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So close yet so very far away

My big Archies are about 15-20 years old from seed. Which they produce prodigious quantities of. I’d say tuckeri and the late Slapsie Maxie were roughly the same size.

https://www.ortobotaniconapoli.it/it/risorse/schede-botaniche/wollemia-nobilis.html

At the botanical garden of Naples, there is a beautiful specimen and it is already quite large.

I have enjoyed this friendly forum for information and community for many years. I am excited to see its update which promises to add new options while keeping what I enjoy. Thanks so much to the IPS for the monetary support to PT and especially to the many individuals who are working on our behalf.

Update May 2026..

Most expensive palm you will ever buy is the tall one who needs a trim every two years. I never envisioned having to cut down my archies or royals. I have to trim my phoenix rupicolas but I don't think they will ever get tall enough to out grow my 18' pole saw. The longer the pole saw, the harder it is to use. As time has gone by I have appreciated the palms that self shed and don't grow to the sky so fast. Slow growth is good! Dave, how old were those archies? And did you ultimately find the maxima to be a bigger palm than the others?

@UK_Palms Last night was definitely unprecedented cold for the south east for May in recent year's. Here it got down to 42f/5.5c. Canopy can definitely do wonders however. At the end of the garden under a good amount of layered canopy it only dropped to 7c. The temperature quickly rose under the clear skies this morning, so that could possibly be a saving grace for some of your tomato plants in the poly tunnel? Probably many major crop losses for vineyards too.

There's a well established clump of at least a reclinata hybrid near downtown Pensacola. It has been there since before 2007, which to me suggests its probably crossed with something that has a better degree of hardiness. It would be worth a shot in a protected location close to the water in coastal Alabama. Anything north of US 98 in Baldwin and US 90 in Mobile though is probably a no go. https://maps.app.goo.gl/1ZuzU8B6vDnDHv1P6?g_st=ac

Never been even a hint of red with this one. From what I've read here, apparently quite a rare variation - I guess I got lucky!

Looks like they are loving life in the shade. Here is one of my hookeri that popped two days ago. light passing through the leaf is flame Light back reflecting off the leaf transits different chemophore compartments(mostly epidermis) and is dark red

Another pitcher has opened!

Good call I don't either on second look. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bbfEoabIR7YFc8uhdYoTqWBnNmqXo1OY/view

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Yep. The growers are not worried about the long term health of the palms. They just want to sell an eye catching pot full of palms for people to put in a dark corner of their living space, and replace 6 months later when they no longer look fresh. It's a market. When I lived in Minnesota, the cool thing to do was to buy a 15 or 25 gallon queen palm and plant it as an annual in your front yard. No chance of survival past October, but definitely an attention getter and conversation starter all summer...🤷‍♂️ aztropic Mesa, Arizona

They do all righ in Santa Monica California too. Show yours Dr. Andy!

I don’t understand putting so many Livistona Chinensis in one pot. The trunks , eventually , get pretty big . Some retailers sell palms in community pots that should have been separated at the seedling stage. Both those would be better grown as singles. Harry

Oh my , that’s quite the “shovel”. Harry

Very interesting information! I have found out also a couple other distinctive features of the dwarf form compared to the trunking one. Leaves of former have a rougher texture and seeds are smaller. Latter has a more glabrous texture and a subglaucous color on petioles and leaflets, perhaps due to more sun and wind exposure. Also seeds of latter are bigger. My oldest radicalis had been bought from Germany as a plant with already pinnate leaves, which had identical texture the the rest plants from your seeds. It used to remain for ever dwarf too, but I had the impression that it had a subterranean, creeping small trunk, just like Howea belmoreana. Unfortunately it got pissed to death by my dog.

Why do you think I plan on keeping this thread alive forever? 😝

Well, they were made with the first seeds that arrived in the 1980s from the USA to a friend of mine. (I hope the chamaedorea seeds I sent you yesterday arrive.)

Absolutely no trunk. Just leaf sheathes protruding from soi, meaning that half of the leaf base remains under surface. Those plan5s are older than the nearby trunking ones.

A nice row of hookeri with almost three in a row putting on show.

Dont you love getting up early just to head of to work, we spend our chiliensis getting up early just to go to school, now we do the same, only difference is we get to wonder around our garden before work. Gone are the days of sleeping in!

A small Wollemi in the garden, they are very tough. So if you have one waiting to be planted dont be afraid of planting it, there super tough.