All Activity

I’m looking forward to some rain. Luckily the retic keeps everything green and lush and the soil is moisture retentive which is good at this time of year. Not great in wet old winter. Going for 29C today and 33C on Saturday but nothing below mid twenties forecast. March on average is warmer than December here but with every shortening days of course. The day length is starting to drop away quickly now as we approach equinox.

Omg this is terrible! 😞 what are your plans moving forward?

Josue first up is my younger Ravenea julietiae followed by 3 shots of the one in bloom right now. I have the potted Macrozamia on one side and Dioon mejiae on the other making it challenging to get the entire palm in one photo.

Here you go, female plant holding multiple spadix at different maturities in photo with white fence background. Male plant holding multiple spdix at different stages of maturity and final photo is a pair of male inflorescence on the same palm.

What a nice Florida day it was! I had been itching for more IRL palm talk and mission accomplished I look forward to the next meeting. I’m thinking about my auction donations already. Hope to see you all there

86F might be on the hotter end of warm, but, w/ a light breeze stirring at times, it's a pretty nice day out. Temp outside in the Pre - sunrise hour catching the Eclipse was perfect.. Looking at the rest of the week? ..mid 80s tomorrow, pulling back to the lower 80s / 70s Thur. and Fri. before another bump up, then a slight dip as some troughiness skates it's way through the region by the start of next week. Same general troughiness could result in a cutoff low pinching off the overall west to east flow north of us that ends up drifting south or southwesterly to a point somewhere near the CA / Baja Norrte border by Sunday or Monday, possibly opening the door for the return of some slight shower chances ..if the COL can pull up moisture from the Gulf and adjacent Pacific nearby.. Regardless, ..if it manages to bring any, more than likely, precip seen would err on the lighter side and ..since the system would be warm and completely cut off from colder air further north, would likely only bring snow to the highest peaks in AZ, if not elsewhere as well, if at all. After it exits ..we'll see what happens.. While there seems to be a general consensus solidifying among overall thoughts on what comes next, there is still some deg of flip n' flop present in day to day, individual model runs so.. That said, it seems the more reliable, longer -term - looking models are sending louder hints that the next big warm up may arrive soon, after another quick cool down ...if " mid 70s " could be considered " cool ". *** Consume w/ a few Grains of Salt alert *** of course but, next uptick in temps is showing up in today's 10 and 14 day outlooks.. Took a couple days but, stats are in for how winter ..and the final month of it.. looked down in Tucson. As impressive of a winter as it was up here, i'm much more impressed by these stats. Simplified Soc. Media summary: Detailed, for those keeping score ..or just curious / wanting to learn some things.. : How March is starting off up here.. How will this month end???? ....Now Imagine if this were the start of July.. 😬

Im pulling the trigger on the alfredii you guys are right, for a statement tree, no better than this for my climate.

I think you’re right! Im gonna go the alfredii. I thought about it and while settle for Toyota when I can get a lexus.

That's amazing !! Most Queens would look like a fried chicken at that temperature.

Thank you for the update. I'm glad the Queens are doing well . It seems to be that they're pretty cold hardy in the Jacksonville area.

The return of the Queen palm in San Antonio. The outcome of this is clear. Won't see a bright future for those that made it through the last couple of winters. I decided to remove my Queen a few weeks back . Obviously it survived, no spear pull , just ugly brown all over. Bought it last year in hope it would push out a few fronds but unfortunately , that hasn't been the case. It slowly grew one long spear. So I thought I would remove it because there's no point at looking at something that doesn't even look nice. The Queens at the Riveralk seem to do well and grow quite fast after being in the ground for 2.5 years. I also took some pictures of a few Livistona Chinensis . Also new rows of Sabal Palmettos have been planted around downtown. Here's one of it. Best choice of palms in our area. Surprisingly the few Ravenea Rivularis have survived near the Riverwalk. Seems to be a great microclimate for a lot of exotics.

Here in Florida, Butia sp. (Pindo) are everywhere. My issue with them is that they are so variable in appearance. Frankly, well grown specimens are the exception and not the rule. In my opinion, attractive specimens are also the exception and not the rule. Perhaps in California this is not the case... On the other hand, Becarriophoenix alfredi, while by no means common, are beginning to be seen. If you haven't seen one in person I would encourage you to look into it further. This is truly a spectacular palm. And, I am not one to exaggerate. They don't seem prone to the variability seen in Pindos. If you are looking for a statement palm, I would strongly advise you to consider the Becarriophoenix alfredi. While it will cost you more to acquire, it will prove to be worth it. People are constantly asking me what kind of palm I have growing right in the center of my yard. And, as I stated previously, mine was completely unaffected by the cold event we experienced recently. These palms get to be incredible monsters with time. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with a Becarriophoenix alfredi...

It will be near my driveway. Maybe not the best idea if it will impede the drive way.

With the male Encephalartos cone, it will elongate before it begins shedding pollen. A light tap on the cone will show it shedding pollen. I did this with the Encephalartos horridus cone below and you can see pollen which dropped to the ground after tapping it lightly. It is an older cone so has already shed most of its pollen. Cycad pollen is not something safe to inhale or have on your hands so safety is always a priority. I use a kn95 mask and gloves. You can collect pollen by putting something below the cone and tapping it or by removing the cone. I have seen the cone removed and put on a glass table and tapped. The pollen collection off the table resembles a scene from Al Pachino in Scarface. Female cones crack open a little and the megasporaphll scales become a little loose. You can check them for looseness just by pinching a couple to see if they wiggle or remain tight.

That's very exciting, these changes.

🤗

great, Richard.

wonderful, Gyuseppe.

Very sad, I feel sorry for you and for everyone who has been affected this winter, no matter where.

the alfredii has less than half a crown it will grow far wider than you see there, some leaves will be horizontal and green once established. Container palms will always be a limited in size by the small volume for roots to grow. Nurserymen will trim them up as the small roots cannot support so many leaves in that box.. I would get the alfredii, when both are grown in, it will have a much greater visual impact.

Awakening at 5AM ..after falling asleep by 1AM = slightly challenging.. Being able to witness / grab a couple " ok " shots of the last Lunar Eclipse visible from the U.S. until ...2029? = Priceless.. # Always be awake ...And be sure the camera battery is fully charged, Lol.

the alfredii or royal will be at least 2x as wide as a butia "X"

The size you see in a boxed palm is typically much smaller than an established palm. For pindos that is not true in my observations. They get 8-10 feet wide here in the crown. I guess it depends on which pindo it is(butia odorata, butia yatay etc) Pindo is a tradename not a species. typically they are butias but butia yatay, butia capitata, butia odorata are what they sell as "pindos".

Its all relative many of the palms being compared to the pindo are 2x as wide in the crown. Pindos are generally less than 12' wide. That is a small palm by comparison to all the others being referenced.

10 day forecast for reference: