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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.

That is a very nice looking palm . Just a bit of experience with my Chambeyronia, the first few years of flowering usually don’t produce seed. Mine has been flowering for a few years and has beautiful flowers but that’s it. The first two years the spathe never even opened , it just fell off. Mine has over 6’ of smooth trunk below the crown shaft. My friend a couple blocks away whose palm is much older just got his first batch of seeds. Harry This Chambey infrutescens is about 10’ up in the palm.

Hanging leaf base leftover from a hurricane snapped frond. Also growing out of a little frost/freeze damage from this winter. Probably one of my favorite palms for sure. Photo taken this evening.

I’d say that’s a pembana, @Cape Garrett ! They kinda sit awhile then EXPLODE in height. Here’s some of mine after about 10-15 years in the ground.

But most of all love of plants and time!

To create the tropical look just use large bold leaf plants, exotic plants both rare and common, get as many colourful plants as possible, vibrant green plants and most of palms palms and you guessed it more palms!

This was in December of last year . A spathe finally opened and the flowers were beautiful , but no fruit. Harry

I photographed this beautiful Jubaea chilensis palm tonight. I hope that when it grows up it will be the only beauty in the place.

Think I planted 3 in 2005 not realizing they were clumping. One clump died some years ago. Growing NICELY here and even some seedlings popping up. Pictures are from 2009 and 2022

Here’s a little update on the smallest of the two I have. After flowering it split growth points and continued without slowing down. May be a bad way to treat these but as mentioned countless times, my yard does not support my ignorant quest for more plants so I must adapt. These leaves easily get 3ft+ so I like to trim them up so the crown is more vertical. I cut the leaves off and leave a few inches at the trunk. Within a week or so the piece falls off by itself. I do like the look and it produces cool leaf scars as well. About 9ft to the tips now. -dale

I have some pictures that I took a few days ago. I'm growing 3 Filiferas. The two in the backyard seem to finally grow faster after being in the ground for three years. The one in front, I grew from seed, grows way faster and has been in the ground only for two years.

It’s an indoor palm for me (winters get too cold here). It would live in that corner - or a high ceiling atrium if it outgrows that space. I’m going to add grow lights, a water dish below, and a dedicated humidifier. Then pray. 🙏 Here’s my inspirational photo, from another collector. He’s in South Florida so much more favorable growing conditions. But this is the dream…

My Roystonia Oleracae drops its fronds on occasion . I try to cut the fronds from the base prior to it happening to reduce the risk of any damage to my other palms. The Oleracae isn’t nearly as heavy as Regia ( also a bit more tender to grow) . I chose it because it is not as massive as the Regia . The tree is getting to the point of being too tall to reach though. Harry This was a couple of winters ago after a trimming of the Syagrus on the left . I was told that it would not survive in my area so I planted it under the Queen Palm for a bit of protection.

I've been collecting palms for 23 years and have never had a flowering Chambeyronia. Looks like this C. hookeri in my yard could be my first! 🤞Can't wait to get seed from my favorite palm species!

Pure Enc. Longifolius working. -dale

Chamaedorea arenbergiana, chamaedorea liebmanii, chamaedorea tenella and chamaedorea nubium. It’s chamaedorea paradise in my climate one genus that does so well. And with so many to collect it never ends the hunt for them, a true collectors gem!

So get things moving heres a tray of Adonidia dransfeildia! in pots

Pembanas get big. These were planted about 15 years ago from 1 or 2 gallon pots.

Tip of the iceberg…

Yeah. Never go back to your old property I reckon. It’s torture. On a brighter note by Beccariophoenix alfredii are doing well. They’re a great species for down here. I’ve got plans to plant more. I’ve got some bursting out of 45L pots waiting for me to get the soil levels right in new areas. I hope I can get my Roystonea regia to take. Maybe I’ll put rocks around the base to soak up the summer heat and radiate back at night to try and keep soil temps high.

Interesting reading about everyone's experiences in different locales, and also the differences between the species. Here in San Diego, I have a couple of borinquenas that are glorious. Although they're big palms, the base's don't seem to get those massive proportions that I've seen on regia. On the other hand my neighbor & I got a couple of princeps from Floribunda years ago because we'd heard that they have more slender proportions. Ah, no; at least assuming that they are the real deal. They're much thicker palms from top to bottom.

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!

Wallichia densifolia new leaf, and the Chambeyronia off in the distance. And a nice bit of colour with the Chambeyronia, dypsis cabadae and archontophoenix purperea!

Oh and just add water!

Being so dry in Arizona,falling fronds are not a concern. I've purposely weighed several of them and they are always only 5-6 pounds total. Don't think I've ever seen one fall off 'wet' around here. Location, location, location. 🤷‍♂️ aztropic Mesa, Arizona.

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. 🌴🌴🌴🦜🦜

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.

Purchased this as pembana years ago as a one gallon. Probably in ground for 10 years. Trunk height about 7 to 8 feet to bottom of tallest crownshaft. OA maybe 12 feet. Almost a teal color trunk. Flared base. Size 11 shoe for scale. Tristichous growth pattern to leaves. Small red fruits when ripe. Which is it? Cabadae or pembana? I heard that pembana is larger in all aspects and faster growing with less trunks. Just want to be sure. I don't have a cabadae to compare it to. Just doesn't seem as overly large to me being pembana as I would assume. Thanks for any help. Garrett

@sonoranfans About the same story around here , in SoCal. We had a few small , independent nurseries that were so cool . I would visit them regularly and they knew that I liked palms . They would sell me old stock , that needed to be planted out or potted up , at reduced prices . The big box used to have many varieties of palms for reasonable prices . The whole nursery business has changed so now I go to private growers that I met here on Palm Talk. We still have one nursery that sells some interesting palm species but they are not cheap , reasonable , but no deals. I did buy a neglected Livistona Australis there for $100 in a large pot , marked down from $140 . That being said , I just last week bought a couple of Ravenea Rivularis in 10” pots that were on the clearance rack for $3 each . They were healthy , just needed to be potted up. Reminded me of years gone by. Harry This was from the nursery that sells unique palms …..for a price! A Syagrus Schizophylla for $45 . Not a killer deal but given how slow these grow , fair.

Equatorialis. Sorry for the bad pic but it was buried amongst many 15 gals. Last leaf was a 5 footer so hopefully these 2 are even longer.

True Blue Arenarius

Burretikentia hapala peeking in...

This one is a native Floridian orchid growing on one of my Christmas palms. It always sends out a huge display mid May through June. Mixed in is a bromeliad compacta which self attached to the tree from the ground. It's all at eye level so maybe 5 feet from the soil. I always look forward to the display. Gets bigger every year.

I got one too. This one is 2 years from germination. I planted it last fall. I collected the seed in Phoenix, AZ in Jan 2024.

Good point about the Santa Ana conditions. Stacey doesn’t get them as frequent or severe as up here in Ventura County but they are becoming more frequent and more intense in recent years. The humidity drops and the wind is destructive to the more vulnerable species. Even mature palms can be damaged by the stronger gusts of 60mph . I’ve seen 90mph gusts up on our hill. Harry

@Tyrone i hope you have success , they are lovely palms . The R. Regia has proven to be quite resilient here in Southern California . I just didn’t have room at the time . It had to be tough to have your prior collection removed by the new owners. My old house still has a lot of the palms I planted 30 years ago. Every time I pass by on my way home , I get a smile . I was only there 7 years so a lot of my collection was still potted and got planted here . I don’t know if the greenhouse is still in the backyard , I really miss that feature. Harry

Iguanura polymorpha and iguanura wallachiana, they don’t mind the cool conditions!

Here are a couple of Zamia flushes in the garden. Zamia vazquezii Zamia lindenii Zamia tuerckheimii In full sun

Currently planting the last batch of Pseudophoenix sargentii seeds for my lifetime, and have more sprouts than I really need. Now offering some pre sprouted seeds through eBay, in quantities of 20, 40, or 100 as people prefer electronic payments, which I don't have any longer due to hacking issues. Prices start at $13/20 seeds. This is a slow growing species, so consider it a long term project to eventually produce some rare and valuable palms. https://ebay.us/m/9xNcPd aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Still alive @happypalms

A couple of Ernie’s in the garden, one is 30 years old and the other is about 3 years old from @tim_brissy_13 growing quite well!

Mine after a decade or so since sprout have just started building up wax on the backside of the leaves.

From the photos, I honestly can’t see anything wrong with the palms. They look healthy. They might be field grown specimens however and may show some setback in the coming weeks. Make sure they are kept well watered before and after planting. No fertilizer necessary for about three months.

I had planted an area to go with my 6 of these but 4 have croaked so I need to redecorate some now. Love this one but it hasn’t been pleased with site conditions.

Still planting them though, safety in numbers plant enough of them and sooner or later I will have a good dozen of them growing!

So the remotifolia still stands as a mystery, only now a touch of red in the new leaf, its getting even more complicated!

Super easy pslm to grow, give them good drainage!

Here’s a couple more pictures, I have 3 boys and one girl in the garden. Such a beautiful palm.

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