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Hello guys, It is cool to see Malta and Azores trying their luck with the coconut fever, even if chances of success are not set in stone, do try different methods if it fails in your first attempts. Before updating this year's coconuts, here are some of the pictures from summer 2019, which I took while travelling from place to place, sometimes on a coconut hunt!

I know it's a common palm but I really like our Bismarkia. I never got around to running water to it, but it doesn't seem to mind. It is totally xeric, and it is starting to get a little size. It is just big, blue silver, and cool.

It's a foxtail alright. Exposed. South facing. Hasn't been moved.

It's getting exciting now Alex, it's fun zone pushing these things!

Thanks for the great topic! I love Iriartea and actually all palms with stilt roots. First my largest Iriartea, still a baby but a hurricane Maria survivor planted 2017. I have a couple more much smaller planted less than 2 years ago. Between showers I got some shots of three of my five Verschaffeltias.

@IHB1979 I would say a relatively mild 9b with lots of daytime heat. It's at roughly the same latitude as the south end of Sebring, so @Walt down in Lake Placid would know more than me. I've driven through there on the way to a few jobs in Okeechobee. There are some data sheets in Excel format for you to review to see some of readings over time in the area. The Archbold station is the cold spot. Down that way, your microclimate during radiational freezes will most likely be determined more by your elevation and canopy since you'll be on the wrong side of the water. GHCNDUSW00092827_Sebring23SSEFL_20071209_20200822.xlsx GHCNDUSC00080236_ArchboldBioStationFL_19690101_20200727.xlsx GHCNDUSC00080488_BasingerFL_19130203_19650228.xlsx GHCNDUSC00080369_KAVO_AvonParkFL_18920401_20200708.xlsx GHCNDUSC00084845_LakePlacidFL_19330301_19681231.xlsx GHCNDUSC00089184_VenusFL_19280614_19510930.xlsx

For today, satakentia luikensis is a palm I enjoy gazing on. The heavy rains seem to have made them very happy. This palm was from Ken Johnson (1 of 2), planted august 2019. Seems like it barely missed a beat.

Finally, here is a photo of the only Iriartea in the garden and it’s grown like Jack in the Beanstalk. One of my favorite palms, hence the avatar. Look for the ole shovel at the base for scale. There are a couple of Wettinia and a small Socratea in the frame as well. Tim

My choice is the parajubaea torallyi var.torally. Humid climate/atlantic sea Soil-neutral to acid Good for cultivate, the kiwis (Actinidia deliciosa)

I had one that looked like that for years - didn't like my heat (it still grew like a rocket). Now it looks quite normal.

@NickJames One was given to my by @palmsOrl earlier this year. I plopped it into the ground out in the open after a short adjustment period. It seemed like it was sulking for a bit and it seems to have needed more time to adjust to full day summer sun. The new fronds it is putting out are a nice deep green, but some of the old ones have a similar look to yours. Whatever the folks with more expertise have to share will probably be relevant to my palm as well if it isn't just minor transplant shock and adjusting to more sun.

Emails were sent the week of and week prior, the best I can do is verify your email and send this over to the SFPS Secretary to verify your settings. You can email Palms@SouthFloridaPalmSociety.org Also please verify your info here. http://bit.ly/SFPSemailmc Thanks for reaching out. For anyone else wanting to verify their info please follow the instructions above.

My guess would be d Madagascarensis and chameadorea glauca. just throwing that out there to cloud the waters.

Zombia antillarum A max protection garden. You can see the fronds peeking out above the roof if you look closely. The outdoor atrium is pretty well shielded from wind and has a nice garden at ground level. The Foxtail is the palm clearing the roof A Foxtail crown up close and personal without the need for a ladder

A good option is to sink the pot in the ground and not have to worry about it. If a really cold forecast comes, you can pull it up and take indoors. But if you want to maximize growth, I would grow them indoors under lights or a sunny window. They will gain size more quickly if you can give them the warmth and light to keep them actively producing leaves during the winter. They will still be slow, but grow much faster than those that are outdoors all winter.

Huh, I got remembered of this thread by a reaction of another pt-member. I took a look at the photo I posted then in 2016... ...and just went out to take another one from exactly the same position... Wow, for four years - not bad I would say! Yes, Alexander palms are definitely doing very well over here. best regards from Okinawa - Lars

I think to achieve a tropical look it takes more than planting a few palms. It is the combination of heights, leaf color, texture. A nice contrast of pinnate and palmate palms combined with appropriate companion plants I have seen some spectacular tropical looking gardens even in 9A !

Some update on my coconut seedlings in Malta

I have a folder with some photos of my garden in Carlsbad from August 15, 2009, and enjoyed comparing to now in September of 2009, Some of the potted plants migrated to Leucadia with me, but most of the palms and other plants stayed and are continuing to get bigger. I thought it would be fun to post some "time lapse" photos which are just a couple of weeks over 8 years apart of the same plants. Mind you, I was very stingy with water in Carlsbad during most of these years, as we were in a drought many of those years. The garden also has layers of clay (red, and particularly nasty grey and black), which I learned I had to amend heavily. My sons used to hate helping me plant, as it was like digging a 6' grave, as I excavated and removed clay which was replaced with better soil. So enjoy the time lapse.... Sabal mauritiiformis

@Teegurr Welcome to the forums! CIDP are pretty forgiving as far as soil goes. Anything that drains well is good. If you are in a marginal climate, you probably want to grow them in a pot until they start trunking. One thing to note is that you will need a relatively deep pot. A 2 leaf seedling can fill a 3-liter soda bottle full of roots.

See topic below I posted about my oldest sargentii back in 2011. Despite all the tips I lost it. Since then I recently lost a large P. vinifera nearby and I fear some of my Pseudophoenix on my garden lot may be infected. https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/27308-pseudophoenix-sargentii/

It’s some kind of fungus or bacterial infection? But it only attacks Mature Pseudophoenix, which is what’s weird about the disease. I managed to save one of my P. Sargentii, by first pouring hydrogen peroxide, then a few months later, I drenched the crown with a lot of Copper. It’s really looking great now.

Counties are artificial borders, its better to say 10a florida. Anna maria island is one of the warmest areas in winter and its just south of the mouth of tampa bay. Inland in many of those contunties the zone drops off faster than it does north to south. In florida water proximity is worth several hundred miles in latitude.

Will not plant: Queens: they are Class II invasives in FL, messy, weedy, hate our alkaline soil, water/fertilizer hogs and prone to fusiarum wilt. Washingtonia sp all: also messy, weedy and prone to wilt Foxtails: hate our soil, suffer nutritional issues, cold damage issues, are messy, short term survivors and look sickly and yellow most of the time Neoveitchia storckii: cannot survive here in the ground - alkaline soil? nematodes? Normanbya normanbya: same problems as foxtail, only worse Itaya amicorum: dies a slow miserable death Brahea sp all: desert, dry heat, low humidity palms. FL climate suffocates them Geonoma sp all: FL climate incompatible with survival Howea spp: I have one of each species under deep canopy but know this genus hates my climate Pseudophoenix spp: There is a fatal disease that is taking out my Pseudophoenix one at a time. All are gone in front yard, 4 remain in side yard. I won't plant more. Not a palm but Cycas revoluta: Asian scale eventually got all mine despite preventative treatments. I agree with Moose on Medemia

Orchids like growing on the trunks of Sabals. Tie them to the petiole base. When the base eventually rescinds, pick the orchid up and tie to the trunk. An orchid growing on a tree or trunk is so much easier to maintain. Add Medemia to the list. Such a rare palm, I tried very hard (mound planted) to get one to thrive. Two failures, we are way too humid

roystonea are from the carribean, they take hurricanes fine, mine totally exposed at 35' tall plus laughed at IRMA, snapped a couple petioles and shredded leaves. I laugh a little when people say carribean palms dont stand up in hurricanes, live healthy ones are better than live oaks and any other deciduous trees in my area. After IRMA, a drive around the area was instructional, NOT ONE PALM felled, plenty of native oaks(some huge!) and other landscaping trees knocked down. I am in manatee co. so my soil(sandy with some clay) is different than miami(limestone rock). Some palms cannot grow strong deep roots in limestone rock and if you dont mulch the ones in sandy soils it probably wont have a great root system either. Growing bismarckia in that limestone rock will lead to a smaller, weaker root system and with that huge sail of leaves it could get knocked down. As far as sabals, I have causiarum, uresana, and mauritiiformis, love 'em. I think there is a bias among those new in the hobby towards certain palms. Initially many newbies love only pinnate palms and some of those of course only like coconuts. I am definitely against invasive palms in florida, and that includes lots of phoenix hybrids that have taken over in oak forests, they spread like wildfire, I hate to see that. I do have a phoenix rupicola triple and I plant to cut off the fruit so birds dont spread it. There is a huge difference between warm 9B and warm 10B(south florid) in the palms you can grow, not sure a single "list" makes sense in all zones in south florida.

Found some at the local HD. Way to big for me to move or dig a hole for. LOL Besides I already have one coconut. One's enough even if I have know idea what kind.

Bizzie on the backyard lawn is loving this spring. Sargentii in the foreground is as well. In fact, the whole yard looks pretty gorgeous right now. Just goofing with the phone camera this evening. Liked this shot. Figured I’d share. I’ll toss up more pics soon.

Carpentaria might be worth a try. They’re not quite as hardy as royals, but I understand they have decent cold tolerance and they’re one of the fastest growing palms.

So that's what they look like when they get "big", huh? Mine should be that size in the next 7-8 years...

Jeremy, please do! Would love to see it. That would definitely stand out in your area. You could charge admission!

Funny thing is that’s the biggest one I know of out here! Rare palm, it seems; I’ve never seen one available. Looks happy. I have a tiny Copernicia Baileyana, that has put out a bunch of leaves. First two pictures are from about a year ago, and the next three are from last month. Probably my slowest Palm in the ground. One gallon watering bottle, for scale. I’ve found this great for spot watering, so you don’t need to worry about getting water in the crown. I just spray the hose in, and the water is forced into the root zone. For comparison, you can see the leaf (with three leaflets) in the lower left corner of the first photo, in the last pic.

I was outside taking photos yesterday and included a few of my largest Copernicia macroglossa. I received it as a 1g from a palm friend in 2008, so this is 10 years growth in the ground. Very slow but a mesmerizing palm nonetheless. To its credit, it has had to cope with the dwarf red spicata coconut (lost to Irma in 2017), a Coccothrinax and our largest Sabal Lisa, so doesn't always get all the sun it craves, esp. in winter - the Caribbean Garden faces north. Those gorgeious fan leaves are covered with sandpaper teeth and saw-tooth edges, so weeding and pruning it gets hazardous. Copernicia macroglossa

After hearing this tree brought up numerous times as a canopy tree, I looked into this. It looks like you are right about it being deciduous, or at least semi-deciduous. Live oak is considered semi-deciduous, so no difference there. After some research, it appears the roots have a tendency to raise concrete or clog drains and the branches aren't that strong. These are the sources I looked at: https://selectree.calpoly.edu/tree-detail/tipuana-tipu http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/biodiversity/invasive/weeds/weeddetails.pl?taxon_id=67959 https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/67862/ From the look of it, it has its own pros and cons, but worth considering if you can keep it away from your house, hardscaping, and water lines.

Tipu looks like a good fast grower for those needing canopy quick. I'm blessed with live oak/sabal canopy at my new house. Starting from scratch though.

Wow, it is hard to believe Veitchia and Dictyosperma have been able to survive ~20yrs in Orlando. You're making miracles happen over there Eric! Nice job!

For what it's worth, my Satakentia didn't damage this past winter at 27-28˚ F

In 9b in central Florida , under some canopy is best for crownshaft palms. Some that have grown well for years here at Leu Gardens; Archontophoenix- all have done well, A. cunninghamiana is the hardiest, A. purpurea the most tender Burretiokentia hapala Chambeyronia macrocarpa Clinostigma savoryanum Cyphophoenix nucele Cyphosperma balansae Dictyosperma album Dypsis leptocheilos- we have a couple specimens planted back in 1994 that seed Dypsis madagascariensis (single trunked form) Dypsis plumosa Dypsis robusta Euterpe edulis- great palm for warm parts of 9b Kentiopsis oliviformis Normanbya normanbyi Ptychosperma elegans- hardier than Adonidia Roystonea- all seem similar in hardiness except R. oleracea is more tender Satakentia liukiuensis Veitchia arecina Wodyetia bifurcata Wodyetia bifurcata X Veitchia arecina Clustering palms; Areca triandra Dypsis baronii Dypsis madagascariensis Dypsis onilahensis Dypsis pembana Dypsis psammophila Hydriastele wendlandiana Pinanga coronata Pinanga philippinensis Ptychosperma macarthurii

Encephalartos lebomboensis, Dioon edule "Palma Sola", Cycas unknown

Clinostigma savoryanum, Bismarckia nobilis, Dypsis lutescens, and Hyophorbe lagenicaulis (behind the Dypsis in 2009 shot).

Howea belmoreana, another rhopalostylis and a Burretiokentia hapala in a 7 gallon (2009), which is flowering in 2017.

My favorite here is Raphia farinifera. I bought a pot with 10 or so sprouted seedlings from MB Palms at a sale in 2014. Planted this one on a canal edge and fertilize it regularly. It's starting to get a fat trunk and the tip of the top frond is a solid 11 ft (3.3 m). The fronds are long and pretty and the deep orange on the rachis is nice too

These are documented hybrids: Jubaea X Butia Jubaea X Syagrus Butia X Jubaea, Butia X Parajubaea Butia X Syagrus Jubaea X Parajubaea or vice versa have not been documented. Tom Birt - Casas Adobes, AZ Hi 78°, Lo 44° (1-31)

Bentinckia nicobarica, Teddy Bear palm (Dypsis leptocheilos), Roystonea oleracea, Ptychosperma sp, Adonidia and Pinanga coronata... for your climate must be right and easy to find around you. For other species PM me I can give you more info. It depends where you live but there are good nurseries around Beruwela and one excellent in Peradeniya.

I'd take one if offered. But I have a soft spot for plants other people think are ugly.

Dick Douglas had a freak Chamaerops that he called 'mutant', but that palm has quite different leaflets. Numerous gardeners in the NorCal area have progeny from this palm. It is self-fertile, and the seedlings come true to the mother plant. It always elicts a strong response, either positive or negative !

For my area, the northern burbs of Orlando, I will list four bullet-proof palms (not including natives), four rare/exotic palms that are risky but really cool and two that may fit into both categories: Bullet-proof - Phoenix species; tend to do really well here and may become weedy, though sometimes subject to disease Washingtonia robusta; bullet-proof, rarely succumbs to disease or occasional lightning strike (when very tall) Syagrus romanzoffiana; grows very well here and may become very weedy, somewhat disease prone Livistona chinensis; grows well, leaves sometimes appear ratty and sun-burnt Rare/Exotic - Ptychosperma macarthurii - worth a try in the city/suburbs in a sheltered spot Areca triandra - same as the above, definitely the most cold hardy Areca species Wodyetia bifurcata - featured in city plantings in recent years, may survive long-term in warmer spots of town Veitchia arecina - fast growing and very tropical looking, may live for a number of years but not forever Both - Roystonea regia - may get killed in 50 or 100 year freezes, but with expanding urbanization, is a long-term survivor in the city and near suburbs, best bet is to begin with a trunking specimen Archontophoenix cunninghamiana - same as for R. regia, my specimen (unprotected) was 10% burnt by 25F low, many sub-freezing nights and heavy frost, remarkably hardy and tropical looking I could add many more, but I want to keep my list to 10.

Using approach #2 in my area 1) Beccariophoenix alfredii 2) Chambeyronia macrocarpa 3) Chambeyronia hookeri 4) Howea forsteriana 5) Howea belmorenana 6) Jubeaea chiliensis 7) Bismarckia nobilis 8) Chaemadorea radicalis (arborescent form) 9) Chaemadorea metallica 10) Dypsis decepiens Most of these would grow easily on SoCal, requires a little more thinking and placement in my 9b area with winter lows of 24-5 and summer highs of 110+...

For my area: Jubaea chilensis Parajubaea cocoides Chambeyronia macrocarpa Ravenea glauca Howea forsteriana Dypsis onilahensis Butia capitata Archontophoenix maxima Dypsis decipiens Cocoid crosses

Fastest: Caryota urens 45 cm (18") to 20 M (60 feet) in six years. (You read that right! ) Roystonea regia 45 cm 18" to 8 M (24 feet) in six years. Archontophoenix tuckeri 30 cm (12") to 8 M (24 feet) in six years. Trachy fortuenei 60 cm (24") to 7 m (21 feet) in 6 years. Caryota gigas 24" to 50 feet in 5 years. Slowest? GOtta go home and check . . . . (lot of candidates!)