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Blue latania

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Did you ever find one? I saw there was a seller on Etsy that currently has them. I can't personally vouch for the seller but it doesn't look like a scammer. I have one in the ground in 6b Missouri and it's kicking butt, nowhere near trunking yet but really starting to put on size. I purchased from ethical desert but it was several years ago. Good luck

I received a AW2902 for Father’s Day… Thoughts on roof vs backyard mounting? Backyard should make the anomometer useless, roof makes the thermometer less useful. What’s the better tradeoff?

I know many recommend removing the seed stalk. This may be true but I'm inclined to leave them,I figure the plant knows how to take care of itself and may make it prone to disease or fungus. Wisconsin, man you're one of the few on this forum who have it worse than me. 20 years is legit in Wisconsin. Personally I'd just keep doing what you're doing because it seems to be working

I planted these Veitchia joannis as small 4" pots last year and they are rockets in our cool montane tropical conditions growing next to our coast redwood trees.

Right in the 🎯 bullseye. You could not ask for a better natural frame Tim.

@CocoPete yikes! I don't have any experience with this, but my first thought is that the rusty nail probably shouldn't stay there. Without the nail, maybe the wound would at least dry out with some sulfur powder and time. With the nail there, it doesn't have a chance tto "cure." I know a palm trunk won't ever really "heal" from a wound. But old cut tissue tends to dry out and turn grey, which might be better than nothing. The weeping would ordinarily be a sign of Thielaviopsis infection, but I'm not sure I'd assume that is the case.

@ck_in_fla yeah the two Royals I've been watching in the Lake Mary area are doing pretty well. The city abruptly cut down one Royal back in Februrary, and didn't give it a chance to recover. Almost all the Foxtails up this way died.

Hope to hear more about it, thanks for sharing

It looks like most of the street views over that way were last updated Nov. 2025. Peninsula Ave. and Atlantic Ave. typically showcase the better microclimates over that way. Last I spoke with the CFPACS president, his was recovering.

Just looking awfully photogenic this morning. Tim

Just tried to scam me. Here you go.

I am happy to report that my 40+ foot tall Royal Palm is pushing out new growth. I was very concerned because it is so close to the house. If it had succumbed to the cold, I would have had to call in someone with a crane to get it out of here. I couldn't take a chance it would fall on the house... But, it is growing. So, a mature Royal palm can survive brief cold down to 24 or 25F.

I have seen a squirrel eating a lubber last year (2025). It's the only time I have seen it, but I did some research and there is evidence that squirrels actually do snack on the occasional lubber, of course, not enough to help. I did take a picture of it, not sure if it's still on my phone or not. And, yes, I fight the lubber fight every year too, they love my spider and rain lilies most but also seem to eat anything else that is soft tissued, like my Asian pitcher plants (Nepenthes). I also do the roach spray when they hatch but try to use as little as possible. When they mature, I catch them and throw them in the lake. I tried putting them in the pitchers of my Nepenthes, but they always crawl out, I have even had them chew their way out, might be better for the plant anyway, don't know what their toxicity would do to the plant.

I grew up in rural eastern Oklahoma where I never saw palms in person. I didn't even enjoy gardening as a kid, since it meant hard work in hot weather. I did like the outdoors though, and I come from a line of florists and greenhouse owners. (Grandparents and great grandparents) After high school I was a missionary for a couple of years in region IV of the Philippines. I really enjoyed my time there, and I came to love the people and the land. Although I was happy to come home to the USA when my time was up, I have always missed the Philippines to some extent since then. I got into palms and tropicals because they reminded me of the landscapes of Laguna, Quezon, Batangas, and Mindoro. So, for the last twenty years I have been growing palms and making friends with any Filipinos I meet. It has been a fun way to stay connected with that part of my life, but that dormant gardener DNA in my family line woke up somewhere along the way. Gardening is now favorite hobby. Outside of family and work, palm growers and Filipino friends are some of the only people I keep up with. I am fast approaching the 20th anniversary of this photo from my last week or two in the Philippines: Bulaklak beach, near Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro. Late October 2006. Salamat sa pagbasa nyo!

Did any of the coconuts survive?

I just happened to be driving through Seguin today, and I spotted some nice old palmettos at a city park: Given their height, these are likely quite old. I imagine they have seen some pretty extreme cold, heat, and drought over the decades. I hope you all have a had a happy Father's Day!

2 days of 40C / 104F showing for Reading I am seeing nighttime minimums in the high 20’s C as well man…

I got mine from George Sparkman around 12 to 15 years ago. It wasn't the only one he had for sale, so yes, they are in some gardens. Shortly after I acquired mine, we visited Oahu. I rdcall seeing a large specimen in the Koko Crater Botanical garden. .

Someone is breeding them as I’ve seen seedlings for sale this year

Yesterday was the 15th consecutive day of +20c max temps in Sydney... in the winter month of June no less ! With records dating back to 1855, it's the longest such run in recorded weather history. I visited Warragamba Dam, south west of Sydney on Saturday; it was a glorious winters day, about 21c and even me, a Darwin resident in the deep north tropics, was comfortable wearing shorts.....

About 23 years ago Maurice Levin brought in some large E. Tuneri and I was tempted, but tapped out in the cycad budget at that point. I did see some images and a few were quite large; like 12-inch caudex width. Don't know where they were placed, but they're out there -- or were.