Mule Palms Tampabay.

[ErikSJI]

The second commercial plantings of Mule palms in Tampa.  This one is over 100 Mule palms on the Veterans express way. Right out side the Tampa airport. Waters exit.

[RedRabbit]

I haven't seen this yet, I guess they just planted them? There are a few that were just planted at this restaraunt in the North Dale area that look pretty nice. 

[ErikSJI]

Yeah I was just informed about it as well. I knew about another DOT project but I am to lazy to drive all the way out there. This one has over 100 Mule palms planted.

[ErikSJI]

[ErikSJI]

I am however concerned with the ones I posted as these are the ones in a low lying area. I assume this group of Mules will not do well. They do not like wet feet.

[RedRabbit]

53 minutes ago, ErikSJI said:

I am however concerned with the ones I posted as these are the ones in a low lying area. I assume this group of Mules will not do well. They do not like wet feet.

Shoot, that's a good point. Maybe royals would have been a better choice for that location. Either way, it is good to have something kind of unusual planted there.  

[Mike Evans]

Good to see FDOT planting something else beside the Phoenix dactylifera you see in the background.  FDOT should be planting FLOGROWN palms instead of paying horrendous shipping costs of trucking palms across the country.   There are now so many Phoenix palms around the beach areas that you think you are in  the middle east.  Thanks for posting Erik.

[SubTropicRay]

Agreed Mike and I hate the look of Phoenix dactylifera in Florida.  There's nothing more UN-Florida like than a desert palm .  Not to mention, it's one of those imports that brought us TPPD killing the Sabal palmetto.

[NorthFlpalmguy]

Nice planting! At least you all get some sort of variety down there. All we get are Sabals and Serenoa....every interchange is the same plants with a different design Sabals, serenoa, lagerstroemia, and magnolia grandiflora.

[junglegalfla]

Here in St. Pete, bizzies seem to be choice lately too.

[ErikSJI]

Mass plantings of Foxtails the last few years.

[RedRabbit]

23 minutes ago, ErikSJI said:

Mass plantings of Foxtails the last few years.

The only Foxtails I'm aware of done by the city/county have been in downtown Tampa... Private companies have planted plenty of them though. 

Bizzies are getting really common. 

I saw Tampa planted some Royal poincianas recently on Bayshore which comes as a pleasant surprise. 

Edited June 22, 2016 by RedRabbit

[redbeard917]

At the big interchange on the turnpike north of Orlando, they used large numbers of Bismarckia and Livistona decora. I thought I'd heard they were only using natives. Variety is good too, though so I like the mules.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

Are mules susceptible to TPPD?

[ErikSJI]

We sent one of our palms to DR. Elliot. And they did what ever they to do them. And the Mule palm died. So in the one case of TPPD injection. 1 dead Mule palm.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

23 hours ago, ErikSJI said:

We sent one of our palms to DR. Elliot. And they did what ever they to do them. And the Mule palm died. So in the one case of TPPD injection. 1 dead Mule palm.

Well that's a shame.  But it's good info.

[Walt]

On ‎6‎/‎21‎/‎2016‎ ‎7‎:‎43‎:‎59‎, Mike Evans said:

Good to see FDOT planting something else beside the Phoenix dactylifera you see in the background.  FDOT should be planting FLOGROWN palms instead of paying horrendous shipping costs of trucking palms across the country.   There are now so many Phoenix palms around the beach areas that you think you are in  the middle east.  Thanks for posting Erik.

BTW, Mike, FYI, here's a photo of the Butiagrus palm you gave me for hosting the June 2013 CFPACS meeting. It is now producing its first flower spathe. I was delighted to get this palm then -- and am even more delighted now.

[Ben in Norcal]

6 minutes ago, Walt said:

BTW, Mike, FYI, here's a photo of the Butiagrus palm you gave me for hosting the June 2013 CFPACS meeting. It is now producing its first flower spathe. I was delighted to get this palm then -- and am even more delighted now.

Gonna try and back-cross it, Walt?

[Mike Evans]

That Mule is looking great Walt.  They definitely have the hybrid vigor.  They are a batch from Mark / Erik in Parrish, which seem to have more Queen traits and better looking IMO.  Still have some nice 25 gal ones available.

[Walt]

21 hours ago, Ben in Norcal said:

Gonna try and back-cross it, Walt?

No, I won't try it. I tried straight crossing (queen x butia) before with no luck. I will let Mike Evans do it -- then buy one from him! LOL!

[Walt]

13 hours ago, Mike Evans said:

That Mule is looking great Walt.  They definitely have the hybrid vigor.  They are a batch from Mark / Erik in Parrish, which seem to have more Queen traits and better looking IMO.  Still have some nice 25 gal ones available.

Yes, the Butiagrus (I just can't un dignify such a beautiful palm by callilng it a mule!) is doing great. In fact, I guess it was late last year that it seemed to start kicking in faster growth. If I had regular irrigation I bet the palm would be even bigger.

I now have two butiagrus palms and that's enough for me. I would only be interested now in species that I don't have, but would survive my climate. Over the past 18 years I've lost many species to hard freezes. Of course, many of these species were too cold tender to start with. I only got them out of ignorance on my part, as I didn't fully understand my climate early on. Fortunately, I've had zone 10a  winters for the last four years. I'm betting on number five!

Above is my oldest butiagrus I got as a root bound, anemic green 15 gallon size. But once in the ground it greened up fast and started to grow.

Above is another view of the Butiagrus you gave me. I knew this was going to be a nice palm and that's why I planted it in my main landscape close to the house.

 

[Walt]

Butiagrus, queen, and coconut palm comparison. The queen was a volunteer. In fact there's so many coming up about my property I'm constantly mowing them down (as seedlings) are cutting larger ones down by hand. Queens almost need to be on Florida's invasive species list. But if that's not enough, now Bismarckia seedlings are naturalizing and coming up all over. I've been mowing these things down until they run out of food from the seed. When I first got into the palm hobby -- now way in heck would I ever thought I would be mowing down bismarckia seedlings. Lest I forget, same goes for Archontophoenix alexandrae, as they are sprouting up all around my seed producing palms.

Above: Butiagrus, Queen, and Coconut palm.

 

[RedRabbit]

11 minutes ago, Walt said:

Butiagrus, queen, and coconut palm comparison. The queen was a volunteer. In fact there's so many coming up about my property I'm constantly mowing them down (as seedlings) are cutting larger ones down by hand. Queens almost need to be on Florida's invasive species list. But if that's not enough, now Bismarckia seedlings are naturalizing and coming up all over. I've been mowing these things down until they run out of food from the seed. When I first got into the palm hobby -- now way in heck would I ever thought I would be mowing down bismarckia seedlings. Lest I forget, same goes for Archontophoenix alexandrae, as they are sprouting up all around my seed producing palms.

Above: Butiagrus, Queen, and Coconut palm.

 

Nice pic there for comparison! 

I'm pretty sure queens actually are on the invasive species list, but the level they're designated at isn't high enough to require planting restrictions. Some have naturalized around here and I kind of like it.  

Edited June 25, 2016 by RedRabbit

[JMBreland]

On June 21, 2016 at 8:22:26 AM, SubTropicRay said:

Agreed Mike and I hate the look of Phoenix dactylifera in Florida.  There's nothing more UN-Florida like than a desert palm .  Not to mention, it's one of those imports that brought us TPPD killing the Sabal palmetto.

Agreed!! It has its place in certain designs to complement the architecture or landscape. Otherwise, it shouldn't be used. Jacksonville streets are becoming lined with P. dactylifera everywhere. Ugh. 

[JMBreland]

Good to see FDOT using Butiagrus on rights of way! That's a nice change. Our Butiagrus collection at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is growing. We've had a nice one taking off like a rocket for five years. Now ~20' to the tip of the tallest frond. Three more were planted last year. We still have a few large ones in pots that were used for instant landscaping around dinosaurs that will be planted soon as the temporary dinosaur exhibit comes to an end. So, soon, you'll be seeing a whole lotta Butiagrus in the zoo! 

[RedRabbit]

I drove past these yesterday and they look pretty nice! They start just north of Waters and go to just north of Linebaugh. There are a lot of nice bizzies planted in there too, I think they did a pretty good job! 

[RedRabbit]

I wanted to mention I saw some silk floss trees planted at the I-4/I-275 interchange... Very surprised to see FDOT planting them! They look like they've been there a few years actually.

[PalmTreeDude]

I love Mule Palms, especially once they get really tall, they are the perfect tropical looking palm for zone 8b or higher!

[Walt]

10 hours ago, RedRabbit said:

I wanted to mention I saw some silk floss trees planted at the I-4/I-275 interchange... Very surprised to see FDOT planting them! They look like they've been there a few years actually.

I think floss silk (Ceiba speciosa) trees lend themselves good being planted in areas as you described above.

My floss silk tree started producing blooms about two weeks ago, mainly on the south (sunny) side of the tree, but now is beginning to make blooms all over. I just recently planted three more of these trees I grew from seed from my mother tree. This tree was frozen way down in December of 2010 but has since come back strong.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

27 minutes ago, Walt said:

I think floss silk (Ceiba speciosa) trees lend themselves good being planted in areas as you described above.

My floss silk tree started producing blooms about two weeks ago, mainly on the south (sunny) side of the tree, but now is beginning to make blooms all over. I just recently planted three more of these trees I grew from seed from my mother tree. This tree was frozen way down in December of 2010 but has since come back strong.

Walt, do silk floss trees prefer moist soil?  I had one in sandy soil and it died.  It was ther long enough to be well rooted, but it just dwindled away.  I thought they were fairly drought tolerant.

[Walt]

5 hours ago, Keith in SoJax said:

Walt, do silk floss trees prefer moist soil?  I had one in sandy soil and it died.  It was ther long enough to be well rooted, but it just dwindled away.  I thought they were fairly drought tolerant.

Keith: If they do prefer moist soil -- they aren't getting it at my place. Almost all of my property is very dry. That's why palms and other plants grow much slower for me. What I do give hand irrigation to grows much better.

Where my Ceiba specisoa is planted (as shown in photo below between bismarckia  and P. sylvestris palms), the soil is very dry. But the ones I have in pots get watered daily, and they seem to be water hogs, as the potting soil (just Home Depot brand topsoil) dries out in just one day. So maybe until newly planted trees develop a very ramified root system, then perhaps they might wither away.