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Foxtails are definitely less trouble free than royals around my place. Planted too close to houses they get mineral deficiencies in clayish soil. With proper siting and soil they can look nice here, but the royals seem to defy the need for care if they get water. Most of the foxtails around my neighborhood are deficient in some way, perhaps 1/3 look nice with no obvious yellowing(Mg) or potassium deficiency. I am sure I could grow a nice one in the right spot, but that "right spot" has other options. Foxtails are not a canopy palm unless bunched and they take a lot of time to get big enough to function as canopy. The foxtail leaf is an architectural touch that some probably like. A royal is going to be a big tree and drop big leaves so it is does not compete with foxtails for function. I would not want a royal over the driveway for example. Foxtails are more competitive function wise with adonidias, not royals. I had a small foxtail once, it was killed in 28F in 2010. SInce then my yard has grown in and there is plenty of canopy with windbreak as well. I would like a fox lady and am holding out for one, but I might settle for a foxtail. I have a half a dozen palms in containers that will go in before a foxtail. I think the average homeowner here doesn't look at palms for shade, they are looking at an accent planting in a wide open " maintenance free" HOT yard. The lack of shade keeps you inside a few extra months a year and runs the AC harder, but most do not realize that or care. Most will opt for that live oak for shade if they appreciate the extra outdoor time or AC savings. A royal is not an accent palm, they don't plant them these days in new home landscape packages. Plant, auto irrigate, and ignore doesnt work well with foxtails here but works very well with royals. But are clearly too big a tree for a small yard that is typical these days(55; x 110') with 10-15' on each side.

Way less common on the west coast here. But they’ve got a semi Veitchia/Caryota look that makes them interesting IMO. But in Hawaii, wow, they do indeed take on near Roystonea proportions.

Looking good Joe!

Kerriodoxa elegans will be ripening soon, usually by mid Sept. Due to their size/weight and high cost of shipping them to me, we are only taking Pre-orders again this year. Cost is $1.50 each. Send requests to:Beachpalms@cfl.rr.com

I agree Loquats are really pretty. They are a good compliment to palms and other tropical/subtropical plants in the garden. They also proliferate very easily and if you plant one you’ll find out you end up with several once they have started to bear fruit! They seem to handle all the weather Central Texas can throw at them: cold down to 10F, heat to 115F, months with no rain (although they will look exhausted), or deluges and saturated soils! My local birds love them as they create quite a dense thicket offering shade and protection from predators.

Thank you so so much Harry for your precious advice !!

I say DoomsDave them. They're intolerably boring. Agree wholeheartedly with all of the above.

It is a great tree, I purchased it from a specialty grower, at a reasonable price, not sure where they acquired the seeds. There is one in the Royal botanical gardens in Sydney that is a very big tree. One day i will plant it in the ground in a very well amended spot with the utmost of care!

One tough tree the loquat, cold, hot, wet, dry you pretty well much can name it for this tough beauty. Reasonably fast growing, a great pioneer tree that has a nice tropical look about it. With the added bonus of fruit that’s good to eat, and quite ornamental with the yellow fruit. Be warned though the birds love them, so if you want the birds in the garden like I do, they can have the fruit being a bird attracting tree, iam quite happy with the birds!

I'm inclined to think Eric is right The rainy season may have ended even earlier than last year.

Never really looked at a foxtail as a royal palm, but yes the trunk is somewhat a little similar. I guess a smaller version of a total in a way. And the best looking queen palm I ever saw was in habitat in South America, the perfect spot for them, but not in my garden dare I say!

some people talk about the queen palms the same way you describe the ubiquitous foxtail in Australia.....what makes foxtails so popular (at lease in florida)is they are bulletproof. foxtails resemble royal palms but do not get as large, which is a big factor for most homeowners with limited space.

Tis a brave person who tackles a Calamus to give up her seeds! That said, I do find the NSW ones are a tad less... bloodthirsty... than their Queenslander friends

That's a solid collection. Will be good to see how the sabal Palms progress in a similar climate to my own.

OMG I am burning with jealousy! I have been looking for this plant since always! How did you manage to find a seed or plant if I may ask? I was told it is illegal to export from Brazil. Once I managed to get a single seed but it did not sprout. It was super expensive, the most expensive seed I ever bought; it was from a US nursery.

You can call it that I suppose, but when they grab you it’s not love on their mind!

Every time I go bush I always look for seeds in there habitat, and over 35 years of going bush, I have never found any seeds!

Why are foxtails so popular overseas, I see a lot of growers who bend over backwards to have one in there garden. In Australia they are a landscapers favourite, chain stores sell them like they are going out of fashion. Yet to a palm collecting palm nut in Australia they hardly get a second look. I have them in my garden but they don’t wow me like other palms do. Yes they are bullet proof, take a beating in sunlight, tolerance of a lot of dry conditions and they grow in some of the rockiest soil around. Cold frosty weather seems to be there only enemy. They are becoming a bit of weed in the Northern Territory around the Darwin area, with city councils asking people not to plant them as they grow so well in the heat up north. So what’s the beauty and challenge a lot of overseas growers find in them!

Love bites...

One of my favorite Calamus, if not the most beloved. Calamus is functionally dioecious.

Ravenea glauca in flower caught my eye today.

You don’t necessarily need shade to grow them, full blazing sun is not there preference for growing conditions. But you will be surprised how much sunlight they will take. Growing in the container will hold them back, for as long as you like. The row of hookeri are in very bright sunlight in summer near the greenhouse, if you can provide a cool root run they take a lot of sunshine.

Mid summer is the time for Becarriophoenix to rock!

Beautiful flamethrower palm! My flamethrower palm was given to me by a friend in 2003. It was most likely two years old. I purposefully kept it in a very small pot for these many years to keep it small. I repotted it into a larger pot a little over a year ago and it’s now growing bigger and faster. Unfortunately, I don’t have a shady spot for it to be planted into the ground.😞 It probably would be 15 ft or taller by now if it had been planted into the ground.