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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

Flowering Oraniopsis appendiculata at the Royal botanic gardens in Sydney

To my knowledge, the only Worldwide example of Archontophoenix alexandrae “Alba” came from a batch of regular Alex seed germinated in SE Queensland a number of years ago. Subsequent seedlings were distributed amongst a few lucky Aussie growers and are now maturing. Seed from these first generation palms appears 100% true to the “Alba” form. Not only do they have a yellow crownshaft, but some also produce pink/red new leaves. Gorgeous palms. Look incredible planted together with Archontophoenix pupurea.

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

I am curious if other SoCal gardens have had their KO’s bloom and/or set viable seed? This is by far the biggest and best flower mine has set.

Trachycarpus princeps

A couple pix of bliss!

This little Veitchia always looks great, especially sporting a large spathe. Flowering is infrequent and I can only surmise that it’s a function of having just the right amount of rainfall. I’d throw in temperature and humidity, but those conditions don’t fluctuate much in East Hawaii. We’ve had over 100” (2500mm) since the beginning of the year. Here are a few updated photos. Tim

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

Yeah, a Royal Palm would have a long bright green crown shaft on its trunk beneath its canopy of fronds. $500 sounds reasonable for a Majesty that big but starting out with a vigorous younger one would probably make more sense.

Dave, I’ve always been a “plant them even when they’re tiny” kind of guy. Many of my big honking palms were planted as 2 or 3 inch seedlings directly to the ground. Here are just a few of them…

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

Red Latania opening a new frond

Look, my great lord and friends. Look at the little Juania Australis. They are like your beautiful palm trees too. But just look at them. You know that every palm tree gladdens the heart of us all. This one, of course, gladdens my heart. The more I search, the louder I will applaud it, the more shouts of joy I will raise, and the more trust I will place in it. This other unique kingdom has been added to my collection.

The latys are coming alive!….

A bit small but i call it a victory, my freeze damaged spindle i thought was a goner has survived the trunk cut and started a new spear! the white petiole seen above it is about 4 inches tall with no leaves, and was at the cut a week or so ago. hopefully it survives summer and a few fronds so it gets strength before winter🤞

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.

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.

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An easy palm to grow for that cool subtropical to warm subtropical climate. I have dozens of chamaedoreas throughout my garden, they are just that good for the understory.

The palm tree that I've been asked for a lot from abroad, especially in Latin America. I'm sharing just my five Juania australis palms. I hope to receive more seeds of this species and genus soon. From CONAF Chile, the park ranger tells me it's false that this palm dies. It's a myth. And if they have died, it's due to poor care, or even small palms exposed to terrible heat. And you already have your rare Juania australis.

A couple plants/palms I saw today in London specifically at zsl.

New frond on my smaller one.

This one is E. Arenarius x Latifrons. I harvested a pup about 3 years ago you can see behind it and there is another pup on it right now. All 3 flushed at the same time almost like they were talking to each other and said LETS GOOOO!!

It's a majesty, Ravenea rivularis. As for price, I have no idea.

I would just cut it off at the base. Removing 1 frond off a Phoenix palm isn't going to hurt anything. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

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”. 🤣

Any large family of plants, be it palms, orchids, or something else, are always diverse enough that one location could never grow them all. There are others in the palm family of similar background, Medemia for example, that are unique and a challenge for many growers. If someone is in a location that these "holy grail" plants can grow well they likely have a few others, but will be the major grower of that type compared to everyone else. Even "perfect" climates for growing have gaps, Jeff will tell you about species that they cannot grow in Hawaii, while many people rightfully consider it to be a palm paradise. If you can grow one of these holy grail plants then you are lucky for sure, and carry a secondary role as ambassador for the plant to everyone else. And establishing a population of that species as a "life boat" for the original population is also super important for the fussy ones like this. good luck with them!

Just picked up a 7 gallon, 8 foot tall (seedling😄) Colvillea racemosa tree to plant as a commemorative birthday gift. (makes it easier to remember when planted) We already have 2 Royal Poinciana trees that flower every year, so this Madagascar cousin should also be a winner in time, in the Arizona desert... Don't know of any others planted in Arizona, although they are known to grow well in our neighboring California, (but with sporadic flowering) which is the whole point of growing this species. The fall flowers literally will stop people and hummingbirds in their tracks; they are so bright orange! 🤯 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Given the cold snap and freezing rain there are many palms in the area that suffered damage. Lots of bruised fronds in larger California or California Fan dominant hybrids while many very young Calis spear pulled with a few dying. My Mexican Fans are making a comeback but they did suffer spear rot and are pushing out dwarfed fronds now. I’ve said it before but Washingtonia DESPISE frozen precipitation and freezing rain probably the most. So worth saying again! Happy Summer!

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

Couple more coming in. Encephalartos Green Arenarius is always a great grower for me. Encephalartos Princeps from another grower is the 2nd. -dale

These Dioon's are becoming more interesting to me:

Pleurothallis ornata

Cattleya mossiae coerulea 'Blue Bird' x C. mossiae coerulea 'Herrerae' Watering day in the orchid room, so glad to find this cattleya in bloom: also, the color really intensified on that vanda I posted a few days ago.

Howea, Chambeyronia,chamaedorea!

I can see how this Cycas Siamensis “Silver form” got its name. I wish the leaves would stay silver like this but they usually start turning green in a few days after this stage.