Leaderboard

Another one

I was looking at some rainforest in north qld the other day and spotted these palms. Lots of purple on these ones.

Lovely crownshaft of young Chrysalidiocarpus sp. mayotte. Almost looks like it should be in a pastry shop…

A nice little 18 year old dypsis louvelli goes in the garden at the end of winter. I have been waiting a long time to plant this special one, one rare palm!

I just happened upon this article published this past April, documenting the rediscovery of a species of Ravenea not definitively documented since its original description in 1927. The species is Ravenea latisecta, and there have been a few possible sightings in the ensuing 99 years, although apparently virtually all of these were misidentified, most turning out to be R. robustior or R. madagascariensis,. According to the article, there are no documented specimens in cultivation. So this is apparently quite a find and gives some hope for other species that have been "hiding" while presumed extinct. You can download the article from ResearchGate here.

Mid summer is the time for Becarriophoenix to rock!

Seasol or seaweed extract for vitamin b stress relief. Which I think some of world could use some right now!

I’ve got some Veitchia arecina, the oldest being about 12 years old and is way overhead. However, it’s never flowered. Then I have another one that is about eight years old and has decided to flower like crazy. It’s pretty cool because the flowers are right at eye level.

A very tall one that the leaf fell off in the earlier picture

Formerly Peckerwood Garden and Yuccado Nursery. Located in Pine Island, Texas. Brahea dulcis Sabal uresana Brahea berlandieri, Sabal uresana,Nolina nelsonii Serenoa repens Dioon edule, Nolina nelsonii Sabal causiarum Agave ‘Miquihuana Silver’ Brahea berlandieri Brahea berlandieri Brahea moorei Brahea dulcis Agave victoriae-reginae Yucca linearifolia Sabal uresana Nannorhops ritchiana

I will say this Geonomas are really starting to impress me in the cool tolerance range. Quite rare palms in this part of the world, but after getting my hands on a few different varieties they are proving to be very cool tolerant, not to bad for palms that are prized ornamentals. Cool tolerance is one thing they need to be to survive in my winter and grow well. Another issue is water they drink like a drowning fish. So if they are to live in the ground it’s going to have to be some pretty good soil amendment landscaping duties. And these are tube stock seedlings not advanced palms, so iam impressed with how well they take 2 degrees celcius Geonoma pycnostachys Geonoma look longivaginata sub sp vallensGeonoma atrovirens Geonoma bondaria

Body shape = long / narrow, and oval shaped, + long antennae, + Leg that looks like it has bristles / hairs on it ( Easy to see Via the shadow cast, at roughly the 6:30 position in the shot ) + translucent Elytra / *Tegmina < * specific to Cockroaches > ..The scientific term for the harder, outer / anterior wings of various insect groups, inc Beetles and Cockroaches = Subfamily Blattinae or Ectobiidae member Cockroach sp. A quickie in Roach Anatomy / Morphology: Kind of creepy ( ...for those folks who are creeped out by them at least ) ....but, Not SAPW.

These are the palms growing in my front yard. They are all fairly recently planted between 1 and 3 years in the ground. My Chamaerops humilis that has an oddly strong costapalmate shape to all the new leaves that have grown this year. it’s only the newest leaves on the main trunk doing this. The oldest leaves are flat. Butia odorata that I got from Home Depot for $70. I wish it was blue but for that price I’m not going to be picky. I did a deep dive on an older post talking about the shift from most of the mass produced ones being blue to now the green ones being most common. I also wonder if the ones with strong blue coloration may be more hardy.. Sabal rosei that @Chester B inspired me to try that was planted this summer. It’s a decent size and was a really reasonable price from project palm Rhapidophyllum hystrix planted this spring. It’s in part sun because I had heard they appreciate some shade.. but I’m not sure that shade would be necessary in PNW climate. It does get at least 6+ hours of strong sun though. It has 4 pups and I’m trying to decide if I should just select a few to have a more structured look or just let it grow fully wild bush style. Trachycarpus princeps x wagnerianus Still very small but starting to really speed up this summer. It has some nice blue coloration and the underside of the leaves are super white but it doesn’t show up well in the pic Trachycarpus fortunei is just a required staple in the PNW. It’s a random seedling but it’s got really nice blue coloration on the underside of the leaves and the leaves are surprisingly rigid on it. It grows so fast, pushes 3 spears at a time all growing season. Sabal minor - this year it just started picking up speed.. it’s starting to open its 3rd leaf of the year and there’s a nice size spear behind it already. The old leaves are pretty yellow I think from not fully realizing how quickly the planting spot got dry last summer. All of these are planted on a large south facing mound. It has been helpful having everything on a slope since the native soil is pure clay.

Thanks to all for the help and encouragement! I’m trying to fix the ill-conceived act of planting two Hedyscepes too far from the beach (about 20 miles). They just burn badly here and aren’t a good grow, so I’m going to try to dig and pot and sell them to someone in a suitable climate for them in all their glory.

Ever notice how volunteer palm seedlings grow super fast sometimes. This Rhopalostylis baueri volunteer sprouted less than a year ago at the base of an Archontophoenix in full shade and you can almost see it growing in real time. It’s 2 1/2 feet tall (76 centimeters). The one in the last photo sprouted in full all day sun about the same time. Never a burnt leaf no matter how hot it gets. Not even my 20 year old adults will tolerate direct sun here. There are ten year old A. cunnnghamiana volunteers taller than twenty year old ones that were planted as five gallon plants. Anyone else notice this kind of growth with volunteers allowed to grow where they sprouted? First three pics are same palm. Last one is the full sun one.

Central Texas earlier this week:) don’t hate me but I’m too lazy to add all the individual captions haha . Pics range from my friend Matthew’s personal collection in San Marcos to areas around San Antonio. I even found a non disturbed area of Spanish moss with cactus kinda cool to see those species interact together.

Yes , I have observed this phenomenon. That is a beauty , Jim. I will say that the Rhopalostylus Baueri are pretty fast . I brought a juvenile home from @DoomsDave and this Cheesemania is gonna be a bigun’ ! Yours will probably outdo the parent palm . I don’t know if there is any advantage of climate acclimation but the volunteers seem to sprout and grow very well. Harry

Yup, as others have pointed out, these are about as adaptable as they come. Here’s one I plant many years ago; still trunkless, but with fronds nearly head- high.

Some more pictures. Some details of a fallen leaf and seedlings.

This morning brought in a much welcome marine layer of coolness. The flowers on our Sabal are quite abundant and fruit on our Butia Oderata, silver. The fruit will disappear as it ripens as the squirrels wait for just the right time . They hop from a neighboring Brahea Edulis , quite interesting to watch! Harry Not sure , but I think this is Sabal Palmetto , although someone told me it may be Riverside. Either way , I don’t think I’ve seen this much inflorescence on this palm before. Silver Butia Oderata (sold as Bonneti) . Behind it is a Brahea Edulis that is barely visible . The squirrels tend to go from tree to tree. The fruit will be a treat for them. In all the years I’ve had this , and it produces fruit every year, I’ve only had one volunteer! No fruit on the ground , but copious amounts from the Brahea , untouched. Squirrels like what they like and the Apricot sweetness of the Butia is candy.

A line up of today's potential favorite but I just couldn't decide. Encephalartos blue arenarius, Encephalartos inopinus and Cycas multifrondis.

Causiarum update, it got bigger after milton A year and a month later ... My Causiarum marches on adding height and the crown is at least 3/4ths recovered. How tall is it now? I really don't know, its too tall for an accurate guess, 35' to 40' maybe. The wide angle lens might be making it look smaller, LOL! In person it a beast! Beccariophoenix ALfredii has recovered nicely too. cant get ground to tip of tallest leaf so I just shot 3-4' to the tallest leaf. 8-9' of clean trunk

My guess is the lighting. Copernicias LOVE lots of full blazing hot sun. Yours looks like its in filtered light.

@Eric in Orlando Roughly the same here. Most of the deaths have been because folks removed stuff like Royals or Coconuts before giving it a shot to come back. @donalt The place looks great! Especially considering what went down in February! @Merlyn Pulling weeds, trunk cutting, and dumping daconil are scheduled events for this year's gardening decathalon. Your training should pay dividends. 😁

My macrocarpa is doing great in this spot and microclimate. It just opened up a new frond. Thought I would share in case anyone in the area is considering buying one. I would add Im in central Valencia, climate may differ slightly from places further north in foothills where it gets colder, like Saugus, Canyon Country. The teddy bear palm has been doing exceptionally well, it’s almost in full sun most of the day.

Trachycarpus fortunei growing in a Japanese garden in the Netherlands.

I was trimming a couple of old fronds off my Chrysalidocarpus decaryi this evening and just as one came down to the pavers a weevil appeared. It seemed to come out of the removed leaf base which came with a dead inflorescence. I didn't see it emerge but it was under the leafbase immediately as it came down. I haven't heard of them going after any Chrysalidocarpus. I had just removed the dead boot from my adjacent Chrysalidocarpus decipiens. It is a bit worrisome. Smashed the weevil immediately since I don't want it to escape.

Here is the tallest/oldest Chambeyronia macrocarpa at Leu Gardens. It was planted in 2004, its under high tree canopy about 20ft tall. Leaflets totally burned but petioles still alive. The first leaf to open post freeze was 90% burned. Now 2nd leaf is opening, its been slow to recover. And it is flowering.

That is correct. Silver/Grey abaxial with ramenta.

Not to bad at all, I like it! I’ve had Cham plumosa volunteers in all sorts of places in between rocks where you cannot possibly dig, and they are loving life, let em be if there keen on living.

The good old excelsia, it’s been around a long time. Somewhat problematic after a few years in the garden. My solution to this problem is I cut them right back to just one stem and it sorts them right out real fast. Just one single stem will even have the most die hard palm nut asking what variety of licuala is that. It not only contains a problem child in the garden, you also get an interesting look about the garden.

A nice female chamaedorea Ernest augustii inflorescence and a baby foxtail ready to plant!

I’m sorry I probably didn’t word it right. I don’t doubt that the palm you posted in Pauleen Sullivans garden is correctly labeled and really is Archontophoenix purpurea. What I meant was the palm I posted up can’t be Archontophoenix purpurea because it’s 900km south of the Mt Lewis area. The purple palm I posted has no white under the leaflets, or whiskers under the mid rib. All Archontophoenix purpurea are white underneath and have those whiskers. Seed size is vastly different between the two as well as first leaf size of seedlings. Archontophoenix purpurea has large bifid leaves for ages. These ones are small from the beginning.

Any updates on the seedlings? I am working with another PT member who has a dozen (or more) mature Jubaea x butia of Patric's that are producing fertile seeds. Saw low germination numbers the first round, have about 450 seed collected and cleaned about to go into germination beds with this second round. Small seed is standard Butia odorata seed.

As you are aware of this is the colouration of the southern population of bangalows. Iam leaning on purperea that was my first thought. And as discussed with you iam sure if it was a different species they would be onto it. Keep looking you just never know what you will find. Trucking around the country side, be calling you the Leyland brothers next or is that Malcom Douglas.

Here’s big Jubutea — yowza no point in the Shoe. It’s about 25-30 feet overall with about 7-8 feet of trunk.

Cocothrinax eckmanii starting to get a move on!

Dypsis sp black stem got a little eye attention today.

Wodhyethia has become a victim of its own success. Imagine if it was discovered today - a large, landscape suitable palm with a crownshaft, self cleaning and large very full and plumose fronds. You can understand the attraction beyond the palm enthusiast community. I have friends and family that go up to the tropics and subtropics and have showed me photos of Foxtail palms being wowed by them and asking what they are. Objectively they are a beautiful species when well grown and they are adaptable to a range of soil conditions and even some warm temperate regions. I’m right on the limit of where they will grow and there’s less than a handful of long term survivors that I know of (none look good), yet it doesn’t stop them being sold in the 1000s here and people still lap them up.

Ravenea glauca in flower caught my eye today.

Hey Ben, I was at the SABG on July 14th and this is how the Livistona chinensis looks. Still showing damage from the freezing rain (and the cold) we had back in February. I was at the River Walk this past weekend and those still looked pretty good! I noticed that thee were three Queens remaining as well. Sadly two of them are zombie palms as the growing points were killed despite still having some green fronds. One Queen right next to the buildings survived. I am really happy with how my Robusta’s are looking this summer! They have really grown well and have such deep glossy green fronds. I’m going to enjoy them while they are still small. At some point, years from now, hopefully they’ll be as large as these two near the Pearl:

Procatavola Key Lime Star (C. Lime Sherbet x Brassavola nodosa). This blooms so frequently and the best color is in the summer; can really see how it got its name Key lime.

I finally got the mulch on the entrance garden to the house. Bit by bit makes a big job easy. It certainly does make a difference, easy on the eye water saving and feeding the soil plus a little extra warmth in soil temperature. Only another 30 cubic meters to go for the summer water savings!

Plumeria in our neighborhood bloomed early this year and have been loaded with flowers ever since that early start. Here are a few in our yard which havd followed the neighborhood trend. It was a mild winter and spring and much hotter than normal along the coast of San Diego County this summer. How are the Plumeria doing in your garden or neighborhood this summer?

A natural JxS hybrid I grew from seed. Grows about 4 times as fast as its standard Jubaea brethren. I had 2 of these hybrids come up from a batch of seeds I collected from the 1 blue Jubaea at mission beach. Gotta love it's very upright growth pattern when planted in close quarters.🌴 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Bp x pjc hitting its stride.

Being so commonly sold as indoor plants, it's no surprise that so many Ravenea end up outdoors in people's yards in the Fresno area. I see them haphazardly thrown outdoors, usually after a poor performance as an indoor plant. Occasionally, I see them growing happily if they're near a lawn or sprinkler. I've even seen some with a few feet of trunk... but this one takes the prize. This has got to be the biggest pair of Ravenea in Fresno. Wow! You might mistake this for a neighborhood in SoCal, as opposed to the Central Valley. I feel like the anecdotal things about climate change from old-time gardeners in the Fresno area are substantive. I'm seeing lots of plumerias growing happily around town too - at first you notice one. Then the following year you notice more, and each year it seems there are more. Cassia fistula, fruiting mangoes, longan... all of these grown by adventurous gardeners, and somehow happily making it in this harsh climate. The USDA's latest zone update has a small pocket of 10a in the Fresno area to add a bit of weight to the anecdotal chatter too.

@Eric in Orlando I've also noted more Spindle deaths in my yard than Bottles. It might just be random chance, since both seem susceptible to bud rots. Either way, the "conventional wisdom" of Spindles being tougher doesn't seem to be true in my yard. My front porch Licuala Grandis is now showing signs of actual life! About a week ago I carefully trimmed all the dead frond bases down around the crown, trying to find if there are actually any spears. I found a double spear and cut back to expose it, and today I noticed both spears had grown about 0.25" taller and started opening with a hint of green!

Some observations from around Orlando; Lots of Foxtails growing back, quite a few took awhile . But a majority of thinner younger specimens that were planted just 1-2 years ago perished I've noticed more Bottle Palms recovering than Spindles I'm shocked at how many Coconuts are recovering, in the past they have been killed at higher temps Most Adonidia have perished (not surprising) but I see some that are growing back Most Arecas had tall stems killed but I see some sprouting back, but suckers regrowing good I haven't seen any Ptychosperma elegans growing back but for some reason they weren't widely planted around like Adonidia Royals are growing back great, only deaths I have seen were young juvenile specimens less than 6-7ft I'm going to be at the Landscape Show next week at the convention center on I-Drive. Curious to see how the tropical palms down there fared; big Royals at hotel by Sea World, big Royals at convention center entrance, all the Bottles and Adonidia planted by the CC, the big Coconut at that one restaurant. I can see a couple Coconuts at Volcano Bay from I-4 growing back.