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Feathered friends from the Riparian Preserve ..Or as " oddly eccentric " folk ...who believe in cloud seeding / chem - trail -esque " Conspiro - Theories " like to call them: Covert, life - like drones developed by the govt. in the 50's ..or 70s.. < Can't keep up with the " theorized " timeline > for widespread, public surveillance.. Birds aren't real, ya know.. 🤡 Anyway.... American Wigeon, Mareca americana Drake.. Long - Billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana and friends.. Including: Black - Necked Stilt, Himantopus mexicanus, Cinnamon Teal, Spatula cyanoptera ..Great Egret, Ardea alba, ...and Least Sandpiper, Calidria minutilla ...Da' tiny " drones " watchin everyone closely ( 🤔 ..weird ...cuz you can't ever get close to em' without em' flying off.. ..Or, is that part of the " plan ", 🤣) American White Pelican, Pelicanus erythrorhynchos ..Yupp, " Pelicans in the " desert " " is a real thing.. Brown Pelicans ( Pelicanus occidentalis ssp californicus ) the fishing boat / pier- side beggers anyone living near a beach in CA. or FL. are probably quite familiar with? ..they too fid their way to local neighborhood ponds / lakes every so often.. Snowy Egret, Egretta thula Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias and Neotropical Comorant, Nannopterum brasilianum lurking in the background of a few of the shots as well... Male, White Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys ..spying on me... < scratchy voice .. . " We're watchingg youuu " >

Current Stats (06:45 AM, April 7): Lowest temperature this morning Outdoor Temp (Arbon Stachen 425m, solar-ventilated Bresser) 4.4 C / 39.92 F 94 % humidity Balcony Temp 443m (4th floor, shaded Intertronic): All passive protection has been removed since Saturday, April 4, 2026 10.1 C / 50.18 F / 55 % Pressure: 1021 hPa

Harry, I got the first seed ,from the 2025 seed set , to germinate. Six months on damp coir.

Chamaerops humilis var. argentea (syn. Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera)

Maybe ten pounds ? I put a grocery bag up to it and got some pollen without doing any damage. There was pollen visible in the breeze as I worked. Scott W said he would like some.

Last year, I bought the seeds, but nothing germinated, but the seller has known me for many years (25) and replaced the seeds with another species.

I don’t know Richard I think that Dypsis rosea new frond would be much redder down here - send it down and I’ll look after it 🤣

The palm in the lower two pictures is sending out three inflorescences at once.

Merlyn, I totally respect Tim's expert opinion on this palm. Many years ago I inquired and was told that it was a Macaw palm. Many of these older Carribean palms have spines but seem to lose them with age. All pictures on Palmpedia or elsewhere show spines but as you can see none on this trunk. It cracks me up about the dwarf, semi-dwarf or standard A. catchetu! Who knows! I am most interested in identifying the "what in the world" palm. I will get better pictures that will hopefully assist the experts with identification. Thank you and everyone for their help.

A few more new ones up this week. And even a few more joeys popping up!

Harry thank you for identifying it, I can ID orchids, not palms! the reason I thought it was Rhapsus excelsa was when it flowers, it looks like pictures I've seen online of Rhapsus excelsa blooming. Have you ever seen growth like that? I have dug around as best as I can and I thought it was from the plant but it is so root bound I won't know until I repot. That growth is not grassy. All that growth is needle-like. I would like to terminate the tall trunk as there are several buds on that rhizome. Wouldn't this stop the height problem and increase lower growth as in a new shoot or two? The question is do I do it during repot or wait a bit.

How is it now? Waiting til after this Wednesday's freeze at least to open it?

Dypsis saintlucei in flower, Chambeyronia macrocarpa and hookerii both flowering together, dypsis rosea and a archontophoenix Cunninghamiana with that rare orange leaf for a bit of colour!

Yep I’m very confident it’s C loucoubensis. Here’s the description on palmpedia which is taken from the palms of Madagascar description of D ampasindavae. Short to absent petiole, pale green crownshaft with some wax and pendulous leaflets are the traits that stand out to me.

Two of my Kentiopsis oliviformis are getting ready to bloom for the first time

I tried zooming in on the trunk and upper crown area, and I think there are thorns up near the top. Do some Aiphanes (or Bactris, etc) lose the trunk thorns with age? I don't think I've ever seen an old one in person, so I have no idea.

Hmmm interesting! FWIW droopy onilahensis do well for me and seem to take drier conditions than “upright” onilahensis. I’m in northern Orange County California, near Los Angeles county.

Tom Broome told me about the sex change concept maybe 6 or 7 years ago, while I was shopping at his place. He seemed to think it was really possible. If I recall correctly, he was planning on trying it at some point.

Good luck with the B. madagascriensis! I have never seen a healthy looking one in California before. Do you know what causes them to be so yellow in California normally?

My wife was walking one of our cat on a leash outside (they are indoor cats) and she knocked over my nice tall ceramic pot with a Dendrobium speciosum ssp Pedunculatum in it. The original tiny plastic 3" pot was undamaged and the roots filled the ceramic pot encircling the cobblestones I used to hold the plastic pot at the top. It's new pot will be short and stout when I finish replanting it. I think it will handle the move fine.

I never got one big enough to really take off, so I'm not really sure. I can't say if they would have grown fast or withered away like Meg's experience. I lost basically all my Dypsis/Chrysalidocarpus in February, at least down to the roots. Solo ones like Lastelliana, Basilonga, Leptocheilos all died...except for the Decaryi that looks like it may make it. Pembana, Lutescens, Lanceolata and Albofarinosa burnt to the ground but some are resprouting. I'll probably keep a couple of the clustering ones. I for sure would try Onilahensis as a patio palm, because I could move it inside for the 2 or 3 frosts per year. I'm just tired of buying palms, figuring out a great spot for them, and then having them croak from bud rot in a year or so. The same goes for Archontophoenix and Bottle/Spindles, just too high a risk of spear pull and bud rot. Maybe I'm just grumpy from spending a whole week pruning and digging things out, and I'll change my mind in a few weeks...

Possibly a dwarf minor could do that. But otherwise looks very odd. Here is mine https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eVEGtd5lk2o

Buba🌴🌴🦜🦜

I found this photo from March 2016 with a description of Dypsis robusta in the ground. I'm not sure if I had just planted it or if it was a little before this that it went into the ground. The growth over a decade from this picture to the current is accurate though.