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my houailou is not as red as megs but it show some nice color. First leaf it had a nice yellow border around the pinkish red. This the last one was more pink reddish. Th reason I pinkish red is my hookeri are very red, like near fire engine red. Here is the houialou I waited a few days for the leaves to uncurl and it shows a little less of the pink red And here is the hookeri, which has also a more persistent red as much as a month or more vs no mor ethan a week for houialou. and with some direct sun transmitting the leaf, it becomes a "flame leaf" I also have noticed the houailou is definitely more erect, I never noticed leaves at or below the horizontal.

Thank you! I already have the sabinaria as well and the chamaedorea it’s on my list! And you are absolutely right! What a beautiful world.

It has been a warm winter so far, but it’s not over yet! But I will say Iam quite surprised I haven’t lost to much considering all the new varieties I have. A few here and there, I was expecting a few loses, but the amount of new varieties that are taking the cold is a positive sign for now!

The big difference is I get day temps up 24 degrees celcius, a huge 22 degrees fluctuation in temperature, thermal mass and tree cover and a little ocean influence. I even get reasonably good growth in winter with the palms in the ground! Ps how’s that dasyantha going!

You’ve got a nice little spot Troy. No wonder those Mt Gower beauties feel right at home. I average 9 times under 2C per winter and 2 times under 0C. This year we’ve had 5 under 2C with a low of 0.1C so it’s been relatively kind so far. No losses of anything due to cold, just some brown tipping and minor spotting of sensitively species like some of my more tropical Chrysalidocarpus sp.

They are not a small understory palm that’s for sure!

That was my low last winter here in my garden and this year too

Set them free, go forth and multiply! Richard

That is sunburn and the leaves are semi closed/pleated indicating lack of moisture. 20 minutes every 5 days is most likely not enough for an "established" trachy in your area. As others suggest, the new leaves will be more resistant to sunburn, if properly watered. Also your trachy probably will not grow much until the weather cools a bit. Shade cloth would probably help slow further damage. 2-3 years for your palm to establish.

You gotta give it a go, if you don’t try you will never know and at least if you try and it fails well you gave it a go!

Here’s an update on my first rostrata flower with 3 more on the way after it!

Veitchia

For all 6 species in a hybrid mix I’d say pretty far fetched even in Aus. True A myolensis is rarely encountered, and not at all in the nursery trade. A tuckeri and A maxima too to a lesser extent. Even albangs aren’t hugely common I don’t think. I’ve heard that even in spots where A cunninghamiana and A alexandrae co exist, unintentional hybrid offspring is unusual. You’re right, A alexandrae is variable and even more significantly appears very different in different growing conditions especially shade vs sun. A cunninghamiana too. Honestly I’d guess even an Archontophoenix hybrid with 3 species in the mix might be unlikely or at least extremely rare. Who knows if anything beyond that is even possible from a compatibility point of view.

Thanks very much for the offer Richard, will do! Hi Phil, there's some available still on trademe where I got my seeds. But seeing as I haven't had any luck sprouting them Richard might be a better option! It's worth a try for you Richard. Christchurch gets high 30s most years, and I've seen it hit 40 before, with the same hot dry norwest winds and humidity at maybe 20pc. I reckon your hot days wouldn't be much worse than there! I do wonder if it needs cooler nights than you'd get in summer given its habitat, but one way to find out!

There is something there for sure, the exact science iam sure there is an answer for us. Water and cell damage i guess, I guess i should have listened more in science at School! And that little hothouse , give me an acre of one that size and centralis heating with a heated floor, when I win the lottery one for you, and one for me my shout! Richard

Hard to be sure but it could be a pure A cunninghamiana.

I noticed this palm while driving around, so I could be very wrong if this palm here is even a hybrid. cunninghamiana x alexandre or maxima, but it looks a little different than the typical bangalow or king. Large trunk and dark green fronds.

Kerriodoxa elegans, Johannesteijsmannia altifrons, Geonoma atrovirens, iguanura wallichiana var major, Areca vestria red form, sabinara magnifica, reinhardtia gracilis, chamaedoreas are must have, variegated rhapis. Then there are Zamias, Cerotazamias they all compliment palms and there are many of them to collect. Good luck once the palm bug bites you it’s a whole new world of plants!

Mother Nature works in strange ways, some years I get a heap of Radicalis seeds other years hardly any seeds. You just can’t tell when you will get seeds. But yes height is one factor if all the girls are 5 feet taller the boys are going to have a difficult time, especially with wind being the main pollinater with chamaedoreas.

Nice palm a great example, I might have to try and track a few seeds. Although my summers might be a touch too warm up 42 degrees celcius with hot dry north west winds, you could cool an egg on a tin roof heat, fortunately it only last a couple of days. It’s one palm I havent come across as a collecter!

Full sun in DFW is intense enough to scorch young transplanted trachys pretty easily I would guess It’s still establishing and the squirrel wasn’t helping. Give it time get more roots established so that it can move as much water as it needs to handle full DFW sun and still look good. Nursery leaves never stay pristine for long . The new leaves it grows in the ground will be tougher.

Surely not too far fetched in Australia Tim? Not sure how many years Archontophoenix sp have been in the nursery trade but almost every nursery I visit, the alexandrae and even cunninghamiana to lesser extent all exhibit different traits of hybridisation. It’s part of the reason I’ve bought all mine from different places including Darwin and Broome in the top end. That said, I’m guessing the alex is known to be quite variable in looks and traits yeah? Here’s two of my known to be ‘albang’ hybrids, both have been grown completely different from one another and seed have come from the same mature grove of alex and bangalows . First one has become very girthy and is only starting its second ring, where as the next has grown exponentially quicker but is quite skinny and different looks and has retained its green on the trunk

Here’s a front yard near my house with a couple of Archontophoenix that I’ve long suspected to be A cunninghamiana x alexandrae or the reverse. Similar traits to ‘Teracarpa’ above; very large and thick trunk (can see a smaller A alexandrae behind the one of the left if you look closely, even the S romanzoffiana are smaller overall), speckled olive green and brown crownshaft, growth rings all brown with some scales on the upper ones, abaxial surface of leaflets with some silver and no noticeable ramenta that I could see. Interestingly they have the A alexandrae cream coloured flowers. These hybrids tend to lean towards A alexandrae from what I’ve seen.

Considering this pic was about a year ago..... And now..... That is one heck of a recovery! Throw in temperatures that Albuquerque (KABQ) has never recorded, I am surprised that Goat is still there!

@PalmatierMeg got an update?