All Activity

Not had any issues myself but I've read mixed reports on how they perform in oceanic climates compared to odorata despite coming from a climate which should be more similar. I think there is just a lot of variation. They're way less common here though. Most UK nurserys only stock odorata nowadays.

One last choking gasp of summer? Nice week ahead!

Interesting solution, unfortunately playing with hydrochloric acid is not too my liking, but possible I suppose.

Hey! The washingtonia is looking good and it grew one leaf since the last post and i had my birthday in early april and my frienda bought me clumping queen palms which they said are the "Santa Catarina" variety, and so I planted it in ground by the washingtonia where its sheltered from north winds and they are looking good, no sun scorch despite UV indexs of 8 a few times. Temps are stable, mostly 20-24C with occasional rain and lows above 10C.

Nice B. Eriospatha. I've heard they are more cold hardy than B. capitata.

Nice Butia pics from Naval Air Station. Those are many years old and should still have many years of growing left.

I can relate to the cost of water, although I have a bore for water , the electric bill is paying for that. I wouldn’t use crystals I know the o ez you’re talking about. What I would do is mulch and I would put a one inch plastic pipe about one foot down or as deep as you can get, this way it give the ground a deep watering. Also a 5 litre water bottle with a small hole in it to slowly drip out. But mulch is the go!

Three for the price of one, archontophoenix Cunninghamiana, dypsis saintlucei and Arenga engleri.

Alas, it is the high water needs combined with high water price. This causes a restricted water supply during summer, which leads to los of foliage and half brown leaves. I mean thus a deterioration in look within same year. Fortunately temperature needs of this hybrid are not high and therefore it can replace lost foliage during the cold/cool season. Truth is that it barely moves during the hot months. Do you think that drilling holes in the soil around the trunk and filling them in with water retention stuff such as silica crystals, would help somehow?

Bees are a welcome addition in getting attention! IMG_1608.mov

Ravenea glauca

One of Royals opening a new frond

The potting bench this time. If I put a little thought into it life will be easier potting up. So it was time to get the welder and start building. Iam never building anything out of timber in the bush again, this steal structure should see me out and a few years beyond that.

Another tough dry tolerant palm. I would go so far as to say they prefer the slightly dry side in the ground. Having grown one in my garden that endured all sorts of conditions climate wise. They will drink as much as you give them, but also tolerate and even grow well in dry times not suffering. It’s taken my one around 26 years to flower, a few seeds so far but iam waiting on that big score for seeds sooner or later. Definitely one tough palm so get your garden looking even better with a saintlucei!

Butia yatay and friends under a mist halo a couple of weeks ago.

I know this is starting off on a bit of a tangent, but the fact that Nevada has native California fan palms is not up for debate. That was settled decades ago, and if we'd simply respected the Native Americans' autonomy to begin with, it would've never been in serious doubt. I digress though. The best way to find out whether Tennessee has native dwarf palmettos, now that I think of it, may be to ask the Cherokees. No one from 1838 is still alive today, but maybe they passed down their traditions through the generations and remember what was there when Andrew Jackson shamelessly drove those that didn't hide in the mountains west? Even if they weren't yet there during the Little Ice Age, that wouldn't be the end; there are also seemingly-wild palms in Hornsby, a more contentious Hardin County population in the ditch along State Route 128 and plenty of other rural locations in the state close to Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia they could be hiding. It's also possible dwarf palmettos may have naturally spread further north in the Coosa Valley since the Cherokees were unfortunately exiled from their original homeland. Still, the Cherokees surely could answer whether there were wild dwarf palmettos in Bradley County Tenn. in 1838, and if they say yes, that should put the dispute to rest and leave only Virginia as a source of contention. Article about Nevada palms for context: https://www.xeri.com/Moapa/wf-hr-foreword.htm P.S.: It's been over two years since I sent my email to MTSU about the Hornsby ones, requesting an expedition. Still no dice. I'm tempted to ask TTU, UT or ETSU, but it feels crueler to ask them to venture all the way to West Tennessee for something so trivial than it did to ask MTSU which is more centrally located, especially after even MTSU seemingly missed or ignored my email for this long.

Awesome. I have noticed a small growth spurt with this hot weather.

BISMARKIA

Thanks, I will give a go and see how well it does.😃

Hello guys sorry I took way too long to post the pictures, but just been a ruff month because my dad was having some health issues.. but he is getting better, also I think my palms are getting better, but please find attached and let me know what you all think, thank you!

I had no idea they took those sort of temperatures, pretty good for a tropical palm. Sumawongii are just as beautiful if not better than ramsayi, but iam impressed at the low temperature they can take. Handy information to know thanks.

Headed out? ..Yep, me thinks it's gonna be a good summer ahead... Broad winged Hummingbird meeting, ..Take #2. Anna's ...and others? ..i think?? Side note: While this hummingbird species had been confined to mainly southern AZ since wandering north out of Mexico for years, with the rarer sighting or two in this part of the state, it has recently started to expand it's range ..both in AZ, and beyond the state lines.. Sometime after 2015 or 16, they started turning up in / around San Diego, and have explored -potential- new territory further north since that time. At the same time, the species has also wandered into areas to our east ..N.M., TX, S. Louisiana, and N. Central FL / far S. Georgia in seemingly increasing numbers. If my hunch is correct, these could become a ..relatively frequent " Yard Hummer " sight here around the valley, and in ..at least... most of CA, below the Sierras, West and S. TX, and possibly parts of FL. Current observations map from iNat.. Pick your area.. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/6141-Cynanthus-latirostris Will say, unlike the " common " hummingbird species we're accustomed to here and in CA, these make very distinct ..and distinctly unique.. calls.. You can hear them flying around from a further distance than either Anna's, Black Chinned, Costa's, or Allen's as well. Seem to like more shaded areas vs. those that are more open to the sky. That said, if the usual hummers are fighting over your feeder(s) / favored nectar rich plants, good chance these will join the fray for a preferred spot too, if present. When not at the feeder, the two?.. i saw yesterday seemed addicted to the large patch of Mexican Honeysuckle, AKA, Justicia spicigera nearby. BIG draw with the Sulphurs, too.

Yep a lot of tropical look for very little effort, if there was a list of palms that are die hard easy to grow and a lot of bang for buck this is one of those palms in that list.

Sabal plants are beautiful and very tropical, some more so than others. I have Sabal Riverside plants, which are more resistant to Chile's freezing climate.

Ah okay, that makes sense to me. It has been dry and quite windy these past few weeks. We had one day with gusts up to 45mph! Granted it's against a neighbors wall/home so it has somewhat of a wind break, but the fronds were still getting battered a decent bit. As for fertilizer, none yet! The only thing added at planting was mykos beneficial fungi to the root ball.