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Thought I'd share a few pics from my yard after a rather chilly winter - the Central Valley of California had a record-breaking fog event from late November through about the end of 2025. Temps stayed in the 40s for 360+ consecutive hours - no freezing, no frosts, just consistently cold and wet with next to no sunshine for nearly a month. Most palms grew right through it, but a few of the more tropical species really hated this - I rehomed a few to warmer (drier/sunnier) climates down south. Here are a few shots from today - everything in growth mode as we're getting 80s and 90s consistently - racing toward the 100s too! In just a matter of weeks winter will be a far memory as we bake in the 100s until we cool again in October. Archontophoenix tuckeri - grown from seed from @DoomsDave. I'm pretty sure you threw a handful of seeds at me during one of my visits to your place. Trunking archontophoenix cunninghamia in the back. Seed-grown howea forsteriana & allagoptera peeking in behind tuckeri. Syagrus rommanzoffiana - nothing special, but I recently did clean up the trunk, which makes it look 10x nicer. A shot of my front yard - the pink Handroanthus is just about done blooming. Below it I have Brahea Super Silver, Brahea Pimo, and closest to the bottom is a Jubaeopsis affra, recoving from an irrigation mishap in summer of 2024. The irrigation timer went offline mid June while we were out of the country traveling, and this whole area went without water for 2 weeks. Jubaeopsis took that personally. It's been slowly recovering from that 'drought' event. Handroanthus umbellatus was in bloom just a few weeks ago. This is Livistona speciosa. I grew this from seed, and gave the rest to folks in Southern California. Does anyone have any still growing? I think some of them may have gone at palm society auctions. Chamaedorea hooperiana - The ficus roxburghii looks so pretttyyyyy in the back with all that new growth Sabal uresana - looking stretched. This thing is slowwwwwwww This is the view out our back door. Arcontophoenix tuckeri on the left. The red amaryllis is an heirloom passed down from a neighbor before she passed. Phoenix rupicola. You can spot the Brahea Super Silver in the background. The silver-ish palm below it is Chamaerops humilis var. argentea. There's a Cycas deboaensis on the bottom right that will need to find a permanent spot. I have a habit of putting plants in temporary spots, then moving them when I decide on a permanent spot. I feel like plants develop much better in the ground than in pots. They also benefit from regular irrigation being in the ground, and I don't have to worry about forgetting to water them in pots. This little corner area is filling in so nicely, and will become very thick with vegetation as plants keep growing. Beccariophoenix alfredii is in the far back. Ravenea glauca is center toward the left. Sabal mauritiformis is off to the right. Cycas revoluta x deboaensis is front and center. Lastly, a shot of a Clytostoma callistegioides flower, and a Dendrobium chrysotoxum which I have in bloom. The Dendrobium is grown inside a greenhouse. The last photo is of my plumerias waking up after a chilly nap. I had lots of rot to deal with this winter. BONUS - see if you can spot the Chrysalidocarps prestonianus... It went into the ground directly as a 4-inch plant from Floribunda some 5 or 6 years ago. Almost forgot the Chrysalidocarpus decaryi as well. Decaryi doesn't like the prolonged cold/wet conditions, but it grows out of damage fairly quickly - and we don't always get those particularly cold/wet winters. Some years we are dry and sunny like the rest of Southern CA.

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.

The palm didn’t miss a beat with the move… Seems equally happy in its new location. Both the old and new locations see a lot of sun (the new location slightly more sun than the old). I haven’t tried it in either of my two “worst of the worst” spots for sun, but it seems fairly sun tolerant to me (within reason). Likely similar to lutescens in that regard, but more cold tolerant (as in fewer “fried” looking fronds coming out of winter). Here’s a snap I just took at 9:30am this morning…

The first ring on my California grown Chrysalidocarpus robustus. I don't recall seeing any other big specimens here in California. Thanks to visiting the Big Island I have seen some tall specimens which put my juvenile plant in perspective.

Copernicia fallaensis.

Medemia argun. He has a flowering male and female but not getting any seeds yet. He hopes to do some manual pollination as soon as the female is ready. 😊

And here's a trio, rousselii is the big one, crinita front right, and rubra in back

I had the pleasure of getting a tour of @oliver's garden and thought I would share a few photos of the palms he has growing that survived 2021 freeze and I was able to photograph. He also has a Raphia sp. (sese?) planted next to a resaca so it stays wet. First up Tahina spectabilis.

Coccothrinax borhidiana.

Syagrus stenopetala.

Acquired from Floribunda and planted January 2019, this palm is looking really lovely at the moment. It has always been a very spiny thing, but yesterday I did a double take -- it's as smooth as a fine suede jacket! And such color! No evidence of the "rubra" (red) for which it is named, but beautiful all the same. Still young, and has only a few spines on one side of the trunk. I'm interested to see yours -- please share photos if you are growing this species.

Beccariophoenix alfredii.

Copernicia macroglossa.

Copernicia baileyana hybrid (I think).

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

I have finally been able to bring the three main species of Beccariophoenix together in my Oakland CA garden. B. Alfredii has been growing well from 1 gallon and has really picked up speed this past year (prob close to 4 ft or so of frond length. B. fenestralis has been slow but solid from a 1 gallon as well for the past 3 years (hard to see this palm as its protected and covered by other plants). B. madagascariensis has proven to be very hard for me to track down until this past week in San Clemente! I was able to get a masterfully grown 15 gallon and drove it back to Oakland in my car with palm fronds slapping my son in the face in the passenger seat! B. fenestralis with nice windows! 3 years in the ground. B. madagascariensis with Acanthophoenix rubra in the ground for 2 days lol. Looking good with the recent rains! B. alfredii with beautiful purple petioles and fast growth.

Walt's wife just posted on the main forum on an Elaeis guineensis post that he passed away in June 2025. I don't know if she is aware of this subforum so figured I would post here. I never met Walt, however, have been following his posts on his garden since approximately 2003. He was one of the first contributors who regularly posted photos in posts, which I always appreciated because I lived in Seattle, WA at the time and loved seeing palm photos. It was fascinating learning about the difference between USDA zones in CA and FL because of him, as he would "famously" grow coconuts in USDA zone 9b! He also would share photos of his trees that would recover from seasonal frosts. Anyways, his posts will be missed!

Even though planted in way too much shade, my jaboticaba tree manages to produce a small crop every year for a tropical treat in the desert. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

This one is in a prime spot. Trunk is almost a foot across at the base, much more robust than the others, but hard to tell in photos.

crysophilla warscewizianus Johannesteijsmannia Altifrons Chuniophoenix nana All looking rather good! And they catch my eye continually!

Pinanga caesia may suffer from overexposure on PT, but mine only recently started blooming so the novelty hasn't worn off yet. I still get startled when I walk by when a new inflorescence is about to open. The entire tree is Technicolor, but the blooms dial it up to 11.The deep red covering (bract?) only stays on for a few hours. After it falls away, the soft pink flower buds are exposed for less than a day. First thing the next morning the flowers open to a cloud of bees. After only a few hours all the flowers have fallen to the ground leaving just the bare violet rachilia that might go on to make fruit, if I'm lucky. I wonder what role the intense colors play. I assume the bees are attracted to some fragrance, not the color, but I really don't know. I could believe brightly colored fruit attracts birds for seed dispersal, but that is months down the road. No matter, it is an impressive, albeit brief, show. Palmpedia says this species is difficult in California. I hope people on the mainland are able to find a protected spot in their garden that can provide the right microclimate for this beautiful palm. If you are going to try zone pushing, might as well swing for the fences. I hear that this is one of the taller Pinangas,. I'll need to keep adding another baby every few years so I always have eye level blooms.

My interior NorCal/Sacramento suburb garden: Bauhinia bloom bonanza this month. Keeps local hummingbirds well fed (B. candida and B. blakeana). That's a Butia yatay in the foreground.

2026 update...and yep, still thriving! The overall width on the last several sets of fronds has widened substantially, with them starting to encroach on my Syagrus campylospatha. Also, comparing the trunk height, the new growth appears to me to be emerging several inches taller; last years shows about at eye height on the statue, this year eyebrow height.

Mine came from the same FB batch as Kim's. It went into the ground in March 2019 from a 1 gallon pot. After seven years, it is now about 15 ft (4 m) tall overall with about 4 ft of bare trunk. The color of the trunk is a dull red-orange. Totally carefree. I had never noticed any spines on the crownshaft, but when I looked closely today, I do see very widely separated short spines about a half inch (1 cm) long. Much more conspicuous are the white hairs on the leaflets. I have not noticed these on any other palm species growing in the garden. Could this be a reliable diagnostic character in addition to the coloration? Mine has developed a swollen base.

I’ve been cleaning up the garden beds recently, and they are packed with bromeliads. Here’s some of my favorites so far this year. They really start to multiply over the years.

Been pleasantly surprised by my one and only to sprout from a small seed batch last year. Hasn’t been fully exposed to the elements yet but has coped with the cool. Suchan interesting and colourful little seedling. Very rewarding from seed.

I will be as soon as I can get these three in the ground, but for now they are quite fast growing and have cool tolerance, another year of growing them and see how I go planting them in the garden.

Lc. Irene Finney ' Springs Best' AM/AOS; 1964 (Lc. Bruno Alberts x Catt. J.A. Carbone). I love this variety, so reliable blooming every spring and not fussy at all in care. The most regal of my catts. And cattleyas taking over my kitchen table, can’t wait to kick them all outdoors when our night time temps finally get above 50 degrees F in May….

I am so sorry to hear about Walter! I have been following photos of his garden in Lake Placid since approximately 2003! He taught so many people about growing palms in central Florida. Thank you for letting us know.

some of my ALSTROEMERIA in bloom, called lily of the Andes of Peru

In an area full of Copernicia's:

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

Dendrobium anosum popped yesterday, and Bulbophyllum falcatum has 3 spikes in bloom

Germinated Chrysalidocarpus onilahensis sprouts from my tree. Not exactly sure how may are in the bag but my guess would be 75-100. $50 for the whole bag. Shipping in CA only. PM if interested

Bauhinia variegata 'rubra' blooming in a 5g pot at a friend's house yesterday-from seed from my tree. Mine lagging behind this year so no blooms yet.

I live in East Tennessee. I have 2 windmill palms and every year when the weather starts turning colder, I winterize them inside a structure wrapped with plastic sheeting and a couple of heat lamps that kick on when the temperature drops below 35. It's always worked out well, but I just started taking the structure down today and noticed this was growing out of one of the palms. From what I can tell, everything looks ok so far, but I'm not sure what this is?? Forgive my ignorance, please. Is this bad? Is it due to something I have done wrong? Can I just cut it off and be OK? The tree is probably 8 years old and I've never seen anything like this. Thanks!

I finished up most of the backyard, and have a LOT of free mulch. This stuff is ridiculously stabby. I spread it all around the main rear and SW beds...I bet the local bear won't like it much! I've started calling this the World's Meanest Mulch(TM). Here's the center backyard before pruning: And after pruning and taking out most of the weeds: There's a Copernicia Fallaensis on the right of center, just behind the Sabal Lisa. It took 100% burn, but just opened up a brand new frond. The small Beccariophoenix Alfredii triple in the center back are probably all D-E-D. Two of three spear pulled with 100% frond burn. I'll probably yank these and replace them instead of waiting to watch them turn to mush. The Encephalartos Gratus (bottom left) and triple Ituriensis/Whitelockii (behind the Fallaensis) provided a good 20+ foot diameter layer of the World's Meanest Mulch(TM). I made it by clipping off the ~10' tall frond and then using the hand pruners/loppers to just knock the leaves off the rachis: I'm impressed by the Fallaensis. The new fan was a growing spear during the cold front, and looks almost perfect. The old fans were burnt, but the stems/petioles are mostly green. There's another green spear tip about halfway up the left side of the below photo. Despite not being super "leaf hardy" the palm skated right through 22.5F...

Leptotes bicolor is blooming. It seems a little early but I should check photos from past years to confirm my suspicion.

One element you need to grow a garden is water, and in a palm garden you can never have enough water especially in my climate. If iam to grow the exotic palms I wish to have I must irrigate them. There are pipes in all sorts of directions, with shifts on top of shifts overlapping each other, I have a bore for pretty well much unlimited water. And every chance I get I water, usually 20 minute shifts. So if you want to get your garden growing get onto irrigation it works. I have over 30 taps throughout my garden most with 19mm fittings for the sprinklers. It’s a game changer!

Some Vandas I got to take care of recently while I was in Florida.

Just thought I would share photos of this Mexican fan palm that I have been tracking for a couple years. Self seeded right up in the rocks along a bayou here in Northwestern Florida. Very tough palm, has survived some flooding and a rare Florida snow with a few inches.

Hi Bret, I gave up on trying to clean the seeds, it's just too hard. They germinate anyways. Disclaimer that I have never waited it out to see if I actually get a good overall germination rate. I got ~10 germinated seeds from several hundred, and then gave the rest to Len, then he got several and I think tossed them. I thought it was maybe because our climate is not ideal that the seeds were not great, but Jeff Marcus said he has had the same experience, super slow and then very sporadic germination. The seedlings seem pretty easy despite the starting so small. This all applies to A rousselii. My A rubra haven't flowered yet, but I germinated from three different years off of Dennis' plant. One batch gave very high germination rates and the seedlings were very robust - I literally did not lose a single seedling after germination out of maybe 50-60. I just could not kill those plants. The other batches I got either no germination, or low germination and all the seedlings died within a couple months after germinating. I'm generally convinced that conditions during seed development can impact not just germination rate/seed quality, but also the health and robstness of seedlings for at least the early stages of development. Matt

Came out true...I just had one seed I left sprouted to see if it would come true and it did. Picture attached...

A gift from a palm talk member @Harry’s Palms sent me some decipens seeds. They have germinated quite well and apparently they came from a well know palm growers collection. Which makes them even more special to me. I put some seeds in and the rest got disturbed to a few other fellow palm talk members in Australia. And it seems none of there ones have germinated yet, so if those couple of growers need a lesson on germinater palm seeds iam running a online course just for those couple of members 🤣 so they can’t blame the seeds! But jokes aside thank you Harry for the lovely gift of seeds, they have become rather special now! Richard

These are awesome looking. Used to be my holy grail palm. but South Florida was not k8nd to these. Not sure why more people don’t grow these… maybe those spines when young. I picked up a couple of babies from Floribunda a few years back. At first they grew like crazy, then (like so many tropicals) when the summer nighttime heat really picked up, they got miserable. They went back and forth like this for a couple of years, then I decided to it was cruel and unusual punishment. They looked terrible. I took the loss. They kind of have thin, soft leaflets, like teddies, or a R rivularis.

This sunrise caught my eye as I venture out onto our deck . Harry Sunrise over the palms….

Here’s a picture of Sabal palmetto along the St. John’s River in central florida. Roots can grow in air and in standing water. The river edges get flooded from each hurricane and thats what probably eroded away the shoreline overtime. I thought this picture clearly shows how resilient and impressive this species is.

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.

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

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.