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Fascinating topic. Thanks for sharing. I also briefly(!) thought of trying to grow and sell. Until I saw the different success rates of germinating RPS seeds... I take it you dont live of your growing business? Would be interesting to start from the other end: How much money do I need to make? And go from there to understand the size of my nursery and the turnover. I do see people growing the hip indoor plant stuff. Begonias, Philodendron, etc. In transparent plastic boxes in their cellar under LED. But again, to make a living in an expensive OECD country? When you have growers from Thailand and Indonesia... Palms are still not that much en vogue in the indoor plant world. Which I dont really understand. Many greetings to down under Matti

Oh they said the black bamboo doesn’t run. Yer right they got that wrong!

Im looking for chamaerops humilis var cerifera and a chamaerops humilis 'vulcano prefer a small sized one between 3 and 7 gallon is preferable but dm if your selling any. TIA

I couldn't help thinking about the space that takes just to cut up a dead old frond when it comes down. Living in an urban area where our green waste gets picked up and hauled away, the other challenge is how much space in the waste bins just one dead frond would take. And before that, the damage that one of those fronds dropping would create in a huge footprint. Not something for a little garden like either of mine even if they would grow here. They are beautiful though to admire in other gardens better equipped to handle them.

Putting borassus aethiopum that close to each other is insane. They grow to a huge size, 4' thick trunk can be expected without leafbases. They have that very uncommon ethereal waxy light green color which is stunning. Best of luck with it(or them), hope you have a lot of space.

Highly recommend this species! Most memorable cycad flush I’ve seen was 10+ new leaves pushing on a friend’s old, multi headed specimen. Shiny and bright pink/orange, hardly looked real.

Well I have two survivors, one Syagrus weddellianum and one Syagrus hoehnei. Guess it pays to never give up too early. Mind you I lost at least six to eight mature specimens.

This is one of my Washingtonia filibustas, located in my west-facing backyard. It was started from seed in July 2025 (supplied by Desertscape Nursery), and it spent its first winter indoors. It was planted outside in May 2026, and after being moved to its permanent home, it rapidly transitioned from growing juvenile strap fronds to growing mature palmate fronds. The trunk visibly thickened in a matter of weeks, and since May, the palm has added nearly one foot (30.5 cm) in vertical height. Due to a large brood of early summer grasshoppers and intense high-altitude sun, it was sheltered within a pop-up mesh protection tent for its first 45 days in-ground. The palm has a dedicated drip-irrigation emitter, and it is watered every 3–4 days. That said, this summer’s monsoon season has been very active in Arizona, and consequently, I’ve been able to cut back on watering across several weeks. While the palm remains under 4 feet (1.22m) in height, I will use a combination of an inverted plastic trash can and chemical heat packs to protect the palm during the coldest and wettest nights of winter (while also temporarily tying the fronds together). Because I live at 5,000 feet (1,524 m) above sea level (USDA Hardiness Zones 8a/7b), most winter nights in this part of Arizona hover right around the freezing mark (32°F / 0°C), but even colder nighttime temperatures are possible. I plan to deploy winter protection for my filibustas if the forecast calls for a low temperature below 22°F (-5.56°C) on dry nights and below 25°F (-3.89°C) on wet nights. Because dry-wind desiccation is a BIG problem here, I will also use the inverted plastic trash can to protect the palm on extremely windy nights. While El Niño-fueled winter storms tend to be slightly warmer than typical winter storm fronts in the desert southwest (potentially meaning more rain than snow at this elevation), a heavy snowfall event is still extremely likely here this winter. It’ll be interesting to see what happens!

I just took this picture there are 3-4 royals in it and mules the only burn my old eyes see is the little I circled I don’t know what would cause that one frond to burn maybe it’s not sun burn we have had some crazy winds so maybe it’s not sun burn but maybe the result of strong winds when it was freshly opening!!!

Makes sense for sure. And the tough thing with Chambeyronia is the slow growth rate. Best of luck with the new planting.

climate, sunlight, and zones and their utility is one of the most common gardening threads here the last 19 years. I have lived 10 years in the 9a Arizona desert to 122F with 32 days of 110F one year and 92 of 100F+, and now in "gentler" subtropical Florida in sandy soil(not helpful) where we hit a low of 28F 2 times in 16 years. The climate/soil/zone discussion comes up every couple years. 25,000 posters here, there are some detailed answers to zones sun and climate types. I can paraphrase the conclusions of a dozen climate/zone discussions by posters, most that do not post regularly these days but have a lot of actual recorded experiences in the freeze section and elsewhere. If you have been here a while, you should understand that coastal fog is very protective of sun sensitive species and inland desert is potentially damaging in intensity. Max sunlight intensity in the USA is arizona desert, I found everyones "full sun" descriptions were radically over stated. Zones are better understood in their weaknesses in that its the temperature of the bud, NOT the air that matters. The bud will stay warmer than the air for a while in a cold event. It does depend on whether the bud is waxy and how big of a mass it is vs surface area. The heat transfer out will first cool the outside of the bud, then inner layers will cool. When tissue freezes, cells are burst because the water in them has become ice and is less dense than water it was before freezing, so it expands and rips cell walls. There are no zone type ratings for heat transfer dynamics which is what is really going on. 1) Most critically zones don't tell you how long the cold is, those are separate events that may be short or longer. Heavier thicker buds will cool off more slowly making them more survivable. Palms that retain leaf bases have extra insulation. A big royal bud will take longer to cool down than a smaller archontophoenix bud. So all else equal, the royal will take a lower temp short event than an archontophoenix. There are species differences, the temp of the plant sap freezes at will vary depending on electrolyte composition due to the law of freezing point depression. Yes species may have different levels of electrolytes in the cellular water. 2) So knowing length of cold can be a critical factor, zones are not enough. The radiative or advective nature of cold is critical. radiative colds cycle to warmth more quickly, advective ones persist and are more deadly. 3) wind: heat absorbed from the sun is re emitted at night and it hangs around a lot longer if there is no wind. Lack of wind leads to thermal layering, its warmer up at 20' bud height than it is at a 4' bud height. Wind destroys the layering and carries the heat away. So the buds on taller trees see a warmer temp than those on shorter ones in an radiative event. Winds(advective event) will make the bud cool off faster, 4) Freeze section Data: much more knowledge on zones and survivability in different climate types is in the freeze section than you will find in recent threads. Palms do grow differently in different climates. Some grow much faster in subtropical florida than in mediterranean climates and others hate florida humidity. So its wise to look for experienced growers from your area to discuss their success. I thought that was obvious, and its why I do mention florida as a conditional to an observation. Archies have grown well all over coastal California and some inland areas with less than full all day sun.

Here is another hybrid flushing. This one is Transvenosus x Horridus.

He's on thyroid pills now. Losing lots of hair. Still a puppy, i don't care.

Royals don't burn in the sun? I have my teddy bear palm exposed to sun most of the day it looks great. The Macrocarpa is tucked and gets only morning sun.

I have some of these planted in my jungle in Phoenix they are beyond sloooooooow!!!!

Royals are tough!!! My Chambyronia is in deep shade the Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos gets some sun but the heat doesn’t bother any of them it’s just the sun that causes problems!!!

Well it looks like you got them figured out. You don’t see many guys in San Diego saying “ I need to thin out my borassus patch

Thank you @James B ! Luckily I have a seedling from one of my adult trees to plant. I think some of the variation was that this cold lasted three consecutive days and there were very high winds for the first day (40-45 mph). Ironically, my younger palms that were much closer to the ground faired much better than the tall stuff that was completely exposed. Even varieties that are 10b palms. Like Calyptrocalyx.

Pot of 10 Zamia splendens- New Leaves come out a beautiful Pink, then gradually turn green. $100/10. Plus shipping, spaghum and Box. Or I can split these into two sets of 5 each. (If no one wants all 10).Leaves are now hardened off, ready to ship. Beachpalms@cfl.rr.com

I think when you compare archontophoenix sp with the chambeyronia(used to be kentiopsis) oliviformis, the archontophoenix are clearly a faster grower in my area of Florida. My large kentiopsis I bought with 2-3' of trunk in summer 2012, -so they were not small palms- were 13-16 feet tall at planting. Today those (3) Ken Johnson Supplied palms have 18'-22' of clear trunk and are ~30' tall +/-. So about 1 to 1 1/4 foot of clear trunk per year. My archies came out of the gate one year earlier from 3 gallon size and are as tall as the kentiopsis are today. So if you are not patient with growth, the archies might be the best choice. How do kentiopsis grow in inland CA? That is a question for palmtalker that lives nearby.

My brother used to live on Indian Rd in Phoenix. I remember staying during the summer and it was basically 110+ every day. How do you get your leaves to not scorch?

Indeed, I have always thoughts zoning is kind of arbitrary. Even the mildest climate bordering on zone 11 in California cannot grow coconuts routinely like a zone 9b can in Florida. Growing things comes down to a lot more than temp lows. I assume you're in Queensland area? My climate is similar to Perth. In fact, someone from Perth might feel eerily at home because a lot of our landscape is made up of Australian natives. The skyline is filled with Eucalyptus trees or gumtrees as they're known. Bottlebrush is everywhere, acacia redolens you will find just about every freeway hillside or common walking hillsides. I would imagine that Queensland and Florida share a lot of similarities as well.

Your prices are reasonable Richard but I’m a palm nutcase and I know the hurdles to produce your top quality palms. It’s the old question of passion vs profitability. If profitability is your aim, grow a billion golden canes and sell to Bunnings. The passion will be non existent, you might as well grow sugar cane like all the sugar cane farmers before you but your accountant will be happy. If passion is your aim grow all the rarest stuff and sell nothing because you love them too much and nobody will pay what you want. Somewhere in the middle is what you want. A nice mix of profitability and passion to keep you interested. Never lose the passion. We need people like you.

So sorry to hear that. It blows my mind how different the cold is in FL compared to CA. I have had much smaller Chambeyronia than yours in both my gardens see 28 and not show any damage.

i think it all depends on location, if it's impossible to import or bring in seed for certain species to your region, then those prices seem pretty fair. for easier to obtain species, whether native or from local collections, it helps you out in the long run and also your buyers. living in florida, i'd pay the price for some, however can't justify the others bc of availability in my region. For your region, looks like you're providing great options that may never have been available to your region!