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When I first moved to Florida, I planted a Bismarckia in mid2010 and a sabal uresana in summer 2011. Uresanas are often mentioned as alternatives to bismarckia in 9a. These palms have stood next to each other over the years making for an easy growth comparison. Bismarckias are generally regarded as fast growers and uresanas are said to be slow. First, Bismarckia several months after planting a 5 gallon bought at a big box store. Everything but the spear had heavy mold spots so I kind of treated it as a rescue. It seems to have that purplish hue after winter that is often associalted with a whiter leaf. It adapted fast to sun after being tortured inside the box store with palms stacked in a pile around it. It put 5-6 new leaves out the first year. late july 2010 bismarckia then about a year later I planted a sabal uresana "icy blue" I bought from tejas tropicals in texas. It was a strap leafer and I put it in a pot. About 6 months later it was ready to go into the ground as the pot was root bound. A little over 2 years later in sept 2013 both had grown well. IN this pic the uresana looks a bit bigger than it was (relatively) since it was closer to the observer. It had turned darker with less "icy blue" color but was clearly not just a green sabal. The uresana was about 6' overall and the Bismarckia was closer to 10' in this pic At this point the bismarckia was trunking and growth was accelerating and here is the pic from june 2015. The uresana not trunking was putting more leaves for a bigger crown About 4 years later the uresana had lengthened it leaves and had gone into trunking mode. It went skyward chasing the bismarckia but still 6-7 feet over all behind the biz in height Last week I took another pic and noticed about a 10' gap even though the uresana had sped up and grown to about 25' tall. compared with 35' for the bismarckia I thought it was interesting that the growth burst of each happened at trunking, as we are often told by the literature. Yes even sabal uresana grows well after trunking. I also though it is interesting to note that Sabal Uresana has a wider crown, that was a surprise. I had always thought Bismarckia would be wider as it throws more shade but its a couple fee less in width of the crown. The Uresana crown is more open though, and it took a lot less damage than the Bismarckia in hurricane Milton(oct2024). Part of the lesser damage suffered by uresana could be due to less wind damage as there are higher wind velocities at height, but also part might be the Uresana having an open crown with smaller leaves that have less wind drag. I do think Uresanas will have more blue than mine in a drier hot climate. Bismarckias are very versatile, they don't need much fertilizer and mostly they are self shedding. Just keep them happy and the weevils wont come to dinner(I had a sick one attacked by weevils and killed). I treated the Uresana same as Bismarckia, limited fertilizer compared with my other palms The Uresana has persistent leaf bases which are still strongly attached near the ground. Since I do the trimming, I am happy that Uresana is a slower grower, as the Bismarckia is now too tall for me to trim from the ground. And the Bismarckia(female) is a mess, dropping 150-200 lbs of seed a year. I just got done raking up half a trash can full of Bismarckia fruits, and there is at least that much still hanging on the tree. Uresana has not fruited yet at 15 yrs. Sabals are notorious for liking heat to grow fast and they both had plenty of Florida heat. For those thinking about Sabal Uresana, its not Bismarckia fast but its more of a medium grower for me after trunking.

Here it was when I first planted it! I really had no hopes it was surviving up here 😂 Crazy how much it filled out this corner in only 4 years with suckers lol

Or towering teddy bears (Chysalidocarpus leptocheilos) - at left - aflame in the setting sun.

No one has suggested a foxtail... Wodyetia bifurcata... I'm fairly close to OCKev in La Mirada and these things grow like weeds for me... They are self cleaning but they do drop egg sized seeds that are easy to pick up and discard... Really no mess... Butch

Did you ever pull the trigger and grow one? They get big over time. I am in a different climate zone but do have experience growing a couple of Caryota species including gigas now lumped in as obtusa. I would not underestimate the project it will be to remove it someday. The one I acquired as gigas is well over 20 years old. The trunk is massive in diameter but it hasn't gained the height of some around town in Encinitas and adjacent communities.

Cyphophoenix elegans doing its best flamethrower impersonation.

@OCKev and @sonoranfans my Archontophoenix tuckeri in the westering light of late afternoon….

First new leaf since planting out our Lepidorrachis mooreana, obtained from @Darold Petty last autumn.

Same palms different angle.

Consider Chambeyronia! Oliviformis macrocarpa….

Bit of an unusual trait for a flower to have fasciation. Somewhat of a different flower trait, not uncommon, but a bit rare. Definitely makes for an interesting bit of a conversation piece.

Rhopalostylis sapida peeking out in all its splendor. Vergara Palace Garden. City of Viña del Mar in Chile.

Putting palms in bunches helps with sunburn resistance, watering, and wind resistance(to drying). I would plan that spot with a multi of some crownshafted type. I would also be careful with how inland you are. If you are even in Irvine its hot and dry a lot and some of those palms will take a lot of attention to keep them looking good. WHen I see a chamby in a forest of trees, the sun exposure may be some directly overhead by not late day. My macrocarpas burn a little towards the western summer sun. Chambeyronia oliviformis doesnt have a red emerging leaf but they are more sun tough and wind dessication resistant due to a waxy leaf. And they are IMO more attractive than a macrocarpa aside the red leaf. They will grow taller than the macrocarpa for sure but not so fast as an King. Might be interesting to plant (2) oliviformis to the west and one macrocarpa to the east in a triple. The dark green of the oliviformis and the marcocarpa should have a striking appearance and witht he oliviformis protecting the macrocarpa from western sun. Here is oliviformis(center, dark green crownshaft) 13 years in the ground from a seedling.

Seems that I've collected quite a few interesting Syagrus (and butia) in the past couple of years. Here's a lineup of most of them this morning. Back row L to R: syagrus vagans, butia diamantina, syagrus guaratingensis, syagrus microphylla Middle row L to R : either picrophylla or oleracea from @DoomsDave , syagrus picrophylla, syagrus santosii, Bottom row L to R Butia archeri and a variegated butia odorata. A chance seedling.

Extraterrestrial? Please come home ET. Any ETS landing in your garden. This is from planet Encyclia of the cochleata species.

A couple more pembana floating around the garden!

Local Sabal uresana. Some or all of mine came from these trees.

A few of the palms this June. Sabal uresana, Sabal palmetto "Lisa" and Butia odorata to the right. Neighbors's CIDPs behind. Washingtonia robusta CIDP Butia yatay x Jubaea chilensis Phoenix sylvestris Bismarckia nobilis Trachycarpus latisectus

An old favourite that’s been around for a while. A real classic chamaedorea, perfect for container production, a true landscaping palm that’s very predictable in growth. A great indoor plant, patio or a bright shaded spot in the garden. And best of all super easy to grow!

The cascade palm, an old favourite that has been around for some time now. A fantastic ornamental palm, perfect for a small hedge or a nice fill in for a corner or anywhere in the understory. Makes a great patio container palm, has somewhat of a cool tolerance. A landscapers dream Paolo that’s as tough as nails. A great all round chamaedorea that’s ver forgiving to a growers blunder or two!

This is my first leaf that shows color. Every one is perfectly edged and the center w greenish yellow. It is Spectacular! It does looke like trunk is speckled. Cecile

All iam going to say is perfection in a palm the chamaedorea adscendens!

A few seeds are setting on the lytocarum in garden. A fantastic palm that’s easy to grow. Super tough and very forgiving. I would say a bit slow growing to reach maturity in a subtropical climate. But once they get there they don’t look back. Very predictable and a great learning palm to grow, just put them in the shade as seedlings and away they grow.

Chambeyronia are very nice palms though, depending how far inland you are. They tend to burn easily in full sun until they get large , and even then. Slower growing palm and would grow in that spot but not as vigorously , quite a bit more $$ than Archontophoenix. Harry

This Encephalartos Longifolious x Horridus was buried behind other 15 gals. so I dug it out and trimmed the older leaves off to make room for the new flush. The new leaves are very fuzzy due to the Longifolious influence.

This week has been a real trial for my little Ceroxylon amazonicum! Today at 3 PM the temperature... in the shade... was 106 °Fahrenheit (41.11 °Celsius). It's putting out its second leaf since it arrived at my place from Ecuador (via Florida). I'm keeping it in shade and in a deep saucer of water. Hopefully it'll put out a pinnate leaf before year's end?

A big pair on this one. The boys get some additional extension when they unscrew like this.

Another group in Houston.

Mine puts on a bit of a show too.

Two views of one of my Phoenicophoriums. Such a pretty species.

Red and white pagoda lovely to look at, but my goodness they spread.

Just so everyone can play along Richard: This is now Arenga oblongifolia. Previously Wallichia oblongifolia. Before that Wallichia densiflora. I think you e mashed up the previous name a bit with the name before that 🙂 Great palm by the way. I love anything weirdly unique.

They are true water lovers!

Chambeyronia, Areca vestria and kerriodoxa elegans getting my attention!

After about 2 years i waited, finally its getting pinnate😄

The flush on my Chunky Monkey Encephalartos longifolius has stretched out and is beginning to harden. It looked stunning in the low summer setting sunlight.

Love the glossy leaves on these

Just planted this lipstick queen hybrid palm In zone 10b Whittier California ( So Cal ) Los Angeles County It has two suckers growing on it Filtered sun Wish me luck 6/9/26

L rupicola and friends…

I got a few floating around my garden, such a nice palm. Nothing beats driving up the driveway and seeing the red flame in amongst the green forest.

I think it was around 1900. They were immigrant families who created gardens and brought exotic species. There's a nursery that has or imports Rhopalostilis to Chile. I hope they start giving out seeds soon. It only blooms. The photos below are from the nursery where the Rhopalostilis is located. They import, sell, and propagate them there, but with some seed viability issues.

Most elegant palms…here are 3 planted together.

Carpentaria

Roscheria melanochaetes, growing into a solid seedling! And the dypsis manajarensis is not far behind!

Another one in the garden.

Private growers PLEASE! I concur with Merlyn. There are other growers but may need to drive a bit . Rancho Soledad Nursery may have them . Maybe @DoomsDave can get you some , he is in La Habra and has nice stuff! Dave is a super cool guy , very knowledgeable about our area , and he may introduce you to Conan the cat. I’ve gotten some very nice palms from him. Harry

Some photos of the Summer Meeting in Melbourne are attached below. A special thank you to @Jdash for hosting! It was great to see @PalmJuan , @kinzyjr , @chuckg , @CodyM , @Fishinsteeg234 , @Maddox Gardening-youtube , @rick , @D. Morrowii , @Midnight Gardener and plenty of others today.

Hudson beach in northwest pasco seems to be an extremely warm micro climate...... not to far inland from this was in the mid teens this winter.

Archontophoenix would be decades before they hit 50’ but they do eventually I guess. The trimming of the inflorescence is up to you and are at the base of the crown shaft, so easy to get to with a pole saw for the first several years. Mine took 15 years before they flowered and not every year so not near the nuisance of the Queens. If you really like Royal Palms , the Oleracae that @JohnStraz suggested has a smaller presence and the fronds won’t smash a car to bits . They are a bit sensitive to cold and it would probably harder to locate one . They are beautiful palms though and I love mine. Depending on your particular climate could do very well . Harry A much smaller base on this 15+ year old Oleracae.

Mines looking a wee bit rough these days…