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Tracey, Great shape on that one; reminds of some of those harder to find, obscure, star-shaped Catt species. Beth Davis, of Waldor Orchids just gave us a fabulous presentation on cattleya orchid species at our Cape Cod orchid society mtg. There was a cattleya in her slides that had that similar, exaggerated star shape. If I can capture the image and name I will post it here. Re: V. Coerulea, one of the parents of manuvadee: I understand that it brings more of a cool temperature tolerance to its crosses. Although, cool and damp, I agree, is not a good combination for vandas. That was my carelessness and pushing things too far when I lost my first manuvadee.

Hi Tyrone, if you are looking at this thread, what do you think about Carpentaria acuminata in perth?

Update on your parajubaea microcarpa seeds please

Thanks Tyrone quality not quantity, but in my case quantity before quality. But iam sure I could post a few pics of some good disasters I have in the greenhouse. I took my grandmother’s approach to gardening less is best. But iam still learning, some palms no matter what I do will always be messy and not up to standards, they just simply don’t like the microclimate or soil, water or whatever it is. Overwater underwatering too cold or too hot, I call those ones the goldilocks palms just not right! If I was to have every variety of seed germinate that I have purchased I would have hundred of varieties, alas as you know they don’t all germinate! You grow pretty good stuff I have seen your work, you do quite well. It’s lack of good viable seeds that holds us back. Your climate holds you back as well but given those seeds and climate you would be cranking em out! Australia has some dam good palm growers and gardens, Australians can give them a run for their money, we got it going on down under! Dont let them tell you any different just keep planting palms !

Hi, does anyone in Australia know if it is possible to get a phytosanitary certificate in Australia if the plant is not purchased from a nursery?

About the only way to grow palms in my climate, and that’s if you really want them to grow at any normal pace you have to irrigate, the gum trees drink any available water there is and store it. When the last drought hit my area out of all the palms that suffered the most in my garden was the archontophoenix palms. Even lantana was dying in the bush, large banksia trees and she oaks died as well. At least iam not worried about a green lawn, save that water for my palms. The top part of my garden I don’t bother water they are on there own and always have been, it’s the understory iam watering as much as I can, Turing to establish the new palms. But alas I have now planted new varieties of palms that won’t tolerate dry soil at all, but that’s my choice to grow such varieties so out comes the hose.

You’re a really good grower Richard. Your palms look perfect. This weekend I’ve been planting Howea belmoreana, Rhopalostylis baueri and Rhopalostylis sapida Chatham Island. Last weekend was Chamaedoreas. Trying to get things in the ground so I have room to pot up things that desperately need love, bigger pots and fertiliser.

A couple of good ones today! dypsis baronii black petiole bentnickia condapanna Areca songenthensis

Nice one there a tough palm!

I have no idea at all about cold tolerance. A couple of odds it may have one being a cycas species which most are quite tolerant of cool conditions and if it comes from highlands. And if it doesn’t Iam hopeful it has some cool tolerance being a cycas species!

I have never seen one either, so that makes two of us who havent seen any!

I don’t mind bamboo, but it’s one for the large garden planted well away from anything. Iam currently removing my black bamboo after 25 years it is just starting to get out of control!

Will be interesting to see if the POFLO fertiliser makes any difference for you. I used it for 3 years and not sure it had much of an impact . I have switched to a different palm specific fertiliser this year

Theres quite a big difference between the two varieties of dasyanthas. Large form or hardy mapu as they are calling them. And the standard dasyanthas you get a lot of variations, having to pick out the best from a seedling batch. With the large form having far more mottling straight from the get go!

I have had a lot of seeds with a live grub in them and it was flattened in 1 second flat. And the batch of seeds was treated with insecticide. A responsible collector would do that in a heart beat. Large corporations are in it for money. It’s been going on for hundreds of years just look at rattus rattus. Climbing down a ship’s mooring rope and destroying an islands habitat completely shattering the ecosystem. Fortunately collecters of plants can see the injustice of a government system. It’s the government who doesn’t see there injustice!

Here are more tall Pindo Palms (Butia) in Jacksonville, Florida. Enjoy !!!

You gotta spend money to make money, personally iam not in the game of growing palms purely for profit, it’s the love of palms and gardening that drives my obsession. And if I can make a few bucks along the way even better, but you can rest assure it will take quite a few palms sold before I get anywhere near my money back. And at the current rate of everything going up in price, I need to be growing quite a few more rare palms than 1500 joeys! That said the rewards are there just not overnight, I have met a few growers who have been growing palms a lot longer than myself, they have been successful in what they have done. But it takes a long time to do so! The older we get the better our palms look! The little adscendens in the picture 27 years old this is the sort of time it takes.

Smaller, winged trail side company... One ...of several.. locally native Blue sps in the Polyommatinae subfamily seen puddling where ever there was moistened ground throughout the garden. Has been a surge of these in the yard over the last couple weeks as well. Puddling? ..or gathering mud?.. Not quite sure but, this Digger Wasp sp, possibly in the Genus Sphex < ....It's a legit genus name btw ) was doing it's thing among the blues gathered at this particular seep. Texas Crescent, Anthanassa texana... Another that made a quick stop in the yard a few days ago.. I don't recall seeing any of our locally common Crescents before ..July.. Female Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor, tending to the duty of depositing the next generation on a patch of our native Pipevine. Not a species i expect to see pass through the yard this early but, ..already seen two. Even up at Boyce, and while wandering around a nearby wash on the way home, these are typically less abundant this time of year compared to once the Monsoon arrives. Not this year though.. One of these days they'll start frequenting the yard more often since there is plenty of Pipevine waiting for them.. You know winter was warm when sightings of -any- of the Phoebis genus Sulphurs are a regular occurrence outside late summer / fall, after Monsoon season rains have provided ideal conditions for breeding. Summer rainfall pattern using the presence of these butterflies is so reliable that you can track just how wet a year might ..or might not.. have been by the general abundance ..or lack thereof... of species within this " tropical " genus of butterflies. After the heavy rains we saw last fall and the warm winter we experienced afterward, it figured i might see a few around down in the valley. Was more surprised to see ..quite a lot.. fluttering around up at the garden this early. remember, Boyce sits at an elevation where they can se an occasional, light dusting of Snow once or twice during a colder winter. If ... this summer does indeed end up wet, both locally, and across all of Northwestern MEX, this could be a big year for Sulphurs.. In this case, pretty sure all of these are Phoebis sennae, Cloudless Sulphur. That said, it isn't easy to tell this species apart from P. agarithe, Large Orange Sulphur, ..and a couple other species in the genus that turn up in AZ from time to time during the " boom - cycle " years. Regardless, Big, Orange and bright Yellow, < or Greenish - toned > butterflies wandering through a garden = a taste of the tropics. Been awhile since i've seen this AZ / Southwestern US region oddity, the infamous " Red - Eyed " Bee i'd mentioned encountering several years ago.. Not sure if this is Centris caesalpiniae, a locally rare Oil Digger more commonly seen in New Mexico, or Red legged Centris / Oil Digger, Centris rhodopus, which is < supposedly > more common west of PHX.. We actually have a few sps of Centris in AZ but only these two have red colored eyes. Pallid Desert Digger, Centris pallida, typically has bright yellow or green colored eyes, rather than Red or Gray. Black - legged Oil Digger = light colored eyes.. A couple things are fairly certain with these interesting Bees, 1, Seems the " Red eyed sps. " are highly attracted to species in the genus Krameria.. ..Where i've seen them every time i see them. Other species in our area are often seen around blooming Palo Verde and Desert Ironwood. 2, they collect oils / resins produced by the flowers of these plants, < and some others, > much the same way Orchid Bees ( Tribe Euglossini ) do, and have the " beefy ", fuzz - covered legs for the assigned task.. While Oil Diggers collect oils and resins for their nests, rather than a means to attract mates, like Orchid Bees do, highly likely one evolved from the other, imo. Both groups evolved in the Tropics though Centris were able to spread into slightly colder regions north of Mexico, esp. here in the Southwestern U.S. 3, ..Skittish and quick to fly off = they're tough to photograph, lol.. so being able to get a few, decent shots is a real reward for hanging out in the heat waiting for one or two of them to chill out on a flower just long enough to get the kind of shots i'd aimed for, esp. the Red -eyed beast. Interesting article related to another Centris sp. ( C. nitida ) that found it's way to FL. from Central America back in the late 90s.. Not too long before one of the Orchid Bees turned up in the state. https://bugoftheweek.com/blog/2019/1/21/oil-bees-if-you-please-centris-nitida First sighting of the same species was recorded in AZ back in 2022.

I think pacsoa have voiced there opinions about the subject in writing to the powers that be! And I think a few others have verbally voiced there opinions in such a manner that it seems to have upset the powers that be!

Don’t forget the scorpions in timber from Asia!

I do believe the bellmooreana grow at a higher altitude than the fosteriana. Amazing pics in habitat I must go there one day. And that emergent red leaf puts any Calyptrocalyx to shame!

They don’t get any easier than the ramsayi. Super tough and a lot of tropical looking palm for your garden, just add water.

Three rare ones getting my attention today. Pinanga sp BorneoAreca ahmada licuala sallehana var incisifolia

A few from LHI.. Last one is a red leaf emergent fosteriana

Well that was a bright idea someone had 25 years ago planting it so close to the building.