All Activity

I managed to look in to some of those pictures. They do look like glaucifolia but the too little wax on the upper part of the stem and the petioles. Have the plants been recently subjected to rainfall?

Didn't get a chance to post this earlier with all of the work to get ready for Plantae-palooza, but the NWS hourly airport records for the last cold front are attached in ZIP format. 20260224_obhistory.zip

Seems like spring is coming early this year!

This is why these forums are awesome. I have never thought of this palm. I think it looks very nice. General nurseries don’t carry these, they’re not really palm geeks in my area. I’ve asked multiple people here where to go, but no one responds. I wish there was a list of preferred nurseries. That would make things easy. I think I’m gonna go with the Pindo. Its hardy, survives my climate well and looks good.

thanks for the help, I’m actually surprised the trunk was so easy to cut with that blade it chopped right through it.

The potted one, trachy and the worst washy are trunk cut candidates, you can practice on the potted one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ9zPxk5EjY

Current model guidance suggest a cold front sweeping thru the south in the March 12th to 14th time frame. How cold it gets is yet to be determined, but it looks like a low probability at least at this time of dropping below 40F in the Panhandle. This can certainly change though, so I'll continue to monitor. As of right now though, I'm not gonna waste any bit of the growing season if this truly is the beginning of it. Starting to focus more attention on any severe weather threats that may try to manifest over the next couple of weeks.

Hey guys just giving some updates if anyone is interested. I unexpectedly got a spear pull from one of my planted 3 gallon trachycarpus fortuneis after our snow event. I think it might be toast but it is not completely defoliated either. The other ones I have took no damage from the cold event. The three 3 gallon washingtonias I planted in the ground all had no spear pull. The biggest one looks great and so does the second biggest one. Still have green on the spears and parts of the fronds. The smallest one had no pull but has much less visible green than the other two. The christmas tree lights did infact help to keep them warm as well, and I believe aided their survival. I kept one in a pot outside and it sat in the snow, and surprisingly the spear didn’t pull but it looks like it is basically completely defoliated, think it may not come back but not 100% sure. I definitely should’ve brought it in those last 5 or so nights that temperatures dropped but was feeling lazy. Sago palms almost completely defoliated but am almost certain those will produce new flushes once it gets warmer. Will also be buying another chamaerops humilis pair and planting it here soon. I am here sharing my palm yard here in zone 8B Augusta, GA. ——————————————- Please share below your after winter palm tree conditions and we can have this be the thread for it!

Rhino beetle?

Looks like it to my eye..

@Matthew92 and @Silas_Sancona this is the shrubbery I saw on my bike ride. I'm guessing that's the Ligustrum "Jack Frost."

I'm not sure about shrubberies for wet soil. If it's just damp that may be different than soaking wet mangrove-style. You could consider one of the smaller bamboos too, like Bambusa Textilis "Ladyfinger" or Multiplex "Rosa". Those are both easily controllable and 6-10' tall.

You and my wife ARE absolutely correct. I did my research after I realized she wasn't going to let it go. My Queen was in sad shape when we moved in, and I spent 5 years nursing her back to health, only to give it the axe, I was pretty heavyhearted about that. I just thought it was ironic that we removed the only palm in our arsenal suited for the "2026 Fatal Florida Freeze" I'm an old guy so I have a limited amount of time to make the back yard into something that doesn't make me sad every time I go outside. After spending a small fortune creating the first iteration, #2 will be something completely different, light on the cash outlay, but still "tropical looking". I like the look of young queen palms and I won't get attached to my palms ever again, if they begin to present an issue, then off with their heads! Anyway, as you rightly suggest, they will be out in the yard, away from the house and the neighbor's homes. Hopefully Fusarium oxysporum won't get 'em. There are NUMEROUS Syagrus in my immediate vicinity and only one or two seem affected by that disease. Interesting story about how that came to be. Apparently, in days gone by, their lived a "Johnny Queen Palm" in our neighborhood. He dispersed Queens freely to neighbors, even planting them himself, according to a couple older neighbors. He's long gone, but his legacy lives on, at least for now. In yet another twist of irony, another of my plantings did not blink as a result of the freeze, my Eugenia hedge. Unfortunately I was beginning to remove them because of "Branch dieback" and "Guava rust". I'm just a lucky guy. Better to laugh then cry.

Always good to challenge yourself with new plants. Common sense goes a long way! You’ve got this!

Try loading them again!

Bargain at that price, a lot of palm for a small investment!

Some very interesting and unique rainforest tree seeds in this batch. Rainforest seeds are new to me but some commonsense propagation techniques will be applied. Still learning about the process but it’s good to challenge the mind now and then. I seem to do ok with the palm seeds so it will be interesting to see how I go with this batch, either way it’s a good thing to learn!

Pandanus are tough and this one is just as tough, enduring very dry conditions in times of drought. They add that tropical look in any situation, but you do need room to let them grow they are not a small plant when they start to mature. But very tolerant of sun and bright shade. Super tough easy to grow plant!

In your wife’s defense, Queens are well documented to be one of the worst performing overall trees in hurricanes. Looking at them structurally, you’d think they’d do well, but they root shallow and fall over like crazy in high storm winds. In South Florida, it’s recommended to remove any within falling distance of the house. Maybe just plant them far enough away.

Added note to the above - the other negative side of hybridisation is perhaps the case of Chrysalidocarpus. We have a genus with many palms endangered in habitat or even extinct in the wild unable to be found again. Then we have many mystery species and/or hybrids in cultivation. It kind of blurs the lines with some of the hybrids out there and makes everything that bit more confusing. On the flip side, most of the hybrids in that genus are pretty interesting and some, if not most, end up sterile so often the genetic line ends with them (unless cross pollinated with another…and the confusion continues 🤣).

I’ve had the same decision to make. In general my thinking has been that if I only have a male of one species and a female of another, then why not try. Essentially it will be hybrids palms produced or nothing. There’s not really any cost to doing it if it doesn’t replace pure species. For example, I have a lonely Chamaedorea woodsoniana male. I have a Chamaedorea costaricana, oblongata and hooperiana females but no males of those species. I’ve been hand pollinating just to learn what works with what. I have 3 male Chamaedorea klotzschiana and a female so I don’t include these in any experiments and instead focus on isolating to produce pure seed. Perhaps if any of the species in consideration were critically endangered then maybe there’s a deeper debate, especially if the endangered palm is female and it’s worth trying to source male pollen somehow even internationally to continue the pure genetics. But in this case R glauca Isalo are spread around the globe fairly well and in no immediate danger so I don’t see what harm its doing by trying. Ravenea have been known to hybridise so you might end up with something interesting that inspires new collectors who ultimately contribute to palm conservation. I’m thinking of Tribears, Mules etc being introductory palms for people who then go on to become serious collectors and conservationists. That’s just my 2 cents on the topic but I’m happy to hear everyone else thought as it is a controversial topic for which I’ve heard arguments on both sides.

Richard is beautiful! Unspoiled nature

Warm evenings = more visits from the Sphinx ( Hyles sp ) Missed the chance to grab it but, while getting shots of this moth roaming the bigger group of Penstemon, one of our neighborhood Anna's Hummingbirds swooped in and decided the Penstemon were his and his alone. Kind of funny watching the hummingbird chirp at the moth while trying to drive it off before succeeding in his mission. Said, male Anna's Hummingbird on subsequent visits after his argument with the Sphinx.. Hirsute Paradise Jumping Spider, Habronattus hirsutus, one of two species that belong to the species complex H. tranquillus. Many species within this sub family of Jumping Spiders belong to higher complexes. They are also among some of the most colorful of the New World Jumping Spiders as well. As much as people might fear spiders, these are harmless ..and actually won't hesitate to confront ..and consume... the " bad " spiders ...Widows / Recluse species. Compared to most terrestrial invertebrates, Jumping Spiders have exceptional vision capabilities that closely match that of humans and can even clearly detect and discern certain colors and even human movement. Would be interesting to study whether or not they can recognize / easily detect differences between human faces.

As I sit on rock in the garden looking at what I have created iam amazed. The garden goes from a jungle canopy understory to a very dry hot intolerable in summer heat garden. Yet it all seems to work and grow in harmony with Mother Nature. You can create a garden of your taste to reflect your personality, it just takes time. All you see was basically carved out of the Australian bush, and we’re not talking about tropical cairns or Hawaii where you throw a plant over your shoulder and grows by just looking at them. Its hard country to garden in just add water! IMG_9785.mov

Hybrid palms is a good ethical debate. Myself personally iam against the hybridisation of palms or any other plant. It’s a debate that has the for and against it, Mother Nature does create hybrids but that’s for her to do and who are we to muck with Mother Nature. We know what happens when we do. With land clearing at an alarming rate and forest destruction of native palm habitats we are losing a battle we can all see what’s happening. We all know if it’s lost in habitat we can rely on botanical gardens and gardens around the globe to save a species of palm from extinction. Humankind has a lot to answer for in the destruction of the planet 300 to 500 years what will we leave. This is just my personal view on the subject and I will say iam against hybrids. Let others disagree, everyone has a right to be heard and have a say in this world 🌎