All Activity

Yeah it’s definitely a thing. A few years back when I got down to -1.5C, a few species had blotchy dark, nearly black fronds including Howea belmoreana. I thought it was going to destroy the garden but nearly everything that did it recovered without damage. Even Pritchardia hillebrandii recovered only to show some minor spotting. Caryota obtusa too.

1.1C min a couple of nights ago. 1.8C min last night. Got lucky last night; we hit 1.8C at 2am but then got some cloud, drizzle, wind and fog roll in which bumped up temps to around 6C until morning. It’s still seriously chilly though; fog, 100% RH and about 8C at nearly midday. Duration of cold last night wasn’t long enough to attract frost at all last night. The previous morning we had ice on the cars, but frost didn’t seem to settle at all on fronds or grass which is a bit unusual and lucky at that temp from experience. So far no noticeable damage on anything; I’ve found it only tends to show up near instantly on some marginal stuff like the more tropical Chrysalidocarpus species if temps drop below 0C. I’m not sure we’ll be able to avoid that with the forecast for the next 3 nights.

I have 4 tall Ptychosperma elegans in the yard, and I was a little lax in cutting the inflorescences off one of them, so I decided to sow some seeds, and I've got some coming up. I don't have any seeds left, but I could have some more soon enough. Would anybody want them? I think they only grow in South Florida, so they can't be too popular, although they are quite elegant. Nick in Boca Raton

Pretty well much on the money. Only I would remove those foxtails for one reason , the mess they will make when they go to seed. And I would replace with Chambeyronias a much better choice for by a pool, for colour and a much cleaner palm and in WA any seeds on a Chambeyronia would be wanted, as the foxtails will fill a wheelbarrow up in one hit.

My Hyophorbe lagenicaulis is losing its bottle shape and has become more of a Cylinder. When this happened to yours, did it lose a little of its appeal? I still like mine, but I do miss its prior bottle shape.

I have a rare variegated Heliconia rhizome for sale. The plant is only moderately sized, 5 to 6 feet tall at maturity. The variegation is strong. It is not a cold-tolerant plant, but should be fine in South FL. $60. Plus shipping.

I have another Phenakospermum guyannense plant for sale that is actively growing in a pot. It sometimes takes a while for them to adjust to life in a pot after being dug up, but this one is taking off nicely. $100. plus shipping. The last one I sent to South FL arrived in 5 days, Hilo to Miami. Can't ship to CA.

They are some cold temps but nothing your plants can’t handle. Those green blotch ones I’ve seen after freezes here. Archontophoenix, Rhopalostylis, Livistona, Howea, Hedyscepe and I even think Trachycarpus do it. It either take a few hours or a few weeks depending on the species to disappear and the plants look fine afterwards. Something has to be happening at a cellular level. Maybe they manufacture ethylene glycol, antifreeze.

How are you going over there Tim. I’d be freaking at a 2C forecast. I get worried when they forecast a 5C for Albany. My area is almost always lower than the forecast especially on a clear still night.

Nice looking palm . I don’t have any Copernica’s in my garden , but I have others that will set their barbs in skin if you get too close. Harry

@thyerr01 The winter plan is to dig up a few of the stalks, put it in some really airy, chunky mix, and keep it alive in the greenhouse for the winter.

Some of my Dwarf Areca Catechu palm trees have started to ripen their fruits. Seeds are $35. for 20 seeds.

Landa, New Braunfels. They're actually going out of their way to prune these Robustas. Hopefully that means they're gonna let them grow tall.

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!