Copernicia fallaensis - entering the California trade?

[mnorell]

I ran by Moller's Nursery in Palm Desert a couple of days ago and was gobsmacked to see three of these in their palm section...

And of course I did a bit of a gulp at the pricetag...although I can imagine the length of time it would take to produce specimens of this size here, so perhaps warranted. (And two of the three were already red-tagged by some happy buyer.) Considering the lack of heat in SoCal other than here in the low desert, I wonder if these were either grown locally or maybe imported from Florida by a wholesale grower or broker (it would be very unusual for this nursery to take on that sort of importing directly). Moller's is a mortgage-size priced nursery anyway, catering to the well-heeled designer trade in the Palm Springs-Rancho Mirage-Palm Desert-Indian Wells-La Quinta corridor.

I'm curious if anyone is aware of this becoming an element of the broader trade here or if it may just be a one-time fluke. It would be interesting to see these suddenly appear in a prominent position at Disney's new Cotino development here, which is well underway...though the landscaping I'm seeing in place on the perimeter already is sort of yawn-yawn "as usual" desert material that one would imagine a large landscape architecture firm in L.A. might spec, rather than some of the more inventive/unusual exotics placed by Disney's own hort/design crew at the park in Anaheim.

And as an aside on the subject of unusual sightings, I ran across a few huge Ravenala for sale at the HD in La Quinta yesterday, at a quite reasonable price of $199. This is the second time I've seen a Home Depot out here in the Coachella Valley with this size of Ravenala on offer (I had seen a large group of them for sale at the Rancho Mirage HD a year or two ago as well, but in nowhere as good condition). Interesting to see the changes in the nursery industry here over the decades. In the '80s it was nearly impossible to find anything like this (certainly of this size) even at little specialty growers, not to mention the many other palms and other tropicals that are now completely taken for granted here...triangles, foxtails, Ixora, Spathodea, Delonix, et al.

[JD in the OC]

C. fallensis is almost certainly from FL. Going to need lime/alkaline soil which I'm not sure is very ubiquitous in SoCal. Good news is that they pick up speed once 15gal and larger so most of the hard work has already been done!  I call them the 'rich man's Bismarck palm'

JD

[Merlyn]

@mnorell that's an impressive palm...and price tag!  I planted a 3g here in the backyard back in March 2019...and it is FINALLY about the size of that pot.  @JD in the OC mine is in typical sandy and slightly acidic soil here, and hasn't had any visible nutritional issues.  At least mine seems to be fairly soil-tolerant. 

[Harry’s Palms]

Here in coastal , borderline southern/ central California , our Lowe’s or Home Depot carry only the more generic Syagrus , Phoenix , Archontophoenix varieties. They used to , years ago , typically have a very nice selection of Wodyetia , Hyophorbe , Livistona , Brahea,  even Licuala from time to time . For anything interesting I have to visit our local Green Thumb Nursery in Ventura or a local home grower. I am not familiar with that particular palm here but there are many palm collectors in my area so maybe someone with experience can add any info about growing one in SoCal. Harry

[sonoranfans]

Wow that palm should not be in that pot.  They hate pots more than any palm I have grown.   I had a 15 gallon that just jumped when I put it in the ground.  It was not pushing out spears but one every 3 months.   Since mid august when it was planted my 15 gallon has put out 3 and they are progressively getting a lot bigger in the leaflets.  I have planted out (1) 5 gal bailey, (3) hospitas and (2) fallaensis over the year and the growth after planting has been impressive.  THye grow huge, deep root systems and once the roots get going the palm takes off.  IN a pot that size I am surprised it even got that big.

august less than 1 week after planting:

 

end of october 2024"

this palm I did not have to water for 3 weeks due to the rains for various hurricanes.  This pic is post hurricane milton by ~3 weeks.   It looks a lot better than my 25 foot fallaensis today.