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These “Potato Chip” Palms seem to have been enjoying life in the front garden for a number of years. The stems “crawl” horizontally and root in wherever they make soil contact. Anyone else growing these, please post photos!

Got this view last week of some of my Lord Howe Island 🏝 Palms from the upper deck.

Sabal Lisa in Dallas in June after experiencing 12F Four months ago. 8 year plant in background. 6 year tree in foreground. 🌴

I visited Karen Piercy's place this afternoon under the pretext of picking lychee. Of course, the real reason to visit was to commune with the jaw-dropping collection of massive palms. I posted a photo of this Corypha umbraculifera a few years ago, but it was even more overwhelming on this visit. The trunk has to be over 4 ft in diameter, maybe closer to 5 ft. Growing in deep Hamakua soil at roughly 1200 ft elevation overlooking the Hilo airport. Now you know why you don't often see these growing in suburban landscapes. Certainly gives Tahina competition as the most massive palm out there. It's probably still decades away from blooming. You may remember Karen and her husband, Dean, as the organizers of the 2004 IPS Biennial to Hawaii and helping again with the tour of the former Carlsmith palm collection during the 2022 Biennial. BTW, I filled my 5 gallon bucket with delicious lychee. That didn't make a dent in the fruit still left on the trees. Oh, the hardships of living in Hawaii...

What a privilege to visit Phil’s garden and wholesale nursery (Eumundi Palms) on the Sunshine Coast. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do since moving up to Queensland more than 3 years ago now!!!. The stand out for me was this incredible Cyrtostachys renda hybrid (C. renda x C. elegans). Hopefully one day it’ll produce viable seed, and there will be no shortage of customers for the resulting palms I’m sure, as they thrive in the sub-tropics.

The new larger palms that have been donated to the gardens have tucked themselves in well with all the recent rains. Kindly donated by Colin Wilson the largest ones and a few smaller ones by myself. A nice group planting of some joeys and a single kerriodoxa along with a lanonia dasyantha they are established and just need time to get up and growing. But there in the garden and will be gor the years to come.

I started this addiction of mine during covid and I'm hooked, still planting away even though I dont have the space so I cut away concrete to make more land. My wife thinks I'm nuts but supports my alot better habit compared to others out there.

With a couple of Chams to spare why not plant a row of them along the path to the greenhouse. Germinated these few from a RPS batch of 200 seeds and lucked up in the Chamaedorea department. A nice row will make for a nice casual walk to the greenhouse sort of the driveway of driveways only to the greenhouse!

Some pioneer palms for the new garden, they will help in creating a microclimate, planting them along with a few trees will help to start a canopy. And also break up the harder more difficult areas to garden in, once the ground has shade in my climate it completely changes, more moisture means better growing conditions. You just have to make that start with new plants sooner or later!

I couldn’t help myself in buying an original plate from 1896. It just goes to show that palms have been of intrest for a long time, and to stop by lord Howe island and collect seeds way back then they certainly had some great minds to think about the beauty of palms. Botany has always had its place in history and will continue to do so.

One of those palms folks can’t help but stare at in amazement, Neoveitchia storckii.

I was recently in Chesapeake/VA Beach and the palms are doing really well down there!

Areca vestiaria “Orange” do so well in SE Queensland.

Drop dead gorgeous Bentinckia condapanna.

Beautiful Marojejya darianii. Really impressive how much sun these can take.

Phil clearly knew what he was doing when planting Archontophoenix pupurea with “Blonde” Archontophoenix alexandrae. Pretty sweet contrast.

Wonderful example of Tahina spectabilis.

If my Chrysalidocarpus prestonianus hybrids turn out half a nice as Philip’s, I’ll be chuffed. This looks to have some C. pembanus in the mix I think.

Well I don't post much palm pics here (yet), but that's mostly because I only really got started on my palm planting in earnest a few years ago and until now never really felt like I had much pics of palmy landscape worth posting. Some of my palms are planted among grass and overgrown brush that desperatelt needs to be cleaned out. Anyways last summer I decided to take out 3 large (40 foot) Chinaberry trees that were planted in a row 20+ years ago. Palmageddon kilked them back nearly to the ground, but they then resprouted on the lower 15 feet or so of trunk. Those sprouts were epicormic and thus very weak jointed to the trunk. Once the branches would get to about 15 feet long they would tear away from the trunk and peel back 5 to 10 feet of the trunk. So last summer I decided to rip the trees down along with all of the brushy undergrowth. Here's some pics of that in progress. This past March I replanted that area, and beyond (not pictured) with palms, cycads, yuccas, agave, etc. Then since the area was now exposed to copious amounts of sun, the weeds exploded from dormant seeds. In the last few weeks I've been focused on pulling the weeds and mulching it in. Mostly it's a mix of pine bark mulch and rocks of various sizes, texture and color. The last pictute was taken 20 minutes ago. It only shows about one third if the entire area I have been working. You can see that even in that area I have not yet completed the mulching, etc. ... it's a work in progress for the rest of this summer/fall. I will add more pics as progress continues. -Matt

One palm that has become so popular that it hardly even gets a second look from a collectors point of view. Out done by its own popularity yet it still shines through as a number one favourite with gardeners and new home owners. Such a grand palm in colour and size from a small seed. An easy palm to sell due it’s tough as nails grow in a lot of places plant me iam tough attitude. I like them and they are still a popular palm yet overlooked with so many varieties of new palms a collector just won’t worry about them due to the fact they have already have them planted. But if it was a sabinara they would sell like hot cakes to the collectors lining up for more that’s for sure.

A trio of Alta to make the garden a bit special. While not planted in a group they look just as good as singles planted on their own. All are 23 years old so slow and in dry part of the garden, with irrigation having been installed 2 years ago. And there is a slight difference in growth with a little extra water. One beautiful palm well worth growing in any collection.

As do Beccariophoenix fenestralis. Yet another perfect example.

I rank my "most wished for" plants by how many times I've stubbornly tried to grow them—despite knowing they’re almost guaranteed to fail. Here are my top three: 1) Verschaffeltia splendida My "white whale". I met a giant one in person at Rancho Soledad (brought in from Hawaii) and it has haunted me ever since. And once I learned they can survive indoors with perfect humidity and conditions, I became determined to grow one. I’ve tried everything—1-gallon plants, seedlings, even seeds. Each has died, but with every failure, I learn something new. I've sworn them off for a while, but after a short break, I'm sure I will kill again. ☠️ --- 2) Areca Vestaria One of my indoor 1G ones were looking glorious for over a year... and I've heard they can survive in CA in a PERFECT outdoor spot. So I'll likely try again. But no luck as of yet. 🤞 --- 3) Chrysalidocarpus leucomallus (Dypsis) One of the few Chrysalidocarpus I have NOT success with. I love the white trunk, but they are slow growers so wouldn't grow to maturity in my lifetime anyway... so I won't be trying this one again. 🌱

Time has come for this beauty to go in the ground, after being with me for such a long time, she can finally be set free and grow in the ground no more container life for this elegant palm. An original rosebud farm purchase in Kuranda by mail order. Now I can just admire her as walk past!

Comparing growth 9/21 to 10/24 to 6/259/2110/2410/246/25 9/2110/2410/246/259/2110/2410/246/25Copernicia alba 9/21Butia 9/2110/2410/2410/2410/246/25Copernicia alba 6/25 after protection from 17°F Ill get better shots early Fall once everything is recovered

Hooray, my bizzie is putting out normal leaves again! The jatropha is also back as expected. Added a Cancun Pink plumeria too

Chrysalidocarpus Hovomantsina showing off

Belmores do great here 10 miles from the beach North county Bonsall

Last but certainly not least, Metroxylon warburgii. Phil has a number of these growing on the side of his dam.

Monster of a Corypha utan (Philippine variant).

Last year I collected seeds of a mature Dypsis decipiens that I planted in my parents garden many years ago. The seeds were cleaned and I put them in the refrigerator for a few months, waiting for warmer weather. In december my son Leonard ( who studies agronomics) planted them out in big pots. Maybe 1/4 of them germinated and today he and his sister Lydia transplanted 51 seedlings in individual pots. The first brazilian "manambe palms".

I took some more random pics of that area of my proprty that I posted up a few posts ago. Like I said, still a work in progress and some stuff that was planted in a few years ago before I cut down and dug out the Chinaberrys are complety overtaken with grass and weeds .... that'll be the last area I get cleaned up. It's literally pull some weeds around one plant, dump bag of mulch, move onto next area and rinse and repeat ... and of course it's hot in the sun. Enjoy. -Matt

Yes

I lied about my Bismarckia it’s about to open it’s 6th frond and spear on number 7 is about 2/3 out. Inhave four older fronds with some tip damage so I think I’m going to remove them. Here’s a few of my baby palms. The only palm that is taller than me are the Washingtonia that have grown like crazy. The one on the middle has put out 16+ fronds since the cold spell. There are two different crosses of Butia and Jubaea, a P sylvestris, Sabal uresana and a CIDP that was a strap about 1.5 years ago.

We have been getting quite a bit of rain in June which the plants really love. It’s a good relief from the high alkaline irrigation water that they get for most of the year. The only down side of the rains are they can burn a new flush once the sun breaks though after being wet for an extended period of time and new flushes can be devoured by the insects that hatch from the rains. Some of the new flushes around the garden.

Nice! I love the species and have lots of them. Here’s one I planted a bit over twenty years ago.

Your Coccothrinax should do really well in south Florida without much attention. I’d water them a bit during long dry spells in the growing season and feed them a few times a year but they are pretty hardy. Whether to amend the soil really depends on your soil. I grow several different species of Coccothrinax and find that they like lots of non organic material. I use a lot of sand and pumice with a bit of organic like compost and coco coir. Adding a bit of slow release fertilizer will help with any doubts about how often to fertilize. Also, make sure the soil is well drained. You don’t want them sitting in water after heavy rains or sitting in water in an area with a high water table. Here are a few of my Coccothrinax,

Four little palms lanonia magaloni licuala bracteata Lanonia centralis Lanonia dasyantha

A few favourites from the past enjoy!

An easy way to get a few more rhapis for the garden is by taking a clone or two. Nothing special is involved in taking the clone just select the pup your after and simply cut it off from the parent plant, all you have to do is make sure there is a few roots on the pup you select and cut away until your heart is content, then just simply tear the pup away and bingo new plants. A great way to multiply rare rhapis or variegated ones. Then it’s simply pot the little tacker up and place in the greenhouse and forget about. Then the next time you stubble upon it Bobs your uncle and you have a new palm!

With so many new palms in the greenhouse I wish to give them a bit of a head start in life, and what better way than to make raised beds by terracing the slope . Creating two affects new real estate for palms and by creating a swail affect for retaining more moisture. Iam sure there will be something in the greenhouse to plant out

Cyphophoenix elegans with a straighter leaf, as opposed to the more curved form. Interestingly, the former seems to grow a lot faster than the latter. Some suggest it could be a hybrid.

Here are some photos from my yard and a few from down near King William in San Antonio. The Bizzie is making a strong come back. Makes me want to try one! I see all these nice pics of palms being planted like those newly planted large Queen palms in Manvel and my mind is flashing to next winter when we are all posting photos of snow and ice and temps in the teens in places from Austin to Houston to San Antonio.. I think I’ve got some form of palm PTSD from the consistent winter lows we have been experiencing lately! 😂 Anyhow without further ado…. oh and @Ben G., those P. sylvestris were planted post 2021. This past year is the first winter that didn’t fry all their fronds. A few of them did not make it from the cold they’d been through.

I water my parajubaea torallyi microcarpa in summer period October- April 3 times a week for 1hr on dripper system and it loves it.

juania australis by the thousands

Only three , really? OK hmm . Cyrostachis Renda , Licuala Grandis , a nice big “Joey” ( love the palm but can never remember the actual spelling ) Harry side note : @iDesign I have been to Rancho Soledad and saw the Vershafeltia about 25 years ago . It was my first introduction to this palm. Recently , in the glass house at The Huntington , a stunning example! Harry ‘Sorry , no decent photo of the rest of the palm . It can be seen by rubber necking but I’m not a good photographer and my iPhone X wouldn’t capture it! It appears there were two but one had died and the base of that one is all that remained. I really encourage folks to see that glass house and palm garden as well as all the other gardens . It is really an all day excursion , worth the effort. Harry My new Joey, even comes with a name tag! 😂

Some palms from a recent bike ride around San Antonio, and a few from Austin:

Here is one of mine, purchased at the Paris flea market, from L'illustration Horticole, circa 1880.

Sept 2022 and february 2023 ( fruiting)