All Activity

There you go ….taunting me!😊Harry

That's true - but most cities in the state aren't Chattanooga. In the state as a whole, Brazoria palmettos are a safer bet, and even that would be very marginal in Cookeville. The cabbage palmettos In-N-Out tried in Lebanon already perished in a single winter despite (and maybe because of) their attempt to cover them, and although thankfully the local backlash I feared hasn't arrived there, they were removed without being replaced. And I'm still fearful Putnam County and others - as well as the state overall - may overreact without the full picture and go the Shelby County way (even though it's not the likeliest outcome).

Copernicias from cuba always grow notably faster in full sun and warm temps. They are drought resistant palms, but prefer moist soil with high drainage to grow their best.

This year I managed to make 3 of metallica ones, in the photo the largest ones, the other one is opening the 1st leaf

Richard , how old is that Chuniophoenix ? It sure is beautiful , as well as the Cayptrogyne . I am sure , someday , a “ Chunio” will grace my garden. Another perfect palm for an already full garden . Small , loves shade , and very slow growing. Harry

Quite lovely , unique coloring and they love the warm temperate ( or sub tropical!) garden. All of mine are well over 30 years old in pots. One of them , somewhere along the line , produced a viable seed that sprouted about 6-7 years ago in one of the pots. I have to tie them up 3-4 stems per pot so the wind doesn’t destroy them. They are at least 7-8’ tall , including the pots. Harry Chamaedorea Metallica with their little buddy Ernie! Another pot of C. Metallica with a surprise volunteer that popped up a while ago . Now there is a C. Microspadix volunteer in the pot !I bought these in the early nineties when they were about 2’ tall. My palm collector friend said they may be much older than I think.

Well we landed back in Perth last night. I think winter has ended. This morning Perth had a minimum of 13C and we left when it was 27C. Total blue skies and reminded me of Townsville. Travelled home to the south coast and all the lakes and billabongs at my place are full. Got mushy soil around in areas especially around my Archontophoenix. The minimum was 14.7C this morning with a max of 24.2C and peak dewpoint of 16C. It feels like we are back in qld. The frogs are all singing loudly, all different species and songs. The midgees have come out of hibernation and going crazy by the billions. We can’t open the glass doors because the midgees are small enough to get through the fly screen holes then buzz around under the lights. It’s 8pm 16C and 91% humidity. Going for a min of 13C and a max of 23C then rain tomorrow night. High teens to low twenties after that. Single digits at night which is normal. But mid twenties we sometimes don’t see until October here and it’s still August. High dewpoints though are great at this time of year. August had quite a few 20C and higher max days which is weird. Somethings really different this year. The flight from Brisbane to Perth was one hour quicker than normal. The pilot said that the normal west east head wind was unusually non existent yesterday. In fact we had a tail wind. Something weird is going on with the atmosphere. This could be the year to expect the unexpected with the weather and throw the “rule book” away because it won’t be relevant. Anyway I’m enjoying the balmy night. It’s actually quite hot in the house because our house sitter kept the fire going continuously even on the warmer days. I’ve got a few more seeds germinating because of it. So I’m gonna call. Winters gone and maybe this year even spring will be short. Summer could be ferociously hot or wet if enough moisture builds in the atmosphere from the warmer than average oceans around Oz.

A couple more pics. Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana Chuniophoenix nana

Oooh the renda, to some the holy grail of palms. To me I see a dead palm in winter I don’t even entertain the idea of growing such beauty.

Linospadix minor in flower.

A nice trio of palms worth growing, a fine selection of collecters palms! Dypsis sp Calyptrocalyx yummutumune Chuniophoenix nana

Here’s a few more around the place @Than

Winter sun shining through on my young front palm garden.

The good old baronii, one palm that’s stood the test of time. Very tough and easy to grow, and tolerant of a lot of sun and heat. If I had a choice of baronii or golden cane the baronii is the winner for me, a lot neater looking and not a million leaves to pick up , a few but not a trailer load for that Sunday annual run to the waste centre. A great landscaping palm thats very predictable in growth, somewhat overlooked that should be planted more often.

A nice Kentiopsis oliviformis.

One little chamaedorea that you just can’t beat (not even an Ernest augustii comes close @Harry’s Palms) this beautiful palm with its deep metallic green leaves, that’s as tough as nails. This batch are all around 27 years old, so a lot to be said for my climate. I have worked out how to hand pollinate them with success in viable seeds. A neat little palm suitable for containers, perfect for the understory or wherever the shade is, they seem to prefer deep shade and will be lighter green in bright light areas. One top palm well worth growing!

Decent size transitioning split leaf causiarum for free to anyone in Willamette Valley - Oregon. I’m in Eugene, happy to send along with anyone up and down I-5 .. Salem, Portland.. etc

Yes the humidity is not a problem, they like warm soil. But they are slow regardless, they are called the queen of draceanas, and frost is definitely not there friend.

James, It might surprise you how close our average daytime highs are to yours. :)

This baby 'io (Hawaiian Hawk) was stuck here for a while today. It is probably it's first day out of the nest. The parents were flying around trying to encourage it. 'Io are endangered and only found on the Big Island, we have been lucky to have a pair nest around the property just about every year since we've been here.

It's very advantageous in terms of viability and known-good specimens as you indicated. Free seeds are also immune to inflation. 🙂 Do you have an approximate on the number of species that set viable seed in your area? Here it was up around 100 species until the cold snap this year. Looking over the list now, it's probably somewhere between 60-70 locally.

Do you have the high humidity it wants?

I have several Pindo Palms in my back yard. I live in Katy, Tx (clay soil) and I planted them about a year ago. They have all grown quite well. They started out as 3-gallon (about 3 feet tall) and now most are taller than the 8ft fence. I noticed that several have tiny brown spots on the fronds. I water these using drip lines. I increased watering from 2 days a week, to 3 days a week about a month ago due to the high heat. And because one of the palms has browning on the tips. I fertilize with Perfect Palm. I am not sure if these spots are normal, fungal, or because it’s been so hot. What do you guys think? This one really shot up in the last couple of months. This was originally smaller than the one to the left which was planted this year. You can see the little brown spots on the lower fronds.

Well, there are two over 70 ft specimen in Indian River County, zone 10a, one of which has been fruiting for years, and I know of one (much smaller, but still with over 10 feet of trunk at the moment) in Safety Harbor, FL, which is also 10a. So I wouldn't say that they are THAT delicate when it comes to temperatures. The one in Safety Harbor actually has survived the brief freeze of past winter with minimal damage, and has survived the freeze of 2010 (not sure if it was protected back then) when it was much smaller. https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/28765 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh0ro-gHQs0 I am not saying they can be cultivated in Central Florida without some care and protection especially when young, but they don't seem a "South Florida only" palm. Actually, now that I think about it, that house in Safety Harbor has two, not one although one seems to be much younger than the other one.

End of summer update ! The palm is loving our tropical weather we have had a lot this summer. Dew points have been close to 70 or higher, & temps have been in the high 90s. The palm is still a slow poke but I can see it definitely speeds up with heat !! 1 leaf opened with a spear chugging along !