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I like 'em, can't grow 'em tho!

Brutal. Hopefully that's the worst of it for you this winter. Come on spring!

Not what I wanted to see when I woke and read the temperature this morning. A single coarse word came to mind. For my station that has been running since Dec 2016, smashed my low temp record by 0.7C. That's nature, winters seem to be getting milder and milder, barely go below 0 until 1st July and then this week happens. However, especially now I've had a chance to look for damage, realising that a single reading at one point on the section does not tell the whole story. It was so ridiculously still last night it was a 100% radiation event and the temperature likely varied over distances of metres. So far, seems anything under some canopy did surprisingly well. The most exposed bungalow seems to be the main casualty, I'm used to it getting a bit ratty by spring then quickly growing out the damage. This year looks like it will hardly have any green left until the next spear opens in spring. Low was -3.4, did thaw quickly, warmed all the way up to 15.6 in the afternoon.

You must have a good climate to be growing pachystachys!

Couple of nice palms you have there, i could see a Johannesteijsmannia altifrons to match that trio! I have a couple of kerriodoxas floating around the greenhouse!

The Caryotas, as a genus there are some pretty amazing varieties and they can get rather large. The mitis is no exception a large clump can be a bit of a mess to the eye. I like them to a certain degree, but iam yet to be fully converted about them before I start planting hundreds of them around the garden. Easy to grow and germinate with some cool tolerance, and they will tolerate a dry season, that given they are true water lovers and will drink whatever you give them.

Dictyosperma album and a nice kerriodoxa elegans, cool temperatures are not worrying these two garden beauties!

Well I have achieved one thing today, inspired you to get out and mulch away, it just puts that little extra into the garden. 🪴

I bought this plant as the above sp in a very young age. It is still relatively young and grows constantly in a cold frame. To tell the truth it does not look to my eyes a real argentea, at least it has not (yet?) the silvery leaf backside. Perhaps still too young or perhaps the special growing conditions (inside, not direct sun exposure), or just a wrong id? In last case what other Coccothrinax comes to mind as possible candidate?

Only four, two fell completely out of parental type, one deviated more than the remaining one and had been eventually removed, although leaf back side was totally white, last variation is called silverback.

Kind of weevil? Bismarckia is preferred by palmetto weevil in Florida and rpw in southern Europe. So why not also by s.a.p.w. ? But how did it get to AZ, having crossed a surrounding desert (? I am admittedly not familiar with local geography, just an assumption). If it is indeed a weevil I would start searching for the 'Trojan horse' in the vicinity.

Nordic Experience posted a video showing many Canary Island Date Palms, large ones, in Dublin, so clearly mild winter temperatures were more important than summer heat. There are some in SW British Columbia as well.

Ceratozamia sancheziae

Thanks for looking

And here are some random updated photos of the garden. Too many to list names but just ask if you have any questions about IDs.

Life has been busy and I haven’t had much time to be on PalmTalk or work on new plantings in the garden. It’s just mowing and weed wacking like crazy over here. But I did just find some time and inspiration to get a few new plantings in the ground so I wanted to document them here. I’ll post some updated pictures of the garden as well, after the new plantings. First up is Chrysalidocarpus Mijoroana: Next up is somewhat of a mystery. My old garden had a Chrysalidocarpus Pembanus hybrid (most likely crossed with Madagascariensis). I tried many times to get seed to sprout and only ever got 2 to germinate. So this is an F2 Chrysalidocarpus Pembanus hybrid, most likely crossed again with something in my old garden: And then I was able to plant some smaller Dypsis in the jungle area. Dypsis Beentjei: Dypsis Maranoseta:

102, w/ a 57deg. Dew Point yields a real feel of 107F at 9:41PM under high clouds from a distant monster.. ** See below ** Still some hints at AM showers rolling into town tomorrow, and temps staying under 110F thru the rest of the day due to lingering cloud cover ..If.. that occurs.. Enjoy it, cuz..... ....You know what lies ahead for the rest of the week. Suspect the current Excessive heat warning, set to expire Wednesday, will be extended, instead of being dropped and re-issued at that time. ..As for the Monster mentioned above? While not a guarantee, Monster Thunderstorm Complexes like this exploding over Sonora can hint at changes ahead / are a sign the " Gulf to mountains moisture transport engine " may be kicking into gear / that the north end of the Gulf has reached the " Golden Zone " as far as SSTs are concerned. In this case, it may be what sends the AM showers / 1 day break in 110F heat our way tomorrow. Further out?, this kind of activity is what we want to see if we want more rain. FYI: redder / darker the shades in I.R. imaging, = colder the cloud tops.. White surrounded by Black / Deep Maroon? Really cold Thunderstorm tops. Imagine Hermosillo is getting hammered tonight. Outer cloud shield edge currently extends from the Sonora / Sinaloa Border, north to Flagstaff / West to the El Centro / Mexicali area.. Mighty Impressive.

Those are great looking palms Mike, thanks for posting updated pictures of them. I have 2 that I bought from you that finally got planted not too long ago. Looking forward to watching them grow here.

I was told the problem with my Bismarckia was water and fertilizer! I have worked on that but I know it will take time!! Some fronds were falling off and I noticed it looked like something had been chewing on the petiole and frond joint then I noticed a hole in the trunk and it looks like something has been chewing on a bloom base and some petioles are just petioles with no fronds!! Any ideas?Chewed area at base of bloomHole in trunkFronds that appear to be chewed on The end of a petiole that has no frond

Weekly Galveston visit… glad to see the overgrown crap along the causeway is being trimmed/ removed finally including the Washingtonia haha . Moody gardens pushing the zone push pretty hard with this coconut lol .. they removed a really nice monstera and clumping fishtail in this spot for the coconut 💔

Here are a few cycas currently flushing around the garden. Cycas maconochiei Cycas siamensis. I grew this from seed I got about 20 years ago. A Cycas siamensis “dwarf” in the foreground that was flushing and got smashed by a Bismarkia palm frond from a storm that passed through a few night ago. In the background is another Cycas siamensis flushing. Cycas revoluta was pretty common around here until a few years ago. Scale has killed off most of them but I’ve been able to keep this one in check. It seems to like my soil prep area.

Hi Jim! Also in the Bay Area (Peninsula) and have a foxy lady seedling to plant. Do you remember the sun exposure yours had when you planted it as a seedling 10 years ago? Should I find a full shade spot where it has to mature/grow to reach full sun exposure?

New one available: Phoenix theophrasti. $3 per germinated seed.