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A nice little 18 year old dypsis louvelli goes in the garden at the end of winter. I have been waiting a long time to plant this special one, one rare palm!

Here’s an update on how this palm looks roughly two years later. It’s been a relatively fast grower for me so far and is one of the most colorful palms in my collection.

Dave I would place in the shade and only use organic fertiliser like fishmeal or seaweed until they re established

We got hit pretty hard by hurricane Lala With many trees down. I got very lucky that the only palm loss was a Kerriodoxa elegans that had the unfortunate fate to end up under a giant fallen Guatemalan cypress and one of my peach palms came down. The Kerriodoxa still has a spear so it will make it. I chainsawed the peach palm and will eat the heart of palm, but it’s already got suckers coming up so no problem there. We’ve had a number of hurricanes come by pretty close, but nothing was ever as bad as hurricane lala. I also learned that the damage seems to be consistent with winds coming down vertically from above as opposed to sideways, which is very weird. Several places had trees down in a 360° radius. I looked this up and it seems to be a thing with hurricanes. They’re called mini downbursts. I was pleasantly surprised by the amazing tolerance of Bismarck palms. But also very disappointed in beccariophoenix which sadly are pretty much all leaning sideways. I am going to leave them that way so they make that coconut style curve at the base. But talk about a weak palm none of them have trunks yet so perhaps they will root in better once they make a trunk. I figured the Big Island would be a pretty safe place from global warming, but clearly it’s not. The super El Niño is churning out storm after storm and Hawaiian waters are now warm enough for them to actually intensify close by. on Sunday, another tropical storm is passing by this time much further to the south.I guess you can pick your poison, either fire And drought or hurricanes. I also learned what a hurricane cut means. Most of our royal Palms are now sporting that hurricane cut. They have a very effective coping mechanism of just dropping lower leaves, which is not good for anything going under them, but they look fine. .

It’s pretty easy to see what makes a saintlucei so popular. You can’t go past that beautiful look of an accent palm, with a trunk that’s straight as an arrow and the arched leaves to the white crownshaft. Easy to grow with a little dry, cool tolerance. They love black sandy loam soil that’s free draining. Single plants will set seeds. Just another one of those Chrysalidocarpus that are an absolute winner!

My macrocarpa is doing great in this spot and microclimate. It just opened up a new frond. Thought I would share in case anyone in the area is considering buying one. I would add Im in central Valencia, climate may differ slightly from places further north in foothills where it gets colder, like Saugus, Canyon Country. The teddy bear palm has been doing exceptionally well, it’s almost in full sun most of the day.

Iam not to sure what gives such deep red, I do know it’s anthocyanins that cause the red. But some years I get a lot of deep red colour and other years lighter red. It could be temperature, moisture, heat, cold. Whatever it is we need more of it!

It’s often hot and dry in my coastal valley location in the summer but Hedescepe do exceptionally well despite that. Not sure how AI would rate my area but, as long as the palm is in shade or partial sun and watered often it will be happy.

These are at the corner of N. Delaware and 1st. Thought I would share pictures, as these are starting to clear the hedge in front. Nice old house back there too.

Photo of mine

Just giving one of the best Australian palms around a bit of palm talk tourism promotion, as your next holiday spot down under in Australia if you want to see them in habitat for yourself on holidays.

They certainly like cooler climates . I’m afraid I’m a little too far inland , like my friend Dave. It would probably grow but struggle . Harry These are growing very well , about 5 miles from the coast in Ventura California. Towering over the second story of apartment building where they were planted by the Sullivans. They are on the north side of the building so they got plenty of shade when they were young. When I was first introduced to these palms , they were still well below the building .

Trachycarpus fortunei growing in a Japanese garden in the Netherlands.

And today’s little special winner is a nice healthy Geonoma pycnostachys, straight out of the end of winter and into the ground. The full royal treatment for this beauty, quality soil amendments along with being right next to the tap, pole position in the garden went into this one, the old chicken pidgeon coop, that had 20 years off bird poo. If I can’t grow this one in that soil iam going home!

Beautiful little palm, with a nice white backdrop should highlight for all to see from the street and make em go wow! It doesn’t matter where they are, you get a big impact statement for not a lot of trouble of growing.

Just a suburban Ravenea rivularis.

Body shape = long / narrow, and oval shaped, + long antennae, + Leg that looks like it has bristles / hairs on it ( Easy to see Via the shadow cast, at roughly the 6:30 position in the shot ) + translucent Elytra / *Tegmina < * specific to Cockroaches > ..The scientific term for the harder, outer / anterior wings of various insect groups, inc Beetles and Cockroaches = Subfamily Blattinae or Ectobiidae member Cockroach sp. A quickie in Roach Anatomy / Morphology: Kind of creepy ( ...for those folks who are creeped out by them at least ) ....but, Not SAPW.

Chamaedorea radicalis, a nice Cham to have in the garden very tough and a lot good looks for little effort.

I was also excited to get myself a birthday present recently. I found a couple of silver Sabal uresana from Teddy's Nursery on eBay. They arrived healthy, and they already have great color: That little leaflet on the left is a dactylifera for color comparison.

I had the chance to visit Discovery Point at SeaWorld San Antonio today, and I snapped a few pics while there. Nice use of Sabals: Chamaerops: There are a few Phoenix dactylifera in the area. This one was a pup growing up from a stump: While this one appeared to be planted as a single (not a pup) There were even some really over-trimmed needles in the area: And some Butia: My 8 year old for scale: Sagos and counties: Lastly, it has been so hot and dry for the last month that even the squirrels at SeaWorld are feeling the heat. This one was laying flat on shady concrete under a fan:

I will say this Geonomas are really starting to impress me in the cool tolerance range. Quite rare palms in this part of the world, but after getting my hands on a few different varieties they are proving to be very cool tolerant, not to bad for palms that are prized ornamentals. Cool tolerance is one thing they need to be to survive in my winter and grow well. Another issue is water they drink like a drowning fish. So if they are to live in the ground it’s going to have to be some pretty good soil amendment landscaping duties. And these are tube stock seedlings not advanced palms, so iam impressed with how well they take 2 degrees celcius Geonoma pycnostachys Geonoma look longivaginata sub sp vallensGeonoma atrovirens Geonoma bondaria

Here is an Ai rating of Hedyscepe canterburyana

Only five hundred more years to go....

Rather large ! I can’t use them all but a bunch are spoken for , ahem….Dave! That still leaves quite a few . Harry

This Kaapsehoop Cycad caught my attention in the setting light this evening. It is still a juvenile.

The arborist that removed it is defending their paycheck🙄. Im sure they showed up and convinced the owner it needed to go and they would give them a good deal or some such. That early of a removal means they had no clue if it was alive or not and they were praying on ignorance and the freeze to make a lot of money fast. Im an arborist and see it all the time, there are two groups of us, those that take advantage and those that give a sh!t. The latter barely attend events to keep their minimal CEUs to keep their certification, and usually dont have extra qualifications and def arent a BCMA.

By popular demand: Asta 11 months old, world class clown, spoilt little princess!

I was trimming a couple of old fronds off my Chrysalidocarpus decaryi this evening and just as one came down to the pavers a weevil appeared. It seemed to come out of the removed leaf base which came with a dead inflorescence. I didn't see it emerge but it was under the leafbase immediately as it came down. I haven't heard of them going after any Chrysalidocarpus. I had just removed the dead boot from my adjacent Chrysalidocarpus decipiens. It is a bit worrisome. Smashed the weevil immediately since I don't want it to escape.

These are my 2 favorite Cycads today.

All the coconuts in CA right now are in private homes but I would love to show you mine if you’d like to see haha. My biggest just has a couple inches of trunk /is 3 years old only. If you’re looking for a lot of public coconuts, definitely Los Cabos in Mexico, it’s a short flight down and a vacation spot.

New update on my palms in San Antonio zone 9a. 4 years into my hobby, I've experienced multiple casualties due to severe freezes but also bugs , the ox beetle that was responsible for killing one out of two of my Trachycarpus fortunei this year . BOTH have been attacked. My wellness check on my palms are increased by the recent event"s" that I had with the ox beetle. Terrible insect !! Other than that my only survivor is still growing and shows no signs of damage "yet"( pic1) . I've planted 3 Sabals this year. 2 Palmettos (pic2,3) and 1 Defuniak (last picture) Growing all at a normal speed . I don't zone push anymore so all I have are the bread and butter palms of San Antonio. I uploaded some pictures of my Phoenix dactylifera, Chamaedorea radicalis, Chamaerops humilis, Sabal minor, Washingtonia filifera ( 3 of them) , Washingtonia robusta (hybrid) and a couple of Butia Odoratas. All growing very well , especially the ones that I have in a ground for at least a year. Butias grow quite fast for me but the real winners are my Robusta and Filiferas. For height and width comparison I used my flip flops and a broom since nobody is here to take a picture for me.

Thanks for looking

I want to sell about 30 of these Arenga westerhoutii seedlings. Impressive palm when it matures and I'm just selling my excess. $4 each or 10 for $35. Shipping extra and should fit in a Medium Priority Mail Box.

I will let you know. Always into sharing palms with folks! I just built a greenhouse for my seedlings , not a large scale operation by any stretch. I have many Chamaedorea Radicalis Tree form around the house ….and many seeds. I give those seeds away to folks who want them . You could just push them in the ground in the garden and they will pop up in a couple of months or so. They germinate easily and are pretty tolerant of sun and cool weather. Harry This one is about 3-4 years old , getting ready to trunk. Soon it will be over head! This was a volunteer.

I have two Baselonga planted together that look very similar to the small potted one. They are very slow at that age. Harry Dypsis Basilonga , tied together to keep the petioles from breaking in the wind. The leaves are very long for the size of the petiole. The petiole are very dark when first emerging. Harry

No , I have regular business there . We are out there two to three times a week. Right now I have a lot of work for a vendor out that way . Yesterday was the hottest I’ve seen in a while , usually it is in the 90,s. I can watch the temp climb as I drive the 126 through Filmore and Piru . Harry

Three beautiful chamaedorea adscendens in the garden loving winter!

Another winter winner straight out of the pacsoa showroom floor straight into the garden in mid august! Licuala sallehana a cracker of a great licuala to have.

What caught my eye was my freshly planted Geonomas pycnostachys that went into the ground today!

Looks terrific , thanks for sharing . I was just out in Valencia (Old Road) today and it was 101f ! You must be doing something right. Harry

2 of 3 Chambeyronia oliviformis survived at Leu Gardens but have been slow. The first leaf on both were deformed.

According to the internet it says the ox beetle is harmless and beneficial to the environment......says no palm grower ever.

Tracy, I have a visual image of you taking off one of your flip flops and running around like a mad man attempting to murder anything that walks, crawls or flies within a 20-foot radius. Sounds exhausting. Hope you had a cold one after that.

Here is a good example of what the beetles do. I thought I caught the beetle right away, but clearly I didn't. I had two beetles attack this Sabal palmetto "Lisa" about 2 weeks apart that I was able to destroy. After removing the beetles everything seemed good for about a month and then the palm started going downhill fast, and eventually spear pulled. I removed the palm and this is what I saw. This palm was about 5 feet tall.

100%. He said he maintained and trimmed the coconut for years but knew it had internal damage. At the time he said only cocos that had a chance of recivery were the ones at Volcano Bay because of proximity near water. Meanwhile, they're recovering all over town. Purely a reactionary decision. Makes no sense because it lost the crown as well in 2018 and this was it one year later.

Might be the first time someone’s relived to see a cockroach!

Hey Jonathan. They are beautiful healthy specimens. I think an Archontophoenix purpurea at that stage would be green still, so I reckon they will colour up in time, maybe when they are just about to start trunking which is when purpurea does it in my experience. I bet you can’t wait to get em into the ground at your new place. Does your new place have that brown gravelly volcanic stuff they have in QLD. I’m envious of that soil. You really see it when they clear the sugar cane and leave that dark brown soil behind. Some locals stopped near the top of the Dalrymple road and we chatted for a bit. At the higher elevation where they are the annual rainfall is about 3500mm per year but Eungella is about half that and Broken River less again. All Archontophoenix love there water but these guys really must do as well. I reckon fortnightly seasol and fish emulsion with a tray of water underneath would supercharge these guys. My Archontophoenix purpurea I leave in a tray of water even through winter in Albany and they seem to love it. Thanks for posting the pics of your ones. They’re way special.

Yep, ..for now at least, gotta head further south to see good examples of " West Coast " Coconuts ..Easy to find /observe, Publicly accessible specimens at least.. As mentioned, there are some nice, " up and coming " specimens in private gardens around Southern CA. Cabo / San Jose Del Cabo and the eastern Cape in BCS, Todos Santos, ....and in / around the La Paz area a little further north of Cabo = Lots ..and lots... countless Coconut specimens to observe. ...Give it time though... More winters like this past years?' = Coconuts will likely find their way into public landscapes -somewhere- around So. Cal. Times are changing.

Jonathan, we need better images of the dog.