O Dypsis Black stem - "How do I love thee? " Let me count the ways...

[trioderob]

How do I love thee o Dypsis black stem?

Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight...........................

mine is just now start to show the black petioles.

its going to be insane.

anyone else like this palm ???

[LJG]

That was nice of Gary to sell you his Rob. Can't wait until rancho brings in a whole bunch of these. They will be nice sized by next year. Such an awesome palm.

[JD in the OC]

Like

[J. australis]

Now available in Australian wholesale nurseries...yes, I was stunned too. Stunned and busy loading 'em onto my trolley!

[Kim]

Now available in Australian wholesale nurseries...yes, I was stunned too. Stunned and busy loading 'em onto my trolley!

Lucky you! I saw them in Hawaii and was flat out refused. I guess they are saving them for California. Sorry for the blurry phone pix.

[NApalm]

Now available in Australian wholesale nurseries...yes, I was stunned too. Stunned and busy loading 'em onto my trolley!

What is it labelled? Dypsis baronii??? I cant quite read it properly

[J. australis]

Now available in Australian wholesale nurseries...yes, I was stunned too. Stunned and busy loading 'em onto my trolley!

What is it labelled? Dypsis baronii??? I cant quite read it properly

Yep.

[Stevetoad]

Where can I get one! I think I feel in love again...

[J. australis]

They are sexy little beasts.

[trioderob]

those dont look the same as the true "killer" black stem-- more photos to follow...........

[J. australis]

Pics at similar age would help. I've not seen a 'normal' D-bar with this colouring before. Incidentally, I like your taste in poetry.

[Kim]

those dont look the same as the true "killer" black stem-- more photos to follow...........

Not sure if you mean J. australis' or my photos... I can guarantee with 100% certainty my photos are of palms germinated from seed brought back from Madagascar by a prominent California forum member.

[J. australis]

those dont look the same as the true "killer" black stem-- more photos to follow...........

Not sure if you mean J. Australis' or my photos... I can guarantee with 100% certainty my photos are of palms germinated from seed brought back from Madagascar by Gtlevine.

I think he means mine look dodgy, Kim. But I have praised his taste in poetry, so maybe it's taking a while to type a reply about some old blind biddy from down under and her NFI opinions.

[Gtlevine]

Oh Kim, standing next to my proud crop of babies I collected back in 2007. They will all be coming to California in a year or two.

Gary

[J. australis]

Oh Gary, if you weren't 971 feet tall, I'd say "Oi! Don't ignore my posts, how about some flowering input!"

[Gtlevine]

Haha! congratulations on your find too, looks like the real deal. I collected the seed in 2007 and your palms look like one or two year growth behind the ones I collected. I have found you Australians very resourcefull, so it is likely one of your countrymen was camped out at Vicona lodge waiting for the next crop of seed.

Gary

Oh Gary, if you weren't 971 feet tall, I'd say "Oi! Don't ignore my posts, how about some flowering input!"

[Pedro 65]

Wow Gary, I bet you cant wait to get all those inground, the very few in Oz are thanks to You and Bill Bs seed collecting, well done..

J Australis readily available in Oz especially in Melb is baronii , certainly not "Black Stem"

Great Shots Kim.

[J. australis]

Hi Pedro, good to see you're recovering from that nasty bit of ladder trouble.

Cheers Gary. Pleased and surprised to hear it.

D-bar not widely available in Melbourne, though it grows very well. These black stems have a puzzling provenance - a northern NSW or Queensland grower, I'd think. Anyway, they looked so unusual and so gorgeous...that they'd been sitting there for 3 months. I pounced!

Any Melbourne lurkers on this board? I left one at the nursery just for you @ Landscape Link in Heatherton.

[peachy]

After many months of patience, my D. baronii sp black petiole germinated. I potted them up, fed them, watched them grow in eager anticipation, then found out they are a clumping variety. EWWW. Gave them away to the first person who admired them.

Peachy

[Dr. George]

Lucky you! I saw them in Hawaii and was flat out refused. I guess they are saving them for California.

Oh Kim, standing next to my proud crop of babies I collected back in 2007. They will all be coming to California in a year or two.

Gary

So Gary, refresh for me the logic here - I will be able to buy these in California but not in Hawaii because they all are being shipped from Hawaii to California - seems to me that if I was willing to pay the same price in Hawaii as in California there would be more profit in selling me one in HI that didn't have the associated transportation and labor costs of shipping.

gmp

[Kim]

Lucky you! I saw them in Hawaii and was flat out refused. I guess they are saving them for California.

Oh Kim, standing next to my proud crop of babies I collected back in 2007. They will all be coming to California in a year or two.

Gary

So Gary, refresh for me the logic here - I will be able to buy these in California but not in Hawaii because they all are being shipped from Hawaii to California - seems to me that if I was willing to pay the same price in Hawaii as in California there would be more profit in selling me one in HI that didn't have the associated transportation and labor costs of shipping.

gmp

My feelings exactly!! Throw us a bone!

[LJG]

Guess us Californiains will finally have something you Hawaiins won't for a while. Judging from what I have heard, it was not without lack of effort of Jerry being constantly hounded by people on the Big Island.

Oh and Kim, would you please leave the old leaf bases on my palm please

[Gtlevine]

Logic doesn't apply, and Len, Kim is actually getting her finger prints on my palm.

Gary

[trioderob]

[trioderob]

We few , we lucky few we band of brothers.

for he who plants dypsis black stem with me today - shall be my brother................

[trioderob]

this is the true "KILLER" blackstem like KIM is looking at.

[J. australis]

mine is just now start to show the black petioles.

A useful comparison would be a much younger plant (like mine). and maybe shade grown, as my little units have been under shadecloth their whole lives until now.

[Dr. George]

Logic doesn't apply...

Gary

Clearly not. What does apply?

gmp

[Justin]

Logic doesn't apply...

Gary

Clearly not. What does apply?

gmp

I would guess business judgment. Presumably whomever owns those plants does not want there to be other sources in fast-growing climates (i.e., the Big Island). If I had known it was that big a deal, I would have just grabbed some seeds myself when I was at Vakona Forest Lodge last October and distributed to whoever wanted them. The whole thing is a little stupid if you ask me - it's not like there was some Indiana Jones trek to the middle of the jungle. Vakona Forest Lodge is a nice resort that is just a couple hours Northeast of Antananarivo. Anyone can go there any time to grab seeds.

[Justin]

I should add that Gary did go on a number of Indiana Jones type treks all over Madagascar, by the way. I don't want to kill your rep. ;-)

[LJG]

Logic doesn't apply...

Gary

Clearly not. What does apply?

gmp

I would guess business judgment. Presumably whomever owns those plants does not want there to be other sources in fast-growing climates (i.e., the Big Island). If I had known it was that big a deal, I would have just grabbed some seeds myself when I was at Vakona Forest Lodge last October and distributed to whoever wanted them. The whole thing is a little stupid if you ask me - it's not like there was some Indiana Jones trek to the middle of the jungle. Vakona Forest Lodge is a nice resort that is just a couple hours Northeast of Antananarivo. Anyone can go there any time to grab seeds.

Stupid or not, it's called protecting an investment. Jerry spent a lot of money to send Gary to Madagascar and preventing someone in Hawaii from getting one and selling seed or seedlings helps ensure he can get a higher price in California - where people will end up paying $500 per plant (my guess). Jerry has some planted in ground at his Hawaiin nursery that are already flowerring. So it happens fast. We all see how fast a desirable palm can become 'worthless'. Just ask Jeff Marcus. He spends 20 years getting some rare NewCal or monster Dypsis to seed and after he has 1000 seedlings, no one wants the plants past the normal Collectors. So it's just smart business and that's what Jerry is - a businessman. Agree with it or not.

[Zeeth]

How will this grow in Florida? I'd like to try some and hearing that palms in Hawaii are already seeding makes me think it'll be relatively available in the short future.

[LJG]

Zeeth, RPS had seed for sale this year from the lodge. So other people are sprouting and growing it.

[Dr. George]

.... preventing someone in Hawaii from getting one and selling seed or seedlings helps ensure he can get a higher price in California - where people will end up paying $500 per plant (my guess). ... So it's just smart business and that's what Jerry is - a businessman. Agree with it or not.

... RPS had seed for sale this year from the lodge. So other people are sprouting and growing it.

There has been an obvious hole in this business plan from the beginning. Better get that $500 / plant as quick as you can and hope that not too much integrity is lost in the process. I think I'll be able to live without one for a couple of years.

gmp

[LJG]

.... preventing someone in Hawaii from getting one and selling seed or seedlings helps ensure he can get a higher price in California - where people will end up paying $500 per plant (my guess). ... So it's just smart business and that's what Jerry is - a businessman. Agree with iQt or not.

... RPS had seed for sale this year from the lodge. So other people are sprouting and growing it.

There has been an obvious hole in this business plan from the beginning. Better get that $500 / plant as quick as you can and hope that not too much integrity is lost in the process. I think I'll be able to live without one for a couple of years.

gmp

I can tell you dont mind waiting by your postings in this thread . "Integrity"? Come on - is that really fair? Why don't you talk to your Hawaiian friends that buy a $20 MadFox from Marcus and two weeks later it shows up here for $450! Happened a few years back.

And FYI as Gary pointed out a few times there are many different palms at the lodge and many times in the past what was collected as black stem turned out to be another Baronii type. So who really knows what RPS has. Certainly worth trying since seed was so cheap.

[Dr. George]

Why don't you talk to your Hawaiian friends that buy a $20 MadFox from Marcus and two weeks later it shows up here for $450!

Not sure which of "my" friends this might be, but clearly it didn't help with integrity there either.

I think the Dypsis "black stem" business plan is pretty much out there now for everyone to see and each can make their own decisions.

gmp

[Justin]

Stupid or not, it's called protecting an investment. Jerry spent a lot of money to send Gary to Madagascar and preventing someone in Hawaii from getting one and selling seed or seedlings helps ensure he can get a higher price in California - where people will end up paying $500 per plant (my guess). Jerry has some planted in ground at his Hawaiin nursery that are already flowerring. So it happens fast. We all see how fast a desirable palm can become 'worthless'. Just ask Jeff Marcus. He spends 20 years getting some rare NewCal or monster Dypsis to seed and after he has 1000 seedlings, no one wants the plants past the normal Collectors. So it's just smart business and that's what Jerry is - a businessman. Agree with it or not.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, it's obviously not stupid for Jerry to protect his investment, I'd do the exact same thing. What I meant that it was stupid for anyone to get too irked over this, because the next batch of seeds is always going to be right there, and people can just wait a year or two to get plants from that next batch.

[Helena]

It is really good that a business man would spend money on sending a Dypsis expert to Madagascar to find and identify the really rare Dypsis species and Gary seems to have a lot of Madagascar experience to be the man to send.

I wish I could go there once, not even dreaming of several occasions for Indiana Jones type treks.

Wishful thinking and a little bit of jealousy,

Helena

[Gtlevine]

I should add that Gary did go on a number of Indiana Jones type treks all over Madagascar, by the way. I don't want to kill your rep. ;-)

I hike 20 miles through leach infested waters for some of my seed, and I repelled down some 100 foot verticals to collect in some prime canyons, shhhhhhh.

Gary

Edited July 22, 2012 by Gtlevine

[DoomsDave]

Hmm.

I remember back in 1994, when someone was selling Ravenea rivularis 15-gallons for $450 each at the Pacific Hort Show, and a big mama majesty in a 50-gallon tub, was being sold for about $4,000.

Good comes to those who wait . . .