All Activity

I wanted to share these pictures I took on my way home from work today when the outside temps were close to 108 here in Tucson. If someone new to this forum is from Tucson or the surrounding areas and are thinking about an A. Hercules planted in our weather, this might make you feel better about it. These Hercules have been in the ground since around 2015 when they were planted as small specimen maybe 2-3 ft tall from what I could tell on Google Map pictures. There are a few W. Robustas growing close by that could have shaded them somewhat although I doubt they had any impact. They are all exposed to the westward sun. The taller Hercules are just about as tall as the Robustas and their trunk is actually thicker! So this means they’ve been exposed to ours hottest days and our coldest nights. Since they happen to be in a Chipotle parking lot I doubt much care has ever been given to them besides maybe some irrigation water. They are located at the chipotle off of Cortaro rd and Silverbell rd.- close I-10. IMG_8186.dngIMG_8189.dngIMG_8190.dngIMG_8187.dng

As others have said lots of water. Archontophoenix in multiples are less sun tolerant than singles as they compete for water and nutrients. Cunninghamiana is the least sun and heat tolerant of the genus save Purpurea. Coming from San Diego they haven’t seen real heat down there so your days are probably 20 degrees hotter than where your palms just came from so it will take some time to acclimate but with lots of water they will get there.

As a fellow grower at an elevation of 5273' in Rio Rancho, NM, large rocks/boulders at the base are most beneficial in my climate. The heavier the better for thermal mass. I actually seed mine directly in the ground, do not protect other than the rocks, and maybe dry leaves. Do not water past mid October. Nice palms

Pretty much warm afternoon sun . The courtyard is sort of boxed in a bit so it gets warm but sees morning and late afternoon shade . Full sun from about 1-3 in the afternoon. Harry

A Yucky... Gross.... Disgusting...... 112 -118F Trial by Blast Furnace out there at 3:29PM around town on your final Hump Day of August ....and Summer... 2026 Under some clouds passing thru your back yard atm? = you might be hanging at the lower end of the Yuck factor ( 112 -114F ) More sun in your particular 'hood? ...extra yucky 115 - 115+'s Thankfully,........ Just a day or two left to go before relief arrives via a trough anticipated to set up over the Pac. N.W. this weekend, which will shove the " stubbornly stuck over AZ " portion of the 4C High to ....somewhere... over Southern TX / the Gulf Coast region, which will help bring our temps down to ...reasonable.. levels for the end of Aug / Start of September and Meto. Autumn. At the same time? Still looking like moisture returns to a wide portion of the state ...perhaps solidly... by Saturday, ...if not noticeably on Friday. If so, that may keep temps from reaching above 110, and / or temper the suggested high of 107F for Saturday. Depending on how things evolve, Sunday ..and / or Monday and Tuesday... could be quite active for the lower deserts. Upper level flow under the trough over the Pac. N.W., + some tropical moisture streaming in from Baja / Mexico, + a good set up for inducing -at least- a couple deep Gulf surges, = something to keep a close eye on ...If you want more than just dust and sprinkles. Guaranteed outcome? Uhhh, No. ...There is no such thing. Beyond Tuesday? ..just have to keep an eye on the forecasts.. Could dry out a little bit, ...or maybe it stays active well into next week. Continued activity in the E. Pac., right off Mexico, and what happens across the Pac. N.W. = the biggest things to watch. ...Ain't much of a storm but Iselle still looking pretty on Satellite atm. Moisture being sheared off of it is helping to generate some scattered storms over Baja Norte and parts of far S.E.'rn CA/ Yuma area here in AZ. If you ask really nicely, maybe a brief shower or two tries to sneak west of the mountains in San Diego thru the afternoon / evening or tomorrow. One thing does look pretty certain as the first week of Autumn 2026 gets going ....Temps., locally at least, next week, won't be like this week, ...even if they do end up ticking up a hair by the end of next week. We'll see whether or not tomorrow ( and / or Friday ) marks the end of 110F readings for the rest of 2026. Dehydrated fingers crossed, lol.

Here’s my youngster.

They are just going across the state . Thank you

I am 50 miles inland in SoCal. I have one that’s in my front yard where it’s in full blazing all day sun with a mini block wall on one side and my drive way and on the other side my driveway reflecting heat from the sun. It’s 2 years from a small 5 gallon and is now almost 7 feet at the top of the newest leaf. I give it copious amounts of water. These are tough palms that grow faster than its flamethrower cousins. As was stated above I believe the wax protects against both heat and frost which it gets each winter as it’s on the south east side of the yard and has seen 27-28 at night last winter.

Where did you source this one from? Any updated pictures?

Hey @Harry’s Palms I picked one up today from @DoomsDave but I am not sure where to plant it? You’re planting north facing wall with afternoon shade?

I will take all 10 thank you

2 happy seedlings arrived today safe and sound! Also just curious if you have any planted in the ground in Ocean Springs?

That’s fast growth for a seed sprouted in 2025! Great job! Looking forward to see how it performs in an environment such as Parson. That’s a beautiful area of Arizona. Hoping the El Niño won’t be a bust, too much hype regarding this event. Would be nice to see an end to the extended droughts over the southwest and southern US. Please let us know how this little dude does! Cheers, Chris

Thanks, Tom I had all 5 seeds that I bought, planted there, in situ. The plan was always to only keep one plant. I’ll need to carefully kill the other two - I don’t wish to risk digging them up. They’re maybe 8’ from the fence and maybe like 12’ from the house. Mostly Western with lesser Southern exposure. This was the most practical spot for me, at them time. I do love the hue of the leaves, as well.

@Jim in Los Altos @Darold Petty Thank you, gentlemen! I’m looking forward to seeing how many seeds I get from it.

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.