Leaderboard

Wodyetia bifurcata, a new genus for my collection. I was able to germinate one seed. My friend and I germinated the rest. It's a subtribe of Ptychospermatinae. These palms have caryota-like leaves. I like them a lot, as their leaves are more feathery than those of Syagrus romanzoffiana, which is also a beautiful palm. And luckily, it's in my collection. 🌴🌴🌴🦜🦜

My mature male (I think) Ravenea glauca tried to aid in reproduction and is now kinda spent, till next time around. Those inflorescences are kinda cool looking.

Interesting palm, getting scary big as well. Every year I look at it and go hmmmmm…… Acquired it in a 1 gallon pot in 2019, still no trunk and extremely long fronds. Interesting pinnae arrangement in pairs, thin and long. Dioecious, I doubt I’ll be getting a mate. Too bad, I was looking forward to making my own buttons from the seeds. There is an orange handled full size shovel in one of the photos for scale. Tim

Encephalartos latifrons x altensteinii natural hybrid. This came from Loran Whitlock in around 1980. Loran got a group of 5 plants in Durban at a nursery. I've been able to acquire 2 of them over the decades. This specimen hasn't grown for 4 years, but had tremendous cataphyll spread at the apex. There are rarely, but occasionally, man-made hybrids available; but they always lack the lustrous beauty of these plants from the natural population. 21 leaves this time. This was originally an 8-inch tuber. Now it's 2 feet of stem!

I finally have this species again, one of my favorites, so far 8 have been born

After trimming some tall fan palms day before yesterday I was greeted with a boom late last night as the rain came down. Its more like w whumpff! One of my mature royals decided to release a leaf with a wet crownshaft. The leaf stem and leaflets were completely dry, but the massive crownshaft was quite wet and heavy. Seeing it there on the ground I was grateful I didn't have to trim that sucker from below! So I went out to see it in the morning and took a pic with Adirondack chair for scale The palm is a fattie for a royal and is approaching full recovery from hurricane Milton in oct 2024. The older these royals get the more I appreciate the self shedding, saves me being on a ladder underneath. These royals cost me $160 each with delivery and 90 for planting (each) with a bobcat. They had 3-4' trunk in late 2011 as delivered. We are aware when a leaf dries out or even looks half dried out and avoid being under them at that time. Credit florida weather and a popup automatic irrigation system for its appearance, I don't really put too much care into them! Its nice to have something bullet proof and low maintenance. Most of the time they dont drop with a heavy wet crownshaft but when they do its like what I imagine a big dinosaur sound like with the heavy footfall. I have two large royals, this is the smaller of the two and they are enough for me. Warning! You should be able to see why you should not have these in a place where you walk (or sit) regularly like a front yard path to the front door. And if you park a car under one like this, expect a big body shop repair bill as it is about 50-60 lbs falling frm 25+ feet.

Verschaffeltia splendida has always been my "white whale" palm — the one I find most beautiful, but also the one I'm least likely to pull off in my location. Here's an AI interpretation for fun (the trunk is a little squished, but otherwise nailed it!)... That's actually my palm on the whale's back, picked up from Rancho Soledad last week while grabbing another "Evansii." It was on the loading dock straight from Hawaii and had to sit there a couple of days for inspection. I came back for it, and now that it's settled into my living room, I'm very much having that "what have I done?!" moment. I already know outdoor survival isn't happening in my zone, so the plan is to try keeping it alive indoors. Right now I have a small humidifier aimed at it and I'm about to order a more powerful dedicated one for that corner of the room — open to suggestions! I did think about the bathroom for maximum humidity, but came across a post where someone tried that and still lost theirs, possibly from the humidity swings. So I'm leaning towards creating a less humid but more stable environment instead. From what I've read, supplementary lighting might not be necessary since it's an understory palm — but I'd love to hear whether a grow light would actually make a difference. Light is decent but does vary throughout the year (as the sun shifts). Totally willing to buy a grow light if you think it might help. So far all talk has been about humidity, so that's mainly where my brain is at. But lighting is of course another factor. The only Verschaffeltia splendida I've seen near me are at the San Diego Zoo and Sherman Library Gardens, both indoors in borderline "sauna" environments (with anthuriums, orchids, etc). I would love to be a third success story... but I also fully accept that I may have doomed this poor palm. Current status: Humidity in that corner is reading 70% (with the temporary humidifier running) Still in its original volcanic substrate and original pot, with one root poking out the pot I'm planning to move it to a larger pot once it's more settled — unless sooner is better? Watering with distilled water, but not sure how often is best, and whether to also water the stilt roots? Not currently getting any supplemental lighting, but bright indirect lighting from the windows. Any suggestions (even if you don't own this particular palm) are hugely appreciated!

The plant I acquired as Encephalartos horridus Steytlerville form has a couple of flushes working. The main caudex is behind the next largest caudex.

That’s a nice one. I was actually working under my one today planting a Joey, as you can see the trunk and the spent flower.

More smuggled seeds are arriving. Parajubaea Torally seeds. I hope to receive a small batch of Sunkha very soon. My friend in Bolivia sent them exclusively for me. Business is business. I hope to germinate them with my friend here in Chile. I hope they germinate. If they do, I'll put them in battle formation alongside the Jubaea chilensis. 🌴🌴🌴🦜🦜

Thought this one was photo worthy for the aquamarine and powder blue tones. Even more striking in person. NE Houston

5/22/26 I would like to start this post with my big Queens. These are the last good photos I got of them: For the past several seasons, these palms have been defoliated. I could tell, especially with the one in the front yard, that it was starting to cause decline. They were not growing back as quickly with each passing season. With that all being said, I decided to edit these out and replace them with mules. Front yard: Back yard: Aside from that, there have been no other changes. Just progress updates. Starting with the palmettos, both of these are taller than me. Theyre both also turning 6 years old this year! My seed grown washy was almost completely defoliated this winter, but as of today, it almost looks like nothing happened: The other washy has taken on an interesting look after defoliation: The seed grown Queen is pushing out new growth after a spear pull. I will hold onto this one for a while, Im not gonna let the past few years of my time go to waste like that: Lastly in the back yard, the bananas and the big mule. That clump of bananas is an absolute UNIT. After cutting those stems back in March, they pushed out 6-12 inches of growth within 24 hours. Absolutely wild. The big mule had some latent spear damage but it has pushed all that out now. Its starting to get fat too: Jumping out front, starting with the CIDP/Sylvestris whatever hybrid thingy: The butia looking good as ever. It has recently shown some variegated leaflets, which there is a seperate thread about: The OG mule in the front yard is definitely something. It has quite the twist going on in the fronds. Not sure if thats just the genetics of this palm or if it has something to do with the trunk cut it got a few years ago. Guess we will see. Its definitely not the fastest grower: The Livistona nitida is doing well other than a minor setback from nutrient deficiency which began during the fall. And finally, the pygmy date. This had most of my focus for cold protection thru the season. It didnt have to be wrapped a ton of times, but it did stay wrapped for a week during the big freeze. It came out on the other side still looking pretty decent, and it has flowered profusely this spring. Thats all for now. Maybe Ill update again in a month, maybe next year. Who knows!

The nana would have to be one of my favourite small understory palms, so easy to grow and propagate. Very easy to hand pollinate, somewhat cool tolerant, tolerant of a little dry weather. You can predict its growing pattern for the landscaping areas. Perfect patio palm. Will take a little morning sun and just down right beautiful.

Hi all, Some years ago, this palm was purchased as a seedling, labeled “Dypsis sp. unknown, rare”. Knowing full well that this was a mere marketing ploy, I elbowed other customers out of the way in my effort to grab it before someone else could. In all seriousness, it was very pretty, showing a nice chalky white crown shaft at that young age. It’s a medium size palm, and has kept that attractive white crown shaft. I’m just not sure where the separation point is between the two species. I suspect others are growing this, so feel free to weigh in!

Pinanga sarawakensis and a new leaf opening on the polyandrococus caudescens.

Piccabeen palm in Australia is the common name. And yes the good old Bangalow palm is Archontophoenix Cunninghamiana. It’s a good sales trick, oh i havent got that palm! So if you see a piccabeen palm for sale you already have it!

I was given around two dozen howeas about 30 years ago from a friend. They were all in 250mm containers and quite strong looking palms. At the time I received them nothing special stood out in the gift as being unique. How wrong I was in that gift was two variegated fosteriana. Over the years I watched them get more variegation and stay true to form. It’s a beautiful palm. The only thing wrong is it’s planted out of the way where it hardly gets noticed. And iam not going to clear the garden in any time soon just get a daily look at it!

Iam learning towards my attempts at more of a catfish than a white whale. Heres my next attempt at killing another batch, only these ones are a variety that I got from Thailand with the name of black seed. May I suggest placing the palm in a shallow try of water in summer when in the greenhouse. And if indoors place it on a shallow tray sitting on top of some decorative stones for humidity.

A pacsoa purchase a couple of years ago. There doing well taking the cold weather and the heat . Not rocket ships in the growing department but they are happy. Now all I have to do is get the breeding program in order for a few extra seeds.

No news channels are talking about the next winter because its May. We just got out of the last one. Given El Nino conditions, it will likely be a much wetter winter. Hard to give any kind of info on temperatures as there's no way to tell how cold it may be more than a week out, let alone half a year. On average, usually cooler, but this could be a byproduct of increased cloud cover and rainfall, not necessarily bad freezes. Just enjoy the growing season ahead and make the most of it that you can before starting to worry about next winter.

At my old house I had a heated greenhouse . It was the only thing I found that would easily care for true tropical plants . I would let the temp drop to no less than 58f . Before I left for work , I would soak the pea gravel floor ( about 4” deep ) and by the time I got home in the afternoon , it would be near raining inside . I had a fan (oscillating) in the corner with a vent up high near the gambrel roof. I built it from an old Sunset book diagram . Unfortunately, we had to leave it behind when we bought our new house as there was no area that would accommodate it. The tropical plants all died , even with the best care I could give the plants . Indoors and outdoors in a protected courtyard , one by one ….gone. I do wish you better luck than I had . Tropical plants are very tough to grow in a temperate climate whether trying indoors at home or outdoors with protection . I did not have a Vershafeltia in there but I had a large Licuala Grandis and Spinalosa , Veitchia , Ptychosperma , as well as a few others . All of them looked awesome in the greenhouse and were pretty easy to grow , some in crushed lava. Good luck , that is a beauty ! The very first one I saw was in the Palmatum at Rancho Soledad. They had a couple of them in large boxes , fully stilted and quite lovely. If you have room , I recommend a greenhouse for growing tropical plants. It is like cheating. 🤭Harry

Hi all, I have a few extra cycads. All species for sale are growing well in my garden in Central Texas since 2017. Cycas debaoensis: grew this individual from seed starting in 2012. One-10 gallon at $145. Dioon edule: grew this individual from seed starting in 1999. One-15 gallon $175. Cycas panzhihuaensis x debaoensis. Grown from seed started in 2017. One-15 gallon with 6 inch caudex $375. 4 photos attached. One of an individual planted in ground, one of caudex, one of flush of new leaves just emerging and one of leaves after a few days since emerging. Cash or Venmo would work as payment. Pick up at mutually agreed open location in or around Austin Best, Jason Best, Jason

That actually looks like an ideal setup right where it's at.Keep the humidifier going,or the leaf edges will probably brown out but not enough to kill it. I suspect it may not like San Diego night time temps, even in summer, so keeping it inside is probably a great idea.👍🌴 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

I started grooming Mr. Ravenea by pulling off the spent inflorescences, but changed my mind halfway through to take the picture in the OP. Here’s the “groomed” side view.

My Cycas thouarsii has several caudices flushing. Actually that isn't quite accurate, it is more like a couple of dozen. I started with five plants and each has a plethora of pups. The aall is visible again but not for long. These flushes need head room to grow without being tangled.

A return to this topic. I planted mine out as a double 3 gallon about 14 years ago. Had much more shade back then. Hurricane Ian took out a king palm in 2022 so now it gets full sun for most of the day. The one took over and the second smaller one died, so is a single now. This is a very slow grower, even here in SWFL. With the more sun, it definitely has grown faster. Now it's about 7 foot tall OA, 9 inch tall trunk to the bottom of the bases and 7 inch diameter at the widest trunk point. Petioles are 42 plus inches long too. This is now the 3rd year it is flowering. I've read they usually hold 4 to 6 inflorescence. Well mine has 11 right now. Some flowering and others not quite yet. Nice palm but I would suggest if you're looking for one, buy it sooner rather than later. It is slow but worth it. Pics attached.

A new V splendida leaf did…

It has been another year since I planted my backyard Washingtonia. I thought it would be good to post another update so I can track growth over the years. Last winter saw an ultimate low of around 20F and freezing rain. While two nearby Sabal mexicana of similar size spear pulled, this washy did not. After its spears grew out though, it was clear that it did take some damage to the fronds that were emerging during the freeze. At planting around June 1st 2024: Then October 2024: Feb 2025: Then May 2025: December 2025: And today: I am 6'2" for scale (1.88 m for our friends outside the US) These grow so fast and so easily in this region, it seems no palm garden would be complete without one. I need to clear the grass back from the base, but I haven't prioritized it enough, since it continues to grow so fast...with no extra care.

Cuando fui a Bolivia, tuve el suerte de ir al hábitat de parajubaea torallyi y los locales venden las semillas del 'janchicoco' sin cáscara para comer. You should go there as a tourist, it would be much easier for you. Unfortunately my surviving seedlings were eaten by mice 😡 🤬

Encyclia hanburyii is opening this year's flowers in my garden. This species has long lived flowers which is a bonus. I really liked it's fat red pseudobulbs when I bought it, without having seen the flowers.

I’m glad you got it sorted out. Nice looking palms that do grow very fast , once established . From what I understand , they can hybridize quite easily but I don’t know first hand. I have Alexandrae , Maxima , and Purpurae as well as Cunninghamiana . They all seem to do well here. So far , the Alexandrae is the largest. Thank you Australia! Harry

I have adjusted that somewhat. I could do a little more, but let’s see how this setting works. Any more and it starts to get a little too narrow on some devices. I have another idea I’m working on to eliminate the sidebar completely when viewing a post, so that the pics will appear bigger without having to expand them if wanting a larger view. Stay tuned.

sabal causiarum is the fastest palm in my yard. Water plus heat= over 35' in 15 years. All sabals are a little slow before trunking but in my experience causiarum is faster than any other sabal pre and post trunking. july 2011 it goes into the ground as sabal domingensis(later confirmed causiarum from inflorescences, fruits) then in early summer 2013 then in mid summer 2015, 4 years after going into the ground the leaves lengthened quite a bit. overall height 10' or so In summer 2020 it was well into trunking Today after I removed 15+ hurricane damaged leaves it stands tall, over 35' less than 40' All things considered, it put height on as fast as my fastest of two royals in that time. Bismarckia is also very fast for me. If sabal causiarum is growing slow it probably needs more water and less sun in Arizona. Bismarckia were slower in AZ for me, might be the dry heat slows them a bit. They didnt burn from heat but didnt seem to go vertical as they do here in FL. Bismarckia will be more sun tolerant of arizonas dry heat than any sabal except possibly uresana.

This Chambeyronia caught my eye from the window, they always capture attention and i cant ever get bored by them.

Yes it’s Dypsis onilihanses.

It looks like an onilahensis

Left to right: Thrinax Radiata, Copernicia Baileyana, Copernicia Macroglossa.

A top little miniature palm, easy to grow they flower pretty well much after a couple years of growing. Cool tolerant growing as far south as Sydney. Somewhat dry tolerant, perfect shade understory palm, patio, greenhouse and mist likely indoors. Very predictable growth pattern and they will fit into pretty well much any space available. The perfect miniature palm. And yes @gyuseppe I shall be thinking of you for a few seeds. And @tim_brissy_13 have tried this little beauty in your backyard refrigerator.

flower

Once again, this Dypsis rosea x mirababilis cross. Great color on this palm. Tim

Kerriodoxa and chamaedorea, always a favourite.

Encephalartos Blue Arenarius getting there! -dale

Here’s a volunteer in my garden. Dam weeds they are!

Looks like a Bangalow to me.

Of the palms I've planted, two musts for such conditions should be Pinanga coronata and Bentinckia condapanna. If they're not in a hurry, Hedyscepe and Kentias/Belmores.

Without looking at the palm , I cannot help. I will say I bought two “King” palms at HD years ago . One was a double and one single . I knew immediately that the single was not a Cunninghamiana like the double . Turns out it was(is) an Alexandrae . It has silvery undersides and a bottle shaped trunk . Big box stores don’t really know palms that well. Harry

Red latania new frond

Parks and Recreation.