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Although they're Asian in origin, camellias sure do like it here. Their slow growth rate, suitability to shade and resistance to pests make them a surprising (for something so beautiful) maintenance-free shrub. When I first moved to this house, there were already about a dozen mature camellias scattered about, their cultivar names long forgotten. Neglected for years, they were a tangle of smilax vine, camphor tree and Virginia creeper. With a big old live oak above and an understory of Sabal minor, they make an elegant privacy screen across the back property line. One day when I was working out in the garden, a neighbor passed and commented on her favorite, this one: It's my favorite, too. An old trick I learned to compensate for camellia's lack of fragrance is to plant Osmanthus fragrans in the vicinity for a more rounded sensory experience. People who aren't paying close attention just assume those camellias smell terrific. It's a benign deception. If your camellias have begun to bloom, please share!

No Maxie in the AM mind you, but young Pritchardia in the PM looked nice.

I made this under story microclimate for desert plants but ending up putting some tender-ish plants. Photo is from a long time ago.

Said sarcastically I assume as I expected more speed. The other one that I planted as a single and turned into a double has been more along the lines of my expectations. I'm early on the updated photo, not waiting the full 5 years, only 3 years and 8 months later here is what the speedier one looks like.

Direct seeding can't change predetermined cold hardiness genetics. What it does allow, is root structure to develop in an unrestricted manner. This in turn produces a healthy plant assuming nutritional requirements are met. Snow cover on small Trachycarpus fortunei seedlings, acts as an insulator from colder air above. Exposed seedlings will still need some temporary protection in colder marginal zones, and perhaps even in safe zones during extremes there. Palms direct seeded develop faster and will need less protection as a result. That may be what is being said in your interpretation above. Cheers.

I didn't think to mention Patric Shaffer. He creates several different hybrid palms including regular mules using the more attractive Butia yatay as the mother palm. He is not a business but rather a private individual who shares his talents as a service to the palm community. He sells liner palm seedlings starting at $50 + shipping and are also expertly packaged. There are several threads in the Cold Hardy forum discussing his different hybrids.

I don't know if this has been mentioned but you can go out after heavy frost and see the patterns in the yard next to the house etc where frost forms/or doesnt, this gives a good idea where the cold/"warm" spots are.

I got an Ambient Weather station earlier this year and its providing lots of interesting info so far. When we had a minor cold snap a couple of weeks ago my back and side yard stayed a zone below the front for 3-4 days.

I got a 5-sensor, wireless temp/humidity monitor for this purpose. Not only do I get to monitor multiple locations and record historic data, but I also don't have to walk outside to check the thermometer anymore!

The photos below show a 5 year interval on a Dypsis decipiens, from about the time I acquired it to a couple of weeks ago. The earlier photo it was in a citrus pot when I bought it at a PSSC meeting auction in late March 2017 (photo was 4/1/2013). I didn't get it into the ground until 2015, but it went straight from the citrus pot to the ground, no intermediate size pots. I guess I was warned that these would be slow on the coast, which it has been compared to many other palms I have, but it has about caught up with another one I planted earlier but was a double at the time of planting from a 3 gallon pot. I planted it with the wall to it's south for additional heat, and an open sky to the west. I guess this will be one that is a slow gratification. It can race with some of my cycads out front to see which will form trunk first! Right now the Encephalartos longifolius is definitely winning the race, and the E nat x horridus are in second place! I'll have to update this in another 5 years to see if the horse race has changed.

. My biggest Birmingham : . My second biggest Birmingham : . . Edit Message Winston-Salem Ten year lows: 19F 20F 5F 4F 15F 7F 8F 14F 19F 16F(2021) 10 Year Average Winter Lowest Low 12.7F ; 30 Year 12.36F Profession:Trachy Defiberer and Palm Spear Puller (free estimates)

Got my first copernicia palm this week. Fell in love with the copernicia fallaensis when I first saw it at Fairchild gardens this year. Now I just need some patience while I wait for it to grow lol Adding a pic of the ones at Fairchild since there’s a little more to see there…

If Ty Ty nursery can use models I guess Will can too! Looks like they quit selling palms. I bought my first palm via the USPS from them 20 years ago. I ordered a Butia and they sent me a Sabal palmetto by mistake. They did send the Butia and let me keep the palmetto.

Camellia bush/tree and Grevillea are in full bloom till the end of March, humming birds love them.

I'm doing the same. Where there aren't man-made structures to block the wind I'm employing bamboo, oleander, and such. It's becoming a nice little tropical-ish courtyard/tunnel

Here is my over planted garden pics. This is just a taste what I have... 70% of the garden is in shade with sunspot here and there.

Here an update. The lowest petiole is 7ft. Not sure of the overall height. It’s getting close to the bottom of the crown being taller than my roof. I’m looking forward to letting its crown stay full. It will also get full sun at that point.

@edbrown_III Ed's jungle (as I like to call it is) is spectacular! Had the pleasure to visit and assist him in getting some grunt work done this past weekend. There's a few native trees combined with a ton of Livistona, Syagrus, Butia hybrids and others that make up the canopy. Underneath that is a lush oasis of palms, cycads, ferns and dozens of other plans which I don't know what they are growing happily in NE Florida. Here's a few more pictures...

Grown by hand from seed bought from ebay. It's survived one winter and transplanted to spot now. Out of 30 seeds, only about 6 sprouted and ultimately only 2 survived. This one has 3 mini leaves with one of them being tiny and emerging. Leaves naturally seem to fall and cover the seedlings and I barely have to do anything more to protect them in winter.

All of these ones are in London only. I will do a second upload for the other UK ones because there are already too many for London alone. Starting with the Jubaea's first, these ones are located in Richmond, southeast London... Street view Jubaea's... Here is the Jubaea at Chelsea Physic Garden in central London, which I visited over the summer... Battersea Park Jubaea's in central London... North London Jubaea with big Washingtonia Filifera... Some smaller London Jubaea's on street view... Now onto the London Butia's, of which there are many to document. Here's the one at Chelsea Physic Garden next to that Jubaea I posted before... This Butia is located in Chumleigh Gardens which is in Burgess Park, south London... This CIDP is located right next to the Butia above, in Burgess Park, south London. You can see the Butia in the background. It is yet another London CIDP that I haven't even posted before yet. These are not recent images either. This CIDP photo from Chumleigh Gardens is 5 years old now, so it will be much, much bigger, as will the Butia... 11 Monmouth Road, London... These are in Richmond, southeast London... Butia Yatay, Richmond Butia hybrid? Central London... I can't remember what part of London this Butia is located in? I know I have seen someone post it on here before though, a few years back. This one is in Wisley Gardens on the outskirts of southeast London... Strange planting in central London... Again these ones are just London so far. I've probably missed a bunch. I will upload the Jubaea's and Butia's from the rest of the UK soon, as well as any other London ones that I forgot.

I agree! LOL!

I'm guessing that's a daughter, she looks too young to be a wife. My wife's a model and I proudly support her, so I've kinda got plugged into the modelling scene because of her. So if she's an aspiring model, I would say support her and encourage her. Modelling is a big part of what helped my wife overcome post-partum depression, and it gives her drive to live a healthy, active lifestyle. She loves getting to travel for it, as well. Also it does help add scale, as it's often hard to tell the size of a palm from a photo. That biggest Birmingham for example. Beauty. I'd love to have some great big Sabal's here.

I see what your referring to..... LOL! They grew that way naturally. LOL!

Interesting looking cactus you got there Also love the tiki...

I just wanted to add, that the mix seen in the pic does look peaty. Peat has two problems that make it a problem if it dominates a mix. 1.) It can stay wet for two long, especially under indoor conditions after a thorough watering. 2.) It becomes extremely hydrophobic once it does dry, ESPECIALLY OUTDOORS in the SUN. All my plants basically go out in the warmer months for (March-December for some of the hardiest). Howeas go out from about late April - October where they get some morning sun or otherwise filtered sun the rest of the day. I really see a big growth spurt when they are outside and don't worry about water at that time of year. (We got 30 inches of rain from July to September and they were fine). But indoors, in the winter, I cut way back on watering, as I did once lose a large specimen due to overwatering in the winter/indoors. I see that the OP is in New Zealand so summer and if your mix is too retentive of moisture and it's indoors, it could be a problem. I would suggest you amend the soil by taking it out of its pot gently brushing off some of the current soil and amending with orchid bark, perlite and maybe some coarse sand or other available materials to lighten the mix and lessen your anxiety about overwatering. Lighter mixes also hold more oxygen and palm roots are also oxygen loving.

Update: took @ahosey01 advice and decided to add another one and planted them both in front island. Had to be careful when transplanting the first one to the front but it went smoothly since it was only in ground for a week. Any recommendations on how often to water them in this beginning stage? Every day for first 3 weeks? Also it might be hard to tell in pic but they’re planted 18’ apart from one another so plenty of room to grow. Grass is long I know, cutting tomorrow lol

My experience with Patric is never assume anything. I would check back occasionally and also follow the board to see what members are saying. His inventory and what he has waiting in the shadows changes by the hour.

What always stuck out to me about this freeze is that Hillborough and Pinellas got decked as hard or harder than Polk County. Very unusual.

59th anniversary of the great freeze of 1962. Pretty ‘cool’ graphics showing the lowest recorded temps during the period. Pahokee stands out.

A few more.

I think @ahosey01 made good suggestions for your area. If you don't have any luck locally and don't mind starting smaller (and probably smarter since they grow fast) you could order one online. I've read good things about www.mulepalmsofmississippi.com on this forum. Not sure of their prices but I have ordered from www.mulepalm.com and was very happy with their palms. $85 for a 3-gal mule palm including shipping. One of their partners Erik is a forum member here but recently retired from the nursery. I assume that they still ship but I'm sure a phone call would verify that. Good luck!

This post is 10 years old

Whatever you do, do not ever go to Moon Valley. The most unethical business practices, fake bro-science masquerading as expertise, and a rapacious approach to business that has literally suffocated local mom and pop nurseries. I can recount to you stories from others in the trade that would make your head spin. I would never badmouth a palm seller on PalmTalk in my life - with the sole exception of Moon Valley. I have absolutely no nice words for them and never will. Lowe's and Home Depot will both carry Mules, likely during the spring. I believe a PTer actually supplies the Lowe's contract. The Home Depot at I-17 and SR-74 in Anthem carries mules - and they generally look decent. Whitfill Nursery also has mules, though generally they're expensive. You can probably mail order one from Jungle Music, that's how I got my JxBxS (or BxJxS, I always forget). Pacific Palms on the north side of the valley (near the home depot I mentioned) generally has them as well, and I believe I saw a ton at Treeland in Mesa the other day. In fact - now that I'm recounting it - I know I did. A ton of them. And Treeland generally has fair prices. Hope this helps!

No I haven't read any of these books. That does sound like a good one, the Design & Microclimates. I now create understory microclimates just by looking at my plants in winter and using tender plants and see how they do in a particular spot. Thats like my garden. House faces south and they are close together so I have wind tunnels I had to tame with trachy's, bamboo & evergreens. And I used tall evergreens to block cold northern winds.

Canopy and wind break, canopy and wind break, canopy and wind break And of course, being up against a structure also helps a good bit. The east / southeastern side of my house has good pine tree canopy and a good bit of wind protection. Perennials stay green much longer in that area than other places around the yard

@NWpalms@206 i got it slightly bigger size 4x10 in 2020. I planted it in the ground in Spring '21. It opened 3 new fronds. I also have a much smaller size from a strap into this in 2 years. @Paradise Found Thank you. This year will be test for it since we have a full effect of la niña winter.

Cool. A home bowling alley with built-in pins. What's next?

Update on this species in the coastal growing zone, as I have two growing. The second one I planted was the one posted at the 5 year mark (typo in my original post said I bought it in March 2017, that should have been March 2013). The first one I planted went into the ground in late 2010 or early 2011, and first photo below was October 2013, so about 2 1/2 or 3 years after I planted it. Second two photos are the same plant just a month over 8 years later. That's pretty slow in my book, but this one has been slower than my other one. This I planted as a double but it split again... twice in fact, so it now has 4 trunks. I think having all those trunks to feed with whatever root system it has been able to develop thus far has translated into the slower speed than the other specimen planted about 20 yards away, same west facing area in my front planters, so similar light.

Carlos, I liked this orchid a lot for it's unique color, but I have been pleasantly shocked at how frequently it blooms too. I have two of them growing and the larger one has put out new flowers in August, October and again in December this year. This one is south facing growing in the shade of a Pritchardia which is in the adjacent planter (just above it). I hope that the other one pushes out flowers as frequently as it gets larger. I may end up with one or the other in bloom most of the year, as the other one has bloomed in the spring in the past.

Ask Dave and you shall receive. This is my favorite morning view of my garden.

Hey everyone, has anyone looked at all the gardening microclimate books out there? Here are just a few I found.... Creating Microclimates for HIgh Desert gardening Design with Microclimate: the outdoor secret to comfortable outdoor space. Plants and Microclimates Permaculture and Ideal Microclimate: How to find a warm Microclimate location and improve it additionally. This one is for people that live on a hill. I find my microclimates by walking around the yard on a cold day and I can feel the difference with my hat off. LOL. It really helps if you have a shaved head, or Buzz cut.

My winters seem to swing between subtropical and subarctic within a season and over longer periods in the historical record. Last winter was weird, what else is new, the absolute minimum was 14 F. while it dropped to 0 F on the Gulf Coast but I had two feet of snow in my yard for two weeks in February., which is very unusual. This year, so far, the start of meteorological winter has been usually warm by multiple standard deviations as arctic air seems to be locked in the Arctic this year so far. Also ending the year with an over abundance of summer precipitation (over 30 inches). Supposed to be a La Nina year, but that pattern is not so clear cut for the Northeast. Does anyone really know what to expect these days?!

When the rain ends I’ll climb on the roof and get a good shot of the top of the crown

Tuckeri most likely. So many tuckeri— so few complaints!

It might be a bit late for some of the CA species. Q lobata, douglasii & wislizeni grow where I live. I might be able to still find wislizeni seed from trees near my house.

Hmm, maybe its not too late to ask Santa for one. May I ask which one works for you?

It's a bit of a balancing act with most palms, none will appreciate their roots to dry out, NONE, however, most need an excellent, fast draining mix. So, I aim for mixes and pot sizes that dry out sooner rather than later. Better to plant in a pot and mix that needs more frequent watering, than infrequent. I use a lot of orchid bark, and perlite in my palm soil mixes and keep the pots on the smallish size. I am in Northern Hemisphere, Zone 7 climate (so it is the darkest part of winter now), but still, the palms get a lot of winter sun as they sit in southern and eastern windows. I water just about once a week. I lost a large Howea a couple of years ago, due to excessive soil moisture in the winter, so I learned my lesson big time. Good luck!

Alberto from Brazil claims the sunkah is the hardiest of them. So one would assume bxpjs is the hardier of the two… I have both and will be putting them in the ground next year. I have BxPjm as well but I’m not convinced mine was a successful cross.

Lol! That’s how I plant stuff. The neighbors think you’re crazy…. Til years later.