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Ouch that’s gotta hurt, no gardener wants that to happen to there plants. Iam glad I don’t get frosts!

It’s cool and cloudy here now in the low twenties. It looks like Narelle will pay a visit on Saturday night and Sunday. She gets around.

Me podrás apoyar, que clase de palmera es, según es un copernicia bayleñana.?? Pero quiero confirmar con un experto como usted. Saludos

I think you’re right he wants to be in charge, well charge him with being a plant vandal!

You said it community, not only that he goes and lights a bushfire and goes to the pub for a drink, meanwhile we are fighting his fire so it doesn’t burn down our houses, while he gets drunk, give him community service more like it!

You know the palm mafia code @Jonathan well, lucky he doesn’t wake with a dead Bismarckia next to him. Dont let Jonathan’s soft ways fool you @gyuseppe he’s a mean palm killing machine, he threatens all his palms daily with I will turn the refrigerator up if you don’t grow! And while where on the subject of palm mafia let’s drag the boss into it @palmtreesforpleasure

Cmon gyuseppe it’s a palm mafia thing, you swimming with fishes, and if you don’t share your palm seeds they cut your finger off in Tasmania @Jonathan and that’s getting a good treatment on a good day, Ive heard of stories of what they do in Tasmania, they are very uncivilised in Tasmania must be the cold weather that does it.

Seeds are spoken for no longer available thank you.

Welcome back to Australia!

No problem they are yours, pm me with details of postage and name thanks.

sounds good, on extrea hot breezy days dont hesitate to use overhead water late in the day( 1-1 1/2 hr before sunset).

You're correct they are queen sagos (Cycas rumphii). Look just as good as the last time I was there in 2024

Yes, they are! Mine is a female, too, and about that same size!

Oh yeah most of them are gonna go in the ground but I will get all Bob Vila for a couple and the rest I'll just restart from pups and leave the rhizomes in the yard. Banana plantation inbound.

Hello everybody, It's that time of year. I have 2-4 inch Encephalartos cycads for sale. Lots of blue-green hybrids around 4 inches of caudex and blue on blue hybrides 2-3 inches. All are $110 dollars including shipping (bare root, leaves cut). If you are in Socal and want to pick up the plants just contact me for an appointment. Can make you a better deal without the shipping. Please message me if you are interested. I have lots of purebred species as well. Can send more pictures if you'd like. Gabriel

You're right Giuseppe...its probably a bit extreme. I'll stick to growing palms and leave the law enforcement to others!

So after that last post, as we all know, mother nature went haywire and sent us the smackdown reminder of what an impact freeze would be like. My yard saw 28.9 in the open on the advective night with winds gusting to 40 mph or more (inland st Leo was a windy 21 or 22) with 24.6 the second night radiational freeze (the local airport in Brooksville was 17 in the cold hole). This was after a "pre event" advective 29 and light freeze after that did some damage some few days prior. A total this winter of 12 freezes spaced out from November to late February, with only 1 radiational below 29 and two others below 30 advective. The others were all radiational and above 29, with multiple frost events. No active heating for me, just sheets and blankets (thick comforters are great by the way). The wind was the worst case we could get with a baroclinic low and cold front, so I tried a weedmat windbreak and cover for the larger bed (it worked well in a decent amount of the garden). Everyone was covered for the radiational night in some form except the already pretty dead foxtail and all non palm plants. Damage is considerable, with all taking a hit but one: Surviving heavily damaged foxtail from last year unsurprisingly is dead, seedling in back fine (covered) Pseudophoenix sargentii defoliated except the center growth, with some leaf drop and crownshaft damage. New growth looks good so far. Took frost multiple times and did not care for it at all. Spindles, 2 Alive, one likely dead, all at high risk of death now Bottle defoliated under cover, new spear is good. Chrysalidocarpus lutescens mostly defoliated, some spear pulls Chambeyronia mostly defoliated but spears and new leaves ok Chrysalidocarpus lastellianus under cover did fine until I didn't cover it one frosty night that fried the exposed leaf Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos is defoliated but should recover. advective wimp, defoliated at 29 and wind Chrysalidocarpus lanceolata did ok, lost two fronds and the rest are almost untouched. Carefully wrapped though. Impressive performance these last two years Cyphopheonix alba/nucele (I lost one to rot, and the tag on this one got kidnapped) fried except the spear, opened nicely since. Adonidia merellii defoliated with only weedmat to cover it, new spears open and fine. Surprised with this outcome. Chrysalidocarpus basilongus survived heavily damaged and even grew, then spear pulled after being watered (big mistake that's killed a few these two years, I'll keep them dry until the heat arrives next time) Potted Bismark I left out spear pulled but seems to be pushing something out, I'm leaving it to see. Chrysalidocarpus carlsmithii did fantastic under brush and a sweater, cold spotting but no big damage at 6 inches tall with many small fronds. Chrysalidocarpus titan: HUGE success, partly covered with a dead sabal frond, and the exposed spear and newest leaf (not on purpose) are untouched by the cold and deep green still. Spear opened like nothing happened a few weeks later. Big surprise and very excited to see that. Chrysalidocarpus Prestonianus moderate damage covered in brush and a bucket (bucket may be the mistake there) newest frond is fine the others are mostly brown. Beccariopheonix alfredii has light damage to an exposed spear but has done well, 2 feet tall still. All my other garden plants also took a hit, even some that I expected only defoliating died to the ground. Jamaican caper was the one good surprise there, aost untouched by the freeze. A seedling delonix regia also survived in the back. I feel mostly lucky with the results, considering what I see in spring hill and on others' posts here, I just can't look at Holiday and points south lol. You go inland the everything is damaged or killed, including queens and pygmy dates in the coldest spots. After the learning experience I will plant in a different way and add some plants in strategic spots for blocking the cold. The first windbreak is in, and the sabal wall goes in next behind it on either side of the septic drain field to create a second layer. With that area filled in the worst wind will be stopped, then the oak/sabal forest takes over and wind drops significantly. And canopy needs to be heavy and thick and well past the edge of fronds to stop frost damage. The front yard will be desert zone 9 stuff, and some special things like some newly planted Medemia argun seedlings. I have also ordered more cold tolerant seeds for palms, as well as some tropicals for the new greenhouse (the greenhouse plants saw 43 the coldest night). That will have the sensitive stuff until it can't stay there anymore and by then I hope to have a secret palm garden for them made somewhere in the forest.

Good news , for sure . Hopefully the new growth continues. Harry

@happypalms unfortunately it gets way too much sun there. Even the Radicalis look a bit stressed when they grow there. I tried to talk my wife into a couple of Wodyetia , but no go. They would thrive in that area! Harry

Doesn't resemble either of my known pritchardia Pacifica but I've been wrong before. Pacifica is a total cold wimp - worthless palm. Every year I regret not cutting it down the year before.

Oops. Chionanthus

I never had problems with Dithene 45 and both lipsticks survived for years before they outgrew the lanai

I got a new Syagrus today. I made a raised bed, filled with acidic sandy soil and local alkaline soil + some acidic compost and sulfur pellets. Looking at the tree I realized how chlorotic my other Syagrus are, those I've had in the soil for a year. Despite the acidic soil I have added, the humic and fulvic acids etc... probably it lacks Nitrogen? So, this time I'm trying a raised bed. Let's see. I am attaching photos of the two trees.

March 23, 2026 It’s been extremely hot like late summer. The yellow one is looking very nice. It’s extremely difficult to move around. I wonder how much longer it can stay in that pot.