. Harry🤞

Nice looking palm. I don’t believe I’ve seen them for sale here , in my travels. Harry

For people just starting out on their palm journey, buying a hardy to your area palm from the local big box will probably get you the most for the least. Prices they can offer due to their volume purchasing just can't be beat. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Looks similar to 2010 prices in FL to me. I could get a 3 gallon bucket full of dypsis lutecens seedlings for $10 or a 3 gallon livistona chinensis(5) multi for $10, and oversized 1 gallon Archontophoenix Alexandre 2' tall for $3. If you like pygmy dates that is a great price. A 4-5 years after 2010, the smaller nurseries where I purchased 90% of my palms kind of vanished as the post banking collapse economy left only big box stores. But I was lucky to have purchased several dozen palms before that happened. Worked out great for them, they raised prices in response to lack of competition and inflation.

Thats great, I hadn't been by those yet to look. I'm amazed at how many coconuts are growing back after lows of around 24-25. I had 23F (below 32F for 10 hours) at my house in Altamonte and my Green Malayan (with about 3-4ft trunk) was totally defoliated, it was not protected or wrapped. It had no spear pull but once it warmed it started putting out new growth. Its on its 5th leaf now. So far every one has been shrunk/deformed but each new leaf is bigger and better. The new spear looks even bigger now. Theres another a few blocks down from me and it gets no care/irrigation. Totally defoliated but its also growing back. Theres a house a few blocks from Leu Gardens with 2 trunked specimens and they also have good growth coming out.

That $5 Kmart roebelenii story is classic. My first "real" palm was a clearance queen palm from Home Depot that looked like it was on its last legs. Tossed it in the ground, gave it water, and a few years later it's pushing fronds like a champ. The bargain bin is where it's at for beginners.

I got this new leaf from a Chambeyronia macrocarpa and it is asymmetrical. The leaflets are only on one side. I thought the other side is just tucked in and will emerge later but it doesn't appear that way. I will wait a few more days but I have not seen this before on this or another Chambeyronia macrocarpa.

Hi there, I would love to help you out here but I unfortunately can't. The reason I place this comment is that I have exactly the same problem with my Dictyosperma album var. aureum. It constantly grows new spathes but I always have to step in and 'help it out' as you do. Maybe the problem is not Beccario -related, probably more in a general way... However, wishing you luck - Lars

7/20 /26 Check: Up up and up we go.... ENSO 1.2 and 3.4 region readings ** raw / un adjusted data ** Bottom graph above = Adjusted data ...removes the " Warmer Oceans " contribution to raw SST data. Where this El Nino sits at the present time compared to the biggest since 1982. Current 30 day SOI Average ..Further into the Red = El Nino, Blue? = La Nina.. -30 = WELL into El Nino territory, and we aren't even into when El Nino peaks ( After September ).. How low could it go? CFS MJO / Equatorial 850mb zonal wind forecast: .....How to read what you see..... Dashed contour lines = High Pressure Bias Solid contour lines = Low Pressure Bias Blue shades = Easterly winds ( Associated with the inactive MJO Phase ..and La Nina ) Orange / Red shades = Westerly winds ..associated with El Nino and the active MJO phase.. As if the potential for seeing the 6th L.P. contour line appearing on this chart wasn't enough proof at just how strong this El Nino could end up being, as you can see, the index was adding a 7th low pressure contour line on Saturday.. Backed off since then but, as strong as the westerly wind bias is looking over the coming months, highly likely it will reappear soon. Yes, it's impossible to know how things may look in October from this far out but, forecast thoughts here have been holding -solidly- since the start of June.. Currently within the 3rd, and about to cross the 4th Low Pressure bias contour line soon.. which signals increasing influence from El Nino for the remainder of the summer, and beyond.

I have assumed it's just heat that really drives the growth on this one, it comes from low elevations in tropical and southern Africa, and I believe it grows on really hot rock surfaces. So I can understand that Tracy's may be slower at his place right at the coast due to the cool climate, but you get plenty of heat in the SF Valley so I'm surprised it would just more or less sit and refuse to grow, unless perhaps it's in too much shade? Maybe some fertilizer and a heavier watering schedule could get it going. It certainly is an unusual plant, and maybe the slow growth on yours is actually a gift, since you get these fascinating leaves without typical Ficus sizes. PlantZAfrica states that this species can take a little bit of frost as well, which is a gift to anyone in an interior climate of course. And while I can't complain about the growth rate on mine, I may start to regret it if it keeps running all over the place, as I really didn't want a thicket or to have it spilling into the neighbor's yard. I guess time will tell, I'm going to leave it alone for now and just watch what it wants to do. Looks like it will have loads of character as time goes by, in any event. I hope yours gets its footing and starts to move a bit for you as the summer moves on.

Update from Pearland Livistona decora, Ravenea rivularis(Majesty) Archontophoenix tuckeri #1(4 feet of trunk) Hyphaene petersiana: Bismarckia nobilis#1 Livistona australis: Acrocomia totai: Archontophoenix tuckeri #2: Butia sp.: Beccariophoenix alfredii : Bismarckia nobilis#2: Sabal uresana: Medemia argun: Livistona nitida, Copernicia alba(8 feet of trunk), Butia sp.: Copernicia alba#1(more sun, 8 feet of trunk): Copernicia alba #2(more shade, 2 feet of trunk ) Queen palm:Mule Palm (Butia x Syagrus): Butia x Parajubaea torallyi: Phoenix theophrastii “Golkoy”:Phoenix sylvestris: Ravenea rivularis(Majesty):

Just a few midsummer yard shots from today: Starting with the biggest and the fastest...my filifera continues to grow larger by the day: Next, we will see the smallest and slowest growers I have in the ground, a couple of Trachycarpus fortunei x waggies: Both are growing fine...just quite slowly. They sit on the east side of my home and I am planning to remove the grass in this entire area in the fall to create a nice bed. Right next to the back porch I have a corner with 3 C. radicalis in it. One mature non-trunking form, a juvenile trunking form, and second year from seed non-trunking form: The rest of that same bed is occupied by my Rajapuri bananas and some dypsis lutescens that I grew from seed my daughter collected on a past vacation: My Sabal mexicanas that both spear pulled last winter after 20F and freezing rain (had to trunk cut the second one) : My Butia that also had to be trunk cut after the freezing rain: Silver Chamaerops, P. sylvestris, and second year mule seedling: From left to right C. radicalis seedlings, BxJ, and S. mexicana community pot. And the mule that replaced my Butia in the ground after the spear pull and trunk cutting: I know it should be less hardy than the Butia, but it is definitely getting established quicker. Fingers crossed for a winter or two of zonal average lows and no freezing precipitation so it can really get going strong.

Some color…

Here is my (underpotted) C nana. Roots are ready to burst out of the pot.

Dypsis rosea coming along nicely for winter.

I always love these colors on this Caryota with a new emerging leaf.

A friend growing Encephalartos in his nursery mentioned that the Eugene complex species grow much slower in pots than other Encephalartos. This would include Encephalartos eugene-maraisii, nubimontanus, dyerianus, cupidus, and middelburgensis . You may get a bump in growth speed with hybrids, but his experience growing them commercially is that they still are slower. My specimens are all in the ground for these species except some nubimontanus pups. The pups I put in pots were all slower to grow than the one I transplanted directly into the ground. It seems my experience with these pups correlated with his advise.

Yep, good start to a great hobby. I would buy clearance palms . Most of my common palms are from this approach. Harry

Oh what a beautiful thread! My kind of thread, for sure! Tim, we saw these all over in the forest on Sainte Marie, wonder who they are? Plenty of color in these little understory palms. Was this D. forticifolia?