All Activity

My only concern is the space. The Butia needs a radius of 6 to 8 feet. Beccariophoenix, double that. 12 to 15 ft radius for fronds.

Another Chambeyronia anyone!

I shall start this thread, this way when I plant a few more things in the garden it will be found here, and what a joy it will be, theres a lot to planted! So the new plants for today are kerriodoxas and chamaedorea adscendens a little reindhardtia gracilis a philodendron hose buono and a Zamia variegata. This little batch should get the garden looking good from the deck.

I think that’s a majesty there. Double the frond length of the Pindo, and double the base size of the majesty for your model.

I can relate to that having a challenge, my humidity rarely drops below 60 percent. It is possible to relate a microclimate but as you say your humidity is not on your side, plus the cost of setting up such an artificial environment and then the ongoing costs of keeping that environment. It might be time for a large greenhouse if you have the room and install an irrigation system. Iam up against the cold in my garden, but 2 degrees Celsius I can live with. Richard

Latania new frond

Why not do it. Sounds like a fun experiment and if any seeds are produced please put me in line.

Just came back from a trip to the far east and saw a few interesting plants & landscaping related things I want to share. First of all, an interesting tree label of Liquidambar formosana in Suzhou, China. It contains of multiple pieces of bamboo planks and held around the trunk with springs. Next, in the city of Santou, China I saw this really interesting tree in the middle of a sidewalk, it has two trunks fused together, probably had some major trauma? The use of slices of cut tree trunks as stepping stones in a park is very interesting. In South Florida this may last a week before a rain storm and everything will just float away. In Hong Kong, they have ficus everywhere, and some grow on walls. I have posted about my love/hate realationship with my Ficus benjamina, but here are some ficus (not sure which cultivar) trees. Another ficus grown on a wall. Here is yet another massive one. Close up picture of the leaves for identification. In Chaozhou, China I saw some barrel roof tiles being used as landscape borders. On the roof top garden of Hangzhou, China, they have this tiled walkway, the entire walkway made of very thin curved tiles stacked vertically. I have never seen it done this way before. Definitely very ZEN.

Check the update for February 2026 https://noastats.netlify.app/

I found a place called palm plantation that have the alfredii at the size I want. Im in a dilemma now. Which should I choose? Everything I read says they can handle high heat and are hardy to 25 degrees. I don’t think we’ve ever been lower. At least not within the last 20-30 years. Anyone have any experience with coconut queens? Are they worth the higher price tag? Will they provide the tropical look im after?

Next set of actors on the " Spring Season " Botanical Stage : Vachellia farinesia starting to really kick into gear after several hot days.. Flowering enough now that the scent will waft across the street at night from time to time. A muchly subdued " Grape Soda Season ".. Could be the hot winter, Could be the lack of rains but ..while they are blooming, overall, this years' show isn't as great as others for the TX Mtn Laurel across the street / elsewhere around the neighborhood. Bursera fageroides continuing to take it's time shedding seed. ..while it and B. silviae, from the pacific section of Oaxaca in far southern Mexico, start showing signs of awakening form their winter naps. Will be interesting to see if it ( B. silviae ) has an enhanced flowering cycle this year. Can't remember which year it was but, after a similarly mild winter, it exploded with flowers. Much more than it has in subsequent years. Wet looking branch tips = good sign these trees ..the ones that go nekked for the winter, will be leafing out shortly. Uncarina peltata awakening ...about 3 - 4 weeks ahead of schedule. Adenium x also responding to the heat. Other specimen next to it has started moving again as well. Clitoria mariana = Love that blood red, new foliage. As with the winter / dry season - dormant Bursera, Wet / glossy looking stem / branch tips = next step in Plumeria awakening from their naps.. Watching the second carefully since, if ..what looks like a hint of inflo formation to come is legit, it would the first of the seedling plants to attempt flowering. Erythrostemon palmeri responding as expected to this weeks' heat Penstemon palmeri and Oenothera pallida trial plots coming along nicely.. weird how they are much further along than the P. palmeri i planted against an east facing wall, that gets sun earlier than the plants planted in the back bed that gets sun until it descends over the back wall. Fingers crossed but, this attempt at growing ..which ever.. Asclepias species i'd collected down south is looking like it might succeed. Wild Sunflowers should be in bloom ..shortly.. Senna polyantha, currently hidden behind the Sunflowers, is also starting to move. While it won't be a great year for these TX natives either, at least this years batch of Lupinus texanus made it ..Most of 'em, lol.

Life is short. Go for it.

With some time I too have seen some damage. One of my mules is starting to brown off and the newest spear looks bad. Another year and yet again I see damage on a needle palm. It ended up spear pulling. They are so finicky when young. I lost one the first summer and last winter 3/4 had damage. I’ve seen damage on needle palms before yet somehow every Sabal minor I’ve ever had, at any size, in any weather condition have never been damaged. After growing many of both of these species, in two totally different climates, for over a decade, there is literally nothing to convince me that needle palms are the most cold hardy palm. Sabal minor is the GOAT.

Here is Parry’s Chilensis a couple years ago.

@Harry’s Palms has been watering so why not let the elephant have a bit of a bath!

That’s one of the reasons iam posting pictures of seeds and germinated seedlings so it can be used as reference, might as well make good of something 🤣 Most seedlings require shade, not deep shade but shaded, we wouldn’t put a baby in the sun straight out hospital so it makes sense for the seedlings 🌱 Richard

I mentioned about my coconut earlier. I got the ladder out today to try and get as close to the spear as possible. Pic on left is from a few days after the freeze where I put a sharpie on a long stick to make a mark. The right is today. Spear pushed up over 12" it's opening and I'm seeing green. If I marked the petiole, odd that it's more brown when the petioles exposed to the freeze are still green. This is what I did the last month: Copper fungicide x 2 14 days apart Root stimulator Recovery mix applied to soil. It's like a very light fertilizer Banrot Watered well once a week Now I'm leaving it alone and see what happens.

My Uruguay queen was not damaged by the 20F we had.

It may. They really should treat with fungicide if they haven't. It is stressed and just figuring things out.

Petioles look fine, I think it will make it.

Found this really cool looking native Sabal minor in Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina https://maps.app.goo.gl/u4ZFpZCw9YUR8di47

Two different tipe of insertions of the leaflets on Chamaedoreas of two different pots..... Are both C. glaucifolia? 20260228_104700.heic 20260228_104747.heic

I believe untrimmed is more natural, and beautiful just because of that reason. I also believe in a self-sustaining environment as opposed to just synthetic fertilizer applications, or weed/bug killer applications. I do believe in synthetic fertilizer applications mixed with self-sustaining environments however. By self-sustaining environments I mean that the fruit is formed, falls when ripe, gets eaten by whatever microscopic bugs are down in the soil, gets transformed into fertilizer for the plant. I attached an image of bugs working hard at night after an application of Unsulfured Blackstrap Molasses Just my opinion.

Yes, the summer is the rainiest season.