Show off your trachycarpus

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Please post pictures of your trachys.

It's taken a while for me to get deeper into trachycarpus but I've finally come around, I had to throw overboard my own cold hardiness snobbery to finally fall in love with this genus of palms. The only trachy I owned until recently was t. martianus "Khasia Hills" and I have to say it's one of the most tropical looking fan palms I have and stops everyone in their tracks. Most are surprised when I tell them it's a trachy.

I've since added a few princeps, a nova, a couple of true takils, a latisectus and the nepal form of the martianus. The princeps are literally blue-green tops with some white on top and totally white underneath. I would never have thought a trachy could be this blue.

Mine look like this even though this particular photo isn't mine:

The palm below is the martianus:

The petioles are enormous. It's supposed to eventually look like this:

[Zeeth]

As silly as it might sound, I really like the look of those old scraggly Trachycarpus fortunei like the one that PT member apaandssa has posted. Way too hot and humid for them here though.

[Flow]

Hi Axel

Since Trachycarpus are among the very few palms that I can grow here I have quite a number of them. I've only started growing palm trees two years ago and therefore I only have small plants and seedlings. Only two are planted out and they have taken one winter so far with protection altough it wasn't necessary.

My T.princeps "New Form" or whatever it is. When I put my potted princeps beside it I do indeed see differences.

and my wagnerianus which has doubled its size since planted out (but is still small)

And some nice fortuneis at the Geneva Botanical Gardens

cheers

Flo

[Phoenikakias]

Please post pictures of your trachys.

It's taken a while for me to get deeper into trachycarpus but I've finally come around, I had to throw overboard my own cold hardiness snobbery to finally fall in love with this genus of palms. The only trachy I owned until recently was t. martianus "Khasia Hills" and I have to say it's one of the most tropical looking fan palms I have and stops everyone in their tracks. Most are surprised when I tell them it's a trachy.

I've since added a few princeps, a nova, a couple of true takils, a latisectus and the nepal form of the martianus. The princeps are literally blue-green tops with some white on top and totally white underneath. I would never have thought a trachy could be this blue.

Mine look like this even though this particular photo isn't mine:

The palm below is the martianus:

The petioles are enormous. It's supposed to eventually look like this:

Ohhh not another wind sensitive palm, and I aready have two of them!

[LilikoiLee]

This T. fortunei went into the ground three years ago as a 15 gallon. I put it in the shade not knowing it could take some sun. Unfortunately I could have used that shady spot to plant some of our rainforest palms, but I still love it.

Lee

[Palm crazy]

T. fortunei is the most hardy palm for me so I have a lot of them. Over 30, not a record but enough to give me that tropical look I crave.

Planted in 1995 as one gallon.

[Palm crazy]

Two trachy’s I gave away years ago to some neighbors.

This one is planted on the north side of this duplex.

One of my neighbors has a black thumb, proof these palms are easy to grow here.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

This T. fortunei went into the ground three years ago as a 15 gallon. I put it in the shade not knowing it could take some sun. Unfortunately I could have used that shady spot to plant some of our rainforest palms, but I still love it.

Tracycarpus fortunei.jpg

Lee

Planting a trachy in Hawaii, now that really does make you a true palm lover. That's the last palm I would be growing there given the myriad of super tropical palms that will grow there.

[mjff]

Wish I had some photos to post, but this has to be one of the worst cold hardy palms for my area. They can take the cold here, but the hot, dry summers seem to be too much for them. I finally moved the whole collection to a shady area that is sheltered from the wind, and they still look horrible.

[LilikoiLee]

Two trachy’s I gave away years ago to some neighbors.

This one is planted on the north side of this duplex.

One of my neighbors has a black thumb, proof these palms are easy to grow here.

Nice placement of that palm.....a wonderful focal point

Lee

[LilikoiLee]

T. fortunei is the most hardy palm for me so I have a lot of them. Over 30, not a record but enough to give me that tropical look I crave.

Planted in 1995 as one gallon.

Nice color arrangement - the orange contrast behind the green. Is that a Japanese maple? Something else? Also what are the good sized spikey plants in the foreground?

Lee

[Palm crazy]

Thanks Lee, congratulation on growing one in HI.

That is a coral bark maple, the new bare branches turn very bright coral in winter.

The grassy plants you mention are cordyline australis ‘cabbage tree’. Hardy above ground to warm 8b. They grow pretty fast here, but hate very hot tropical climates.

The largest ones grow along the ocean here where they grow into small multi trunk trees.

[MattyB]

I wanna play.

Here's my Trachycarpus martianus, although it looks just like T. latisectus to me; I can't tell the difference at this size. Can any of you? It was really struggling for a while in the bright shadehouse so I moved it out onto my patio where it got full shade for most of the day and then full sun for a couple of hours right at the end of the day. Finally it's green and happy.

Here's my Trachycarpus wagnerianus. This thing is awesome!

And here's my Trachycarpus princeps. Full, all day sun, with water only once every two weeks in summer.

[Axel Amsterdam]

Two Wagnerianus.

Not in my garden but in the backgarden of the man who introduced/distributed most waggies in the UK.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I wanna play.

Here's my Trachycarpus martianus, although it looks just like T. latisectus to me; I can't tell the difference at this size. Can any of you? It was really struggling for a while in the bright shadehouse so I moved it out onto my patio where it got full shade for most of the day and then full sun for a couple of hours right at the end of the day. Finally it's green and happy.

11-6-13- 006.jpg

Here's my Trachycarpus wagnerianus. This thing is awesome!

11-6-13- 007.jpg

11-6-13- 008.jpg

11-6-13- 010.jpg

And here's my Trachycarpus princeps. Full, all day sun, with water only once every two weeks in summer.

11-6-13- 011.jpg

11-6-13- 012.jpg

Nice specimens, especially that wagnerianus. Looks very different from the others. That martianus looks like it could be the nepal form, although it does suspiciously look like something else.

I put my princeps into full blazing sun, they don't skip a beat. My biggest martianus is in part shade and makes gigantic leaves.

[nkbish]

Trachycarpus fortunei at sunset. This is all I have but looking to expand...

[jonimic]

One I stripped in the garden in Bordeaux, France...

[jonimic]

seen from under...

[Perito]

Here's a Waggie planted in my front yard-

Triple planted Waggie in 24" Box-

This is Trachycarpus geminisectus, supposed to get a nice white underside to the leaves-

[Flow]

Nice Waggies, Perito. My geminisectus is about the same size as yours or a little larger and it already shows the white underside.

[Perito]

Trachycarpus takil-

A couple years ago I purchased a flat of liners as Trachycarpus wagnerianus. This random sampling of the larger ones show that they are probably hybrids. One really looks like a waggie, two of them look part waggie, and the other two like something else.

[Perito]

Flow, my T. geminisectus are just starting to get the white undersides. Definitely a cute plant as a seedling. I heard that these originate from cloud forest.

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Here is my only Trachycarpus fortunei

[palmsnbananas]

Ooh that stripped one looks good, I guess the color changes to the last post's over time?

[Zeeth]

Love the stripped look Troy. It really reminds me of a Thrinax!

[ghar41]

Its been awhile since Ive posted some pictures and I have a few Trachy's so here goes. T wagnerianus in my front yard. I have a few, I especially like them when they are small but I also have these two large trees. One has about 7 feet of trunk, the other has about 18 ft trunk.

[ghar41]

T. martianus (khasa hills) These are really slow for me, but I really like them when they are small also.

[ghar41]

T martianus (Nepal) These have grown faster than the Khasa Hills variety for me but they probably are getting more water

[ghar41]

T latisectus. This is the one Trachycarpus that seems to like the summer better than the cool months. All other species I have grow better in the cool seasons- most grow every month except January.

[ghar41]

T princeps. These have really started to grow this year I need to get an updated picture. They were very blue on both sides of the leaves when they were in pots and turned a light green within months of being in the ground. They still are white on the backs.

[ghar41]

T nanus. I have been very patient with this plant, I grew it from seed obtained from rarepalmseeds. Im thinking it germinated about 15 years ago. Just last year it really started to grow and is now putting out at least 3 large leaves a year maybe more.

[ghar41]

This T fortunei has interesting leaves- they are flat and nearly 360 degrees with white backs so it has been a keeper. I have a couple of T ukruhlensis both small like this one in the second picture. In the third picture- in the back towards the right, just to the left of the big trunk- there is a Trachycarpus. I purchased it years ago as T takil but it is most likely Trachy "Naini Tal." To the right of the big trunk is the 360 fortuneii. I have a Trachycarpus takil in a pot, that ill plant this Spring. Maybe try T oreophilus also. Trachys like it here and I enjoy watching palms grow when its cold outside.

[Perito]

Wow Glenn, beautiful plants! You are definitely the 'Trachy-man'. Your garden looks awesome!

[JasonD]

I wanna play.

Here's my Trachycarpus martianus, although it looks just like T. latisectus to me; I can't tell the difference at this size. Can any of you? It was really struggling for a while in the bright shadehouse so I moved it out onto my patio where it got full shade for most of the day and then full sun for a couple of hours right at the end of the day. Finally it's green and happy.

11-6-13- 006.jpg

Here's my Trachycarpus wagnerianus. This thing is awesome!

11-6-13- 007.jpg

11-6-13- 008.jpg

11-6-13- 010.jpg

And here's my Trachycarpus princeps. Full, all day sun, with water only once every two weeks in summer.

11-6-13- 011.jpg

11-6-13- 012.jpg

MattyB, I'm strongly leaning to latisectus versus martianus on the youngster in your first photo. I've spent lots of time trying to disentagle our crops of these two species with some help from Henderson's "Palms of Southern Asia."

[ghar41]

I wanna play.

Here's my Trachycarpus martianus, although it looks just like T. latisectus to me; I can't tell the difference at this size. Can any of you? It was really struggling for a while in the bright shadehouse so I moved it out onto my patio where it got full shade for most of the day and then full sun for a couple of hours right at the end of the day. Finally it's green and happy.

11-6-13- 006.jpg

Here's my Trachycarpus wagnerianus. This thing is awesome!

11-6-13- 007.jpg

11-6-13- 008.jpg

11-6-13- 010.jpg

And here's my Trachycarpus princeps. Full, all day sun, with water only once every two weeks in summer.

11-6-13- 011.jpg

11-6-13- 012.jpg

MattyB, I'm strongly leaning to latisectus versus martianus on the youngster in your first photo. I've spent lots of time trying to disentagle our crops of these two species with some help from Henderson's "Palms of Southern Asia."

The biggest difference I have seen between the two is that latisectus is larger in all parts. The petioles on latisectus are very long up to 6 feet!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Very nice Trachycarpus collection Glenn

[Tropicdoc]

I gotta get some pics. There are 30-40 foot trachys all over down here with naturally clear trunks. The trunks are thin... like 8-10 inches. I'm not sure why people say they won't grow in humidity, because if it's one thing we got, it's humidity.

[ryjohn]

Here is a clump of Trachycarpus 'Nova' in my back yard. Only one of these have flowered each of the last two years and interestingly in both years it flowered heavily both in spring and in fall. These appear to be twice-a-year bloomers here in northern Lousiana

And a fortunei amongst other palms...

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Here is a clump of Trachycarpus 'Nova' in my back yard. Only one of these have flowered each of the last two years and interestingly in both years it flowered heavily both in spring and in fall. These appear to be twice-a-year bloomers here in northern Lousiana

And a fortunei amongst other palms...

Nice novas and nice hardy palm specimens in the second picture, but I don't see a fortunei there. Looks like a nice sabal and I can't tell what the big fan palm behind it is, but that can't be a trachy, the leaves are way too big.

[ryjohn]

The fortunei is the palm in the far right of the second picture and the far left of the third pic. I must admit it's the least noticeable of all the palms in those two pics...

In the second picture you have from left to right: Chamaerops humilis 'Cerifera' weepy form, Washingtonia filifera 'Truth and Consequences', Sabal 'Louisiana', and Trachycarpus fortunei.

In the third picture you have from left to right: Trachycarpus fortunei, Sabal 'Louisiana', and Trithrinax campestris. There is a Hamlin Orange and a Meyer Improved Lemon squeezed in there as well but both of them are probably on borrowed time here. Satsuma and Kumquat are the only long-term sweet citrus here...

The Sabal 'Louisiana' was planted in spring of 2007 as a 3-gallon plant. They don't take decades to get some trunk here.

Edited November 24, 2013 by ryjohn