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The poor Livistona rigidas- exactly what happened to the one you gave me. I assuming baking it in heat would be beneficial but I reckon I cooked it. Good learning for those that remain.

My bottles don't start flowing until around 8 pm.

Not my fault...I'm just the victim in this scene! Getting the water:light:heat balance right is so complex in a greenhouse. I learnt an interesting lesson this summer with my Livistona rigida. I'd had them in full sun in the hottest part of the greenhouse, thinking that's what they needed, but they never really thrived. This year I moved them to a shadier position and they look much happier. Guessing they're appreciating not drying out to a crisp between watering cycles...container culture doesn't always necessarily reflect in-ground requirements and if I ever do get around to planting them, it'll be in the hottest, sunniest spot I can find!

Don’t forget being up against the cold and wet, that’s my next hurdle with winter coming up, but I blame @Jonathan for the cold weather with penguins at his door step, marching across that frozen tundra!

Just to the left of that corner is more carnage, but the majority of that is a multi-headed Cycas Edentata/Litoralis and a monster Encephalartos Whitelockii: The after view is pretty bare, and also covered with a solid inch of the World's Meanest Mulch(TM) from the Whitelockii. The Attalea Cohune double in the center both are pushing new green spears. The current deaths in this area are on the left hand side: 2 out of 3 Chambeyronia Macrocarpa (2 Hookeri dead, 1 Watermelon with a solid spear); a pair of Dypsis/Chrysalidocarpus Basilonga, and in the background a triple Archontophoenix Cunninghamiana. The three small Alfredii haven't spear pulled...yet. I'm not sure if they'll survive. Others like a Wallichia Oblongifolia/Densiflora in the bottom left side lost the bigger fronds but still has a sucker growing green. Just like the small Arenga Westerhoutii, this tiny Attalea Speciosa (from @NatureGirl through @Jdash) was defoliated but just opened up a tiny new leaf! And near the front door I took this photo after chopping off the Encephalartos Ituriensis fronds: And afterwards it's looking pretty bare. I removed a Spindle with 6' of clear trunk, a trunking Archontophoenix Alexandrae and Maxima and double Cunninghamiana, and a triple Gaussia Princeps. On the left side the leaning Beccariophoenix Fenestralis is questionable, but still has a solid spear. The big Ficus Auriculata trunks are bare but there's sprouts at the bottom. The Arenga Hookeriana in the bottom right is also questionable. It had some ground level leaves on a sucker, but they are not in good shape. But there's new flushes in the Cycas on the right and another Diannanensis behind the toasty Ficus Lyrata.

Hi Kyle, I do not know what causes the yellowing of specifically madagascariensis, but I do know adding lots of compost and lava rock for drainage in my clay hillside soils has helped all my palms and plants put on deeper green hues/ solid growth. The areas of the side yard I have been slower to add compost and drainage rock, has slower growing plants with more tip burn/ nutritional issues etc. I am a believer in developing the overall soil health, and dynamism to get the best looking plants which often means lots of leaf drop and litter that other folks might find less attractive etc. Every year or two I will do a big order of compost and mulch to cover the front and back yard, but this year I swapped out the organic mulch for draining 3/4 lava rock. Hope it helps with opening up my clay soils, but it also looks great against the green fronds!

The Encephalartos Hildebrandtii sucker's flush is going pretty well, and the main trunk has a good 4 to 6 visible leaf flush going too. In the background the Munchii has a nice 8-10 leaf flush about halfway done. So this area will soon look like a garden again, instead of a warzone! Speaking of warzones, this is the front NW corner before pruning everything back: And after pruning. In this area I lost a pair of Ravenea Hildebrandtii, a Ptychosperma Elegans, a pair of Cyphophoenix Nucele, and a Gaussia Princeps. Everything else in the area looks like it'll grow back. Surprisingly enough a pair of Syagrus Schizophylla, a clump of 3 Ptychosperma Salomonense (well...2 out of 3 trunks...that ain't bad!) and a Copernicia Hospita all look in survivable condition.

It does look like all the big Alfredii survived, and the small ones (under 3' tall in ground) all might die. The ~20' tall Alfredii outside my window just opened up a new green spear over the past week. The upper leaflets might have a touch of tip damage from the cold, but are otherwise perfect. I do have quite a few Butia and Butia hybrids. As expected, the Butia didn't even notice the cold. Likewise a Mule, a JxB and a BxJ were undamaged. Two Butia x Lytocaryum Weddelliana were basically undamaged. One of them ended up with the top of the new spear dying, but it's hard to say if it was from cold or from high winds. It just sort of broke off, but is pushing the remains out from below. Here's the BxJ with a good crop of weeds... Shockingly enough, this Arenga Westerhoutii I was absolutely certain was mush. I was already trying to figure out a replacement. On Monday I noticed this new frond opening up. It's tattered and small, but maybe it'll pull through... Likewise, this Arenga Pinnata was 100% defoliated, but there's a new green spear pushing out! The two bigger Pinnatas are still TBD, but have recovered from defoliation at least 2 or 3 times each. So I'm hopeful. I'm less enthusiastic about the immature Eastern Lubbers on the fronds...

That is exactly the way my Jubaea look. First to open are the male flowers at the ends and then a week or more later the female flowers. I read or was told by someone that Jubaea Female flowers open after all the male have finished on same spathe. Purpose for that is to help prevent pollination on same plant by itself preferring to get pollination from a different Jubaea tree in the vicinity. Also I was told that it is best to have at least two Jubaea palms in order to get fruit. If this is true or not I don't know, but 45 years ago I planted two Jubaea just in case.

That blue circle west of Stuart looks to be getting smaller, too.

I would also like a guarantee against LY and LB. I don't suppose they offer that, aye?

Christmas palms on average flower around 6-ft tall and the same age from seed. Bottle palms I have no idea.

Do you have photos of parent plants?

OMG, now that’s one immersive PRA! Palms, tropicana, and lubrication, nuthin Nerdy about that! Tim

Thanks Richard 😎 Jonathan……I’ll remember that snarky remark. Bret, what a chunk! I remember those huge entire leaves when I first planted them and then they exploded. I have never fertilized or sprayed them which is a bonus. Tim

My experience was the opposite. They were doing fine in pots, growing like crazy and not having any damage in winter or summer, provided they experienced no frost in winter and they were protected from the afternoon sun in the summer. Once in the ground though, they suffer from both, so I think they need to be under canopy. They never bloomed but personally I am interested in the foliage so not an issue.

Absolutely fantastic! I see many ‘happy places’ in your garden to pause and ponder all the hard work. Tim

Love star apple! Great blend of sweet/tart. Great to see them growing in Mesa!

Seems quite likely the rest of the Panhandle goes into the extreme drought category before things get better. No rain expected for the next 7 days and likely much further beyond. I am sitting at 0.59" for the month of April thus far, I should be sitting somewhere near 2 inches based on averages. For the year, I am sitting between 7 and 8 inches which is 9 to 10 inches below where it should be for the year. The pattern does not look to even have a chance of breaking until closer the end of April/beginning of May. Until then, it's going to be bone dry and it's going to start getting hot by the end of next week, temperatures possibly reaching as high as 90F. Soils will dry out very quickly under these conditions and the threat for wildfires will increase significantly. I expect burn bans will go into effect sooner rather than later up this way, and kind of surprised they haven't already.

I love those.......

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXCUthNjtbT/?igsh=empxM3hydXZoaGto I'm filling the bedroom shelves up again. What will my next obsession be? Begonias? More alocasias? I've still got so many holes to dig, dozens of bulbs germinating, Sabal seeds popping up like mad - @Bigfish the causariums and hybrids are totally fine! - lots to prop and chop, a few things to pot up, and I'm just not feeling it today. I really do need a coco coir and perlite sponsor 😂 And don't judge me for the music. First off it's a banger and my last 6 or 7 posts were Metallica. I'm growing up mom's ficus elastica tinekae or whatever the hell it's called, I ordered her a blue hydrangea and some sulfur for it, and got her a couple African violets. Her mom was famous for growing them. Bittersweet because I'm watching my mom's mind go down the same path my granny did in real time, maybe if I get plants outside her window she'll peel back her blackout curtains every few weeks or so.

Looking great JD! I love all the multi's! The environment speaks to calm tropics with splashes of color, very meditative environment. Broms are nice, makes me miss mine which seemed to last for 8-9 years. Are some of these hybrids? Let us know how that zoysa works out. Is it good in part shade? My bermuda grass dies out in part shade. My daughter had some zoysa plugs that were looking good but she moved, I have no idea if the grass does well in sandy shady spots long term. Just want some pathways that I can walk without shoes. I have a similar yard with a path through the palms and a homemade firepit. Yours looks like a bigger yard. Hoping for some nice rains this year for all of florida. RIght now my yard is parched, once a week watering is awful in sandy soil. Let it rain!

Craigslist is a ghost town here. Facebook is where it's at. I've got to thank @teddytn for jumping up my culo to get back on there. I still hate it, but I've made a couple bucks. And I'm doing some networking...

Another sub tropical fruit tree that seems to at least grow well under Phoenix Arizona desert conditions. Very pretty tree that maintains dark green foliage with strong copper colored undersides. Mine has flowered in the past, but has still to produce a single fruit. Maybe someday? 🤞 (This tree is already 15 years old, grown from seed from a star apple fruit I purchased on a Hawaiian vacation in 2010) aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Now that I'm moving the bananas outside to harden off for planting, I can put it under the big boy lights. This is another on my list of "stuff I'm afraid to plant."