florida Palms and Others of Interest

[Rivera]

Sorry about the losses. Looking good though, and very diverse!

[palmfriend]

What a progress!

My bad, I completely missed your spring update...🙇

I am stunned again seeing a T. fortunei and a R. regia at the same location - you do really have a good hand.

All your other palms are really looking nice - especially the B. fenestralis. I have got one, too - it keeps growing constantly but it is 

hard work to keep the bugs out of it.

I am glad to see that your Satakentia is doing well so far. L. chinensis are extremely bullet-proof over here - they shouldn't cause any

trouble for you as well - but they are Okinawian like on their own pace during their first years...😉 

Besides that I am very interested to see how all those different species are performing in your garden which is actually very fascinating.

 

Thank you for adressing me when documenting your Okinawian bed - 

all the best

 

Lars

 

[kinzyjr]

Fall Update III

Chrysalidocarpus Corner (8 photos):The southeast corner of the yard contains most of the former Dypsis palms.

Chrysalidocarpus prestoniana: Both palms in front

Chrysalidocarpus pembana:

Chrysalidocarpus cabadae

Chrysalidocarpus lanceolata: The folks on the favorite Dypsis thread know this one is my favorite.

Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos x 2

Chrysalidocarpus lutescens

Chrysalidocarpus decaryi

Tropical Hardwood Forest-in-Training: Still haven't bent to temptation to add a Rainbow Eucalyptus... yet.

Ficus aurea (Florida Strangler Fig) x 2: These have become more prevalent in Lakeland in recent years.

Delonix regia (Royal Poinciana): The top of the black pillar to the left is 2 feet high for scale.

Bursera simaruba (Gumbo Limbo) towers above the bananas after starting the year at ~2 feet tall.

Bananas:

Dwarf Cavendish: With a few Thrinax radiata seedlings for good measure.

Ice Cream:

Allagoptera arenaria

Veitchia joannis

Veitchia subdisticha: This is one that I've questioned.  It doesn't have the look of the Veitchia subdisticha on Palmpedia.  If anyone has a different take than what the label said to the original owner, please feel free to weigh in on it.

Carpoxylon macrospermum

Cocos nucifera 'Panama Tall'

Odds and Ends: Lots of hardscaping, with more to come.  Hardscaping is hardy to zone 0b

The Aloe Bed: The bed also has two leftover Chrysalidocarpus decaryi sprouts since they don't mind a very dry bed.

The South Entrance: Mind the Bismarckia stump not yet removed in the back.

Looks like 2-3 more updates to get two of the garden beds in the front, the desert garden, the new seedlings added.  That should narrow down the possible locations for the curb concrete.

@Rivera Appreciated!  A lot of the stuff was planted small or grown from seed since it was more cost effective and one of my palm interests is verifying which palms can complete their life cycle here.

@palmfriend Always love hearing from you!  The fenestralis looked REALLY good about a month before the photos, but a few fronds got bleached when the city tree crew thinned out my canopy in case of a hurricane.  Trachycarpus is such a tough palm to grow in central Florida, but I'm in one of the few areas where there are flowering and seeding specimens, thankfully.  The multiple soil regimes in the yard does give me some latitude to experiment if a palm fails.  One I've tried in 3 different spots and have failed across the board is a Majesty Palm.  The Livistona genus LOVE it here.  They are literally drag-n-drop.  Hope everything in your garden is going great!  I especially love your Veitchia joannis thread!

[Merlyn]

@kinzyjr great progress!  One photo confused me though, the Pembana looks very plumose.  It almost looks like an Allagoptera Arenaria.  But I think there is another formerly-known-as-Dypsis with similar paired-plumose leaves.  I just can't remember what one...maybe oropedionis or basilonga or madagascariensis something like that.

[flplantguy]

Do you think planting early on is better than keeping in a pot for a while?  I want to keep most of mine potted for a while for a few reasons, but you have some very young plants there directly in the ground. 

[Merlyn]

9 hours ago, flplantguy said:

Do you think planting early on is better than keeping in a pot for a while?  I want to keep most of mine potted for a while for a few reasons, but you have some very young plants there directly in the ground. 

In my experience planting in the ground = dramatically faster growth.  So if you can plant them, do it.  Some palms may not be cold-hardy or sun-hardy when young, so that does depend on your location.  Since you are just North of Tampa, most 9b palms are okay straight into the ground at a 1-2' height.  A good example of ones that won't work well are Archontophoenix types.  They aren't hardy to full sun when young, but will want a full sun spot when they get up to 4-6' tall.  Likewise a 2' tall Archontophoenix might be immediately killed by a 30F frost, but a 6' tall one might just take some serious leaf burn and grow right back. 

[Looking Glass]

12 hours ago, Merlyn said:

@kinzyjr great progress!  One photo confused me though, the Pembana looks very plumose.  It almost looks like an Allagoptera Arenaria.  But I think there is another formerly-known-as-Dypsis with similar paired-plumose leaves.  I just can't remember what one...maybe oropedionis or basilonga or madagascariensis something like that.

I was thinking that in the past also.  It’s not Pembana, for sure.   It looks a lot like Arenaria, but not exactly like the ones around here.   

Edited October 11, 2023 by Looking Glass

[kinzyjr]

@Merlyn + @Looking Glass Looking back through my records and this thread, it seems that the bulk of the Chrysalidocarpus (Dypsis) that were put in this bed came from @edric when I visited in February 2020.  This was listed as one of the palms that came in that batch.  The flowers should give it away if it gets that far.  It was first mentioned on this thread and attributed to Ed here: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/52296-palms-and-others-of-interest/?page=2#comment-959358

@flplantguy In addition to Merlyn's sound advice, my confession of being the world's worst container gardener should be noted.  If something stays in a container in my care, it's as good as dead.  To compensate, I often plant things in the ground very young and surround them with hardscaping to keep the squirrels at bay.  I'll add a mini-update of a few of the seedlings I tossed in the yard since I wanted to empty out the garage this year:

Fall Update IV

Dictyosperma album 'conjugatum': From locally collected seed

Caryota mitis: From locally collected seed

 

Saribus rotundifolius: From locally collected seed

Wodyetia bifurcata: A lot of these came from locally collected seeds that were tossed in the bone pile.  When they all sprouted, it was time to let nature sort out the weak ones.  They're hard to spot, but there are also a few small Coccothrinax barbadensis, Copernicia alba, and a Farfugium in the area.

Jubaea chilensis: Probably won't make it anyway, so just a temporary bed to wait for the inevitable.  Picture quality is poor, but that is likely irrelevant anyway.

Medemia argun and Nannorrhops ritchiana: These never seem to take here, which shouldn't be that big of a surprise.  They are hard to see as well, but that probably doesn't matter for long.

Acoelorraphe wrightii 'Azul': This was purchased.  Fairly slow growing to this point.

Chamaedorea radicalis: These are from @Fusca and growing steadily.

It's dark and rained a bit, so this update is a bit short.  A longer set of updates coming when the weather cooperates to finish off the Fall 2023 progress photos.

[Looking Glass]

59 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

@Merlyn + @Looking Glass Looking back through my records and this thread, it seems that the bulk of the Chrysalidocarpus (Dypsis) that were put in this bed came from @edric when I visited in February 2020.  This was listed as one of the palms that came in that batch.  The flowers should give it away if it gets that far.  It was first mentioned on this thread and attributed to Ed here: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/52296-palms-and-others-of-interest/?page=2#comment-959358

@flplantguy In addition to Merlyn's sound advice, my confession of being the world's worst container gardener should be noted.  If something stays in a container in my care, it's as good as dead.  To compensate, I often plant things in the ground very young and surround them with hardscaping to keep the squirrels at bay.  I'll add a mini-update of a few of the seedlings I tossed in the yard since I wanted to empty out the garage this year:

 

Love your yard pics and all the work you’ve done.  Should pay great rewards over time!  I too, have way better luck in the ground.  Things are much happier and faster there.  

Here’s a pick of my baby Pembana at 3g from a couple years ago.   It has a few rings of trunk now, and is 8 feet tall in the ground.   

Whatever yours is, will be interesting.  It doesn’t quite look like Arenaria either.  Reminds me of some sort of Dypsis from old pics on this forum.  Not sure which one.  Both of my Arenaria have more curly leaflets and are doing their first spit now.  

Edited October 11, 2023 by Looking Glass

[D. Morrowii]

Lots of cool stuff there. I was waiting to hear how the Chrysalidocarpus prestoniana were doing. They look like they’re doing great! 

[kinzyjr]

Fall Update V

Desert Bed

The Full View

Washingtonia filifera 'Moapa': Some of these aren't the healthiest, but they'll stay until they can't.

Brahea brandegeei: The Braheas are apparently a favorite for rabbits.  I put concrete blocks around the plants to keep them at bay.

FrankenBrahea: Unfortunately, this one may not recover and might need to be removed.

Chamaerops humilis: Introduced these seedlings to the garden earlier in the year.  If they all develop into adults, it will make a nice hedge.

Sabal maritima: The oddball of the group.

Entryway Bed

View from Driveway: The old staples of Phoenix roebelenii and Cycas revoluta are still there.

Sabal etonia 'miamiensis': These have grown to the point where they shade the brick planter and walkway behind them.  They have been getting attacked by scale.

Sabal minor 'McCurtain': Hidden under and behind the other plants, these are growing consistently.

Driveway Area

Driveway Bed: The black curb concrete was brought to this area to give the garden another level of elevation.  The Roystonea regia in front is 5 years old from seed.  The Green Malayan Coconut replaced a Roystonea regia from the same seed batch that perished and will need to recover from transplant shock.  The Sugarcane near the podocarpus hedge was nearly dead at one point and then sprang back to life and outgrew everything.  There are a few silver Serenoa repens tucked in here as well.

Phoenix dactylifera: The two foot high ferns hide a decent sized trunk at this point.  With a few Sabal palmetto dying from Lethal Bronzing in the area, the days for Phoenix in my garden might be coming to a close soon.

[kinzyjr]

Fall Update VI

Potted Plants

The Nurses: From left to right, Acrocomia aculeata, Dwarf cavendish Bananas, Adenium (Desert Rose), Borassus aethiopum.  The Acrocomia was a rescue and has recovered from about every kind of stress you can put on a plant.  These are typically the nurse plants used if something gets sick.

Pineapples: Started from the tops of two that were consumed.

Phoenix theophrasti: The last of my seed batch.  Since they seem to always get sick in the ground, this might stay in a pot.

In recovery: The Saribus rotundifolius and two Livistona saribus are here for recovery.  Hard to believe that the Livistona saribus on the left is still alive.

The Catch-All Pot: Anything I remove that I may want to put elsewhere but have no where to put it goes in here until it either dies or has a spot.  Currently, a small Bird of Paradise is in here.

Odds and Ends

Howea forsteriana (2 photos): The larger ones aren't thrilled about the reduced canopy, but the younger one is still shaded.

Hyophorbe lagenicaulis:

Hyophorbe verschaffeltii:

Thrinax radiata:

Sabal minor 'Emerald Isle':

Ptychosperma elegans (2 photos): The first seedling is from @D. Morrowii and the second group is from locally collected seeds.

Serenoa repens: The green form.

Coccothrinax barbadensis: Growing near a Wodyetia.  The previous photo didn't show it very clearly.

Butia odorata:

Hyphaene coriacea:

Chamaedorea (3 photos): It hasn't been a great year for them.  When the tree crew modified the canopy for a storm that never came, they took some burn.  Hopefully they recover and grow well.  The first photo is Chamaedorea microspadix, the second is Chamaedorea tepejilote, the third is Chamaedorea cataractarum.

Small Jamaican Tall coconut: This one was doing alright until I moved some hardscaping around and used part of the bed as a staging area.  While moving some of it, I might have damaged the roots in this bed.  Either way, hope it recovers.

Others of Interest (3 Photos): The photos in order: 1) Bambusa oldhamii; 2) Avocado and Mango trees; 3) Sea Grapes (Coccoloba uvifera)

For now, that's all folks.  Those who took interest in the Impact of Common Landscape Materials thread know there's a lot of hardscape material to use up over the winter.  We'll see what winter brings.

[kinzyjr]

A red leaf for Halloween:

[kinzyjr]

Didn't expect this with the plants being so young, but one of the Chamaedorea radicalis from @Fusca sent out a flower spike recently:

[kinzyjr]

Wishing everyone a safe and relaxing holiday/solstice/etc.  Hope the blooms below brighten your winter.

Croton Flowers

Cordyline Flowers

[D. Morrowii]

Hey, always nice to see happy plants! Happy Holidays!

[palmfriend]

That is an amazing collection and thank you for your detailed documentation here on palmtalk!

As said before - your garden is already good looking but it is going to be spectacular in a couple years -

please keep the good work going!

Happy Holidays from Okinawa!

 

Lars

 

[kinzyjr]

Since it is officially spring, time to kick off the spring update with a few teasers. 

First, the bad news:

My smaller Atlantic Tall coconut handled the freezes in 2022 fine, but tossing a bunch of hardscaping materials in the bed proved to be enough to send it into decline.  From last October until a few weeks ago, it was reduced to one barely alive frond.  It became obvious it needed to be removed and head to the mulch pile.  One of the small Nannorrhops ritchiana rotted right after the last rain and was removed.  While taking the Borassus aethiopum out of the pot, it came out quicker than anticipated and went crown-first down onto the stone below.  The leaves were all damaged and it may not recover.  It's currently in the ground and we'll probably have the verdict on it by fall.  The orange and lime tree were removed due to citrus greening.  They weren't long for the world anyway.  One of the Veitchia arecina ended up with that weird crown rot.  It's still pushing spears, but whether it recovers is in question.

Now some good news:

With the passing of the smaller Atlantic Tall, the entire bed was then an open slate since that was the only plant in that bed.  Fellow Polk gardener, @Plantking165, donated a recently sprouted Panama Tall coconut to the effort to restore the garden bed.  There were two pineapple plants in pots that were added to the bed, along with one small Adonidia merrillii that was getting shaded out further down in the yard.  The big blue box retailer had Syagrus schizophylla for sale, so I grabbed one and added it to the top of the bed by the sea grapes.  Please forgive the leaf litter - my sea grapes thing it's fall.

Since the Bismarckia perished after it was moved, the choice was starting from seed of just buying a new plant.  Since it had to occupy the area where the citrus were removed, option 2 it is:

After seeing Latania lontaroides at the big blue box, the decision to give one of these a roll of the dice was hard to pass up.  Possibly an annual, but we'll find out:

With the overall mild winter, the Aloe had no issues flowering:

That's it for the moment.  Several areas are under renovation.

[D. Morrowii]

I prefer plan A whenever possible too but if you lose 1 or 2 years on one its time for plan B! 

[flplantguy]

A Latania in a big box is interesting, i need to stop one day and see what mine have.  Most unusal thing in years past are the spindles i got last year. Maybe before im old there will be some other neat additions.

[Merlyn]

Schizophylla at the big blue store?  I'd buy that one in a hearbeat!  

[RainforestCafe]

@kinzyjr your yard looks great, all those things you grew from seed in the front yard are incredible. Have you had any issues with lethal bronzing with any of those Phoenix palms? Also, how long have you had the satakentia? It looks really happy there!

2 hours ago, Merlyn said:

Schizophylla at the big blue store?  I'd buy that one in a hearbeat!  

@Merlyn the "big blue store" has been getting a little crazy in my area. I was shocked when I went in there the other day. I'm so used to them only having the same 5 palms all the time. But they had tons of old man palms, a really nice thick Schizophylla, some archontophoenix, a bunch of big licuala grandis, latanias, coconuts, spindles, bottles, and some other stuff that I can't even remember. I'm wondering if it has to do with the USDA zone map being updated 😂 

[kinzyjr]

17 hours ago, RainforestCafe said:

your yard looks great, all those things you grew from seed in the front yard are incredible. Have you had any issues with lethal bronzing with any of those Phoenix palms? Also, how long have you had the satakentia? It looks really happy there!

Thank you! 

I haven't had any of the Phoenix palms succumb to Lethal Bronzing yet, but a Sabal palmetto close by just bit the dust from it, so it's in the area.  You can't rule it out as far as it happening in the future.  For now, the worst problem on them is leaf skelotonizer.

I've had the Satakentia liukiuensis since October 2019.  It was purchased at the Searle Fall Sale in 2019 before Jeff retired.

20 hours ago, Merlyn said:

Schizophylla at the big blue store?  I'd buy that one in a hearbeat!  

There were some of the same palms that @RainforestCafe mentioned at our store.  The prices are pretty high from my point of view, though.  It may, in fact, be due to the promotion this area received to zone 10a.

[Merlyn]

@kinzyjr I was picking up some fertilizer and "topsoil" at the big blue box store today, and spotted Latania and Schizophylla in the palm area!  If I hadn't already bought a Schizophylla from last spring's CFPACS meeting, I definitely would have picked one of them.  I still might do it anyway... 

[kinzyjr]

On 4/8/2024 at 4:47 PM, Merlyn said:

@kinzyjr I was picking up some fertilizer and "topsoil" at the big blue box store today, and spotted Latania and Schizophylla in the palm area!  If I hadn't already bought a Schizophylla from last spring's CFPACS meeting, I definitely would have picked one of them.  I still might do it anyway... 

Not to encourage more impulse buying, but I did add quite a few items to the bullpen at the CFPACS Meeting in Lutz.  They'll be getting their call up to the big leagues shortly:

2 x Chrysalidocarpus pembana + Kerriodoxa elegans

Sabal mexicana + Hybrid Red Spicata coconut + Sabal causiarum + Livistona saribus

Coccothrinax ? + Pritchardia thurstonii + Sabal ?

[kinzyjr]

We'll start this post with a list of corrections made through the life of the thread:

• Chrysalidocarpus pembana (Dypsis pembana) : Up to this point, the palm in the "Dypsis bed" that was referred to as Dypsis pembana or its updated name, Chrysalidocarpus pembana, is probably Allagoptera arenaria or at least an Allagoptera of some kind.
• Archontophoenix cunninghamiana: The palm that was gifted to me by @SubTropicRay and planted near the wood fence referred to in previous posts is a Ptychosperma; likely Ptychosperma elegans.  There is another pair of Archontophoenix cunninghamiana in a bed surrounded by stones and/or a circular bed in previous photos.  Those are the real deal.
• Butia catarinensis: This is Roystonea regia.  The mix-up here appears to have come from a pot that had an old label on it.  A Roystonea regia seed bought at the Fall 2018 CFPACS Meeting was sprouted in a pot with the old label still attached. Appreciate @Zeeth weighing in after several other posters commented that the droopy leaflets gave this away as a mistake.

One more loss:

Livistona saribus: You would think that squirrels would want nothing to do with this palm, but one chewed the roots apart and left the top half laying in the yard.

Work in Progress:

• Removal: Pulled the Medemia argun and Nannorrhops ritchiana.  If I grow these again, I'll strictly pot grow them since they don't require watering and I have a "heated pad" area to set 'em and forget 'em now.  The Brahea hybrid from @DoomsDave also had to be moved as it was in decline.  It is currently potted in the garage to see if it will go on the mend.
• Desert Bed: This will now include species from wet subtropics, so more of a hardy fan palm bed than a desert bed.  Still under renovation. 90% sure I'll end up removing the Borassus that hit the rocks.  The primary palms in the bed are Washingtonia filifera and
• Northwest Border Garden: Undergoing grade change that may get finished tomorrow while all of the planes are flying out of Sun N' Fun.  The new look will probably require a retaining wall.
• Salvage Operation: Two volunteer Wodyetia bifurcata popped up near the fence from discarded seeds.  Since I've been moving stuff out of the bullpen and into the ground, these were moved into pots for the time being.

Repotting:

Desert Rose ( Adenium obesum ) : The wooden bucket pot for this plant had disintegrated to the point where the bottom was completely gone and the sides would crack and break if the pot was moved.  This was potted up into a standard black nursery pot that was taller to provided better drainage.

Kerriodoxa elegans: This has been moved into a standard nursery pot and placed in the rack to keep the squirrels from eating it.

New Additions:

Sabal mauritiiformis: Moved to the hardy fan palm bed.

Livistona benthamii: Also added to the hardy fan palm bed after buying this at the Leu Spring Plant Sale.  The bed will need weeded once renovation is complete.

Broken concrete borders for the back nine (2 photos) : You can see borders around the Wodyetia bifurcata volunteers that popped up as well as the plants they happened to come up around, including a few Coccothrinax barbadensis (dussiana) from @DoomsDave and a Farfugium from @palmsOrl.  A coconut of an unknown variety was moved to this area as well.

[DoomsDave]

@kinzyjr keep us apprised!