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A short visit to Villa Thuret in Antibes (INRAE). It's a garden where many species of plants are acclimatized, including palms. Here is Chamaedorea radicalis arborescent form.

Ho Lee Grail, Ho Lee Chit! Thankfully I have a garden large enough to wander and wonder at the beauty and variability of the various species of plants. Every now and then an event happens that well......, takes one's breath away. This Lemurophoenix has decided to come out of it's shell. It has held it's leaf sheaths for years now and they finally gave way to reveal the most spectacular display, in a large way, of mauve, purple, and pink. Planted almost 12 years to the day from a 3 gallon, it was certainly worth the wait. Now, where's that bus, I'm ready to be run over. Tim

Dropped a leaf sheath this morning…’ INCOMING’! Not nearly as colorful as the first sheath and not sure why. Time of year maybe? Anyway, it’s growing pretty dang fast since it started trunking. The sheath alone weighs a ton, not easy dragging that thing to the truck. Tim

A few more..... Tim

Wishing you all a fun and safe Thanksgiving holiday. We're in full transition to winter in Fresno, 50s/60s throughout the day, with fog cover most days. 70s and sunny if the stars align (which sounds like a San Francisco summer ) . Lots of annuals are holding on to color, but they'll soon start getting powdery mildew and will need to be cut out. For now, palms seem to be loving the increase in humidity and some cloudforest plants are loving it too.

That's looking really good James, mine took nearly 2 years to acclimate to the spot I planted it in but man oh man is it a looker now.

Sabal Palmetto thriving in Uzbekistan (pics not mine) I thought these don't grow here in cold arid desert climate at all!

Update from June - nice, deep-green fronds.

More pics Washingtonia robusta pic I posted earlier a year later Palmetto Queen palm with newer growth Live oaks Citrus tree with lemons ripening

The last picture is I believe Dypsis malcomberi towering overhead.

And more and more. The last picture shows the tallest Sabal mauritiiformis I've ever seen.

Hey Y'all. I had a very large Dypsis heteromorpha die from a fungal infection, leaving this Licuala exposed to full midday to afternoon sun. I thought for sure it was gonna fry after growing up in the filtered light of the Dypsis above, but it made it through the second half of summer completely perfect. My question is: Do you think I should plant another taller clumping Dypsis (D. lafazamanga) next to it to give it some filtered light again, or do you think that this Licuala can take this much sun? I'm in SoCal about 9 miles from the coast. Something to consider is that the stumps of the dead Dypsis is buried under that mulch, so I'm not sure if that would be smart to replant in that spot so soon without the old stumps rotting away first. Any ideas would be welcomed. Thanks.

All gone.

Probably OK but wouldn't leave those that size out in freezing again though. I planted that potted one this year. Roots seemed OKKKKKKKK

Ryan - I have fallen deep into tropical fruit trees. Plinias / Eugenias / Mangoes have my undivided attention now. Such a different world from palms.

I finger planted (just the tip of the index finger) 6 D. plumosa seeds @DoomsDave gifted me. 5 sprouted. 4 were killed by feral cats who loved, yes, past tense, to play with what they thought was tall blades of grass. I have one survivor. It's doing well.

Yes looks a lot like a C. scoparia!

Here's one of mine that I transplanted back in August from my my brother's old property. It set seed last year and I'm debating on letting it set a bract of pure Butia before doing hybrids on it.

You seem to be in 6B. I have a small Palmetto in 7A and it will need some protection. In 6B most winters it will need to be covered. it will take 3 years for you to have a 3 foot tall palm from the Plant Delights ones. Here is a pic of mine after about 3 seasons from Plant Delights.

More awesome visuals!

The host standing next to a Dypsis orange crush in the first picture.

I got some pictures to post. Greg's garden is definitely a masterpiece! It was great seeing everyone. It had been years since I made it to a meeting.

I came across this gem in Laguna Beach. Off Ocean Way and Ruby if you’re in the area.

And a Dypsis pilurifera (spelling?)

such a view!

Here's mine this year versus a year ago. Planted it in the ground sometime in 2019 from a 3 gallon grown from seed years ago (it just languished in a pot forever). Currently gets full Florida sun up until about 2 pm.

The time has come for a small update on the progress of Methusalah, the one-of-a-kind Judean Date Palm (see my avatar) brought back, tentatively, from extinction, through the successful germination of a nearly 2,000 year old seed excavated from an ancient site in the Judean desert some thirty years ago. I have very recently been in contact with Dr. Yuval Cohen of the Volcani Agricultural Research Center, who has been carrying out the DNA analysis ot the palm, and with Dr. Elaine Solowey of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, who successfully germinated the seed and has been responsible for the palm's care and feeding, so to speak. Firstly, some general information: the palm is two years old, healthy, and growing well. If a female, it is expected to bear fruit in 2010. It is still in its original pot, and stays, most of the time, in protective isolation in an experimental nursery, where it is sheltered from insects and diseases, and is fed specially filtered nutrients. However, it is occasionally taken outdoors nowadays so as to "acclimate it to the desert environment," as Dr. Solowey puts it. Secondy, Dr. Cohen has been reluctant to release detailed genetic data on the palm before the results of his analysis are published in a scientific journal. He reports that the analysis is at "an advanced stage" prior to the submission of a paper which will be co-authored by his team and Dr. Solowey, and will appear in Science, the academic journal of The American Association for the Advancement of Science. Nevertheless, the following info has been leaked to me: 1. the palm is indeed genetically unique; 2. it has an 87% genetic similarity to the ancient Egyptian Hayani variety of p. dactylifera. Thirdly, Dr. Solowey reports that although she has requested more seeds for further attempts at cultivating this variety, bureaucratic red tape has been undermining this aspect of the project. She further reports that, at its present stage of growth, Methusalah does not physically resemble other specimens of p. dactylifera growing wild in the Negev desert. (She is hoping for a DNA comparison in the near future.) Finally, Dr. Solowey is now contemplating whether to plant the palm out in the open or repot it in a larger vessel. She is very fearful of what might happen to the specimen if exposed to insects, the possibility of disease and physical accidents (such as being squashed by a tractor!). I asked her about the possibility of growing the tree indoors, and she responded that she has indeed been considering that alternative. Meanwhile, the palm has become a sort of mini-celebrity here in Israel, with scores of people traveling to the desert to see it and photograph it. I guess my next update will be when the scientific paper is published.

Ptychosperma waitianum

Everyone, especially Cindy, thank you for the support! Your reaction has been just like most everyone who sees the plan, an incredulous "Why?" As best I can tell, there is at least one hidden agenda involved. Someone in a position of influence wants to suppress usage of the park. They want to take out the road and parking lots that make it easy and convenient for the public to go there and picnic. Installing a big grass field under the guise of needing more green space is the best cover story they could come up with. My main effort right now is to get the park's many fans to show up and speak up at the Community Meeting this coming Monday, November 29, 2021, at 6 pm in the park. If you're local, please!

California weather south:

I'm fairly sure either Dypsis mahajanga or at least a form of madagascarensis. Great to see you there Chris!

Possible too much water

"None, they're all the exact same" what a dumb answer, unbelievable. In general the most hardy things (that taste good) after kumquats are the mandarins, particularly the satsumas are pretty hardy. Limes are some of the most tender. A nice little book on citrus varieties is "Citrus, complete guide to selecting & growing more than 100 varieties for California, Arizona, Texas, The Gulf Coast, Florida" by Lance Wilheim. According to the book here is a list of citrus hardiness, I'll start from most hardy to least hardy. kumquat orangequat sour orange meyer lemon mandarins sweet orange limequat tangelo and tangor pummelo and hybrids grapefruit lemons limes, citrons

I had hundreds of Kentia seeds drop from a tall palm in my backyard, and literally got hundreds of seedlings growing. I ended up potting them and selling them in 8 inch pots.

You must change that mix. It is not holding nutrients. Use orchid bark, coco peat, perlite and crushed babek clay.

Here’s a Dypsis mahajanga. Maybe a pair of them.

Dypsis onilahensis

Did you try a magnesium fertilizer? it looks like it has a magnesium deficiency.

I’m psycho for Cycads!

Do you really need mere words?

I always like the Triple Chamberyonia! sometimes you get 2 leaves that open up together. I planted this 2 years ago from a 7gal.

My Jubaeopsis is throwing up a spike! First one ever for me. I thought I would share. I bought this as a 5 gallon in 2007 from Phil in Encinitas. Upsized it o a 7 gallon, then finally planted it in 2010 I think? Just a guess on when I actually planted it. The memory is a bit hazy as beer kept the front yard renovation progressing steadily through whatever year it was... This palm is in my front yard, facing to the south next to my driveway and close to the house. When I first planted it, the first few years were tough because earwigs would go up in the crown and overwinter and eat all the new growth in the spring. I had to buy a systematic (Merit 2F) to eliminate the pests. The second trunk showed up in about 2014 and the same pest problem manifested and the same treatment solved the problem. I think I'm through winters 2 or 3- maybe more where the bugs have not come back, thank goodness. The Cassia trunk you see to the right is providing shade these days, though the Cassia was said to stay small (don't they always say that?). Everything seems pretty happy with the part sun/ shade since it's a steady, high 90's dry heat through the summer. Enjoy! Please feel free to spoil the ending of the movie for me by telling me what to expect. Thank you. Brick for scale The soon-to-be flower, reverse angle from the last 2 images

Here's a bird's-eye view from the second-floor sleeping porch. Screen removal on these old casement windows is not a simple process, so I shot it the lazy way. It's a little murky, but the color is pretty true.

Here are a few more for the till. Tim

Calyptrocalyx pachystachys. Tim

Thanks everyone for the comments, I was grateful to be able to share this incredible palm from the garden. Here are a few more photos. My neighbor Jason social distancing. The same palm back in October 2008 right after planting. For folks with palms this size.....keep the faith. A real blast from the past, The day I acquired the palm from Bo, along with a truckload of other stuff. BTW, we look exactly the same today! Tim

Ptychococcus Dypsis Mananjarensis Areca vestiaria

Seeds on my Orange Areca vestiaria

Trachycarpus wagnerianus