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Dave, I ditto a lot of the same recommendations as @Tracy. I do think Hedyscepe and Ambositrae are fantastic growers in my area. Do they get “too big”….maybe. But you b will get many years of beauty before you need to worry about the power lines. They are an average grower, not like Archontophoenix that grow feet per year. I’d say plant away but know your previous Hedy or Ambo may require removal in 20yrs. Pritchardia Minor, Bentinkia Condapanna, Pinanga Javana, and Hyophorbe Indica are all winners as well. You could also get away with planting a clumping Dypsis like Heteromorpha or Lanceolata as well. They don’t get massively tall (less than 20’) and are fantastic looking. Subsidizing palms for Encephalartos is a winning combination. Some big Encephalartos like Whitelockii, Ituriensis, or Kisambo get very tall if kept upright. You’re talking decades before those would be a concern. HB is prime location for growing Encephalartos. All of mine seem very happy. Cordyline, Plumeria, Heliconia etc all excel as companion plants. My lot is fairly small @ 6500sqft so my gardens are cramped. I know without a doubt I will have to dig plants out as they mature but that’s ok. I knew the job when I took it. If I can get 20yrs out of a plant, I will be very happy. I completely understand I’m the outlier and not the rule though. HB is prime palm tree, cycad and tropical plant growing conditions. So many possibilities. -dale Bentinkia Condapanna Pinanga Javana Dypsis Ambositrae Hyophorbe Indica

This has become a handsome medium sized palm with a nice colored crown shaft after leaf sheath drop. It was acquired as C. malcomberi in a 1 gal. container in late 2011 and still not convinced of the ID. Anyway, here are a few photos from last week. Tim

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

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.

Metroxylon seedling looking robust.

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!

Pinanga sarawakensis for a splash of colour!

The color of Arenga Engleri inflorescence. Harry

Yellow latania opening a new frond

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

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!

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!

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

Little update on the bondaria and she is doing well.

Yep I’ve got C tenella going well here Richard. Similar size to yours shown. Like yours, they flowered after only a couple of years from seed, both females though unfortunately so no viable seed. Just checked today and they’re sending out new inflorescences again for the next season. No issues down here in the fridge. Photo from a year ago. They’re a bit larger now.

Here is the supermodel shovel for some scale. Tim

More red! Dypsis rosea opening a new leaf.

Here you go @Than one of five Venturis we have at work!

Licuala mapu and licuala peltata sumowongii loving the rain.

Chamaerops humilis Vulcano Brahea moorei @Jonathan Haycock Chrysalidocarpus pilulifer x madagascariensis F1 Chrysalidocarpus prestonianus hybrid (possibly x pembanus or x cabadae F1). Love the colours on this beast especially when it gets wet. One palm that just doesn’t look like it belongs down here on the freezer, just looks so tropical.

Now for my South facing garden on the blind side of my house. Not much space or sun here, so Chamaedorea sp are well suited. Chamaedorea oblongata Chuniophoenix nana Chamaedorea arenbergiana x nationsiana F1 Chamaedorea ernesti-augustii Chamaedorea anemophila. Chamaedorea liebmannii Chamaedorea metallica Chamaedorea brachypoda Chamaedorea elatior fronds recently served as a nice rodent snack. Thankfully they left the growth points and it’s making a recovery.

West facing backyard garden now. This garden isn’t protected by the retained warmth of the house and cops fairly intense afternoon sun. About half the length of this garden is tricky to keep moist due to a neighbour’s massive P canariensis sucking up the moisture. I mainly plant quite hardy species here. Future plans include some of the rare Trachycarpus and Chamaedorea sp once there’s a bit more canopy. Arenga micrantha @Jonathan Chamaedorea alternans Ceroxylon echinulatum Chamaedorea radicalis tree form. Gets tall fast! Chamaedorea plumosa Laccospadix australasica Arenga disticha A pair of Trachycarpus sp Nova behind the bromeliad Cyphophoenix elegans

Royals as the sun goes down:

I'm told this is Calyptrocalyx hollrungii. Such a pretty palm.

Here is one of my Butia odorata x Parajubaea torallyi var. torallyi F1's at City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane.

East facing backyard garden. This is really my prime location. Gets the morning sun, warms up relatively quickly but then protected from afternoon sun. New Caledonian and Oceanic species seem to love it. Some things it here which aren’t known to grow in Melbourne elsewhere doing well. Cyphophoenix nucele Bentinckia condapanna Chambeyronia divaricata Euterpe edulis ‘Orange Crownshaft’ Chambeyronia oliviformis Pritchardia napaliensis Hyophorbe indica ‘Red / Southern Form’. Only 4 years from seed, getting too large to capture well in photos. Chambeyronia macrocarpa var hookeri Pritchardia martii settling in after a rough start in ground. Chamaedorea woodsoniana big male getting ready for its Spring pollen spreading. The crownshaft of this one always bulges heavily this time of year. Chrysalidocarpus baronii Black Petiole/Vokona Lodge Chambeyronia macrocarpa var flavopicta Cyphophoenix elegans. One of my favourites in my garden. Very large and great colours.

More flowers coming online

My Encephalartos longifolius is growing both in longitude and latitude with these two flushes.

Red latania new frond

I have 4 planted around the yard. These two put out after years in pots back in 2021 when Covid was giving me plenty of time to clear and build terraces. On that single behind them is my Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. 'hookeri' planted out about the same time. Any way after clearing grass that blocked the path for the past month and a half I discovered that some how the soil must have softened w/all the rain in March n April and something caused the to lean toward each other. LOL Can't wait till the get taller and cross. LOL

These are cool palms. The swollen base is really cool looking; they just don’t seem to reach their potential in my climate. I suspect you’ll have way better luck!

They are a nice palm with that chamaedorea look, I planted one in the ground the other day.

Finally got around to cutting the 3-4 foot high grass around this palm and the trail leading to it. Not the best lighting but it's HEALTHY. Bought a 1 gallon plant from FB back in 2020. Here is is 6 years later. First two show the grass that grew WILD after 21" of rain in March and 5 more in April. Cleaned it up yesterday.

Crysophilla warscewizianus, Schippia concolor, Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana and a Hedyscepe Canterburyana all doing well.

Three of the five current flushes on this specimen are visible from this angle. All the flushes are progressing but none are even close to reaching the point that leaflets begin to harden.. I love this plant and the way it looks.

My Amherstia is beginning to flower, the chandelier flowers will begin to open soon. New magenta leaves hang limp initially before greening up.

May is upon us, and it's Royal Poinciana blooming time in the state of Arizona. Here's one of mine... aztropic Mesa, Arizona

We have 3 1000 litre shuttles for fertilisers that last two days in between refilling. And use fertiliser by the tonne! It’s a fun job it’s not rocket science but the hot days keep you pretty busy. It’s called irrigation but in fact we call it irritation, great when it’s working but when it’s not working and something is wrong on a 38 degree celcius day in poly tunnels, let’s just say the pressure is on and we are not talking about water pressure!

Chrysalidocarpus lutescens Chrysalidocarpus decipiens Brahea dulcis Sabal minor in fruit Chrysalidocarpus madagascariensis Archontophoenix myolensis Jubaeopsis afra Trithrinax (brasiliensis var) acanthocoma Chamaerops humilis var argentea

West facing front yard - not a huge amount of space out front but I’ve packed a fair bit in. Most of this garden gets hot afternoon sun in summer. Positions up against the house seem to retain warmth as well as anywhere so it’s suitable for marginal species. There’s a heavy bias towards Madagascan species here, only somewhat intentionally. Chrysalidocarpus cabadae x madagascariensis F1 (L) and C pembanus x madagascariensis F1 (R) Chrysalidocarpus malcomberi Schippia concolor behind one of my favourite bromeliads, Vriesea hieroglyphica Brahea Super Silver Chrysalidocarpus ambositrae Chrysalidocarpus baronii Bismarckia nobilis Chrysalidocarpus decaryi x leptocheilos F1

Ravenea hildebrandtii, Syagrus hoehnei

Clinostigma samoense is no slouch. That's it for now folks. I'll update this thread with more palms in due course.

One of my favourites, Dypsis scottiana. Shame to see some have been vandalised, but this one is doing well.