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Really a magnificent palm. Stout, but not overly large, moderate grower, and good color especially after losing a leaf sheath. Prominent basal leaves on extraordinary long fronds add to the picture. Planted early 2012 from a 1 gallon. Tim

The bulging crownshaft on this almost twenty year old Chrysalidocarpus decipiens makes me think there’s something good lurking underneath it. Could it be about to produce an inflorescence? Will have to wait ‘til the attached frond dies and falls off.

I was able to force this color with 23 degrees but i don't think I’ll be able to maintain this look.

I gave this palm a fresh haircut and trim - i have to say that it looks amazing that way

Chrysalidocarpus Basilongus

Some pictures from today mid summer. Going for 32C today and forecast overnight thunderstorms. It doesn’t get better than this.

After a few months : dictyocarium lamarkianum first leaf !

Guidance has trended colder in the past 36 hours or so. This is shaping up to be a freeze for the Panhandle. NWS currently forecasting a low of 33F for Monday night. Looks like it may warm up pretty quickly after that before getting cool again to start the month of March. Being cold in Florida multiple times during the winter season is not a new thing. Y'all have gotten lucky more than anything in the past decade down south. I would be grateful to live in the areas of central Florida thats been trashed on so much in this thread. I am still thankful to be located in NW FL, where many palms can be grown. Sometimes it pays to just be thankful for what you have instead of being upset about what you cant have. My Queens are fried, my bizzy might not make it, my lady palm spear pulled, my washies are burnt, but... here is my super mule, looking like winter never happened: For that, I am thankful.

I have visited Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami FL many times but always enjoy seeing new additions and checking on “old friends”. This Sabinaria caught my attention especially since it looks untouched planted outside despite the recent cold spell here. I eagerly await mine growing big enough to show off the gorgeous leaf shape and color! Below are two different Kerriodoxa elegans. Rhino beetles in Puerto Rico love these so not sure if I will get any to trunking size. I am really looking forward to seeing them in habitat in Phuket Island.Thailand on the soon to start IPS post tour. Calyptrocalyx albertisianus is a fairly new addition to my own farm after I saw a beauty at Dean Ouer’s place in HI a few years ago. Here is one at FTG reminding me that they are likely to be much taller than my other more shrub size Calyptrocalyx. I am including a striking cycad that I wish I grew. Microcycas calocoma.

Amazing to get such great germination with a rare and exciting palm like this.

Never get tired of Chambeyronia macrocarpa var hookeri new growth.

I was able to stop by my old garden today and got these pictures of the parent plant. Much taller than it was about 18 months ago.

Here’s the one in Mt Joseph University Cincinnati, OH This was planted in 2000 it was cut down for unknown reasons by the Landscapers around 2020~ and yeah came back strong! Somerset opens at 2PM so we will check that out later!

Dypsis basilonga seedlings looking good, somewhat a few years behind @Hilo Jason but they will get there.

Planted in 2015 as a 5 gallon

My verschaffeltia splendida gaining size and opening a new leaf. and my Areca macrocalyx starting to show some nice colour.

I get them sprouting in my yard every year. Most years, I collect hundreds of seeds from a big (100+ year old) blue jubaea at a park nearby. I try to germinate and pot up seedlings which I then mostly give away - my contribution to keeping Jubaeas alive in my area for the next 100 years. The local squirrels inevitably get into my seed stash and bury seeds all throughout my yard. I have identified 5 seedlings in my yard which are a result of squirrels planting and forgetting about the seeds. I also have two jubaeopsis and one Syagrus kellyana that all began the same way.

I took a pass through the butterfly collection and this papilio lowii posed for me. Pigafetta elata (I only saw one) seemed fine outside. I am down to 2 of these from 5 I grew from seed and planted out in PR. Another rhino beetle delicacy. I now have some seedling Pigafetta filaris (the white one) gifted to me by PR00360 from RPS seeds. Hoping I can get some to trunking size when my beetles seem to ignore them. Mine are at the very dangerous to touch stage but eventually the smooth trunk becomes huggable. This Calyptrocalyx hollrungii is much bigger than mine. Such a nice palm. Sommieria is another species I “met” at FTG many years ago and am so happy to now have in PR. Next some classic FTG views. Entrance to the conservatory:

White triangle

This is one of my favorites. V. Simulins

I have a lot of hookeri in my garden so iam expecting a bit of pop this season! You’re looking pretty good though in sunny warm Melbourne!

A stroll around the slope today… mild winter and warm days between drizzle never hurt anyone…

spent the last couple days building a new potting bench. Long overdue! I can sit on a lab stool and pot up now; much nicer on my back and neck. 😎

The collection certainly increased last winter and spring, with a lot of new varieties going into the ground. And with the temperature the other day 38 degrees and somewhat hot and dry they faired up nicely. And with some great rainfall in the last couple of days and more on the way things are rather growing well. So if your in the zone push market for some new varieties these ones are tried and tested for cool conditions down to 2 degrees Celsius! lanonia centralisCalyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana Calyptrocalyx yummutumunedypsis spArenga hookeriana Areca songthanhensischamaedorea nubium lanonia calciphilla arenga caudata Wallichia marianneaedypsis spchamaedorea Ernest augustii Johannesteijannia altifrons heterospathe barfordi polyandrococus caudescens synecanthus warscewiczianus Pinanga sarawakensis Chambeyronia pyriformis reindhardtia simplex ptychosperma cunneatumdypsis scottiana

Calyptrocalyx hollrungii!

Four pairs of healthy Phoenix roebellini / Pygmy Date palms (8 palms total) currently have a date with a chainsaw. 😢 Thought I’d offer them here in case someone wants to rescue them. I’m in Carlsbad (North San Diego County). Another palmtalker was interested, but the logistics didn’t work out. These are mature palms, already planted when we bought the house in 2007. They were transplanted once many years ago (from backyard to front), so digging *might* be a little easier than if they’d never been moved—but they’ve been in place for a while, so not sure on that one. The deal: You do the digging. My husband can help move them to your truck, and the smaller plants around them would be removed in advance for easier access. Hard to get a good pic, but here’s a few of them. There are 8 total, in pairs of 2… And here’s a ChatGPT interpretation of them in early March if no interest… It’s a bit sad to cut healthy palms, but something’s got to give to make room for the more exotic stuff. PM if interested in them.

Here are the 2 mature Coconuts growing across from Fashion Square Mall at the former smashburger restaurant. The one on the left is totally brown but the petioles are still green. The one on the right actually has a couple leaves in the center with green. These palms are less than a mile from the Executive Airport which has an official NWS station and recorded 24F. If both or one survives it will be the new I Drive coconut.

So, I was going to say......this is my favorite genus, but it seems almost every genus is my favorite. Ok, I really like this genus and it contains some wonderful species. Here are a few from the garden, from medium large to rather diminutive. Great leaf color and some interesting trunk/crownshaft marking. Easy grow, relatively pest and disease free and not fertilizer hogs. Veitchia subdisticha, a small grove of seven, full sun, and on a steep slope. They love the extra good drainage.

My little SO Cal. V. arecina jungle... Mom just dropped the seeds and I didn't have the heart to remove them... That promiscuous little tree snuck around the front, got cozy with a foxtail and produced this... Butch

Pretty much most of what you see , botanically speaking , is going to be things that won’t grow in the desert . The islands I have visited do have some desert areas but most areas are high humidity and warm trade winds bringing tropical rains . The growth rate of tropical or some temperate plants is about 3x the growth rate even here in Southern California . I have never been to Oahu , other than a stop over , so I can’t recommend any specific gardens . I am sure you will see plenty of palms and tropicals . Some nurseries will sell orchids and small palms , with certs, that you can bring home . The palms I brought home from Maui were growing in shredded paper and came with import certificates . They are still living in my garden 25 years later. Enjoy your trip! Harry This Pritchardia was a seedling that I carried home in my back pack! Not pictured is the Chambeyronia I brought home that is now flowering . I think I paid less than $5 for each seedling in 2002. Harry

Nice double roebelenii! I almost bought one too - $70 at the orange store, right? I settled instead for a $35 foxtail and a $10 Dypsis lutescens. I managed to get both in my Nissan (somehow).

About 2-3 years ago while poking around one of my favorite nurseries in Ventura , I found a neglected palm that looked different than anything I had in my collection . It had a healthy spear growth and one , that’s right , just one nice frond that had just opened . The others were brown and tattered. It was in a fairly large container and I could tell by the base of the palm it had a bit of age to it . Priced at $150 , it was a good solid deal…..IF it was healthy . But it was clear that this guy was less than healthy . After getting an employee to help me with ID , I asked “ how much ?” I told him I would be interested if he marked it down a bit. He went and checked with his boss and said “ how about$100?” SOLD!! Fast forward a couple of years and I am so glad I got it. They aren’t as common as they should be around my area . Easy to grow , unique costapalmate fronds , deeply divided. I was surprised at how quickly it came around . The growth rate is much faster than the L. Chinensis that was planted near it some 25years ago. This one willpass it up within 5 years I think. Just lots of water and sun is all it wants! Harry I am not walking down there to get a better pick so excuse the poor quality. You can see the Chinensis to the left . Such a beautiful , easy to grow palm with a very interesting frond.

They are more solid and robust looking and a different colour new leaf in comparison to macrocarpa, a good healthy macrocarpa you can’t go past though for the glory they are known for! Here’s a nice pic of a macrocarpa. Richard

@pj_orlando_z9b + @Kiplin + @PalmBossTampa + @gyuseppe These are my Phoenix reclinata hybrids with a juvenile coconut that got 100% defoliated for comparison. My best guess is that they are crossed with Phoenix canariensis since that was the closest other species, but they don't have enough trunk to say for sure. Guest appearances from Livistona chinensis, Syagrus romanzoffiana, and Washingtonia robusta as well.

Cibolo TX Post Winter storm report: Temps in my neck of the woods hit 19F or 20F, with some freezing rain. As usual, I think the freezing precipitation was the bigger problem. C. radicalis with East Northeast exposure and partial overhead protection from the eave of the house. P. dactylifera was almost immediately dead. It was about 3 ft in overall height and very healthy going into this event. I covered it, but not until it was already wet. So it's spear pulled almost immediately after the freeze. It's leaves were brown within a few days. I cut the trunk down and there was no living tissue left, despite treating it with hydrogen peroxide within a couple of days of the ice. Butia took a little longer to show damage. It was covered with a large patio umbrella, but it blew off during the storm. It was a couple of weeks before the newest leaves started losing color. Spear pulled, and I have been treating it with H2O2 as well. No signs of a new spear yet. Even my S. mexicanas (No protection) have a leaf or two that have lost their color. This surprised me: My Washingtonia that grows like a weed looks pretty much perfect with no protection: Not all Washingtonians are created equal though. This is what another one just a couple of houses down from mine looks like: Small trachycarpus F x Ws took no damage with a bucket to cover them:

Well I’ve got about 15 in the ground so if there all one sex I’d be totally miffed. I planted them so they’d be good for seed production and at the rate they’re growing it won’t be decades away. When they do I will be sending you seeds. They will grow for you and you must have them.

These three are my only Archontophoenix purpurea and I’m just wondering if the heavy black tomentum on their trunks is unusual or typical. Whichever it is, I like it. These were purchased as seedlings from Floribunda a few years ago.

I watered the soil really well last weekend. Wanted to do 2x a week but I was so busy with work this week I didn't get a chance. I have been following my spear growth and all my palms are at least alive. The bottle is now pushing up green which makes me happy. I'm planning to add a root stimulator. Lukas said they also recommend a nutritional spray but I thought I read no fertilizer until at least March?

For removal , I would hire a tree service to take them down . Get quotes from different ones . After my huge Caryota fell down , I was quoted $1700 to remove and dispose of the tree by my regular trimmers. It was laying across my neighbors driveway so I didn’t have time to source it out . I had two friends with chainsaws ready to help but a landscape company was working across the street and offered to do it for $250! They had it cut up in less than an hour. After the work was complete , they hauled it off. Then I got a text from my regular trimmers saying they would do it for $700 …..as a favor. “ No thank you “ was my response. Harry

Ok I shall settle the score and start a on the potting bench thread to appease the palm gods. So it is as follows, on the potting bench you shall see what’s been growing and what reds to be potted up, freshly germinated to anything else that needs to be potted, it shall be gor reference as seedling identification. If anyone wants to identify a seedling, and also as documentation of what and how the plants are growing for the palm talk audience and for my own documentation!

There is A LOT to do on O'ahu in the world of horticulture and landscape...pardon my very long post here but Honolulu is a big city, O'ahu is a good-sized island, with several diverse climate-types, and this is just some of what is there for your botanical enjoyment... The single most important place for you to go is Lyon Arboretum, part of the University of Hawai'i, at the top of Manoa Road. Truly spectacular and you'll probably want to go up there more than once. The late great Ray Baker along with Bob Hirano were the driving forces there in the latter 20th century, establishing amazing collections of palms, Heliconia and many other plants in this perfect, rainy greenhouse of a place. You can really wander into the deep tropical forest there, and you can see things like Amherstia nobilis and lots of other rarities thriving. There are also a lot of plantings on the UH campus further down the valley toward town. For a flip-side experience, you should go to Koko Head Crater and botanical garden...this fascinating crater has a semi-desert climate with one of the best collections of Plumeria on the planet. Also many other tropical plants that thrive in such a dry, hot environment (Madagascar, etc.). Very useful to inspire you for your Arizona garden. Very importantly, remember to bring water with you if you go there...water/beverages are not available, and the dehydration factor may remind you of Arizona! Foster is important because it's a very old botanical garden and thus has some very large specimens of many tropical palms and other plants that represent early introductions. I lived in Honolulu in '88-'89 and would often visit Foster Gardens, it was the first place I ever saw the beautiful Satakentia liukiuensis...I was really transfixed by those palms and I'll bet they are really something after all these years. You might also look into Wahiawa Botanical Garden...interesting because it is located upland, in the middle of the island (near the Dole Plantation). Also Waimea Botanical Garden on the windward side of the island, I remember that being a very nice walk up into that valley...but not sure if it's worth the ticket price considering how many other options you have. To me some of the best experiences are to be found just wandering in town and through some of the old parks like Ala Moana, and Kapi'olani. If you walk down along Kapi'olani Park (on Kalakaua Avenue) by the Aquarium and toward Diamond head it's a really pleasant experience parallel to the beach and it's fun just to explore the neighborhoods flanking Diamond Head, just to look at the residential landscapes. More Singapore Plumeria and Tahitian Gardenia than you can shake a stick at, and lots of beautiful uses of lava-stone walls and other Hawai'i-style landscaping elements that may give you inspiration for your own landscape back at home. Other well-heeled areas that feature very nice landscaping and good for an easy driving tour include Kahala (on the other side of Diamond Head, this is where Magnum P.I. was largely shot), and up on Tantalus and Makiki Heights (Round Top Drive, Makiki Heights Drive), very jungly area with large estates hiding behind some wonderful plantings, you can work that area in with a trip to Manoa. Through this area and going up to the Pali, you'll see gigantic pothos and Cup of Gold vines snaking through the trees that will blow your mind. There is also a botanical garden at Tantalus but I haven't ever been there. As far as public-facing landscaping palms are concerned, Pritchardia pacifica in particular is used all over the place, particularly in commercial and hotel settings, and seems to reach its visual zenith in Honolulu's climate, and you may really fall under the spell of that palm. Honolulu is famous for its huge banyan trees and you will also see incredible Monkeypod (Samanea saman) trees wherever there is room for them, along parkways, especially Moanalua Road/Hwy and at the Moanalua Gardens. If you have time, try to include the historic areas of downtown. Fort Street Mall, University Avenue, King Street all have wonderful old plantings around the historic buildings, lots of mature Pritchardia pacifica and Ptychosperma, et al. in random plantings in the commercial center. Also lots of beautiful red and pink ginger and Heliconia all over the place around Honolulu. I assume since my last visit (I think 2008) many new tropical palm and other plant introductions have arrived and thrived in landscapes around the city as well, especially in hotel landscapes. I remember noticing during my last visit that in particular Areca vestiaria had become more common in landscapes there. In Waikiki proper, you must wander, wander, wander, especially through the larger hotel properties, and go to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and see the Banyan filled with its crowd of garrulous Mynah birds and some really magnificent old plantings of Ptychosperma macarthurii up against the hotel walls. The landscaping there epitomizes old gracious Hawai'ian landscaping of the early 20th century, and everything is very well maintained in the "Hawai'i style." Keep in mind that Honolulu enjoys a really interesting convergence of mostly Pacific/Asiatic cultures, Polynesian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and others, and so there is some real landscape diversity based on those cultural traditions. The East-West Center Japanese Garden next to UH is well known, and the Hawai'i Int'l Airport's cultural garden (yes, in the middle of the airport!) was designed in the early '60s by famed Landscape Architect and author Richard C. Tongg and hopefully you can work that in with your arrival or departure. And for just the natural beauty of the island, don't forget to drive out along the Kalaniana'ole Hwy to Makapu'u Beach (famous for the sand that will be deposited in your swimsuit, and you can see Maui!) and further along, the view of the Ko'olau Mountains in Waimanalo is truly spectacular and should not be missed. If you take that trip (which could include Koko Head), you might also visit some of the nurseries along that route. Just a few I remember are nurseries like Ni'i Nurseries (Charles Ni'i Nursery and also R&S Ni'i Nursery, there are two of these) above Hawai'i Kai near Koko Head. Frankie's Nursery (mostly tropical fruit trees but also some ornamentals) in Waimanalo is very well known, and may be worth visiting for a wander. If you're interested in Plumeria there are some major nurseries like Jim Little Plumeria Farms. Many of these nurseries will ship to the mainland as well. There used to be quite a few well-known mom-and-pop nurseries specializing in orchids, anthuriums, etc. around the island and I'm not sure how many of these are still around. But you might just google nurseries and call around, and I'm sure there will be a good selection to choose from. While many people associate Honolulu with coconuts, banyans, breadfruit, monkeypods, Plumeria, Anthurium, orchids, gingers, Cordyline, et al., Honolulu is also famous for its flowering trees, and you will likely see some nice ones in bloom in April, including Pink-and-white Shower (Cassia javanica), Rainbow Shower (Cassia x nealeae), Silver Trumpet Tree (Tabebuia aurea) and the Primavera (Tabebuia/Cybistax/Roseodendron donnell-smithii). If you can't tell from my verbose listing, there's a lot to see pretty much everywhere you go!

I'm near Atlanta. I've never lost one in March or later. When they spear pull over the winter, they send up a new one by June. If yours did this in warmer weather and didn't recover last year, I'd exercise the warranty ASAP.

I love them too Harry, I've got a dozen or so in the ground in a big group, which should look pretty cool in a few years. I collected the seeds from a little patch of bush in Southern NSW, which is pretty close to their southern native limit, and I've got another batch from Eungella in Nth Qld, 1600km further north near their northern limit. Both lots grow equally happily here, so they’re clearly very adaptable palms! They love water!!

It’s just unique microclimate I have that helps a lot, plus all the new palm varieties available now. Deep sandy Liam soil is what palms love with good drainage, the ocean air influence a large canopy cover with the Australian bush. These factors alone help the garden immensely. I have a few drawbacks in the fact the gum trees and some very large ones on my property drink all water available and store that water if there is excess for future dry times and a tad cool in winter. But apart from that it’s a palm growers paradise and if you add a bit of garden cultivation with water iam in a palm growers heaven. Richard

Wonderful thread, Tim, not sure how I missed it the first time around. Hey, what’s 11 years? One of my favorite, most tropical looking group of palms. I’m in a pretty marginal area for them, but I keep trying. Arecina and spiralis grow reasonably well with no protection. After a couple failed attempts, I figured out that joannis will do fine with some canopy as a youngster. Vitiensis and sessefolia are just impossible for me. Having said that, any thoughts on the following? Purchased from a backyard grower 10+ years ago as petiolata. Which seems to be a synonym for filifera. Anyway, it’s a small palm that has been flowering for years, although no seeds are set yet for some reason. And it flowers a lot.

This is a common drive through South Orlando post-freeze

Dioon rzedowskii with its first flush

It's been a few years so figured I would update on our Sabal rosei. It handles cold extremely well and looks like it will start getting ready to push a trunk soon

I am not in the league of 1000's of seedlings, but up there. Close. What I can say is many traits of filifera/robusta can be turned off/on with soil acidity/alkalinity. It is readily apparent in Maui where filifera have naturalized in alkaline areas and morphed into something not filifera with known soil differences I have proven the same thing in my backyard. Suffice to say I can turn off/on red petiole streaking on trunking and seedling filifera with the use of highly acidic fish emulsion. On and off. When you realize filifera have been in cultivation for only half of of it's lifespan(250 years), we may not know really much about it's true characteristics. I believe people confuse wet/dry and overlook soil ph. Never once "heard" anyone try to grow one with the use of baking soda...........never! But they sure try to grow this swamp and water pumper in "dry" desert conditions. But they are not found in the open desert. If filifera grew in the open desert, they would be all over like prickly pear, creosote, mesquite. They grow in highly alkaline swamps found in the desert. I've reported my findings on this forum before with little interest Here is a 5 month old seedling grown from seed from a filifera palm preserve. In acidic soil. Nuttin but red..... Maybe even some "stretching" at the base

Last one. V. joannis. Another beautiful species, pendant leaves are the feature. The crownshaft not near as nice as V. arecina in my opinion. Growth pretty much the same as V. arecina. (this spell check is driving me nuts, gonna have to check into that) Hard to get a good photo of this one, but it's finally starting to have a presence. Tim