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Imagine an attractive palm from the tropics that can take quite a bit of cold, down to 0c, very fast growing, very tough, can handle full sun from very age and tolerate a bit of neglect. I am talking about the gorgeous Carpentaria palm. With such impressive looks and fast growth, my big question is why aren't they a popular garden palm in cool sub tropical areas. They are easily propagated but it took me many years to find one. We have a lot of over looked native palms in Australia. Admittedly some are touchy or very slow growing but these do not go under that category. What does everyone think about Carpies and why don't they have one ? Peachy

Apparently, I have two of them, each was obtained from different vendors as Veitchia species but ID’d here from pics as Carpentaria.

A timely post as I am just about to sow the newest crop in Arizona. Seeds are done soaking and will be planted today. Let's see what happens... This has actually been a great choice of species for the Arizona desert if you are looking for a fast growing, crown shafted palm. Once a trunk has established, they literally gain 3 feet in height every year! My only complaint is that the crowns seem a little sparce growing without the humidity of the tropics. Notice the spacing between growth rings on this 5 year old example in my garden. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

I don't understand why this beauty isn't mass-planted all over the coastal fog-belt and near-fog-belt (UC/Sunset z17/24 and fringes) from the Bay Area to San Diego...despite production issues perhaps tied to slow growth (and that hasn't stopped the production of Howea). Meanwhile people spend their time planting coconuts at the coast just to make a mountain to climb for themselves, destined to crumble under their feet... There was a time when Hedyscepe was as exotic as any new discovery in the forests of Madagascar or Southeast Asia, and their seeds were like gold to many. At least what goes around, comes around, and what is old becomes new again, so there is hope. Noting Tracy's comment above, is this species known for stalling or otherwise failing erratically even at the coast? Perhaps a soil reaction issue? Root sensitivity? Or is it just that they do need copious water?

Two is not enough, I have six in the ground !

Hi Steve in 2010 pogo sent me seeds from his biggest Hedyscepe Today I proudly show the results of those seeds as Hedyscepe grow like escapees in the ground in my coastal Tasmania garden. I also have a smaller one from San clemente garden

One of my Latania caught my eye

Well you got me on that one my dear possum, I don’t have any of them, and if anyone was going to have them you would think I would have them. I assumed they don’t like the cold and never really have come across any seeds or plants, iam sure there out there just not in my nursery, but I will say question of the week goes to peachy🌱 Richard

This plant is the reason I have 2 Hedyscepe. If one looks anywhere close to this, it’ll be worth it. Praying to the Palm Gods 🙏 -dale

Wow! Complete black thumb or stupidity. Both unfortunate for the impressive garden. Such a shame. The countless hours spent in the garden, gone so quickly. Frustrating. -dale

They are die hard plants pineapples. I have so many of them that when I cut the tops of they all just sit in a tray waiting to be planted and they have been in that tray for six months still alive and growing. The odds of you getting fruit are pretty good you just have to wait a long time.

Having @idontknowhatnametuse as a handle is going to make it so difficult for people to send flowers to the funeral. No need to train any poochies either as here is one I prepared earlier.

Beccariophoenix Alfredii. Backdrop to a lot of horseplay. This was yesterday, it witnesses a lot

Mice are plentiful this year after so much heavy rain so old Radames, my Oriental cat, catches one or two every day. Not bad for a 16 year old. If only he wouldn't bring them inside to show me. Peachy

Ok, guys which is it , stable to parent or not ? Last Monday I purchased one from Jungle Music, labeled as 'suckering', but the palm has no suckers. The very reliable plant supplier to JM said the seed parent was suckering. Is is possible that the palm is slow to develop suckers ? I grow three plants of the suckering form, and it is one of my favorite palms. Two have a faint red flush to the new frond. I once had one as red as a Chambeyronia, but it died after I looked at it without proper reverence. Here is the bitter evidence !

Here are 2 between my royals that eventually succumbed to excessive heat of 3 days in a row of 119-121F. The heat didn't hurt the existing fronds or trunks, but did kill the buds in both carpies. Old fronds dropped one by one as usual over the next several months, but no replacement fronds ever developed after that extreme heat episode. 🤷‍♂️ aztropic Mesa, Arizona

I also received my seeds of Lanonia yunnanensis from China. The whole process was flawless. The packing was excellent and shipping was fast. The seeds were fresh, packed in damp sphagnum with no floaters.

I visited Dunk Island in 1984, and the closed canopy of Licuala ramsayi fronds made a very pleasing sound as they rustled in the wind.

Tomato season has begun in Arizona! Put your seedlings in the ground mid August here, and you should have a crop supplying until mid May. Usually a trouble free plant around here except for the rare occasional year when white flies attack and spread the tomato curly leaf virus. Easy to grow, and the benefits are delicious! Store bought tomatoes can never compete with the flavor of a home grown, vine ripened tomato. 🤪 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Send in those pooches to get him my dear possum, fancy a clumping palm lover mentioning that in your post he’s a brave man. 🤣🤣🤣 Richard

Yes I do and I don’t want a cure any time soon, the only thing I need is another fix of buying more plants. Oh that Zamia is up there with rozelli it’s a stunner!

I am thankful for all the palms in the garden and in love with this 10 years old blue Latania

I was growing these as a great substitute for Sago palm in Florida landscapes as a design/build contractor. Now that they are finally a beautiful size I am no longer in the design/build job and i would like to find homes for these. A couple have recently coned so they are very mature and about 12 years from seed. My folk have one in Panama City that was subjected to 17 degrees and didn’t defoliate. They do not get Asian cycad scale either. They are perfect if you like the form and ZERO troubles. Great for containers too. I can bring some with me to Winter CFPACS meeting if i get some commitments, otherwise DM for pickup only in SE Hillsborough county. $60 each this month only for members here. Happy Holidays . Sorry I don’t want to ship these but I’m open to delivery at a charge if that is best for you

A beautiful almost white silver colour on the elegans flower at the moment, the ground is covered in tiny star dust looking particles. It’s just a shame it’s 7 metres up in in the sub canopy. The iPhone pic just quit can’t capture what the naked eye can see.

The one I have up the back part of the garden has the dark flowers. Not sure what’s going on with this one! Richard

They are tougher than McArthur palms, I grow a few McArthur in my garden not a B problem, I don’t think they like a lot of chill hours. They do take the cool just not hundreds of hours of it. Richard

You’re a game grower, saying to @peachy I prefer clumping palms, you’re in for it now 🤣🤣🤣

Last year I used a framed insulated enclosure. No wrapping, just mini lights and C7's laid out on the ground at the base of the trunk. It worked perfectly. Top down view looking inside the enclosure.

Lovely palm. But just don’t seem to handle a Mediterranean climate. Lord knows I’ve tried. And I’m not aware of anyone in SoCal growing them..

I would have one but it would easily die in my area. I prefer clumping tropical species because of that.

The good old clumping palm that always has the last laugh. Richard

I very much enjoyed the video posted on the IPS Facebook page. Well, at least until it came to the heartbreaking bananas and felled trees. Everyone agrees to protecting rare palms until they get hungry. Sad, but true. Here's hoping the fresh conservation efforts will find support within the Comoros communities. I wouldn't know if they are "for real" or not, but several California gardens have reported growing Ravenea moorei -- this would have been many years in the past. You may have to pay a visit to California and take a few tours.

Bentinkia seedlings thriving under a plastic baggy.

Last pic of my Latifrons this year… I promise lol🤣. Just super stoked because its my favorite plant and the biggest most flawless flush it has thrown to date. Not sure why everybody says they are so slow🤔 All of my Latifrons have flushed every year and multiple times as seedlings. I bought this plant about 15 years ago and it has passed up Cycads that I have had 20+ years! The outer leaves of the flush are about half way hardened of. Caudex is really blowing up🤙

It has been a very mild fall so far and I’m still getting a few flushes. This blue Longifolious I bought as a seedling 2 years ago and now it is blowing up in a 15 gal! It is also the first blue Longi I have owned that was actually blue.

I’ve never seen one for sale in Australia. They may exist in some collections over here, but they’re never for sale. If I ever managed to get seed I’d plant a dozen of them in close proximity for future seed production. That’s the best way to grow any Ravenea in my opinion provided you have space. I’ve done that with Ravenea rivularis and Ravenea glauca var Andiginitra.

I can't believe I got this thing for $5.

Photos of Dypsis scottiana, sourced from Floribunda. Very slender palm, trunk no larger in diameter than a fat crayon. Intrafoliar inflorescence held out to the horizontal or more erect, a very delicate look. I'm not familiar with the affinis v. scottiana (nor the reverse). Whatever you have, it's a nice palm.

I am very, very thankful that my Tahina #1 is still alive. This photo is how it looked 12/29/2022. All those leaves browned seemingly overnight. They were cut off and the palm was treated with an anti-fungal. For a long time it sat with a single leaf slowly decaying, and I was sure it was dead. That left a small hole in my heart. But experience has taught me to be patient. I refused to cut down the palm. Perhaps 18 months later, the tip of a spear appeared emerging from the center of the palm! By June of 2024 there was a strong, fat spear undeniably gaining height, but reluctant to open. I marked the spear and occasionally measured the progress. Slow at first, then gaining speed during rainy periods. Even as recently as March 2025, the new spear was only partially open, but now at last, the new leaf has spread, gathering sunlight, feeding the palm. It is still a sad sight, but it's alive! Well worth celebrating, and I am very thankful.

My Chrysalidocarpus Decipiens. It survived me digging it up and transplanting it when I moved back in April. It did really well! I attribute it to me digging as much of the root ball as I could. I actually broke my shovel in the heavy clay soil, trying to get it out.

From Dr. Baker (Kew): ”Thanks to the generosity of supporters of the IPS Save the Species campaign, a team from Kew and Comoros was able to complete important work on the endemic palms of the Comoro Islands. We have now completed our final report, which I’m delighted to share with you today - you can download it (in English and French!) at this link: https://zenodo.org/records/15924392 We were able to carefully survey all three islands in the independent Union of the Comores. We found Ravenea hildebrandtii and Chrysalidocarpus lanceolatus on all islands, but Ravenea moorei and Chrysalidocarpus cabadae only on Grande Comore (although the last is also reported from Mayotte). Palms are highly threatened on all islands, but the last two especially so. Chrysalidocarpus cabadae in particular is found only in coastal forests, which are highly degraded. Thankfully, our missions have inspired a new wave of palm enthusiasts and action to protect these species is already underway – please read the report to find out! This work could only happen because of the passion and motivation of IPS members – we cannot thank you enough! Please continue to support the society – in its fundraising, by subscribing to its publications and by participating in its travel opportunities (look out for the Vietnam Biennial – it will be phenomenal!!!). With your support, we can do so much more!” Example plate from the report:

I obtained a Ravenea hillebrandii from Floribunda as a 1gal and its grown quickly in Florida. First time I saw this species was last spring at the University of Miami. What a lovely small palm! Most of the plantings at UM are post-Hurricane Andrew and around 30ish years old. If this is uncommon everywhere else I’ll take even more precautions with mine (recently moved into 5gal pot)

After a miserable drought for most of 2025, rain finally returned to East Hawaii in mid October. All my wilted tropical plants are gradually recovering. No matter how much it rains, I'm always thankful for more. Months of cloudless blue skies is a disaster when you live on a small island, or even a Big Island. Always thankful for my monster Metroxylon amicarum planted 12 years ago from a waist high 5 gallon. Fingers crossed the coconut rhinoceros beetle never attacks.

Very nice. Yours looks like it’s in a similar situation as mine. I think the extra water from the lawn really helps with the speed on these guys. Yours looks like it’s on the same path of color change too. Here’s mine from 2017 at around the same size as yours. Top leaf shot too from back then.

Also here last September. And early this month with a different one.

Here's a hybrid Phoenix reclinata x roebelenii that I just germinated. Going into a 12" liner for the winter - after that we'll see...

I miss these from my former San Clemente days