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There’s probably nothing you can do. Sudden collapse is usually fatal. I had a Veitchia Joannis do something like that. One day it looked beautiful and the next day I went outside the crown was on the ground. It was rotten inside but you never would have known.

Just to the left of the above photos I redid the main entrance walkway. On one side I decided that I really disliked the Bambusa Multiplex "Rosa." It was infested with aphids and sooty mold, and attracting large numbers of aphid wasps (ok) and yellowjackets (not nice!). It was just kind of "meh" looking and had to go. The clumps of lilies just below it became the new row on either side of the walkway. They were from my great-grandmother's place in Texas, planted sometime in the 50s. I've tentatively ID'd them as Crinum Lily "Regale," but will have to wait until they bloom again to be sure. From further back at the entryway the two clumps of Orange Bird of Paradise went to a more shady area (they don't seem to want full sun here), and I split up the 3 big lily clusters in a row on each side. On the left I moved a Zamia Nesophila from the sun (next to the pot) over to the other side of the Encephalartos Whitelockii where it's in AM sun/PM shade. It turned back green almost immediately. The purple cannas to the left of the pot went out into the front yard island, replaced with some Bordelon bananas. The pot is my last Attalea Brejinhoensis from Neil in Cocoa Beach. The bottom right corner Licuala Grandis might be d-e-d, but I'm waiting for a while longer to see if it'll push a new spear. And this is the "after" shot, with a row of lilies along the path. Just behind from L to R is a Ptychosperma Salomonense double, a Philodendron "Evansii," Bordelon bananas behind them, Attalea Brejinhoensis, d-e-d stump of the Beccariophoenix Fenestralis, another Salomonense double, a concrete dragon's head, and pre-existing Dioon Tomasellii. You can see the massive dead Jesse Durko culms in the right background.

Over the past month I've made a LOT of changes. The majority of the plants that died are actually agaves and cacti...strange. In the front yard most of the palms and cycads are growing back. The only ones that died were generally small seedlings or known not-hardy palms like Bottles and Spindles. A couple of them (like a few Gaussia Princeps and Satakentia) I should have left in place and waited to see if they'd actually recover from spear pull. In the front bed on the house side of the driveway I had about 73% burn and lost 28 out of 175 plantings or 16%. Deaths were: Dypsis Basilonga x2, Dypsis Cabadae, Ravenea Hildebrandtii x2, Pytchosperma Elegans, Archonto Cunninghamiana triple, Cham. Elegans 3 clumps, Cham. Cataractarum 1 clump, Arenga Hookeriana, a 6-7' trunk Spindle, a Lanonia Dasyantha, Arch. Alexandrae, a small Alfredii, Reinhardtia Latisecta, Burretiokentia Vieillardii, Kerriodoxa Elegans, Actinokentia Divaricata, a small Spindle, Satakentia Liukiuensis, Cyphophoenix Nucele x2, Chamberyonia Watermelon and 2 Hookeri, Arch. Maxima, Arch. Cunningham double, B. Fenestralis, agave Blue Flame, and agave Blue Glow "Mediopicta Aurea." Along the driveway I decided that I'd had enough of hassling with the "Jesse Durko" bamboo. It routinely defoliated and at 22.5F lost 100% of the culms...and started growing back again as a big shrubbery. Instead of fighting with pruning it back from the driveway for the next year I took 3 days and dug it out. I cut down the dead culms first, leaving this: And then a 9" carbide reciprocating saw took a day to slice and dice and clean up the rest: And I replaced it with a division of Gigantochloa Luteostriata #4776 and a couple of Philodendron "Little Hope" transplanted from the backyard. The new bamboo sits about where the old Archontophoenix were planted. Hopefully it'll be far enough from the driveway to not be a daily annoyance! You can see the Ficus Auriculata quickly growing back on the left...and a bunch of weeds starting to take over again...sigh...

Thanks for the background story, that palm has a lot to live up to. May, ‘The Force Be With You’, Lars. Tim

Good growing, good going Dale. Keeping tabs on you, ya know. Tim

Those are impressive specimens Alberto and the growth equally so. Not having to irrigate pretty sweet eh? Tim

Hello, I live in southwest Florida and we have daily storms. I have many palm trees in my yard and no others are affected. I have not applied anything to the ground recently. Attached at two photos.

My Bottle and Spindle survival ratio isn't that great this year. I lost 3 big Spindles (one with 6-7' of trunk), one small Spindle, and trunk cut too far on one Bottle and killed the bud. Survivors are two trunk cut Bottles, two semi-protected Spindles, one small Spindle and a big Bottle that I didn't touch. Cutting and treating with hydrogen peroxide + Daconil did seem to help. Ones that I didn't touch (with fungicide or cutting) basically all died. So in the future I'll probably trunk cut earlier...but not so far that I chop into the bud!

I checked on it today, the wrinkle doesn't seem to be progressing, it doesn't feel soft either, it isn't browning either, it has stayed green so far. The stipules seem to be moving a little. The dead part was only the top (newest growth). It was not a big plant, dead leaves on all plants were dark green, not brown.

Photos. It's hard to get scale, but the trunk is actually quite think - ~10 inches diameter. And the inflorescence is impressively big. It expanded a LOT after it first opened up.

I have a palm that I grew from seed from Ortanique just before they closed, I believe ~2007/2008. It was called Dypsis 'andavaka'. It looks just like bef/slick willy but mine is single trunked and as far as I know the other palms from that seed (that I distributed way back) were single trunked. Mine happens to have just thrown its first inflorescence alsom, something in the air I guess. The coloration looks a little different than Nick's but not sure that means anything. I generally think it's the same species. Will post photos...

Good news on that! Harry

It will be interesting to see the difference between the two as time goes on . Harry

Nice score . I hope you’re able to bring it back, it will certainly test your patience. I just wonder why the Lowe’s in your area has way better selection than the one in Ventura ( Southern California )where most palms thrive! Our Lowe’s has just generic palms , not elven anything close to collectible. Poor quality and limited selection. Harry

Scott, other than the obvious that California sucks and I don’t really blame you for not dealing with our stupid laws…..is there a reason why you can’t ship to CA or just you don’t want to? I’ve got plants shipped to CA multiple times from FL. -dale

Palmeraie-Union is pleased to propose you the brand new issue no. 55 of its associative magazine Latania. On the program: visits to Reunion gardens and incredible botanical stories from all over the world. The Latania 55 is available for download at the following address: https://www.palmeraie-union.com/latania_pdf/latania55.pdf For memory, all issues of Latania are now available at the following address: http://www.palmeraie-union.com/latania.php Very good reading

I don’t know what it is but to me, Decipiens looks fantastic as a double planting. It’s already quite the statement palm but two really makes it look great! That is a perfect set with awesome growth. Funny to me no irrigation is required. Must be nice! 👍🏻 -dale

Thank you!! 👍🏻 Here’s my backup plan. Got a single leaf sprout from FB last year. Happy it’s still alive. -dale

I just read that they extended the drought(1x irrigation a week) to oct 1st in my area. It has been very dry and 90-93F day time highs and 77-79F lows. No its not the desert I used to live in, more recently dew points are 73-77F, but sandy soil is a big problem compared with clauy here as it dries out fast. And that wouldn't be a problem so much if we hadn't been in this pattern since last october(80-90% less rain). The palms are adapted to being irrigated 2-3x a week depending on season and the system get shut off when it rains consistently every 3-4 days as it does in mid to late summer. I think we got more than the 0.88" totals reported from sarasota bradenton, possibly we are far enough north to get a little more. We have had about 1.5-2" in june based on my homemade gage. WE got most of it in 2 "downpours" so runoff was high. I am really glad that I put all my wet loves in back of the house on the south side protected from the hottest summer sun. Premature brown tipping on older leaves is very common but the buds are ok. Out front in the blazing sun the waxy drought resistant palms have sustained a little of that same dry tip. Having come from arizona, I already had a bit of palmcare PTSD but my garden now has more to lose, it has 3x the palms. Palm winners in the drought, no particular order: 1) bismarckia nobillis(mature): very drought tolerant in full all day hot sun and looks unfazed. Th eonce a week irrigation might be needed as some in unirrigated public plantings don't look so good. 2) Copernicial Fallaensis:(mature) coming back from hurricane damage so the crown isnt full size but it is not losing any leaves and keeps growing. This one has a huge 15 year old root system from a 9' tall palm as planted with a 150 gallon size rootball. So I expect the big root system can supply the recovering smaller crown with water from deep down. My smaller juvenile in the ground for 2 years in august is a bit less resistant, some brown tipping on (3) older leaves. 3) Copernicia baileyana(mature): yes these are drought resistant and perhaps the best of the green(non blue) palms. If you want a vibrant green in dry florida conditions this one looks great. People need to plant these palms more in florida. 3) Sabal uresana: it dropped some leaves that were still hanging on from oct 2024 hurricane milton, but it looks unfazed. It also in an area where it doesnt get directly irrigated, the sprinklers are blocked. 4) serenoa repens silver(mature): these dont seem to be affected, they have the normal amount of dried out leaves the past three months. These are 15 years in the ground and monsters that grow laterally and shade their own roots which may be important to moisture persistence. I am going to look at partially shutting down irrigation for them, getting rid of a few sprinkler heads. Every couple years I use up a bunch of sawzall blades trimming back trunks that run along the ground. 5) Phoenix rupicola: perhaps the weakest of the drought resistant palms in this category, rupicolas dry dip in the drought on older leaves. This one is totally exposed to full sun and the hottest late day sun exposure. This is the first time I see any notable dry tipping in 15 years, but it is also a triple which is a big advantage in root shading. I love this triple, its spreading out and going to stay under 25' to provide a nice wide umbrella. I highly recommend these in florida. Yeah they are slow but they are still pretty close to the eye and a vibrant green color. Some of the prettiest leaves in my yard. Most sensitive, losers that need shade/protection and brown tip anyway 1) chambeyronias((4) 2-15 year in the ground) hate this weather/soil, sun burn spots occur after water loss in transpiration which is an attempt by the palm to shed heat. 2) Satakentia luikiuensis(mature) hate this weather, they are dropping leaves faster than they are adding them and they are up over the house to the east but the roots are in full late day shade. Tie between chambys and satakentia, but dont put chambeyronia oliviformis in there, they are moderately drought resistant 3) archontophoenix sp(alexandre, maxima, myolensis, purpurea) These are bunched get little sun on roots and they are mostly in a raised bed with many pop ups, and not much sand. Still, they let me know they are not favoring the climate 4) Chrysalidocarpus Leptocheilos: Teddys really like water especially in hot late day sun. Not as thirsty as satakentia or chambys but the dry tip sets in fast. In the middle: 1) chambeyronia oliviformis: planted near the archies and not in a raised bed show they are more drought resistant, might be the relatively waxy leaf(to archontophoenix). 2) Roystonea Regia(mature 40-45' with huge root systems)): a little bit of brown tipping on older leaves but it is pushing out new leaves faster than they are dropping. And they are growing fairly quickly still. But these are not juveniles and have some massive roots and pretty thick trunks. 3) Copernicia Alba blue(mature): This one is borderline, not quite as drought resistant as the cuban copernicias but better than the C. oliviformis for sure. The skinny trunk probably doesnt hold much water as compared with the thicker cubans. This one appears to be browning leaves a little faster than growing them. 4) livistona saribus(Mature) in the middle 5) livistona decipiens(mature) int he middle 6) livistona chinensis(mature quadriple): seemingly less drought resistant than the other livistonas but it has more of the hottest sun, thought he quad protects the roots. There is some notably brown hanging around and not self shedding. I will not trim till it cools off a bit and I can cut them up and put them at the curb. 7) my juvenile copernicia hospitas(3 in a triple): These are still 2-6' tall and have small root systems. 3 years in the ground and started off slow, got a little hurricane damage a good grow year and then this drought year. Jury is out as to whether are going to be in the first group or this one due them not being established. I am hoping that as mature palms they will be in the most drought resistant group. Brown tipping on older leaves is there. These have the hottest western summer sun and not shade from it. Anybody else have interesting drought or moisture sensitivities that you notice in your climate? My observations are for a cool 10a west coast florida with sandy soil and a drought year since last oct. I have grown palms in arizona but there are others who have much more experience with different species that are possible to obtain these days in arizona so I leave it to those more knowledgeable than I. I was thinking we each have a climate and soil type and that new growers can use this kind of information to select and locate palms in their yard. After 25 years of growing palms, 10 in the arizona desert and 15+ here in mid west coast florida I have learned to select the right palm for the right spot looking at sun movements and soil in the area. And perhaps the biggest lesson I have learned is to bunch palms for watering efficiency but also for cold tolerance, and I try to select at least half the palms that you know will weather the climate once established without ER help. You don't want too much long term ER duty. We all lose a few palms int he extremes but it really hurts to lose 3/4ths of your palms in one season. Recommendations for different regions of austrailia, southern europe asia etc can help future palm talkers limit the cost of learning and same some time in establishing the garden. To make your observations mose useful to others describe your soil, palm placement/sun exposure, sloped ground if present, etc.,

Well done Jayce, you’ve invested a lot into your garden, collected a wide range of species ( and that is hard to do in Perth, Western Australia) and now have the ground work established. With lots of water and some protection during the fierce Perth summers you’ll start to create a microclimate that will protect the more delicate species. It all takes time but will be worth it. In Perth there is a lot of trial and error finding the right location for each species of palm. You have some more tropical palms on your list that will require a warm, well drained position during our wet cold winters and others will need some shade over our hot dry summers which I’m sure you already know. I’ve been growing palms for over thirty years and creating a microclimate is the secret to success in Perth so bangalow, Alexander, Kentia, Caryota and foxtails grow well here to provide overhead protection. My experience with foxtails is that they grow fairly quickly but take a long time to throw flowers in Perth and seed setting is very irregular so probably not as big a problem here than in the tropics. Chambeyronia are a fantastic show stopping palm but they need overhead shade here as the intense summer sun cooks the leaves so difficult to use as a canopy palm. It is great you have a record of your garden and you can watch it evolve over the years. Regards Russell

A slightly different look but very similar to C. Ernesti Augusti . Thank you @miamicuse , lovely examples. Harry

Hi Lars, Also amongst my first purchases. I have probably 20 but here is their leader, about six years old. This first batch from RPS, then I got some more to grow from Josue.

@SubTropicRay I'm surprised the Lakeland airport was that dry. We had a decent month closer to town. How did your total match up with KTPA or the WFO in Ruskin?

Great job on the landscaping and selection, @quaman58 !