Suggestions for an oddball double or triple palm planting?

[Merlyn]

So everyone and their cousin has doubles and triples of Adonidia, Foxtails, Roebellini, Archontophoenix and others.  And there are a lot of popular clustering palms that can be trimmed into a double or triple with relative ease.  I probably have more than my share of all of those, but I have this weird idea of growing a double of something that you would not normally *ever* consider doing.  Something like a Bismarckia, B. Alfredii or Corypha double.  I planted a pair of Butia as a double, with the trunks about 1 foot apart as 3 gallon palms, but it'll be 10 years before they get big enough to be really interesting.  I used to have a bigger Butia double, but tree guys dropped a trunk on one of them and killed it.  I've also planted some Hyophorbes as doubles, but they are unlikely to be long-term survivors in my borderline 9b/9a area.  I just planted a close-spaced grid of 5 Livistona Chinensis (about 2' spacing) and planted a pair of Chinensis under the side of a trunking one.

So what else have you seen (or thought of doing) as a double or triple?  It doesn't need to be something absurdly large like a Raphia Farinifera, maybe something smaller like a Copernicia Prunifera or Chambeyronia Macrocarpa would make a reasonably small but neat double...or a Dypsis Decaryi with the triangles pointed apart?  Throw some crazy ideas at me! 

[palmfriend]

Ok, I'll make the start. 

Phoenicophorium borsigianum. A double or better a triple will definitely be something unusual. 

best regards 

Lars

[Jeff985]

Mule?

[Briank]

Good topic.  Cause I like different things in sets or doubles.  I’m always looking for them. 

 

I took 2 15ga Royal palms Regia and stuck them in same hole to make a double. Now it might not have a bend like if they grew together but they are growing faster than my singles ! 

 

Ill look for the pic but my neighbor has a double and Triple Washy Filifera I believe. Or they are Brahea Edulis.  Thick trunks.  I’ll look for it.  

 

I have a Double livistona Nitida that I love   I had a triple but had no were to plant it so I took it to our office n planted it there  

 

[Briank]

I’m looking for a Triple Purpea King.  I have a Double.  But still only 3-4 ft high 

[Briank]

[Josue Diaz]

@DoomsDave has a pending trademark on the Triple Beccariophoenix of Doom

[Fusca]

10 hours ago, Merlyn2220 said:

So everyone and their cousin has doubles and triples of Adonidia, Foxtails, Roebellini, Archontophoenix and others.  And there are a lot of popular clustering palms that can be trimmed into a double or triple with relative ease.  I probably have more than my share of all of those, but I have this weird idea of growing a double of something that you would not normally *ever* consider doing.  Something like a Bismarckia, B. Alfredii or Corypha double.  I planted a pair of Butia as a double, with the trunks about 1 foot apart as 3 gallon palms, but it'll be 10 years before they get big enough to be really interesting.  I used to have a bigger Butia double, but tree guys dropped a trunk on one of them and killed it.  I've also planted some Hyophorbes as doubles, but they are unlikely to be long-term survivors in my borderline 9b/9a area.  I just planted a close-spaced grid of 5 Livistona Chinensis (about 2' spacing) and planted a pair of Chinensis under the side of a trunking one.

So what else have you seen (or thought of doing) as a double or triple?  It doesn't need to be something absurdly large like a Raphia Farinifera, maybe something smaller like a Copernicia Prunifera or Chambeyronia Macrocarpa would make a reasonably small but neat double...or a Dypsis Decaryi with the triangles pointed apart?  Throw some crazy ideas at me! 

I like the look of Livistona decora doubles that curve away from each other.  Grows fast too!

[redant]

I have found planting 3 3gal palms as close as you can does not achieve the correct effect, the same as you get when you put 3 seedlings right up to each other. With 3 3gal planted close you get 3 phone poles close together, not the sweeping arch that makes a 3some so desirable.  These where the proper way, 3 seeds in a pot.

Edited October 18, 2019 by redant

[Merlyn]

I was wondering about planting 3G pots close together, I suppose it depends on the typical trunk base diameter too.  So something skinny like a Chambeyronia Macrocarpa probably won't work to push the trunks apart in an arch, but something big like a Butia or Washingtonia (BrianK's cool triple) might work.  Maybe I should "root prune" my Pindo double and move them closer together... The other Hyophorbes were single in 1G pots and I planted them at various distances apart, some 1 to 2 feet and a couple just inches apart at the base.

Right now I have multiple healthy seedlings of Copernicia Prunifera, Caryota Gigas, Brahea Clara, Dictyosperma Rubrum, Livistona Speciosa/Jenkinsiana/Rotundifolia.  I've been thinking of getting seeds or seedlings of Borassus, Corypha, Attalea Phalerata, Caryota Mitis variegated, and Wallichia Oblongifolia. 

What about planting 2 different species together, either of similar types (Livistona and Bismarck) or two different types (Beccariophoenix and Bismack)?  I dont know that I've ever seen anything like that.  Maybe it would look more bizarre, but maybe a big fan in the middle and two pinnate ones on either side?

[Merlyn]

2 hours ago, Fusca said:

I like the look of Livistona decora doubles that curve away from each other.  Grows fast too!

I've also seen some unusually compact Livistona doubles and triples, with very short petioles so they have pretty big fan diameter but are only about 6 to 8 feet in crown diameter.  Are those Decora / Decipiens? I have a L. Chinensis triple that I bought from a big box store, but I could definitely plant another similar one on the other side of the house. 

[PalmatierMeg]

This is my natural double planting: Twin Cocos nucifera Dwarf Red Spicata from one seed

Coconuts make good doubles, esp. when they have contrasting color petioles and fruits.

[redant]

first 2 pics are carpies planted as close as possible from a 3 gal, the 3 is a double from 2 seeds in a pot

[Pal Meir]

For your lanai or balcony:

[Hilo Jason]

I planted a triple Dypsis Leptocheillos (teddy bear) in my California garden because I liked the idea of three white trunks and red fuzzy crownshaft in a group. But they grew very slow so it’s going to be many more years til it looks like what I pictured in my mind and I’m selling the house right now. Hopefully the new owners care about palms and will not cut it down. Sorry I don’t have any pictures. 

[Hilo Jason]

Oh and I really like the few triple Chambeyronia plantings I’ve seen in gardens. Real nice looking! 

[Hilo Jason]

11 hours ago, Briank said:

I’m looking for a Triple Purpea King.  I have a Double.  But still only 3-4 ft high 

Have you tried Rancho Soledad?  Not sure if they still have them, but they used to. 

[Fusca]

5 hours ago, redant said:

I have found planting 3 3-gal palms as close as you can does not achieve the correct effect, the same as you get when you put 3 seedlings right up to each other.

That's interesting info Doug - never would have imagined that you'd have to plant 3 seeds in a pot to get that effect.

 

3 hours ago, Merlyn2220 said:

Are those Decora / Decipiens?

Yeah, the decora/decipiens don't have a very large crown diameter.  Leaves are more ribbon-like and droop even more than chinensis..

Edited October 18, 2019 by Fusca

[Merlyn]

4 hours ago, Hilo Jason said:

Oh and I really like the few triple Chambeyronia plantings I’ve seen in gardens. Real nice looking! 

I found a picture of a quad Chambeyronia from D'Asign Source.  It doesn't have the bendy trunk look, but the 4 different sizes do look kinda interesting.  It's a little tough to see the individual palms in the photo, because of all the other pots behind it.  It looks like the one on the left is at least a triple also. 

Part of my reluctance on Livistona has been the use of the name "Ribbon Palm."  Below is a "Ribbon Palm" at a local nursery, which looks like a Decora/Decipiens but could also be a Nitida (maybe).  I definitely don't like the long petioles and scraggly-looking small fronds, it just looks odd and I wouldn't want a triple of it. 

But a neighbor's small Livistona would look pretty neat as a triple, it looks a lot like a "dwarf Chinensis" with about 2' petioles and fans similar in size to a Chinensis.  What the heck is this one?

[Silas_Sancona]

I know they're likely impossible to find anywhere, ( or so it seems ) but I can see Foxy Lady looking good as a triple.. might make for an interesting conversation for anyone invited to check out your collection though.

" Yea!  Stop on by.. Have a look the group of Foxy Ladies I have in the back yard. Looking real nice. ( cat calls ) "  

[Merlyn]

7 hours ago, Hilo Jason said:

I planted a triple Dypsis Leptocheillos (teddy bear) in my California garden because I liked the idea of three white trunks and red fuzzy crownshaft in a group.

I forgot about that one, I planted two seedlings from PalmatierMeg about a foot apart in the front yard, mostly just to see if they would grow better there than in a pot.  They barely survived the tree destruction last month, the guy drove over a couple of agaves and King seedlings with his bobcat, but barely missed these.  I hope that we have a mild winter and these can get moving next spring!

[Tjohnson]

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a triple Dypsis decaryi. I think it would either be really cool, or a complete failure depending on how the fronds align with one another.

[GottmitAlex]

Here's an oddball couple: 

A Cocos nucifera of 2.5 years of age vis a vis a B. Alfredii which is 5 years old.  The cocos will always tower the alfie. The alfie makes a great understory palm while folks think the palms are siblings.

Love both of them btw.

 

 

[Merlyn]

13 minutes ago, Tjohnson said:

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a triple Dypsis decaryi. I think it would either be really cool, or a complete failure depending on how the fronds align with one another.

I'm guessing that you'd have to grow them separately up to 1G size before combining them, so you could pick the frond alignment.  Otherwise you'd end up with random orientation that could look like a disaster, as you mentioned.  I only found one place doing this combo, a place called Gregory Palm Farms in CA.  This looks pretty neat with 3 sets of fronds aligned in the same direction:

[Briank]

10 hours ago, Hilo Jason said:

Have you tried Rancho Soledad?  Not sure if they still have them, but they used to. 

I’ll go take a look. Thanks.    Only palm nursery in SD I Havnt been too 

[The Gerg]

So, perhaps this is a weird thought, but lately I have been wondering about the idea of a “triple” or “double” palm planting of different genera or species. Has anyone done this? Recently I have potted together Archontopheonix pupurea and Chambeyronia Macrocarpa. Creating a “triple” of different species would be cool in my opinion. Thoughts....

[Tjohnson]

14 hours ago, Merlyn2220 said:

I'm guessing that you'd have to grow them separately up to 1G size before combining them, so you could pick the frond alignment.  Otherwise you'd end up with random orientation that could look like a disaster, as you mentioned.  I only found one place doing this combo, a place called Gregory Palm Farms in CA.  This looks pretty neat with 3 sets of fronds aligned in the same direction:

Pretty cool, and I agree about waiting to pick the orientation. It looks like you might lose the the bow of the trunks with this method however. 

[Merlyn]

1 minute ago, Tjohnson said:

Pretty cool, and I agree about waiting to pick the orientation. It looks like you might lose the the bow of the trunks with this method however. 

Yeah, especially since the trunk diameter of the Decaryi is fairly small.  You could plant them angled out at a 20-30 degree angle, but they'd probably just bend vertical instead of getting a nice curve to them.

[palmfriend]

On 10/19/2019 at 1:01 PM, The Gerg said:

So, perhaps this is a weird thought, but lately I have been wondering about the idea of a “triple” or “double” palm planting of different genera or species. Has anyone done this? Recently I have potted together Archontopheonix pupurea and Chambeyronia Macrocarpa. Creating a “triple” of different species would be cool in my opinion. Thoughts....

I am brooding about this topic for a long time by myself - thank you for coming up with this!

I think we need to get some more opinions/thought from our veteran members since I am

convinced that some palms/plants will do well together while others will definitely not...

Starting a new thread about this topic would be the best, I think...

best regards -

Lars

 

[Merlyn]

5 hours ago, palmfriend said:

I am brooding about this topic for a long time by myself - thank you for coming up with this!  I think we need to get some more opinions/thought from our veteran members since I am

convinced that some palms/plants will do well together while others will definitely not...

I like the idea too, I suggested it a few posts back also.  I think as long as you picked species that like the same environment they'd do fine together.  So putting a Chambeyronia with a Bismarck wouldn't be ideal due to the sun requirements, and putting a water-loving palm like an Archontophoenix together with a drylands palm like a Butia would be a bad idea.  But maybe 2 Dictyosperma Album flanking an Archontophoenix would work?  All 3 like lots of sun and water, and all are pretty fast growers.  Or for a staggered look something big + small like a Phoenix Sylvestris and a pair of Hyophorbe (Bottle or Spindle)?  Or an odd one with a Dypsis Decaryi and 3 Spindles?

I've also never seen anything like a triple Bismarck, that would be a beast of a cluster!

[palmfriend]

Come across this double L. chinensis yesterday -

...very nice but you got to be very patient with this species in general (even over here).

best regards from Okinawa -

Lars

 

[rprimbs]

On 10/18/2019 at 3:09 PM, Merlyn2220 said:

I found a picture of a quad Chambeyronia from D'Asign Source.  It doesn't have the bendy trunk look, but the 4 different sizes do look kinda interesting.  It's a little tough to see the individual palms in the photo, because of all the other pots behind it.  It looks like the one on the left is at least a triple also. 

 

 

That's the triple I really want to grow!  And also maybe a Dypsis leptochelos. triple.

[Jim in Los Altos]

I’ve got too many clusters to put up here right now. Here are a few though...

Hedyscepe canterburyana

a triple L. chinensis

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana ‘Illawarra.’

all planted together from one gallon containers

I think a triple Foxy Lady would be awesome. 

[akamu]

Some,pics of triples in our garden Teddy x3 also euterpe orange crownshaft x3 and Dypsis pembana x 3 sorry for end of the day lighting

[MattyB]

Awwww yeah...this is my wheelhouse.  I like to plant groups of things that you don't normally see.  Dypsis ambositrae...

[MattyB]

Livistona decora

[MattyB]

Purple King

[MattyB]

Chambeyronia mix the green w/ hookeri

[MattyB]

Hard to see but I mixed the Pinanga coronata w/ P. kuhlii

[MattyB]

Ravenea glauca group w/ a couple doubles in there...