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Planted from a 6" pot around 10 years ago it's certainly grown better than expected. Plenty of rain and not much competion from other palms helps.

1st of 2 habitat locations visited that day. This particular spot felt like I’d jumped in a time machine and headed back to the Jurassic Period. Such a stunningly beautiful palm. Gunn Point.

Flying Fox Creek is a well known spot for this palm, and it didn't disappoint.

These are fun to grow. First picture is Alfredii, 4 years in the groundm all the alfredii I grow have tingles of purple on the petioles. Tree in the background is a Kukui nut (Aleurites moluccanus), a Hawaiian canoe plant that was used for making lamp oil. Second picture below is fenestralis, this one is growing under an Inga edulis tree that seems to be fertilizing this tree, only two and a half years in the ground. Third picture below is classic madagascariensis, 6 years in the ground. Below is the 4th one, a variant of madagascariensis which I think some have labeled as a different species, also 6 years in the ground. The fronds are not as fine as the regular madagascariensis and they tip dramatically at the ends. Looks different from literally every single madagascariensis I grow. I am sure the botanists will lump this one into madagascariensis.

Today I was working in the garden and stopped to admire the Sabinaria magnifica that seems to be very happy. It is now taller than me, maybe 2 m high. I was surprised shocked to find two inflorescences buried under the leaves. The tree does not even have a clear trunk yet, so I was not expecting flowers for many more years. Of course, flowers are not the same as viable seed. I have lots of palms that have been flowering for years and never produced fruit. I'm looking at you, Marojejya. BUT you never get seeds without first having flowers! One step at a time. The lower inflorescence is twisted and seems to be aborting, but the next higher one looks very healthy with open flowers. No sign of bees around. Maybe I should get a small paintbrush and try a little artificial insemination? I'm no taxonomist, but I think these inflorescences vaguely resemble Kerridoxa male flowers. Kerridoxa blooming season just ended at my place. The overall appearance of the tree is very similar to Kerridoxa, but with the leaves split in half. I know they come from widely separated geographical locations, but it is odd. Aborted flowers lower center. View from other side Anyone else out there with flowers or maybe even some fruit?

After a December with lots of nights in the 20’s F and days above freezing, the palms have been able to acclimate to what we are having now…nights in the mid to low 20’s…some days right at freezing and some days nearer to 40 F but definitely a week plus of some real challenging freezing temps. Of course, damage is not necessarily noticeable right away so we’ll see but no obvious damage yet like I had in that ‘22/23 winter that had the moderate temps drop to single digits overnight. The tried and true winter troopers look good and get to thaw out a bit today and tomorrow. The older Trachy and the Brazoria (behind the older Trachy) are too big to protect but the smaller Trachy has lights around the trunk and layers of black landscaping cloth to hold in heat around the trunk. I checked its leaf segments a few days ago and they looked great. The Needle and Sable minors at the base of the large Trachy have always been on their own and done great: The Medi is shrouded with black landscaping cloth that draws in the sun’s heat and it’s lit as well with incandescent lights. I lay them out like a carpet at the base and wrap the trunk. So far, it looks really good. If it’s not doing good it will show the damage right away. The McCurtain is never of any concern. I think our sunny days, even though in the 30’s, it seems to be giving them the recovery time they need to fight the low to mid 20’s at night. Hopefully we can avoid teens and single digits this winter! One last look at the Needle…a cold hardy palm grower’s true friend…

Pelagodoxa henryana. Actually kind of amazed that they have done this well for having little soil. They must have found fractures in the lava rock. I do keep a lot of mulch as dressing though. A bit of canopy while young and in a somewhat protected spot. Tim

Relaxing after some rain in the garden with a good view of the deck.

Haven't post here in a while (years?), but thought I'd share these from our recent snow falls... Sabal minor ('Louisiana', fwiw) Rhapidophyllum hystrix Trachycarpus fortunei ('Bulgarian')

The new Apple Store Plaza at the Miami World Center in downtown Miami opened this weekend with an amazing array of Palm trees. Among them were some Bailey palms and Attaleas, as well as Cuban Old Man palms. There were many native coral rock accents as well surrounding a beautiful store. Come see it!

two B Mad to left of dock...2 B Fen to right of dock ...2 B Alfredii to right will get individual pics when i get home thx J Kinzy for the pic

Here's my Alfredii in S. Miguel, Azores, six years in the ground. Wish I had a few more.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pietropuccio/albums/ The album collects photos of palms grown in almost 50 years in a small garden on the northwestern outskirts of Palermo (latitude 38° 10' 43" N). Before the internet era it was very difficult to find palms other than those in cultivation for over a century, now everything is much easier and I am sure that many new species can be introduced into cultivation.

My largest of a batch of Basselinia pseudoveluntina 4 years from germination, with a hint of colour,so far proven to be an easy grower for me on the Northern beaches of Sydney Australia.

This palm would have been planted a very long time ago, 24 hours by train from Adelaide, South Australia, 18 hours from Perth by Train. How it has survived in the desert is a mystery We had a barbecue beside the train in 35c at 9pm while the train got refuelled, from a fuel tank in the desert for that purpose Regards Colin

Hey guys let’s not do politics . I come here for a break from all that. I have lived in Southern California for 65 years, I love where I live and we have a weather phenomenon with offshore winds . Every area has weather phenomena and politics or blame will not stop them . Hurricanes , flooding , or high winds don’t care what your politics are , nature has the power to, not us. We do our best to survive , we all want the same thing . Harry

My sole entry, obtained as Madagascariensis around 3 years ago.

This thread started almost 10 years ago with some Calyptrocalyx, so why not one more. Calyptrocalyx albertsisianus. Plus a semi-alba cattleya in upper left. If that is not enough red, here is a clumping Areca vestiaria. These are such prolific seeders that it is difficult to find friends who want some of the gazillion babies. The ground under the tree is a carpet of seedlings. These are beautiful additions to any garden, but might have the qualities needed to become an invasive weed down the road. Don't believe me? Many (most) of Hawaii's worst invasive weeds were deliberately introduced because someone thought they looked good. Then they escaped cultivation and all hell broke loose. So far I don't think any local bird likes to disperse these seeds. By contrast, birds love to carry away Archontophoenix alexandrae seeds. They are spreading ominously across the island. Plants with lightweight, wind-dispersed seeds or spores are the worst. A bit more subdued, Eurtepe sp Orange Crownshaft.

Emerging flowers on Merritt Island, Florida

A few more…

I'm adding more and more Pinanga to the garden all the time. Truly amazing colors. I'm only worried that they might get too tall so the wonderfulness is lost in the canopy. Pinanga speciosa just dropped an old leaf two days ago. The purple crownshaft is especially striking contrasted with the white flower buds. The flowers should open early tomorrow morning to a bee orgy that I previously reported in another thread. Just power through the first couple of years of ugliness when they are small. It gets better. My Pinanga caesia has not begun to trunk, so only a hint of the fantastic crownshaft to come as seen on Palmpedia. And yet, the intense color at the base of the petioles is already eye-catching. Pinangas are so much more than great crownshafts and fruit. Many are advertised as having mottled leaves, but in my experience, not all deliver. Pinanga copelandii definitely does. So if your climate allows, I recommend stocking up on this genus. There are 100 to choose from. Also consider staggering new additions every few years so when the older ones get too tall to appreciate, some younger ones are still at eye level.

I've been sick for the last few years, unfortunately it is better that I do not go into details/ now I am fine not very well, but fine and let's hope that it was just a nightmare I will only tell you that I was in bed for 4 and a half years, to add insult to injury I am 75% disabled but they also blocked my pension now I am appealing, luckily my wife works and also my son has 3 degrees and 2 salaries he helps me, unfortunately many plants have died because obviously I could not take care of them,my health conditions, since the beginning of July, after I had the operation, I'm fine, the doctors say that a miracle happened and as you can imagine I was reborn,I've had many CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, everything is ok and the doctors say it's a miracle!

The coconut tree is soaking up weather in the mid 40s inside its enclosure during a Houston snowstorm. Took a night in the upper 20s this year before I put up the greenhouse around it with only the lower half covered with no heat. No leaf burn! That really surprised me. But man this tree really is tough as nails. The enclosure I made is a 1.5” pvc frame that fits perfectly over t posts. Man it is solid, doesn’t even blow in the wind. I tried making the frame all together and it was such a disaster that I almost gave up. Ended up putting it up in sections and glued all the connections except the cross brace pieces(will store much easier). Put in a 40 gallon trash can full of water and a 600 watt aquarium heater keeping the water at 93 degrees. With this and an no lid, it kept it 15-18 degrees above the outside temp. But it caused a lot of condensation that I was worried would freeze the leaves touching the plastic (6mil greenhouse plastic from Amazon). So I put the lid on the bucket and added a 500 watt external heater. Still holding 15-18 degrees above the outside temperature but with no condensation. Suppose to get into the upper teens to low 20s tonight, but I’m confident it will come out okay!

Couldn’t help it. It was looking so grand yesterday. Tim

Brush/knock it off. Your palm leaves will stay colder, longer with the snow on them. It takes 144 Btu's (heat) to change 1 pound of 32f snow into 1 pound of 32f water. That is the same energy needed to warm 1 pound of water from 32f to 176f. I would rather that energy(sun/air)going to the palm leaf, not melting the snow. That snow as it is in a "solid" state, can get super cold on a radiatonal night. That leaf will not warm above 32f until that snow changes state into a liquid. If you are dealing with a ground level palm buried in snow on a zero night, yes the snow will probably "insulate" from the colder air due to the warmer ground. Short story, a palm leaf will warm faster without snow as opposed to with snow. I knocked the snow off shortly after the morning picture. 11/7/24 11/16/24

These chamaedorea glaucifolia are about 18 years old and have not grown much because in the last 5 years, because they have been abandoned to themselves

One perfect little barfordi. Doing a bit of weeding in the greenhouse and found a lone barfordi I missed potting up with last batch. Absolutely perfect condition I might have to track down some seeds if they grow that well for me. Can’t wait to plant this one in the ground.

An update on the gorilla's efforts to beautify the neighborhood. Post flowering the trunk branched.

Looks fine if you ask me. I have a number of examples just as close to my house.

This v. Splendida looked great this morning

A spot of repotting for an afternoon of relaxing. You can’t beat the weddlianum such a beautiful easy palm to grow and germinate. So beautiful as seedlings almost everyone who comes into my nursery and doesn’t know palms always asks what are those palms there pretty and wants one, I tell them there the wedding palm and instantly a sale is made. This lot are destined for retail shops in my area in few years time they sell so good and there tough cool tolerant dry tolerant and very predictable in growth form. What’s not to love about a weddlianum a must for any garden, courtyard or patio. The lady picture is the parent plant me fine specimen.

A glimpse of some South American palms. Wettinia hirsuita on the left and lower center, Iriartea deltoidea on the right with the horned spathes, and the ruffled leaves of Socratea center rear. Tim

Thought I’d offer up a few from “the hood”. My neighbor’s alfredii is just massive. It could be just the climate that we’re growing them in, but their proportions seem just enormous compared to madagascariensis and fenestralis.

Basselinia glabrata on left, Basselinia eriostachys. Tim

Here are mine in Holly Hill Fla. Ist 2019 and then 2024 .

I finally got everything in around 2 am. Maybe it was overkill, but I didn't want to chance it. Tonight it's supposed to get down to 25F again. Most of these palms I've grown from seed starting around 2007 or 2008. They've been with me in Illinois, Ohio, and Wyoming. They've exploded in growth since I've moved to Texas.

Here's one of my 5 big Alfredii, about 6.5 years from planting as a ~5' tall 3 gallon:

but I feel like I'm in the jungle

This is alfredii, 7 years in the ground from a 15g pot

My Beccariophoenix fenestralis during a cool winter:

New Year’s Day surprise. Dictyocaryum lamarckianum. Tim

And finally…. Thanks for looking.

Some more….

Check this one out. P. densiflora, which I have posted before, another beautilmeaux palm. 😄 Tim

About 6" of snow on Tuesday in Chickasaw. Some of the forecasts had predicted wet wintry mix, but it came down quite fluffy, so maybe it provided some insulation for dieback perennials. I recorded 13°F for a low temperature Wednesday a.m., but my next door neighbor said his app gave him a low of 11°F. It looks like my Chamaedoreas are goners. I'm most concerned about my mule palm, which is now a good size, and the last remaining source of "sitting" shade on the property. This morning's low is expected to be 17°F. The interior temperature of my leaky, partially-restored old house is now a cozy 54°F. (The heating system can't keep up.) My usual upbeat disposition is being put to the test.

Spent some time up in the Northern Territory between Christmas and New Year, visiting a number of palm and cycad habitats (will post those in separate threads). Made some time to pop into the botanical garden and also check out what the local parks had to offer. First up the botanical garden. Borassus flabellifer Hydriastele ramsayi Hydriastele ramsayi Hydriastele ramsayi Livistona victoriae Livistona victoriae Latania loddigesii Latania loddigesii Cycas arnhemica Macrozamia macdonnellii Cycas armstrongii Lodoicea maldivica Lodoicea maldivica Lodoicea maldivica Roystonea oleracea

Here's my B. Alfredii. 2 years in the ground from a 15 gallon.

I have been sent these tracky pictures from china enjoy.

Obi Island today…