Suburban block, Darwin, Australia.

[greysrigging]

I'm a lapsed enthusiast. Started collecting 30 years ago. At one time I had 85 different species growing on my block. I have let the hobby slide over the years, as one does with the changing of life's priorities. Many palms in my yard have died off naturally, many others have self seeded and renewed life on my smallish house block. Thought I would share a few pics. Some species I can remember, some the identity is lost due to the passage of time, perhaps some enthusiasts here on this forum can identify some of the palms pictured.

Corphya Elata ( Utan now is it ? ) This speciman about 28 years old. Native to the wetlands east of Darwin.

Cant remember this one. Maybe Livistonia Chinensis ?

This is a Darwin region native Livistonia Benthamii

Big old Sugar Palm in the background....Arenga Pinnata ? Ptychosperma Macarthurii ( also a Darwin native species ) in the foreground.

Can't remember this one ?

Normanya Normanbyi or Queensland Black Palm ( I think ? ) although it might be a Foxtail....i confuse the two sometimes,,,,

They are very slow growing, so 30 years ago I didn't foresee an issue with this location under the stairs.....Licuala Grandis, a Queensland rainforrest native.

No idea what these two are....I collected the seeds from the Darwin Botanical Gardens 20 odd years ago. Maybe from Madagascar or the Seyschells or Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean ? Or Bentinckia Nicobarica ? Wish I could find all my old notes......

 

 

 

[greysrigging]

We call 'em Alexandra Palms, an east coast Queensland native.

Youngish coconut.....regarded as a bit of a weed in Darwin.

Parent coconut of the previous plants pictured ( center of pic ) Carpentaria Palms, Darwin native on the right, Triangle Palm ( Dypsis Decaryi ) on the left.

Dypsis Decaryi.

 

Edited March 15, 2017 by greysrigging

[peachy]

You're a bit like me, I dont know what half the palms in yard are either. I think the 'Normanbya' is a foxtail however, the trunk looks much too pale.

 

[DoomsDave]

Mr. Grey!

Welcome back into the fold!

You have a garden we would kill and die for!

[greysrigging]

1 hour ago, DoomsDave said:

Mr. Grey!

Welcome back into the fold!

You have a garden we would kill and die for!

Except for this part.....haha

 

[DoomsDave]

All that stuff's great in the fire place.

[greysrigging]

3 hours ago, peachy said:

You're a bit like me, I dont know what half the palms in yard are either. I think the 'Normanbya' is a foxtail however, the trunk looks much too pale.

 

I thought so too, but the seeds are not as big (only half the size ) of a foxtail so I'm not sure.

[doranakandawatta]

OMG, it's wonderful and it looks like my collection I could see from my grave after my death !
So much looking forward!

Thanks for sharing. 

 

[Chris G]

3 hours ago, greysrigging said:

I thought so too, but the seeds are not as big (only half the size ) of a foxtail so I'm not sure.

I'm fairly certain it is a Normanbya. The trunk is too narrow and tall to be a foxtail, their are a stand of Normanbya's in the Townsville Palmetum with similar coloured trunks so it's not too pale.

[Tyrone]

2 hours ago, Chris G said:

I'm fairly certain it is a Normanbya. The trunk is too narrow and tall to be a foxtail, their are a stand of Normanbya's in the Townsville Palmetum with similar coloured trunks so it's not too pale.

Definitely Normanbya. A Wodyetia would be a big fat thing especially in Darwin.

[greysrigging]

Some more photos of palms growing on my house block. Used to have a natural hedge of Golden Canes on the front fenceline, but they've just about died out now. Still, a couple have regrown....

Chinese Fan Palm ?

ID required please.....cant remember these two.

A pair of Cuban Royals that I grew from seed collected at the Darwin Botanical Gardens in 1989. Used to have a row of six in front of my house, but over the years they have died off. These two are the survivors. Royals do very well in Darwin and are very common.

This is a date palm, maybe Canary Island variety. I grew it from seed collected in Alice Springs. They are not that common in the northern tropics and this one does not really thrive, but it is healthy enough to produce fruit, which is very unusual in our climate.

This is the palm all residents of Darwin love to hate ! Carpentaria Acuminata. Messy frond  dropping weeds we all reckon. Their prolific setting of seed attracts fruit bats, Torres Strait Pigeons and bush rats. The mess caused by critters eating the seeds is woefull, capable of stripping the paint off your car. 

Can't remember the name of this one.....wicked spikes on the trunk and frond stems

Another Sugar Palm that has not really thrived in this location.

A Livistonia of some sort maybe ?

Licuala Ramsayii......also grown from seed. Thrives in the full shade of my back yard rain forrest

 

Arenga Australiastica

http://www.oznativeplants.com/plantdetail/Australian-Arenga-Palm/Arenga/australasica/zz.html

My one is in full shade and while healthy, is very slow growing.

Bit hard to tell, but this is a Queen Palm ( or Arecastrum Romanzoffianum ). Not commonly grown in Darwin. My best speciman died last year after 25 years. My surviving one still produces prolific amounts of seed....in fact they are a bit weedy really. In south east Queensland they are regarded as a weed. Seed spouts within 6 weeks of falling in Darwin,  I'm forever pulling the seedlings out. I wonder if the humble Queen Palm is the most climatically diverse palm in the world. I have seen them growing in Launceston, Tasmania, Melbourne, Perth and of course here in Darwin. Some very different climate zones amongst those locations !

Remnants of my dead Queen Palm

A Washingtonia I think.....this plant was one of two palms in the garden when I bought this house in 1987

Cant remember this one......

Foxtail I think

Unknown.....lost in the mists of time.....lol

Fishtail Palm Caryyota Mitis.....very weedy in Darwin.

 

[steve99]

Nice collection mate.   

 

 

 

[comic097]

Very nice Doug, and welcome mate, how bigs ya property 

[greysrigging]

2 hours ago, comic097 said:

Very nice Doug, and welcome mate, how bigs ya property 

Its just a house block about 900sq/m

[Mohsen]

Beautiful , thanks Doug for sharing...

wish I could grow just one of your weed here ( coconut)  

BTW, how's property market over there?

maybe one day I buy a piece of land there 

[greysrigging]

8 hours ago, Mohsen said:

Beautiful , thanks Doug for sharing...

wish I could grow just one of your weed here ( coconut)  

BTW, how's property market over there?

maybe one day I buy a piece of land there 

In my experience  the humble coconut is a very 'tropical' plant. I haven't really seen them growing much further south than the coastal Queensland/NSW border. Even balmy and relatively  mild Sydney coast doesnt have coconuts growing.

Darwin house market is in a bit of a slump atm but still fairly pricey. About 500k-800k in my suburb.

[greysrigging]

On 3/17/2017, 3:01:38, comic097 said:

 

A few more photos....this years 'Wet' is still powering on. Another 50mm in an overnight storm.....garden loves it ! Self sown Ptychosperma Macarthurii is a Top End NT native that thrives in the artificial conditions of a well watered suburban back yard. I literally have thousands of germinating seedlings and I am forever thinning them out.

Chamaedorea of some description ? perhaps Seifrizii.....very robust and healthy in a partially shaded understory location.

Ptychosperma Macarthurii self seeded in the back yard.

This is without a doubt the most evil palm species on the planet ! Lawyer Cane Vine or 'wait-a-while' Why I planted this mongrel thing in my yard I'll never know. Universally loathed by all Queenslanders. The sort of plant that takes pleasure in drawing blood as you walk by......

 

 

[greysrigging]

Big old Royal Palm. They do very well in our climate and frequently set viable seed. The one in the top left hand of the pic is known locally as a single stem Golden Cane......dont know why as they look nothing like the clumping golden cane. Dypsis Decipiens, a native of Madagascar, they do very well in the suburbs of Darwin. This one is the best I have seen in Darwin and also produces viable seed.

Dypsis Decipiens.

Ptychosperma Elgans.....single stem MacArthur palm we call 'em.

Another Arenga Australis

Very neglected Raphis ? Oh I cant remember this one's name.....

 

 

 

 

 

[doranakandawatta]

 A Livistona saribus?

[doranakandawatta]

Wonderful garden and pictures 

Many thanks

 

[greysrigging]

On 17/03/2017, 20:42:48, Mohsen said:

37 minutes ago, doranakandawatta said:

 A Livistona saribus?

Yes I think it is now you mention it. Evilly armored  spikes  on the frond stems and trunk.

[greysrigging]

The 'Wet' continues....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhvSg5nvPGo&feature=youtu.be

Edited March 25, 2017 by greysrigging

[greysrigging]

More rain.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKkO1_JdzUo&feature=youtu.be

[greysrigging]

I've recorded 1600mm ( 64" )since 1st January.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp07JtsIgdo&feature=youtu.be

[Stethoscope]

That is some nightly rain! Thanks for posting the great pics and descriptions. How much rain do you receive in the dry season? 

[greysrigging]

April the rainfall drops off to about 100mm ( 4" ) then only 20mm in May. June, July and August are generally completely  dry as is September  more often than not. Occasionally  we get the last storms in May ( last year I had a 38mm or inch and a half on the 20th .....a real bonus for the garden at the beginning of  the 'Dry' ). The rains began early last year also with the first storms in September. We can grow almost all equatorial  and tropical palms in Darwin but the long 'Dry' means  lots of supplemental  irrigation  for 4 or 5 months of the year. 

[greysrigging]

Went around to a mates place for a few beers and a roast dinner on Saturday night. This is the view from the front and rear of his house. Most properties rebuilt after Cyclone Tracy in 1974 are extensively planted with Palms. The heyday of palm plantings in the suburbs of Darwin was the 1980/'90's. Not so common nowadays.

 

 

[greysrigging]

I have Triangle Palms planted on my nature strip. A very hot and harsh environment with irregular watering hasn't deterred them from flowering and setting viable seed. I have lost a few to the dreaded wilt but the 3 survivors are thriving on wet season rain and dry season neglect.

An interesting 'out of climate zone' plant is also growing at the foot of one of my Triangles, a Midnight Cactus or Epiphyllum Oxypetalum. I took cuttings from my mothers garden near Sydney 20 odd years ago and the plant thrives out on my nature strip in full sun. The flowering in Darwin always coincides with a downpour of rain, usually a heavy thunderstorm at the build up to the 'Wet' then later monsoonal bursts of rain promote flowering. This season I have recorded 7 individual flowering periods of up to a dozen or more flowers. A record flowering season for me. And a good chance of one more in April/May if we get a late downpour or two

These photos taken this morning at 4.00am.

 

[greysrigging]

I have taken a few more photos of my palm collection from a slightly different perspective.......from the roof of my tropical elevated house. My solar hot water service has died a natural death due to old age, so i have been up on the roof unbolting it in prepartion for a new replacement in the next day or so. Some urgency about it all as this is our 'Winter with night time temps falling to 17c and cold showers at this time of the year is a bit ordinary.....haha.

My two Queensland black palms ( Normanbya ) seem healthy enough. One is seeding  but viewed from treetop level they have that typical suburban yellow tinge that indicates some sort of mineral deficiency in the soil. Normans and Foxtails in particular grown in cultivation away from their native habitat show this tendancy, Very noticeable in Townsville last week. Mine are not stressed for water and I fertilize about twice a year but I think I am not giving them a balanced hit of the nutrients they require.

These two specimens I grew from seed collected at the Botanical Gardens in Darwin.....cant for the life of me remember what they are.....setting seed at the moment.

My Livistonia Benthami is a very healthy specimen.....as it should be, as it is native to the Darwin region.

Corypha Utan still going strong in the back yard jungle...

Solitare Palm.....this one is healthy, but many of my Ptycosperma's,  Elegans and MacArthuris succumb to wilt. It might be an age thing in my yard perhaps but many seemingly healthy Ptychospermas and Carpentarias suddenly give up the ghost. Queens and Royals as well.

This one is a goner....

These pair of Royals are 29 years old....grown from seed collected locally..

Carpentarias

Alexanders

My big old Sugar Palm is just about on its last legs....being monocarpic it has almost flowered to the base and these seed will most likely be the last it produces. 30 years old this year.

A couple more shots from the roof.....

And finally....I hope to have hot water in the next few days....lol !

Edited June 21, 2017 by greysrigging
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