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After many years in the ground from a strap leaf seedling, my Copernicia rigida is finally starting to impress. Still no trunk, but at least the fronds look good. Closely related to both Copernicia cowellii and macroglossa, all 3 do very well growing up in the Arizona desert. As a side note, be very careful while near all 3 of these as they are lined with saw teeth on the edges of every frond. Yes, they will grab you and cut you. Ask me how I know...🤦 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Bismarkia

Fishtail new frond

Please, my friend: don't sell them. They are absolutely beautiful. I ordered my sprouted seeds from RPS Germany; I hope they manage to reach Chile. They are sending them via Bolivia. They are stunning; don't sell them.

I think that’s the same problem with my Sabal (blurry photo but the new leaves are smaller than the older ones)

That will last for a while . It is amazing , to me , how fast they fill in again. My favorite time is about half way to trim time. We have our very tall W. Robusta trimmed about once a year. Some like the skirted look , I do not. I have very specific instructions for the trimming , about like you have done there. Harry

Congrats , Jim! That’s a nice palm . It is interesting to me that as fast as the Syagrus Romanzoffiana grows , that other species in this genera are nice and slow . For me , that is a bonus. 👍 Harry

I’m really liking the various species of Chrysalidiocarpus and Dypsis . Some grow very well in Southern California collections in tight areas with filtered light from other palms . I have never heard of this one . Harry

Thanks for the feedback! I think I will give it a small stake for stability and let it lean as is.

If it is not close to a pathway where it would be a problem , I think it would be kind of cool with a curve. I’ve seen this done , as Jim says , to give interest and effect . Most times the palm will start growing straight up from the lean , creating a curve near the base. Harry

Lovely tour , thank you for sharing! Harry

I’d leave it just add it is. It will have a nice gentle curve in its trunk similar to how many coconut palms grow. I’ve purposely planted some palms this way to get that effect.

It recently finally got described as Chrysalidocarpus comptus. Good news for a palm that has been known without a formal name for so long.

It’s been a long wait for a first inflorescence since planting a tiny strap leaf Syagrus matafome in the ground twenty years ago. Today, this recently popped open one surprised me. Will be interesting if it produces any fruit.

Would love to find one for my California garden but, alas, they are exceptionally rare.

A palm with an interesting past, particularly name wise. Haven’t heard mention of it in quite awhile. Handsome and well grown Malagasy specimen. Definitely worth the post. Tim

Yes, butias in habitat are normally host of a lot of epiphitic plants like bromeliads, orchids, ferns....

Maybe .010" in the next 7 days? Lucky me.

The one I saw was at a local community college many years ago. If memory serves , it was not flowering. I think it has since been removed. I asked a friend of the grower what it was and he told me . Harry

Very warm and very dry start to summer. Multiple days over 100F, and long stretches between rain. I fertilized a month or so ago, and been watering a couple times a week. Getting some beautiful green growth. All discoloration was from transplant shock last year, and will probably trim it all off next spring. So far, just been clipping the burnt-ends. It’s putting out its 4th frond of the summer, and all the new ones at over 7ft long. Easily my favorite plant in the yard, and very exotic looking for the area. NC Zone 8a.

Nice looking palm, looks very happy! Is that a 2 trunk multi?

Wondering around the garden this morning and noticed my Slick Willy/Bef is flowering. This palm is at least 15years old from a 15g pot. Slow in a pot but speed up considerably when planted. worth the wait!

One of my washingtonia filifera suddenly displayed yellowing fronds. I have more than a dozen mature specimens around my plot and none have ever done this. Weather has been normal. Gets 20-30 gallons of water 2X a week (15gph emitter, plus plants near it with 2gph emitters). It sits up on a hill of its own, so drainage is excellent. The spring fronds still good and healthy, the center spears appear fairly normal, but the middle fronds are shocking pale yellow. Plenty of its friends get much more water, and some much less water. Some are in sand, some in clay. None have ever done this. The washies have always been pretty tolerant of whatever circumstances they lived in here. I haven't a clue where to start. I hesitate to assume chlorosis and put iron and acidifier down. I've considered dissolving some plam fert with magnesium and doing a soil drench. None of my pindos have iron issue though and they are supposedly more sensitive. Perhaps this is a single location issue? I've watered the nutrients away? I know young fronds take a moment to green up. But this is very minor and only between frond pleats in my experience. Every other filifera I have is deep green right now, inside and out. Does anyone have any tips? St George, UT. Alkaline soil.

thanks for the updates and those are some nice crosses You're working on. May I make a suggestion? It looks like you have plastic bags around the inflorescence which is going to hamper gas exchange. I would suggest using heavy duty frost cloth and sewing it into bags. That is essentially what the professional pollination bags are. keeps out wind and bugs, but allows gas exchange. Anything made out of cloth would be better. Keep us posted! I'm pollinating this week: Caryota mitis variegated x Caryota gigas C. psammophilus x decaryi C. cabadae x leptocheilos JD

Looking good Brad. Always a bright spot in the garden. Tim