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Got hit hard today between 4 and 6pm. Things were beginning to look a little dry in the yard. My home made rain gage says a solid 2". My Iphone said 0.05 inch, might be sarasota numbers once again showing how useless a station 25 miles away is. Last month ruskin 11 miles north reported 3" on day, we got 0.4 inch.

This palm remains high on my wish list! I had a small one in 2017, but an ox rhino beetle ate it before I even knew about this issue in Puerto Rico. I am at 1000 feet with mountains for good drainage and plenty of rain. I have no trouble growing palms like Iriartea and Socratea but I understand it may still be a tough grow. I see seeds for sale now on RPS and am tempted, although getting them to PR will be costly. In the meantime I love all the photos! Thanks!

@cbmnz, it looks like you guys are being hammered over there...I hope it eases up for you sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, we've had a very mild winter in Hobart, with a minimum temp of 1.7 back in July and min of 3.7 so far for August, and I don't think it's unrelated to your cold weather. I've noticed over the years that our weather patterns have a definite cause and effect on you guys, which makes sense with Australia being your nearest continental mass. A big high pressure system over Tasmania seems to push a big low up the Tasman sea and you guys get smashed, with the reverse often being true for us. So apologies for this horrible winter you've endured...for us it's looked a lot like this coming week all winter, but no doubt we'll pay the price in the future.

They're generally self fertile in our climate, although cross pollination probably increases fruit set. I'm hoping to find out one day if I can ever stop the bloody possums eating every fruit and breaking every branch!

Tim, I've really tried, but no go. I'm zero out of five attempts. When something fails repeatedly while everything around it flourishes, I eventually take the hint.

Got my daily dose of ~0.10 inches today. In the shade, the ground is holding the moisture relatively well. Out in the open, the ground is moist a few inches down. My fingers are crossed that we'll continue to get daily rain, even if the amounts aren't that high. The growth when it rains is three times what it is when it doesn't.

Tim is this a young palm in your garden or just a species that is slow or remains small? The leaves remind me of a plant I acquired as Pritchardia martii but is definitely not. Mine was an auction item at a Palm Society of Southern California meeting around a decade ago. No flowers on mine yet but if your lanigera has flowered, photos would be appreciated.

Most of the seeds I ordered from RPS last winter sprouted quickly and are now pushing their second fronds. I'm going to move them outside soon and see what happens...🤞

Bloom time #2. Pritchardia martii. Tim

Bloom time #1. Pritchardia glabrata. Tim

All of the fronds dried out there’s only one spear left. I tugged and it’s secured. So the palm is still alive. My issue is that its in the front and looks bad. Valencia has strict HOAs. How long should I give it before allowing it to shuffle off this mortal coil?

@kinzyjr indeed! Not all of my "Zone 10" palms died from the epic freeze, for sure there are some odd survivors. Both of my Elaeis Guineensis are growing back strong, despite spear pulls and crown rot infections. But most of them did die immediately or were lost to subsequent infections: 1 of 1 Carpentaria Acuminata 5 of 5 Burretiokentia - Hapala, Koghiensis, Vieillardii 1 of 4 Arenga Hookeriana, the other 3 regrowing from the roots 1 of 1 Actinokentia Divaricata 0 of 3 Arenga Pinnata - defoliated but growing back slowly! 0 of 1 Arenga Tremula - also defoliated but growing back 0 of 1 Arenga Westerhoutii - burnt to the ground but with 2 new fronds 0 of 12 Attalea - all were >75% defoliated but all growing - 4 Brejinhoensis, 3 Butyracea, 2 Cohune (?!?!?!?), 2 Phalerata, 1 Speciosa 3 of 14 Beccariophoenix Alfredii - all defoliated, but only lost 3 big seedlings under ~2-3' tall 5 of 5 Chamberyonia Macrocarpa - Watermelon, regular and Hookeri 0 of 19 Copernicia - Baileyana, Fallaensis, Gigas, Alba, Hospita, Macroglossa 0 of 2 Corypha - Lecomtei had minor burn, Umbraculifera defoliated 2 of 2 Crysophila Warscewiczii 9 of 9 Cyphophoenix - Alba, Elegans, Nucele 18 of 22 Dypsis/Chrysalidocarpus - 1 Lanceolata, 1 Decaryi and 2 Lutescens clusters survived, but other Lanceolata, Cabadae, Pembana, Basilongus, Albofarinosa, Arenarum all died 4 of 11 Hyophorbes - 2 of 4 Bottles and 4 of 7 Spindles died, but one of the Bottles I over-trunk-cut and killed the bud myself - oops. All died from bud rot or, er, a reciprocating saw. ☹️ ~3 of ~25 Gaussia Princeps - I still need an accurate pre-post count 1 of 4 Kerriodoxa Elegans - exposed and died of bud rot ? of 2 Licuala Grandis - still unsure 3 of 3 Ptychosperma Elegans - big seedlings 0 of 1 Ptychosperma Macarthurii 0 of 1 Ptychosperma Schefferi - burnt to the ground but growing back 4 of 10 Ptychosperma Salomonense - shocking survival of ~1' tall seedlings, so I bought more!!! 2 of 2 Ravenea Hildebrandtii 1 of 1 Ravenea Sambiranensis 2 of 2 Reinhardtia Latisecta 3 of 3 Satakentia Liukiuensis 4 of 4 Syagrus Amara strap leaf 2 of 4 Syagrus Lorenzoniorum strap leaf 3 of 4 Syagrus Sancona strap leaf 0 of 5 Syagrus Schizophylla 1-3' tall - all defoliated and I thought were dead, but all growing back! 1 of 2 Wallichia Oblongifolia/Densiflora - both defoliated, but the one in sun couldn't struggle back 4 of 4 Wodyetia Bifurcata - 10-15' foxtails defoliated and died from Thielaviopsis or bud rot At some point I'll have a complete list of the life/death spreadsheet for you! I was really impressed that the Kerriodoxa Elegans and Ptychosperma Salomonense pulled through. Many of the above deaths were planted as big seedlings or even strap leaves last summer, so it's hard to judge if a more mature palm would have survived.

Encephalartos Longifolious

Horwood x Arewood throwing a single leaf flush. 3rd flush since spring time!

Also asking.

A couple E. “Trappes valley” Latifrons I bought last year throwing nice flushes but still one leaf. They are putting on size quick!

Here is a pic of the Encephalartos Trispinosus that Was completely yellowed out and had for at least the last 3 years thrown yellow/orange flushes. As you can see from the pic the old leaves started to get their color back and the new 9 leaf flush looks completely normal.

Normally my alfredii doesnt hang below the horizontal, but hurricane milton damaged the oldest leaf stems(longintudinal splits) with big winds. The upper 2/3rds of the crown(above the horizontal) is new growth since milton hit oct 2024.. Here it is today still recovering but doing well. The ability to get the whole palm in with camera requires a wide angle lens(17mm cropped frame) -and standing as far away as possible- so the crown appears more narrow than in person. Its now about 30'+ wide and 30'+ tall, within say 2' both dimensions. This palm is a few months under 16 years in the ground from a 3 gallon size. I will trim the leaves as they brown, but when they get large, they usually don't have the older leaves hang down like this, they go to about the horizontal meaning its about 10' normally(without hurricane damage) to the lowest leaf when walking under it. Its a tad dried out due to our drought and lack of consistent rain for the last 10 months but the last few weeks its looking better and better.

Spear moving

Been dry for nearly a week until yesterday. Picked up a quick 1.28" of rain with rain rates peaking at 3.64"/hr. It was a gusty little storm too, lots of lightning. Daily chances for pop ups continue but its never a guarantee.

I have a huge romanzoffiana at a very similar distance. It's going to be fine.

I am getting close to the first inflorescence opening on a palm acquired as a Cocothrinax borhidiana hybrid. When posted in the past, Cocothrinax miraguama was suggested as a potential parent in the mix. I look forward to the inflorescence opening to see if it provides any insights. I find it to be a particularly attractive palm for a small space in my coastal full sun. It has great contrast in the abaxial and adaxial leaf color, nice matting on the trunk and stiff blades on its leafs. It is possible that the smaller plant at the base is actually a seperate palm, as it has grown much slower. The other stem's original trunk started to lean and a new growth point on the base of that trunk emerged. The taller trunk is the newest growth point and has grown at quadruple the speed of the smaller plant at it's base. The smaller plant seems to hold its leaves tighter as well, which is more like true borhidiana would.

TheJournal.ieYou can see how the Irish landscape changed during the dr...We’ve pulled out satellite images that show how certain areas looked before and after the heatwave.

It's good to see folks having success with Brahea moorei. Mine all got too much sun and were cooked. I want to try them in a better location if JFG has them available again.

You need to visit Humayun's tomb in Delhi and marvel at those Ph. sylvestris...