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Things are fine in Htown. I'll be doing my first hand watering of 2026 this weekend but looks like the rain should pick back up in April. Last year was like a dream, a "cool" (lol) summer with decent rain. I barely had to irrigate at all at least out in west Houston. Maybe less than a dozen times for all of 2025. It's not always doom and gloom ya know.

Update: Teddy said no. He grows them for people in parts of the country even warmer than ours. I was skeptical but intrigued at the mere possibility of a native cycad thriving in this climate, so I had to ask him!

Haha I can wait for you. Thanks a lot for the offer. I'll see how it goes. If it doesn't respond to Fe EDDHA then I will do it. You see the red colour that iron has left from yesterday's application

No hard feelings just reciprocity lol

Would be really interested if 2 particular Madagascar mysteries could be studied; Ravenea glauca - Isalo vs Andringitra. Are they different forms of the same species or each unique species. Chrysalidocarpus onilahensis - drooping/weeping vs upright/stiff (and vs sp bef/slick willy). PoM seems to lump all together but appearance and seed are very different. In the case of C sp bef, growth habit very different too.

Thank you all for your replies, I feel like I have the clarity I need for this spot. I have some Archontophoenix Cunninghamiana, Maxima, Purpurea and I have Chrysalidocarpus Onilahensis - all in pots and looking for a spot. I guess I'll just find a different spot for the originally referenced palms.

Thanks for sharing these around Richard. Great palm for which seed deserves not to be wasted. I’m so curious as to what this palm will be called in the future. It is so different to the ‘stiff leaf’ form which also has pointed and deeply ruminate seeds whereas this palm has drooping fronds, globose and homogeneous seeds. Funnily in Palms of Madagascar, seeds are described as pointed but homogeneous so the mystery deepens. I’d be confident that the 2 forms are distinct enough to be separated though but would be interesting to see genetic study on them. And the sp ‘bef’ or ‘slick Willy’ which seemed to get lumped into onilahensis in Palms of Madagascar but seems very different.

Seramis is calcined clay pellets. Here in the US. It's sold under the brand-name of turface or Primera 1. It's sold as soil stabilizer for baseball fields. I always called it diamond dry when I was playing ball. It's hell on your legs when you slide. It's much more forgiving to plants,it drains quickly yet retains some water. I usually mix a 50lb bag with 2 cu ft bag of topsoil, and a brick or two of coir with some osmocote. I plant most all my pots with this mix. It's worked well for me,pots can be pretty heavy with this mix however

Also Sabal mauritiiformis is completely crispy crispy in the mid 20s while Livistona decora is unphased

I assume you mean mauritiiformis...there's also a random tall one in Laguna Vista right on the Laguna Madre iirc

A few more red fronds , anyone? Finally some blue sky to show off the colors. IMG_5250.mov …and a backlit Chrysalidocarpus ‘Dark Mealybug.’

You say it's a busy sidewalk. If it impedes walkers, maybe they have a point. As far as I know, a sidewalk is normally owned by a city, and is intended for public use. I remember my days as a young mother pushing a stroller trying to make it safely around obstacles. I never would have contemplated cutting anyone's bushes, but it seemed inconsiderate of some homeowners not to maintain a reasonably clear walkway. You might consider your liability if anyone were hurt by a spiny robelenii. I removed two that were leaning way over the sidewalk at my house. I see my thoughts are in the minority here.

Uh-MAZ-ing Tim! You have magic soil at your place. 🤩

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWU8yM-Dbgh/?igsh=aTl1a3J2eW93NGg5 Don't get all snooty and act like this is the first post about peeing on this forum. This place used to be fun. Anyway also got myself another Ensete Marrelli and it's already showing the same problems the last one did. This time I took the fabric off the root plug so that ain't it. And I've got 2 sprouts so far of the Musa Acuminata Papua Yellow seeds from @Bigfish - I didn't notice them at first, then saw them and got excited, now they barely move. And it's almost time for me to take another Dwarf Cavendish pup off....... And I've got a lot of holes to dig.

Tracy, Richard, Harry…..a BIG Mahalo! Tim

The Red Ladies and a couple grocery store plants look ok, I don't think I'm gonna have the 8 foot shade trees I was led to believe I'd have - and there are hundreds in the Muck Hole ®

Hmmm. ...no rain in Northern San Diego County since September? I don't have October and earlier from this rain season which began September 1. I do have data for November until today and it was a little over 7 inches in the South County and similar at home in Leucadia. Maybe your plants got more rain than you thought. There are several varieties of Sapote planted in the Tropical fruit tree section at San Diego Botanic garden, formerly Quail Gardens.

Those will all rot I think.

I tried the sun thing in the bush, very harsh conditions, and you can see what happens to them 🤣

I guess he doesn’t have 1500 of them to throw around like I do!

Come on Richard that situation would spell certain death for a Joey. Wouldn’t enjoy any time of year and wouldn’t last long.

@Skenny Get the light saber out.

Near normal? Which one? The one before 2023 or the one since then?

Yeah, Than. I’d do that for your plant and change the potting mix—meaning I’d adjust the mixture to get it just right. I think your plant will appreciate it. And yeah, it always takes some effort, but you’re good at it, and besides, your partner can help out. If I were closer, I’d be happy to do it for you 🤗