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They love the construction-site subsoil-topsoil mix in my yard. They grow noticeably better in areas that are high and dry with inorganic soil. Can be heavy soil if raised and inorganic

Seems like the colder temps have gone, for now. Getting mid-low teen max again and overnight temps closer to 10C than 0c. From looking at the garden in recent days, no palms are showing any apparent damage. Even the Archontophoenix purpurea, which admittedly is planted in a protected position seems to have not noticed. Some Meryta sinclairii leaves got burnt by a couple of frosts last week, but this will grow out very quickly. The mexicola grande avocado, which is in an exposed position seemed fine, even with some young leaves. @cbmnz despite some damage, it reads like your plantings are getting more resilient with a few more years in the ground. Bring on spring!

Cattleya lueddemanniana coerulea, Cattleya lueddemanniana ('Maria Cecilia' x 'Mariauxi'). I read that this species usually does not flower on its second annual growth for the season. It it must’ve been real happy with the hot, humid weather over the past weeks. NYT wrote that the humidity levels on the eastern seaboard were about the same as the Amazon rainforest last week. A real homecoming for the species.

Looks great. You should try a Jubaea. I’m always envious of how they look in the NW

Causiarum update, it got bigger after milton A year and a month later ... My Causiarum marches on adding height and the crown is at least 3/4ths recovered. How tall is it now? I really don't know, its too tall for an accurate guess, 35' to 40' maybe. The wide angle lens might be making it look smaller, LOL! In person it a beast! Beccariophoenix ALfredii has recovered nicely too. cant get ground to tip of tallest leaf so I just shot 3-4' to the tallest leaf. 8-9' of clean trunk

I’ve got a gorgeous 15 gallon Butia for sale in La Habra. It’s big and it wants out of that pot and into the ground NOW, if possible. $250 or best offer. Send me a PM if interested. The Shoe is an American size 13, 30 cm or 12” long.

How did they fare this past winter? US27 can be a chilly route if there is no water north or west.

You guys always offload the lower-tier stuff to the yanks. I NEVER saw a can of Fosters the time I was down under. I'm surprised you guys don't sell us snakes, too.

@redant Do they produces fruits or they just growing leaves?

One day, when your tree blooms and produces seeds, remember that poor soul in southern Greece who has been dreaming of this tree for years now..

I agree with Daniel, heat, sun and water are usually the keys to these growing faster. If your soil channels water, you have a water issue in supporting a larger root system and it will grow slowly. This is also true for the cuban copernicias though they are nutrient pigs as well. I feed my alba 1x a year, the cubans may get 3x a year depending on winter weather.

As a palm grows larger so do the roots. At some point you may lose a lot of roots as they reach far away from the tree trunk. Generally less time in the ground is better. If its been in the ground a long time, I would root prune it in 4 stages over 4-5 months. You do this by digging a circumference around the tree at the desired rootball size. But you do this 90 degrees at a time then let sit and let those roots grow in close to the trunk, then next 90 degrees until done. IN this way you will transplant a palm with many more functional roots ready to expand. If you just have to rip it out, it might survive with a good size rootball, I haven dug mules before and each species/hybrid sp can be different in survivability of transplant. I would do it in late winter if the area freezes each year and I'd do it in mid fall if not. You dont want the plant to desperately need lots of new roots due to a full sun and dry/hot season climate which seems to be more common lately here in florida. And yes you will need to chop off some older green leaves as the roots needed to feed them will be reduced dramatically in a transplant.

Foxtails are definitely less trouble free than royals around my place. Planted too close to houses they get mineral deficiencies in clayish soil. With proper siting and soil they can look nice here, but the royals seem to defy the need for care if they get water. Most of the foxtails around my neighborhood are deficient in some way, perhaps 1/3 look nice with no obvious yellowing(Mg) or potassium deficiency. I am sure I could grow a nice one in the right spot, but that "right spot" has other options. Foxtails are not a canopy palm unless bunched and they take a lot of time to get big enough to function as canopy. The foxtail leaf is an architectural touch that some probably like. A royal is going to be a big tree and drop big leaves so it is does not compete with foxtails for function. I would not want a royal over the driveway for example. Foxtails are more competitive function wise with adonidias, not royals. I had a small foxtail once, it was killed in 28F in 2010. SInce then my yard has grown in and there is plenty of canopy with windbreak as well. I would like a fox lady and am holding out for one, but I might settle for a foxtail. I have a half a dozen palms in containers that will go in before a foxtail. I think the average homeowner here doesn't look at palms for shade, they are looking at an accent planting in a wide open " maintenance free" HOT yard. The lack of shade keeps you inside a few extra months a year and runs the AC harder, but most do not realize that or care. Most will opt for that live oak for shade if they appreciate the extra outdoor time or AC savings. A royal is not an accent palm, they don't plant them these days in new home landscape packages. Plant, auto irrigate, and ignore doesnt work well with foxtails here but works very well with royals. But are clearly too big a tree for a small yard that is typical these days(55; x 110') with 10-15' on each side.

Way less common on the west coast here. But they’ve got a semi Veitchia/Caryota look that makes them interesting IMO. But in Hawaii, wow, they do indeed take on near Roystonea proportions.

Looking good Joe!

Kerriodoxa elegans will be ripening soon, usually by mid Sept. Due to their size/weight and high cost of shipping them to me, we are only taking Pre-orders again this year. Cost is $1.50 each. Send requests to:Beachpalms@cfl.rr.com

I agree Loquats are really pretty. They are a good compliment to palms and other tropical/subtropical plants in the garden. They also proliferate very easily and if you plant one you’ll find out you end up with several once they have started to bear fruit! They seem to handle all the weather Central Texas can throw at them: cold down to 10F, heat to 115F, months with no rain (although they will look exhausted), or deluges and saturated soils! My local birds love them as they create quite a dense thicket offering shade and protection from predators.

Thank you so so much Harry for your precious advice !!

I say DoomsDave them. They're intolerably boring. Agree wholeheartedly with all of the above.

It is a great tree, I purchased it from a specialty grower, at a reasonable price, not sure where they acquired the seeds. There is one in the Royal botanical gardens in Sydney that is a very big tree. One day i will plant it in the ground in a very well amended spot with the utmost of care!

One tough tree the loquat, cold, hot, wet, dry you pretty well much can name it for this tough beauty. Reasonably fast growing, a great pioneer tree that has a nice tropical look about it. With the added bonus of fruit that’s good to eat, and quite ornamental with the yellow fruit. Be warned though the birds love them, so if you want the birds in the garden like I do, they can have the fruit being a bird attracting tree, iam quite happy with the birds!

I'm inclined to think Eric is right The rainy season may have ended even earlier than last year.

Never really looked at a foxtail as a royal palm, but yes the trunk is somewhat a little similar. I guess a smaller version of a total in a way. And the best looking queen palm I ever saw was in habitat in South America, the perfect spot for them, but not in my garden dare I say!

some people talk about the queen palms the same way you describe the ubiquitous foxtail in Australia.....what makes foxtails so popular (at lease in florida)is they are bulletproof. foxtails resemble royal palms but do not get as large, which is a big factor for most homeowners with limited space.