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A Kliene update. 17C 12/31/2025 @ 2:31pm I pray everyone is well. Here's my update. May God bless you all. God willing next year, I won't be a stranger. (It took me a lot longer to rotate the video than it was to record it) Happy New Year! new year 2026.mp4

Posting a few photos of my Parajubaea torallyi. I planted this palm about 15 years ago from a 5-gallon pot. It currently has about six feet of clean trunk and it’s about 25+ feet tall. This time of year, I tug on the old leaf sheaths to see if any of them are ready to come off. If they're ready, they pull off easily. However, if they aren't, no amount of pulling will remove them. It’s not unusual to find Arboreal Salamanders (Aneides lugubris) under the old leaf sheaths as shown in the photo below. I'm in the San Francisco bay area.

If you’re interested in observing some very tall Windmill palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) in the Sand Hills ecoregion, check out Gullys Nursery in Southern Pines, NC. Some of the ones there were 25ft + and looked really well.

thanks for looking

A few new plantings to close out the year, first up is one of my mystery Chrysalidocarpus (possible hybrid) that I grew from seed from my old garden. I now have 2 of these planted out here with hopes that it will look like the parent plant from my previous garden. next up is Hyophorbe India hybrid from Floribunda. last planting is a small Coccothrinax Crinita:

Chrysalidocarpus Leucomalla dropped another leaf and features a unique yellow that is almost glowing.

Another update on this one, sorry. It caught my eye this morning opening a new frond. It’s been growing great. -dale

Went thrift shopping for som fishes for the kitties when I saw this set of four. Hadda have em! How about you?

I’m happy to report that the Tahina I planted in memory of our dog Gracie, and also the first palm planted after finishing construction and moving into the house, is doing well. After planting it, it experienced another spear die off, but this time in the ground. I wasn’t going to dig it up and mess with it and just hoped that it would send up a new push. It did and now it’s finally showing good growth with each leaf being larger than the previous.

Happy new year everybody. A small update of my coconut palm in Cyprus. It's still alive for another winter. I increased the water in the summer and it started to make a difference in the growth.

January 2026 update:

You guys get a few more points in California for Rhopalostylis, Ceroxylon, Hesyscepe, etc. hah! Here’s my Blue Decipiens. Still a ways off from trunking when they seem to speed up. I’m guessing this one is 8-9 feet tall from ground to tip of newest leaf.

Hi Tracy! Yes that is Ravenea Julietiaes, or at least purchased as that from Floribunda. A slow grower here (not any faster than California from my experience there as well) but always looks good. Nice to have a palm that is a slower grower here as most are too fast! Here’s a zoomed in photo of it from the opposite angle:

And here are some year end updated photos of the garden. I’m not going to list out IDs for all of these but am happy to give IDs if interested, just ask. I’m also happy to post photo updates if there’s something you don’t see in this batch of photos. Just ask. Thanks for looking and happy new year.

Caught my eye that albeit 1/3 the size as when originally obtained, my Joey appears to have adjusted to frequent very dry periods. Perhaps it will still eventually bump into the adjacent K elegans.

Never noticed until today that this palm makes butterfly shapes in the leaves…in first pic

Seeing as we're at the end of 2025, I am posting the current condition of my coco-test here in the Palm Springs area. I see I never posted one at the end of last year, mea culpa. So I'll bring it up to date. Of my newer specimens, only one was a new type...the large "football cocos" from Kanoa Hawai'i received in April 2024 that I noted above. It grew from a nut with eophyll to a six-foot plant in one season, absolutely beautiful and amazing, but during last winter the central spear started to dry out..followed out by the whole plant. So...strike-out on that one... In spring of 2024 I added another Jamaican Tall (sold as a Panama from the same source as the others, Let's Grow Florida), planted in a protected jungle glade under canopy, facing southeast but under quite dark but slightly dappled shade most of the time. I've labeled this one as aff. Jamaican No. 3. This I planted next to the spot I had placed the now-dead "giant football" Cocos, but this one has thrived and has excellent appearance. The older aff. Jamaicans No. 1 and 2 have done well. Very similar to the other two I have in an adjacent area under slightly more sunlight. All of these have good appearance now, a couple did throw a stunted leaf after their first winter but I think this has lessened now. All of these coconuts put on about 3-1/2 leaves this past season. The supposed red spicata I purchased from Eureka Farms in Miami has much better appearance this year, and also put on 3-1/2 leaves or so this year. This one really does not want the strong horizontal sun during heat waves in fall. The two leaves facing that direction did yellow from this exposure, however, the other large leaf, which faces north, looks perfectly healthy. I added another red spicata this last summer and it is not yet planted, though I have it in more sun, southeast exposure, in the general area I plan to plant it this coming spring. It looks a little ragged after being grasshopper food for a while, exposure to sun from its probable greenhouse origins, etc. So I will photograph that one in 2026 once I have it in place. All in all, I can say that these two varieties have persisted and seem to be improving in appearance and show no real upset with winter cold or lots of shade. In fact, they really look much better in a good amount of shade. Perhaps (and this I will test with the newer spicata) conditioning in more sun during summer will prevent the sun-scorch that the spicata has shown in fall. Current photos taken within the last month: Presumed Jamaican talls: aff. Jamaican No. 1: aff. Jamaican No. 2: aff. Jamaican No. 3 (planted spring 2024): Red Spicata No. 1:

2 pics from yesterday and 2 from today. I love this dypsis Mt. something or other

Brian, you can pm me with questions any time. I am older so I dont hang on line all the time but I do answer. I understand about the searching its more complicated these days it seems, I also have struggles there. Your soil may well be alkaline due to limestone rock. This you should know so you can make the best decisions. If it is limestone base in your area, all the cuban copernicias will do even better for you than mine as I have to add dolomite to make the pH slightly alkaline. Satakentia liukinesis( a must in our area) and chambeyronia oliviformis also prefer slightly alkaline pH and do better in those kind of soils. Many who I have learned from seem to not be on here much theses days. What I have learned from from them I share readily, that is what this site is about, IMO. Teddy bears "chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos" are gorgeous palms and do well in our climate. I still struggle with the name changes and spelling on the species that have name changes. It used to irritate me that they changed the names, but as a scientist I feel compelled to follow. I am not a botanist by any means but I do understand soil chemistry as a PhD chemist(dual undergrad degree with chemical engineering) with friends who did study transport of nutrients in soils(its complicated). If you are ever in my area you are welcome to see my garden. Its a small yard(about 12000sf(about 1300m2) with sandy soil so I am somewhat limited. some of my species are serenoa repens silver(really light blue) bismarckia copernicia: hospita, fallaense, magroglossa, baileyana and alba (blue) BxJ, (BxJ)xJ Roystonea Regia archontophoenix species(4) these are not fans of alkalainity to my knowledge and are pretty leaf tender @ 30F chambeyronia macrocarpa watermelon, hookeri, chambeyronia olvivformis , chambeyronia houilou livistona saribus, decora and chinensis dypsis madagascariensis, pembana, lutecens (not sure if they are now renamed to chrysalidocarpus) sabal causiarum, uresana phoenix rupicola dyctosperma album furfurcea, rubrum I can offer you what I know about growing these if you are interested I would suggest you visit palmpedia.com for descriptions, just paste the names in and you will get good information If you want to purchase palms, a trip down to miami area would be good to get some better deals at "Redlands nursery" and some you can order at small sizes online from them. Like I said, we can communicate through palmtalk personal messaging(best way) as my email is inundated these days with unwanted junk. THe engineering side of me hates spelling these latin names( I never took latin), and memorization of unconnected facts. Only my love of palms has motivated me to learn them as much as I have. best Tom

The guys above explained it very well. If or when you go to both places you can feel the difference in the air. A winter day of 80f in south Florida isn't the same as 80f in San Diego. Here in San Diego we are way drier and our night drastically swing. When we do get cold in winter (upper 50s and lower 60s during g the day and 30s to 40s at night) it's common for it to stick around for weeks if not well over a month. In Florida when they dip into those temps it might only be for a day or two and there quickly warms back up. My biggest heart breaker is Areca vestiaria, they never die from one cold event but rather the long cool winter slowly kills them right before it starts to warm back up.

December 2025.

A nice summer swim and a walk along a beach, with absolutely no body on the beach for miles, except for a few seeds!

It's wintertime in Holland with snow and a few degrees below zero C.. Nothing to worry about, just enjoying the view of the garden with some Trachy. fortunei, a Chamaerops humilis vulcano, laurels with winterprotection for the stems and a few date palms! By the end of the week, it will all be over again!

My biggest surprise was my two veitchia arecina. They propably becoming my fastest palms. When I put them in the ground last summer they were 2 feet overall height. Now they are about 7 feet with a few rings of trunk. I'm glad they survived in the summer heat. I lost some palms in the heat waves, and some don't happy under the summer sun. I increased the watering for all the palms and it helps a lot.

These are the first seedlings from my most robust Hedyscepe palm, with a trunk diameter of 6.75 inches. I offer these sprouts for $20 plus $15 shipping, via USPS Priority Mail anywhere in the 48 contiguous United States. I can put two sprouts in the small flat rate box, or more in the medium flat rate box for $20. I have twelve sprouts available. PayPal only, PM me for my PayPal address and your mailing address. I may not mail these immediately, in order to make fewer trips to the post office. Thanks

@juju95 I would say Elaeis Guineensis, but a rare mutation called "whole leaf" or "Idolatrica." ...and welcome to Palmtalk!

I hope everyone is having a great new year so far! Here are a few pics from today.

They would have been In my shopping bag faster than you can blink. Pillaging Peachy

Golf course at Lajitas Resort, which borders Big Bend and the Rio Grande.

I went walking in Crescent Bend Nature Park today. The area was a residential area until it flooded in 1996 and 1997. It was then made into a park with lots of trails. There are a couple of old Washingtonias in the park that were likely in someone's backyard at some point. They blend in nicely in the savanna environment of the park though:

14 months on Thrinax Radiata between photos. Been pretty impressed. 8 months on Chrysalidocarpus Pembanus. Have some Archontophoenix that grew the fastest, just no good before and after shots.

San Francisco has 10b zones but is a mild to chilly climate. The zone designation only applies to average minimum winter temperature. It has nothing to do with the amount of daily heat. No freezing temperatures but nowhere near the necessary heat needed to support the growth of a coconut palm. Southern CA has a few areas (Santa Ana, La Quinta, Coronata for example) where coconuts will grow but likely never fruit.

Another big looser: Syagrus kellyana. Gets spotting every year but this year's fog really did a bit to it. Should grow out of it i think. Howea belmoreana, foresteriana, chamaedorea and chambeyronia were all made for this Ficus dammaropsis seems happy in this also

Sounds like you have done pre winter protection, it’s up to Mother Nature now, welcome to the zone push club where you get to watch palms die and you also get to watch new palms live. See socratea rostrata picture below for a zone push winner!

Finally got a bloom, overeating lookin inflorescence. Tim

These are technically my wife's, but I've been tending them for years. I'm going to guess they're 25 years old. Inside for the winter, although this week is going to be nice. They've gotten heavy over the years and I generally don't just move them on a whim. This winter has been mild so far, hopefully it stays that way

Minor leaf damage from 34 deg and some steady winds.

Personally I really enjoy learning from those in other regions. What they can and cannot grow, the favored species, the challenges others face, the palms they desire but cannot obtain. I especially savor everyone's photos of their palms and gardens. One can get a lot of inspiration from the forums. It's amazing to me to see very tropical-looking gardens in Germany and Switzerland, Greece and the UK! Australians have so many climates, plus challenges to importing anything. Before learning about it here, I was unaware of the significant differences between growing palms in Florida compared to California. Curiosity drives my participation on Palmtalk. My very first post here back in 2005 was asking about a "palm" I had seen in Tanzania, which wasn't a palm at all, but a Ravenala madagascariensis (Traveler's Palm). So I've come a long way since then, primarily due to being obsessed with Palmtalk for years. Yes, I am in the camp that prefers the botanical name to be at least mentioned once when discussing a palm, so that others are not confused by the identity of the palm. We have a worldwide reach here, and as has already been said, common names are only good in one's immediate area and create unnecessary confusion. Get involved with your local fellow palm people to expand your sources of information and palms, and continue to participate here as well. You won't regret it.

About 4 years back I planted 7 small one gallon pots of C cabadae to form a grove and now there are 24 trunks currently growing. Yesterday I noticed what almost looks like variegation on one trunk’s leaves, I assume this is nutritional or environmental or is this a trait of C cabadae?

After temperatures briefly dropped to -2°C / 28.4°F on the balcony and -6.3°C / 20.66°F in the community garden last night, everything still looks fine, even the young Phoenix dactylifera that I couldn't dig up. Okay, so far so good. We're one-third of the way through winter, so to speak... The castle walls hold firm, the enemy, frost, cold, and storm have been repelled 😁

funny how palm people might be the only ones happy about global warming 😂