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Copernicia cowellii and macroglossa also appearing , just to document their growth progression in a desert environment...🌴 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

JD making it all the way to Texas…. Those look great. So many categories and types of Crotons. It’s a OCD’s dream. Someday I’ll get my hands on “Bermuda Red”.

Say what? Have never heard of this species before. Looked it up and there it was. Has quite a wide range and I wonder why it appears to be uncommon in cultivation. Is it because it’s such a slow grower? I bet Larry Noblick would know. Tim

Hit Kyle’s link. You won’t be disappointed!

I have a few Syagrus species in the garden and yes, they are all much slower growers than S. romanzoffiana.

It seems like yesterday that in my garden there were only small palm trees, now some reach the roof of the house

That is beautiful. I've had one in the ground for some time now, and in the last few years it seems to be growing. Is there a size where you noticed that it took off from? Aspiring to see trunk in my life let alone half the size of your specimen.

Those are some really great finds. Beautiful!

I also like epiphytes, but because I have 2 hectares of native araucaria forest here and our climate is wet ( 1600 mm/ year) I sometimes have to remove the excess of growth on the palm trunks specially some ferns.

Hey Jayce. The bug has well and truly bitten. Well done. You have done a good thing taking early shots of the garden. Keep adding progress shots and you will be amazed by the growth over the years. We will enjoy it too. I see you’ve planted bamboo too. That’s my sort of garden. In 5 years time that will be a thick jungle. Keep the water and fertiliser up in summer and it will explode. 😁🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴

Great Job scott! Slow growing palms have a special reward for those patient enough to grow them!

Stoplight recovered slowly after 2021 in South Texas but they did recover and haven’t been bothered much since, at least in urban areas. It is one of the best crotons for here, having that rare combination of hardiness plus good color. I also have something from Jesse Durko that he used to call Super Stoplight, so far it seems to be as good as the original. My personal favorite the past few years has been one that I think is Caribbean Star, it has been easier to coax consistent color out of it on my bad alkaline well water.

Hello :) , 3 days ago I soaked the seeds with warm water inside a container. Today on 6th of July 2026 I started to plant them each one in a small pot! Don't worry I'll always update on this palm whenever I can!

Very full plate there! Looking good , as they get larger they will create a very lush jungle . Thank you for sharing. Harry

Lower rain chances yet again today through the week, i expect another dry month for the totals based on the latest forecasts and the projected precip graphic. More onshore wind and the gulf is hot enough now it keeps it between 80 and 95 with sunny skies. The desert gardens will like it, the type of garden i moved to florida to get away from🤦. Im going to look into sonoran desert cacti and middle eastern plants that handle zone 9 well with high humidity. Too bad saguaro dont like the humidity, the soil is dry enough most of the time.

I'm a big fan of lots of epiphytes. I feel like they add a depth to the garden and give it a more tropical feel. I say leave all of it!

I assume they'd be reasonably easy to layer or divide? Even so, I guess you only get a few new plants a year, rather than potentially hundreds from seed, hence the scarcity?? Are both sexes in cultivation??? Many questions!

That’s a great start Jayce, looks good! I can tell you’re already a full blown palm nutter when you’re using the new correct name Ptychosperma propinquum for the old P macarthurii 🙂. Very glad to have played some part in adding a new member to this obsession!

Take no prisoners Jayce. That's a fearless plunge into the murky depths of addiction...good stuff!

This used to be in old Brownsville, it is long gone but I’m not sure why

I noticed a Web shop was selling Chamaerops vulcano seeds at a reasonable price so I went ahead and ordered some. Since I'm in Australia and the shop is in Spain I ordered the Phyto certificate and UPS shipping. Since the order was made I've been told 4 times that the seeds were due to be inspected and sent in the next day or two and then silence. The seeds were probably ordered about 3 months ago now. In fairness the owner did give me a partial refund for some of the cost of the seeds for the delay but the communication and customer service has been terrible. If you live in Europe and don't require a Phyto certificate then Palmseedling.com might be great. If you do require a Phyto with your seed order then I would order with caution as you may be in for a long and frustrating wait. Regards Neil

The dioon you have is a spectacular example of one. They do get a little spiky and even when dry on the ground as mulch they still spike you. Shade or sun they are both equally as good. But I prefer the shade growing ones. And I just love my gardening it’s that simple for me when iam in my garden, it’s my dream land! Richard

Beautiful!

Hi all, been on a here for a few months now just quietly observing and learning from the wealth of knowledge. Thought I'd make an introduction with my garden and make a bit of a log of progress as I go. I'm based in a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia which from what I understand has a bit of unique temperate/mediterranean climate of hot/dry summers and cold/wet winters. Frost is possible but very rare in my area really only getting to lows of 2°c/35°f Perth is known to have some of the worst sandy nutrient deficient soils in Australia however we are quite lucky in my area to have a bit of a mix of sandy topsoil and moist clay subsoil. We purchased our modest 900sqm/9687sqf property 8 years ago without a single tree or garden other than a just starting to trunk, Syagrus romanzoffiana. For a few years we didn't have much of a garden other than a few randomly placed frangipani trees and native grasses whilst we focused on renovating inside the house. (I have never been much of green thumb or even cared all much about gardens till recently.) Most of my time and money went on modifying and drift racing cars but all that changed when I inherited a 30 year old severely stunted A. cunninghamiana and asked on the facebook group for identification where @tim_brissy_13 replied that it was infact a native palm to Australia and that peaked my interest (Before then in my eyes all palms were messy cocos/queen or washingtonia palms) It was all downhill from there when I started to hyperfocus and research all about different species of palms and botanical nomenclature which sort of itched something with my autism and love of new knowledge. Fast forward to just over a year back I decided to hand dig out cubic tonnes of sand and grass to create gardens whilst collecting as many palms I could get my hands on. We have quite strict biolaws here and are not able to bring live plants over the border quite easily from the eastern states so its quite limited to seeds only or buying from the limited palm specialist nurseries. I have made a fair few mistakes resulting in sun and wind burnt palms, placing stuff in wrong locations and also over crowding stuff a bit too much but will hopefully all be worth it one day. For now it's just creating the canopy which i'm hoping the mass planted Archontophoenix will provide. Very happy to have criticism or advice with my work in progress. Anyhow my current list of species is as follows: Adonidia merrillii Areca catechu Archontophoenix alexandrae Archontophoenix alexandrae × cunninghamiana Archontophoenix cunninghamiana Archontophoenix maxima Archontophoenix myolensis Archontophoenix purpurea Archontophoenix tuckeri Bismarckia nobilis Carpentaria acuminata Caryota albertii Caryota mitis Chamaedorea atrovirens Chamaedorea elegans Chamaedorea elatior Chamaedorea klotzschiana Chamaedorea radicalis Chamaedorea seifrizii Chamaedorea tepejilote Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. flavopicta Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. hookeri Chrysalidocarpus decaryi Chrysalidocarpus lastelliana Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos Chrysalidocarpus madagascariensis Chrysalidocarpus pembanus Chrysalidocarpus lutescens Howea forsteriana Hyophorbe lagenicaulis Hyophorbe verschaffeltii Livistona decora Phoenix roebelenii Pinanga coronata var. kuhlii Ptychosperma elegans Ptychosperma nicolai Ptychosperma propinquum var. macarthurii Ravenea rivularis Rhapis excelsa Roystonea regia Syagrus romanzoffiana Trithrinax acanthocoma Wodyetia bifurcata House when we bought it, nothing but dead grass. South facing patio garden, quite shady. Have A. purpurea, A. cunninghamiana, Howea forsteriana, Pinanga kuhlii, Rhapis excelsa, and Chamaedorea sp scattered. Hoping one day the bigger palms will emerge and make the canopy to replace the shade cloth. 3x Wodyetia biffurcata for the newly installed pool area. We are in the middle of winter right now so everything looks a bit ratty. This area has alot squished in here however they are all very young specimens and hard to make out. There is about 20x young Archontophoenix sp planted along the rear fence line to make the canopy one day and a mix of Wodyetia, Carpentaria, C. madagascariensis, lutescens, pembanus, Bismarkia and two Areca catechu. Little garden leading to my wifes veggie area. 3x double planted Archontophoenix sp, Chambeyronia watermelon and a hookeri, C. leptocheilos (Not doing too well) and a Wodyetia to the left. Work in progress area, have some small fish and frogs down here. Just a Chamaedorea elatior and a tepejilote amongst other plants and my small potted seedlings. This side has the Archontophoenix albang hybrids multiplanted, Roystonea regia, Ptychosperma macarthurii, Carpentaria acuminata, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis and verschaffeltii, Chysalidocarpus lastelliana. Other side of the front more Archontophoenix sp multiplanted, Wodyetia biffurcata, Adonidia merrilli, Carpentaria acuminata, Ravenea rivularis, Ptychosperma elegans, Roystonea regia, C. lutescens and a solitary pembanus, Chamaedorea radicalis. Thanks for reading my ramblings. Jayce.