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This Spring’s annual order from Floribunda has arrived! Three one gallon Basselinia glabrata, two Pinanga coronata, two Cyphophoenix alba, and three 4” container Prestoea montana. Are are robust and big for container size as is usual.

It’s nearly 13 years since I had the great fortune to first meet the legendary ( and extremely generous) Tassie Troy and I thought it’s time to pay homage to all those who have helped me , and those in the Palm pantheon , like Darrold and Colin and Jonathon, who visited in the early days ( when there were only tiny plants) and didn’t wonder, at least out loud , if anything would ever eventuate. Here are a few pictures .There are around 25 species including 12 of chamaedoria. Some like the big baueri , trachycarpus and forsteriana are hard to depict . Nothing can keep up with the torallyii. Of course all 4 Lord Howe Island palms love it here in Hobart. Mike

Just one Sabal (burmudana) in my garden of well over 100 different palm species but I love it. The photo doesn’t show how massive it actually is very well.

Flowering Oraniopsis appendiculata at the Royal botanic gardens in Sydney

Trachycarpus princeps

A few from LHI.. Last one is a red leaf emergent fosteriana

Here’s one I’ve grown from seed. It’s been flowering about four years, and is just now developing seeds. It’s growing away from a big Beccariophoenix, & is surprisingly stout. Nor is it very tall, maybe 2-1/2 meters.

A couple pix of bliss!

Most sabals are slow compared to the alternatives for most people. Washingtonia robusta or filifera are popular widely out west and are fast growers. Among many palms enthusiasts I think fan palms in general are not what they are looking for. Feather palms are more popular in general. There are many choices in california, and some members do have sabals and they look very happy so its not the weather. I think sabals are most popular in colder zones, 9B and lower. They do grow a bit faster than CA sabals but "sabal steve" has shown that S causiarum grows fast in california, he has a monster. If you go to a palm nursery in california you might see 100 species available and the vast number are pinnate palms. I'd say the choices there are vast and if you are unlimited by weather few will be sabals are hundreds of species are available and pinnate palms look more tropical in general. Sabal palmettos and some other sabals are slow in florida to so they plant them with 10' of trunk. I have grown my sabals(uresana, causiarum) from strap leaf seedlings. But in my yard they represent only 2/65 palms, a small percentage.

Don't see them actually eating the seed, but they sure seem to be attracted to them.

One of my Royals is almost ready to get her first ring

Bactris gassiapaes, Chambeyronia watermelon and a rather well dressed moth.

Red Latania opening a new frond

Repost of the tallest Thrinax radiata's I have seen in a local residence

Bunch of stuff coming alive in the garden. I’ll post quite a few times here in the coming weeks/months. Love this time of year. Admittedly I don’t know the cross but I believe it’s Longifolius x Princeps. Could be Lehmannii x Princeps as it’s very blue. Who knows….its happy tho. Last year was a 2 Leafer, this year it’s 4. -dale

Congratulations! I got my spring order from Floribunda about 10 days ago. My container garden was decimated by Ian and last winter's nights in the upper 30s. For future orders I am sticking to Floribunda and sellers I know on PT. TIP: If a palm seller peddles stuff with outdated scientific names or cutesy meaningless monikers consider red flags raised high. 'Nuff said.

A somewhat bit of a rare Howea species, there about the place if you look hard enough. But not that common, the fosteriana got all attention and the bell was left second place. A nice palm with that punk look about it!

You’ll see them around in Southern California, though they’re a lot less prevalent than most other fan palms. i used to think that they were slow and that’s not entirely true - though slow is a relative term. They’re definitely sturdy, in Sam Diego, and worth the wait (in my opinion). Shoot me a DM if you’re having trouble finding any. Here’s a link to a thread which documents a lot of my experiences: Not the best picture, but here’s a S. Uresana and a S. Mexicana type, from the other day. I’d estimate that they are around 10years old, from a 5 gallon. They’ve been on their own, without any care, and are self sufficient where I’m at 10a (maybe even 10b). 92104 zip code. There’s also a S. Bermudana (maybe) and a S. Causarium further to the right, which can’t be seen. Those are also living on their own, with no help. These are growing with a lot of other palms in the 3500-3600 block of Wightman St, and there’s a Livistona Chinensis, Arenga Engleri, and a big Sabal Mauritiiformis two houses south, on Wilson Ave, if you were in the area.

It's Nannorrhops ritchiana, Mazari palm. Not native to Russia, but further south in Asia and the middle east, including Pakistan and Afghanistan. I know some cold hardy palm enthusiasts in the US grow them but they are certainly not common in cultivation. The only place where palms are grown in Russia is along the black sea coast, primarily in Sochi. They plant a lot of Trachycarpus there and probably some others. None are native to the region.

The offset on the main caudices is flushing. It is like a wort on the otherwise perfectly symmetrical main plant. Perhaps I should see it ss a beauty mark instead? A chunky monkey Encephalartos longifolius male.

@Than this is my Albang entering warm season after a comparatively rainy winter. I think, given my xerothermic summer and water cost, is the best result I can achieve regarding its appearance. I expect from now on a progressive deterioration.

This just in from IPS President Andy Hurwitz! Help Celebrate 70 years of the International Palm Society

They shouldn't have built that so close to the palm!

Lots of commonly planted palms in CA need extra water to survive. Syagrus, Archontophoenix, Howea, etc. They all need more water than most Sabal species. By the way, I have a humongous Sabal bermudana on my side yard.

The Encephalartos ituriensis flush is progressing nicely and yes it will be big.

Capada palm

This is my old F1 woodii x natalensis I got from Cynthia Giddy who made it in SA. My cycad log says 1985 acquired for $60. Cynthia was visiting Hermione Stover in California and brought with her hundreds of these bare rooted in bundles of 3, like cigars. All had been treated with her signature petroleum dip, so they largely failed. Mine I washed off and soaked and rinsed many, many times, but it still smelled of petroleum. Well, here's the plant today with 3+ feet of trunk growing 20 leaves. You'll notice the characteristic folded- hands leaflets among the lowest leaf bases -- a trait directly brought from pure woodii.

Ceratozamia zaragozae x hildae

Sabal Yapa opening a new frond

Lanonia dasyantha

Unlabeled large and spiny Aiphanes horrida:

They sprout easily. The hard part is living long enough to see some semblance of maturity on the babies.

I’m more concerned why Coccothrinax and Copernicia aren’t grown more here than “Sablah”. 🤣

I planted out this weddelliana yesterday. The soil in this part of the garden is heavier than the rest (takes about five minutes to drain 2" of water). The area gets consistent summer "rainfall" from fog dripping from the neighbor's Magnolia grandiflora overhead. It also gets almost no sun any time of year and as a result is continuously moist. I know this species is prone to root rot, so I cut off irrigation to the plant. It will be our only palm that isn't irrigated. What does everyone think of this strategy?

One of Royals opening a new frond

BISMARKIA

From the looks of that building, it’s WAY WAY older than the Queen palm that is about twenty years old. That building certainly wasn’t built in 2006 or later. I’ve seen many cases of palms “hugging” the walls they are right next to.

Here are more tall Pindo Palms (Butia) in Jacksonville, Florida. Enjoy !!!

There’s some cones, there is some flushes but people often ask how do i propagate suckers/offsets or how do i pollinate a cone, how do i know when it’s ready etc….. today i removed a couple nice offsets from one of my female E. Dyerianus plants. A fairly easy process depending on plant location and soil. These happen to be in easy digging soil. I removed the excess dirt around the area of the offset. Today my tools consisted of a hammer and crowbar. Simply placed the crowbar between the offset and main stem and a couple love taps later we have a beautifully removed female dyerianus sucker. I treat these in a fungicide and add a rooting powder to the exposed areas on the offset. Place in perlite or pumice and give it a good water in. Sit back and wait for your roots to grow….

I have tried growing Vanda coerulea twice. The first one survived a couple of years and the second attempt was similar in duration. They don't seem to like my damp and cool winters. That is a lovely Vanda you have. I am happy that this third attempt with Epidendrum lacustre Panamanian variety is thriving still after 4 years. The flowers aren't especially large or colorful, but I love their structure.

A nice dypsis plumosa in the sandstone countryside and a Areca vestria not wanting to miss out on any attention!

V. Manuvadee. A favorite blue. been looking for this one for years to replace the one I lost to cold one autumn. Just shipped from a wonderful grower in HI.

sure looks like one that has been left in the pot too long. THis is a good palm to save as it is unhappy but has developed plenty of roots. Dry air roots are hard to keep happy. If you can cut the pot off without cutting too many roots, I'd get it int he ground and keep it moist. It does appear to be needing water pretty badly, the leaflets are closed up a bit. Get it in the ground and it will appreciate the luxury of wet soil. Here is my largest hospita

Howea, Chambeyronia,chamaedorea!

Three for the price of one, archontophoenix Cunninghamiana, dypsis saintlucei and Arenga engleri.

Butia yatay and friends under a mist halo a couple of weeks ago.

Three rare ones getting my attention today. Pinanga sp BorneoAreca ahmada licuala sallehana var incisifolia

Here’s my Cycas Panz x Debo coming alive. -dale

I have lots of Cycads flushing right now! Like Dale said this is an exciting time of year. Here is Hor Wood x Are Wood(aka bride of frankenstein) I can definately see the Horridus starting to come through.