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Two of my Kentiopsis oliviformis are getting ready to bloom for the first time

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.

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.

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. 😊

Coccothrinax borhidiana.

Copernicia macroglossa.

Copernicia baileyana hybrid (I think).

It is that time of year again in the Northern Hemisphere. Mostly a variety with orange flowers here in my garden. They make a nice green ground cover when not in bloom.

A nifty diminutive palm from New Guinea, Hydriastele rheophytica. Loves water hence, the name, and sparsely clumping. I remember Brad posting a photo of one in his garden not too long ago. Tim

Syagrus stenopetala.

Beccariophoenix alfredii.

Damn that thing is beautiful. More than I deserve. Sprouting seeds maybe sell the babies.

The yard was FULL of Clivia flowers but due to the unprecedented heat in March, I didn’t have much time to snap photos before the flowers began falling off.

Last Friday, this Iriartea deltoidea dropped a flower sheath with a loud "thwop!" and shook itself out like a wet mop. A day or two later I finally returned with the camera to capture the glowing flowers. Now on the fourth day, the bees are still buzzing around it. These stately palms are a favorite.* I first saw them in Costa Rica, looking down on the fluffy crowns from hanging bridges, mesmerizing. These individuals were planted in July of 2011. IMG_5346.MOV *(All my palms are favorites.)

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.

Everything in the picture was planted by hand circa 2018-2019. New zoysia sod just went in a month ago. Love my little tropical garden! (SW Florida Zone 10b) JD

I didn't think this would open sky flowers but I was mistaken. It is a pleasant surprise to see them.

It’s also just this side of lethal. The dead leaf that fell would make a wicked conk on the noggin. Conan and waste cart for scale.

As noted, the crownshaft on these is just beautiful; here’s one of mine. Forgive the blow up pandas, my wife won’t let me get rid of them. One of those battles not worth fighting..:)

Nineteen years ago I crossed my fat trunking Butia eriospatha with Jubaea chilensis. I have several of this palms growing here. A few were imported into England also. Yesterday I cleaned the trunk of one of this two. It are beasts! How you call the hybrid of a Butia eriospatha x Jubaea?

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.

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.

An update, plants already brought there. A picture of the chief gardener next to the donated plants. And the previous happy owner...

Visited the motherland this week. The smaller fruiting coconut is from a ditch that was collected by a lady in homestead Fl 5 years ago . receives no love from the owner . second the largest coconut that has managed to evade the 2021 Texas palm massacre lol over on port Isabel if anyone wants the exact address message me . across the same street I found a yard with 3-4 young cocos that looked really great the lady who lives there mentioned her husband collected all the cocos that washed ashore and they sprouted! other pics are of various parts of the valley for whatever reason palm talk won’t let me insert individual Info per pick so if yall have questions I’ll answer what I can haha . #Zone10A-BTexas IMG_9409.mov

Ours just bloomed! I had to move it under the Chrysalidiocarpus Decaryi , it started to get sun burned . The courtyard is now getting a lot more after noon sun. Harry I love the blooms of these . We will probably get more at some point.

Found five Nubium a in the back of the greenhouse, it’s great having so many plants. You forget what you have until you see them again. So a quick repot and we have great chamaedoreas underway ready for next springs plantings.

Dave it looks healthy so hopefully the spathe will open normally and you will actually get a flower bract. My largest has produced the flower spathes for years, only to abort them before opening. It is currently holding two, but I have learned not to expect much from them.

You got me on this one Dave by a few years! Remember the older we get the better our palms look!

Dypsis saintlucei in flower, Chambeyronia macrocarpa and hookerii both flowering together, dypsis rosea and a archontophoenix Cunninghamiana with that rare orange leaf for a bit of colour!

A colorful couple in the morning sun. Pinanga insignis, and orange Areca vestiaria. Tim

I have a lot of affection for this elegant palm. And the seeds are so pretty, too!

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.

Like a lot of tropical fruits,they do ripen quickly. Green one day, black the next! 😄👍 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Beautiful sunset at Mission Bay Park during San Diego’s hottest March weather on record.

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

I have what seems to me, a very strange situation. I have a 4 year old Sabal seedling that has shot up an inflorescence. Im not sure how this is possible at this age, and I have confirmed that the flower stalk is not from some rando weed seed in the pot. I wonder if it can set seed, and if so if the seed would be viable. Seems weird

The first is Aiphanes minima. They are usually very spiny but can vary with less. And older palms often have less spines on the trunk as they age and wear off. Older Acrocomia do this too. I think the mystery skinny palm is Reinhardtia paiewonskiana.

Chamaerops humilis var. argentea (syn. Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera)

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.

One of my coconut palm spear caught my eye with its huge size

B fenestralis I cleaned up the area around this palm and gave it a good watering. The windows are showing really well and only the oldest frond has any kind of burn of damage after winter. I really enjoy this palm!

Young Nepenthes ‘briggsiana’ a cross between Nepenthes lowii and ventricosa.

Juvenile Latania lontaroides. They do not stay red in humid Florida long:

Bottle Palm that DoomsDave may recall:

Shot of the same palm from another direction:

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...

The first 2 hippeastrums in bloom this year, I have about 100 in the garden

Planted in 2015 as a 5 gallon