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This is how to erase premature excitement about ending a drought

Nah, mild-as down here mate! My little forest that I started planting out 5 years ago has almost become self mulching. The wallabies have eaten the grass down to nubs and moss is taking over in the increasing shade of the trees. Getting to the stage now where planting out understory palms is looking promising. I imagine mulch breaks down pretty quickly in your climate Richard?

It makes a big difference in appearance and keeps the soil healthy. In hot weather, like we are experiencing this summer , the ground underneath the mulch stays moist longer . Harry

They are a good looking palm when grown right. Plenty in my hometown but they never set seeds even when planted in groups. They were so popular years ago, like you said as indoor palms now you see them outside of houses where the home grower got sick of them and planted them in the ground thinking they would stay a cute little indoor palm. I guess the only winner in this situation is the palm but gosh knows how many must have been killed indoors. They are a lovely palm and I reckon they look better in the shade than full sun. These one where planted out as tube stocks. Super tough.

Hello everyone ! I am new to this platform and very happy I found it ! Some palm fronds of my beloved kentia palm (howea foresteriana) are slowly turning brown… it had started maybe 4 months ago by the beginning of April. There are also some black parts along some of the plant stems. I already had to cut 3 smaler palm fronds as they had turned entirelly brown/yellow. I always made sure that the palm was never ‘over-hydrated’ and never exposed to full sun. Even though the palm obviously is weakened, it has grown a new healthy palm frond. Does maybe someone of you identity or recognize the main problem causing those symptoms? Perhaps it is a certain desease (fungal pathogens ?) If yes, I’d be so happy if you could give me some advice how to take care of the problem / if you have recommandations concerning products I should use. Thank you all so much. Best regards Livia

The danger in the beauty, and the beauty in the danger ‼️

Yep it just needs another ten years! How’s life in the freezer, anyone knock off your firewood yet!

Sure looks purdy!

I like the thought that has gone into that garden and it has a bit of age about it as well!

I finally got the mulch on the entrance garden to the house. Bit by bit makes a big job easy. It certainly does make a difference, easy on the eye water saving and feeding the soil plus a little extra warmth in soil temperature. Only another 30 cubic meters to go for the summer water savings!

Dypsis remotifolia and socratea rostrata both loving life in winter.

We had a decent 2 weeks but now everything recently shut off again also. Clear sky’s and no rains again. Exposed grass is dying despite irrigation. It’s just too hot and dry out in the open. Even after early morning irrigation, things are browning up that are exposed. I went out tonight to soak all the crotons which are wilting by early afternoon now. This will be the 3rd year in a row without a wet season to speak of. August looks to be a hot, dry bust. Hope now seems to lie with tropical systems as we approach peak hurricane months.

This is an Encephalartos cerinus male cone. It seems significantly larger than the prior cones this plant has produced. It will stretch a little more when it opens to expose all its pollen.

It has been a long time coming. A few weeks ago I gave up and was contemplating what I would plant after removing this apparent failure. A few days ago I noticed a little nub in the dirt. It is now clearly a new leaf. I need to check my photos to see exactly when these pups were removed but it must be close to three years ago. This is my last remaining Encephalartos nubimontanus pup to flush from the batch i removed.

Here’s an Encephalartos chimanimaniensis pushing out a flush in a crowded location, And here is a young Encephalartos laurentianus pushing out a tall flush. It was hard to get a good photo of it.

A few more unidentified Encephalartos flushing,

A few Encephalartos Longifolious flushing.

Thanks . A tornado destroyed what he originally planted in the mid 80’s. Most of what you see is from the 90’s and very early 2000’s.

this Chamaedorea radicalis, almost 11 years old from seed, courtesy of @doomsdave

They are real winner, iam surprised they take the cool weather well.

Lovely crownshaft of young Chrysalidiocarpus sp. mayotte. Almost looks like it should be in a pastry shop…

Those look very healthy there . I would have never thought that Fresno would be home to them. I bet he soaks them very well! Harry

My guess is the lighting. Copernicias LOVE lots of full blazing hot sun. Yours looks like its in filtered light.

Fantastique. Qu'allez-vous faire des jeunes plants ?

@Eric in Orlando Roughly the same here. Most of the deaths have been because folks removed stuff like Royals or Coconuts before giving it a shot to come back. @donalt The place looks great! Especially considering what went down in February! @Merlyn Pulling weeds, trunk cutting, and dumping daconil are scheduled events for this year's gardening decathalon. Your training should pay dividends. 😁