florida Palms and Others of Interest

[RedRabbit]

Nice work @kinzyjr, your place is looking great!

Edited May 6, 2021 by RedRabbit

[kinzyjr]

On 5/5/2021 at 10:43 PM, chinandega81 said:

The sea grapes grow so well for you. Why aren't they more common in that area??

I'm surprised I don't see more of them driving around myself.  There are a few visible from the roadside, but not an overabundance of them.  They are a lot hardier than they are given credit for, and usually just have some leaf drop after a rough winter.  It's likely that our small heat island is going to be expanding in the next couple of years:

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-polk/polk-county-is-the-second-fastest-growing-area-in-the-country

https://moneytalk1010.com/2021/05/11/lakeland-area-has-biggest-population-growth-in-the-country/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_Money_Talk_1010

[kinzyjr]

Chambeyronia macrocarpa doing the "flamethrower" thing:

[kinzyjr]

Did a soil test from 5 distinct areas of the yard.  Here were the results:

[NOT A TA]

4 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Did a soil test

Seems to show distinct differences. Are some of the areas native soil and some topsoil that was brought in at some point in time? Areas you amended the soil? Areas where you've been fertilizing differently? Do they include a breakdown of sand, silt, and clay percentages?

[kinzyjr]

1 hour ago, NOT A TA said:

Seems to show distinct differences. Are some of the areas native soil and some topsoil that was brought in at some point in time? Areas you amended the soil? Areas where you've been fertilizing differently? Do they include a breakdown of sand, silt, and clay percentages?

All good questions.  I'll answer them as best I can.

 

The report did not include a breakdown of sand/silt/clay.  I’ve lived here for over 11 years and have never had topsoil or sod hauled in or installed.  Whether previous owners did or not I can’t answer unfortunately.  When I moved in, a gentleman who has lived in the area his entire life advised me that the ground here was abnormally rich because it was old orange grove land.  I figured that might just be a pirate tale, but two of the reports do show high and/or moderate levels of all major nutrients.  I don’t fertilize often, but when I do, it’s with Florikan.  Recently, I’ve been adding SulPoMag which looks to be the path going forward.

 

There is one area that is non-native to my knowledge.  This was tested as part of the Livistona_01 test.  This area houses the palms in the genera Livistona, Washingtonia, Medemia, Brahea, Arenga, Acoelorraphe, Veitchia, and one species of Phoenix (reclinata).  Basically, desert palms and palms you typically see more of in South Florida.  The reason this area was chosen for this was because it was previously under 6 inches of concrete with pavers pressed into it.  The sand underneath I had assumed to have a much different pH due to the length of time the concrete was down (~40 years) and the sand and stone mixed into the base for the concrete and pavers is much different than my native dark (almost pitch black) soil.  There is no intentional fertilization done to anything except the two Veitchia arecina and two Phoenix reclinata.  Everything else seems to hate when I add anything, so I don’t anymore.

 

The big surprise was the Coconut_01 test.  My prediction was that it would have roughly the same pH as the date palm bed since it had a similar consistency after I dried both samples out and sent them in for testing.  When it came back with a pH that high vs. the Date_Palm_01 sample, it certainly caught my eye as it was way outside of my expectations.  Since I have two coconut beds, I should clarify that this is the bed with the sea grapes and the two Jamaican Tall coconuts.  The bed with the Maypan and Green Malayan shares a border and a soil type with the Livistona bed, with the only difference being a layer of pine bark mulch that both coconut beds have had since they were created.  I would imagine this means the pH is similar.

 

The Date_Palm_01 bed is the most fertilized bed since Phoenix palms tend to show nutrient deficiencies here in Florida.  In the past, I had added magnesium in the form of magnesium sulfate and used Florikan as the base fertilizer of choice due to its slow release nature.  At this point, I think SulPoMag is probably the better product to add to this area to correct the annoying potassium deficiency.

 

The Howea_01 bed is the least disturbed on the property and gets two coatings a year of live oak leaves.  My thought is that the leaf drop is why the pH here is the lowest of the areas tested.  This area houses all of the shade lovers, palms that do not handle frost well, and palms that hate our extreme heat well.  Basically, if you hate direct sunlight, frost, and/or temperatures over 90F, you get planted here where the temperature scale is compressed and the light is filtered.  Genera include Adonidia, Satakentia, Cryosophila, Carpentaria, Rhapidophyllum, Serenoa, Pseudophoenix, Archontophoenix, Beccariophoenix, Howea, Chamaedorea, Kentiopsis, and Jubaea.

 

The Bamboo_01 bed gets a lot of leaf litter, so I guess that explains the ever so slightly acidic pH.  The Zinc reading is off the chart.  There must still be some leftover metal in that sample.  This is the soil that holds the Dypsis bed as well.  It looks like this area could use some more SulPoMag.

 

As far as amending soils, when I plant stuff, the most exotic my amendments get might be to add stone for drainage or to throw in some wood ash.  My standard practice is to mulch with either pine bark, lava rock, or river rock.  Unfortunately, my skill level in this trade is not at the level it would need to be to do serious amendments, so my approach has to stay fairly rudimentary and repeatable.  If it can’t grow with that approach, I’ll have to let the experts handle that and then relay to me what I should do.

Hope that was enlightening and not too boring 

[NOT A TA]

@kinzyjr excellent reply! Thanks for taking the time. When I was young and worked construction (up North) we'd order what was referred to as "dead sand" to make a base for slabs and pack it with a vibrating tamp machine.  I wonder if they used a similar type of sand here and that's what was in your Livistona_01 area.

[kinzyjr]

7 minutes ago, NOT A TA said:

@kinzyjr excellent reply! Thanks for taking the time. When I was young and worked construction (up North) we'd order what was referred to as "dead sand" to make a base for slabs and pack it with a vibrating tamp machine.  I wonder if they used a similar type of sand here and that's what was in your Livistona_01 area.

Given the low amount of nutrients in the Livistona bed, I would venture to say that you hit the nail on the head with what they put there.

[kinzyjr]

A few summer additions:

A double Veitchia arecina from @palmsOrl

The Chambeyronia macrocarpa found a spot in the yard

Ptychosperma macarthurii - from the last Searle sale - hope to get some seeds from this in the future

[kinzyjr]

Winners and Losers:

Every year, some of the stuff we plant makes it and other stuff drops out.  Here are a few of mine that dropped out:

1) Ptychosperma elegans seedlings - I decided to move them to put the Ptychosperma macarthurii in that spot and the seedlings didn't make it.  Not a worry though, reinforcements are easy to propagate from local seed sources.

2) Dictyosperma album 'conjugatum' - This one didn't look all that great after the winter as I mentioned in a previous post, but it was starting to push a frond.  The frond came out stunted so I decided to dig it up.  A bunch of mealy bugs had somehow gotten into the stem and were bleeding the plant dry.  Decided to burn it to get rid of the bugs rather than take the 1/10 chance of saving it and keeping the bugs.  Bought a new one and considering a different spot for it.

3) Euterpe edulis 'Orange Crownshaft' - Exactly the same experience as @Eric in Orlando - it was growing great for a while and then, all of a sudden, it just went into decline.  I decided to get a 1G Euterpe edulis for this spot instead and give that a roll of the dice.  I may at some point get another Orange Crownshaft and try a different spot that is more amenable.

4) (Multiple) Washingtonia filifera - Probably not surprising to anyone, but a few of the variety from the Moapa Valley didn't make it through the summer.  Still have some growing well and looking at a different planting style for the ones that are sulking.

5) (Two) Trachycarpus fortunei - Two of these spear pulled, but over a dozen are growing fine sprinkled in among other plants.

6) Dypsis leptocheilos - Only one of them bit the dust, but for unknown reasons.  Still have one in the ground and plenty of replacements from local seed sources.

7) Dypsis decaryi - Got this one a bit too wet and the stem rotted.  Have a garage full of replacements, but will likely pair these with the rest of the desert/xeric stuff instead the area with most of the other Dypsis species.

8) Dypsis lutescens - Squirrels.... but, easy to get seeds locally.

9) Ravenea rivularis - This one was a half-off, half-dead special at Lowe's, so I'll just get a healthy one next time.

10) Sabal minor 'Cherokee' - Need more of these as the squirrels and rabbits sent them into decline.

11) Thrinax radiata - One seedling out of about 20 bit the dust.  It was in an area close to where the neighbors use their irrigation and our city water is terrible on some species.  Since the others away from that area are fine, I think I'll just pin the blame on municipal water quality.

12) Hyphaene coriacea - One of the two wasn't very happy and passed away in June.  Local seed supply is good, so not a big worry about replacing them if they fall by the wayside.

[kinzyjr]

The fall 2021 update:

Cocos nucifera Atlantic tall/Jamaican Tall (4.5 years in the ground)

Cocos nucifera Atlantic tall/Jamaican Tall (1.75 years in the ground)

Cocos nucifera Maypan (4.5 years in the ground)

Cocos nucifera Green Malayan Dwarf (11 years in the ground - set back by a knucklehead trimming the roots)

Veitchia arecina (various sizes)

Adonidia merrillii (1 year in the ground)

Carpentaria acuminata (~1.5 years in the ground)

Wodyetia bifurcata volunteer (approaching 1 year of growth)

Roystonea regia

Roystonea regia (3 years from seed)

Kentiopsis oliviformis - I'll wait until next year to change names.

Chambeyronia macrocarpa

Archontophoenix alexandrae (~3.5 years in the ground)

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana

Satakentia liukiuensis

[Reyes Vargas]

28 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Archontophoenix alexandrae (~3.5 years in the ground)

All your palms are looking good especially the alexandrae.  

[kinzyjr]

5 minutes ago, Reyes Vargas said:

All your palms are looking good especially the alexandrae.  

Thank you!  That particular species has been on the list since I read David L. Jones' Palms Throughout the World back in 2003.

[Reyes Vargas]

5 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Thank you!  That particular species has been on the list since I read David L. Jones' Palms Throughout the World back in 2003.

I need to get that book.  Did you grow that palm from seed or did you get a potted one?  Can't get over the fact that it looks like plastic.

Edited October 11, 2021 by Reyes Vargas

[kinzyjr]

1 minute ago, Reyes Vargas said:

I need to get that book.  Did you grow that palm from seed or did you get a potted one?  Can't get over the fact that it looks like plastic.

This particular Archontophoenix was in a 3G pot from @Mike Evans.  I had another one that was getting its rings back in 2018, but it caught a fungal infection after the Jan. 2018 advective freeze and I didn't notice it until it was too late.  So this is the replacement for that particular palm.  I did have some seedlings around growing from locally collected seeds, but those tend to fly off the shelves when I show people the parents.

[RedRabbit]

11 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

This particular Archontophoenix was in a 3G pot from @Mike Evans.  I had another one that was getting its rings back in 2018, but it caught a fungal infection after the Jan. 2018 advective freeze and I didn't notice it until it was too late.  So this is the replacement for that particular palm.  I did have some seedlings around growing from locally collected seeds, but those tend to fly off the shelves when I show people the parents.

That Archontophoenix looks great! Are you sure it’s alexandrae?

[kinzyjr]

1 minute ago, RedRabbit said:

That Archontophoenix looks great! Are you sure it’s alexandrae?

I'm sure that, if it isn't, someone a lot smarter than me was fooled by it as well   It does have silvery undersides on the leaves, so that rules out Archontophoenix cunninghamiana.  No purple in the crownshaft, so out goes purpurea.  Beyond that, we'd probably have to wait until if/when it sets flowers and fruit to host any meaningful debate on it.  I know that it is much more robust than my last one and almost looks fake as @Reyes Vargas had mentioned.  The ones downtown look relatively similar, but my eye for botany is not all that great.

[RedRabbit]

1 minute ago, kinzyjr said:

I'm sure that, if it isn't, someone a lot smarter than me was fooled by it as well   It does have silvery undersides on the leaves, so that rules out Archontophoenix cunninghamiana.  No purple in the crownshaft, so out goes purpurea.  Beyond that, we'd probably have to wait until if/when it sets flowers and fruit to host any meaningful debate on it.  I know that it is much more robust than my last one and almost looks fake as @Reyes Vargas had mentioned.  The ones downtown look relatively similar, but my eye for botany is not all that great.

Cool, it’s probably alexandrae then. I was wondering because it’s a darker green than I’m used to seeing and the fronds seem to recurve slightly more. Awesome looking palm. 

[kinzyjr]

Beccariophoenix alfredii

Beccariophoenix fenestralis

Thrinax radiata - there are some palms I like to use as "Easter Egg" palms.  They are planted in relatively inconspicuous places just to see if the folks that visit and tour spot them.  Thrinax radiata is one of them.  The larger specimen was purchased from Lowe's.  The rest are 3 years from seeds.

Acoelorrhaphe wrightii 'Azul'

Acoelorrhaphe wrightii - grown from seed

Cryosophila warscewiczii

Dypsis lanceolata - I thought this one would end up on the losers list above.  It had one partially good frond left and just wasn't doing well at all.  I dug it up, potted it, put it in a very sheltered spot and it managed to recover.

Sabal minor 'Emerald Isle'

Sabal minor 'McCurtain'

Sabal minor 'Arkansas' - As you can see, I like the various ecotypes.  If anyone browsing has any Cherokee variety from northern Alabama, let me know please.

Rhapidophyllum hystrix

Sabal etonia 'miamiensis'

Trachycarpus fortunei - another good one to use as an Easter Egg palm

Hyphaene coriacea - another one that looked like it would have to be reintroduced to the environment and then recovered for no apparent reason.

Howea forsteriana - these have to be planted larger due to their propensity to be attacked by rodents.

Bismarckia nobilis (Silver)

Jubaea chilensis - it made it to fall, so hopefully that gives it some time to recover from the late heavy rains.

[palmfriend]

That is a very nice collection of already beautiful and healthy looking palms!  Give it a few more years and it will be spectacular! 

I like the space around your species - it provides a perfect view of them.

All the best - 

Lars

[Merlyn]

Great collection!  I just bought a pair of Cryosophila Warscewiczii, about the same size as yours.  About how much sun does yours get?  I have seen photos of them super stretched-out in lots of shade, as well as very compact in full blazing sun.  The one at Leu looks like it is in a lot of sun, too.  So I'm waffling on where to plant mine...I may put one in the ground now and leave the other in a pot until next spring.

[Looking Glass]

20 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Beccariophoenix alfredii

Beccariophoenix fenestralis

.

Great collection.  That Fenestralis looks really good.  I got one in the spring that grows yellow, tattered leaves quickly.  It went from that big to neck high this year, but looks terrible.  Loves tons of N and K, hates full sun and magnesium.  I’m afraid to put it n the ground with the Alfrediis doing so well.   I think I’m going to use one of them instead in the spot I was imagining.  Do you feed that guy?  

 

[kinzyjr]

12 hours ago, palmfriend said:

That is a very nice collection of already beautiful and healthy looking palms!  Give it a few more years and it will be spectacular! 

I like the space around your species - it provides a perfect view of them.

All the best - 

Lars

Thanks again, Lars.  Glad you enjoy the "manicured jungle" style.  Anytime you post an update, I love paging through to see everything growing there.

5 hours ago, Merlyn said:

Great collection!  I just bought a pair of Cryosophila Warscewiczii, about the same size as yours.  About how much sun does yours get?  I have seen photos of them super stretched-out in lots of shade, as well as very compact in full blazing sun.  The one at Leu looks like it is in a lot of sun, too.  So I'm waffling on where to plant mine...I may put one in the ground now and leave the other in a pot until next spring.

Mine gets dappled light all day.  It also has a windbreak to its immediate north.  There are a few of them growing at Lakeland City hall that look wonderful in deep shade under a Chambeyronia and a Teddy Bear palm.  In your area, try putting one in slightly dappled light so it has some light canopy above it.  They handle chill pretty well, especially if you can keep the frost away.

1 hour ago, Looking Glass said:

Great collection.  That Fenestralis looks really good.  I got one in the spring that grows yellow, tattered leaves quickly.  It went from that big to neck high this year, but looks terrible.  Loves tons of N and K, hates full sun and magnesium.  I’m afraid to put it n the ground with the Alfrediis doing so well.   I think I’m going to use one of them instead in the spot I was imagining.  Do you feed that guy? 

Thank you!

You're right about full sun.  If you have an area with dappled light, that helps.  During the spring, mine sometimes get singed and yellowish leaflets because the sun angle is just right to burn the leaves.  Mine is in a slightly elevated spot under "edge" canopy.  This palm got a light dusting of Florikan at the start of the rainy season (June this year), but the soil regime it occupies is very similar to the unfertilized Howea sample I had tested by UF/IFAS (ever so slightly acidic and HIGH nutrient levels in all respects).

[kinzyjr]

If you've enjoyed the tour so far, there is plenty more.  @palmsOrl was offering the deal of a lifetime in the For Sale section, so I snagged a few goodies that will be integrated into the landscape in the coming months.  On with the show:

A Chamaerops humilis with modified top dressing for better aeration and drainage stands guard in front of my Ptychosperma macarthurii.  The Ptychosperma elegans seedlings that I moved from that spot didn't make it, but I have a new crop in the nursery that could be ground ready in the coming months.

Medemia argun - I thought these were goners.  They literally had no green/blue showing at one point.  Then, it rains one time and they push out a leaf.

Washingtonia filifera (Moapa Valley variant)- I lost a few of these this year.  It seems these and Medemia do not like to fly solo (without a nurse plant).

Brahea brandegeei - I'll be surprised if it is still around next year, but stranger things have happened.

Franken Brahea from @DoomsDave - It seems to like having nurse concrete nearby. 

Phoenix theophrasti - This one isn't doing so hot, but it has overcome a lot.  I have a bunch more in the nursery and put a 2-leafer in the desert bed the other day.

Phoenix reclinata - I am still stunned these are the same age.

Serenoa repens (Silver x 2, Green) - There are more of these, but they are on nurse duty for the time being.

Euterpe edulis - replaced my Orange Crownshaft version that passed on.  This one is being nursed by a Chamaedorea cataractarum.

Veitchia subdisticha - just started putting this monster in the ground.  If what I have read is true, this one will take an act of God to overwinter here.

[DoomsDave]

@kinzyjr thanks for the shout out!

Be aware that the Franken Brahea baby will get really big, one of one of Ed Sullivan's "shews" before you know it, as in 2-3 feet across the trunk, and 30+ feet in about 10 years.

[kinzyjr]

Chamaedorea radicalis - surrounded by retaining wall blocks to keep rabbits and squirrels away.

Chamaedorea microspadix

Chamaedorea cataractarum - on guard duty.

Coccothrinax barbadensis - with a Wodyetia bifurcata volunteer in the background.

Butia catarinensis (?)

Syagrus romanzoffiana

Arenga engleri

Livistona decora

Livistona chinensis

Copernicia alba

Allagoptera arenaria

Dypsis pembana

Dypsis cabadae

Dypsis prestoniana

Dypsis leptocheilos

Phoenix dactylifera

[kinzyjr]

On 10/12/2021 at 11:29 AM, DoomsDave said:

@kinzyjr thanks for the shout out!

Be aware that the Franken Brahea baby will get really big, one of one of Ed Sullivan's "shews" before you know it, as in 2-3 feet across the trunk, and 30+ feet in about 10 years.

Welcome!  Thanks for all of the seeds.  I finally got photos of the Coccothrinax barbadensis seedlings from the seeds you sent as well. 

The Franken Brahea has some space around it to expand.  I'm not certain why at this point, but it seems xeric-type palms prefer to have something near them that blocks direct sun.  Very counter-intuitive, but it works for now.  We have a Brahea armata in town that seems to do alright, so I might add one of those at some point as well.

[kinzyjr]

A Halloween Update - more arrivals from @palmsOrl:

Hyophorbe lagenicaulis:

Veitchia arecina:

Carpoxylon macrospermum:

Chambeyronia macrocarpa 'Houailou':

Chamaedorea cataractarum:

[kinzyjr]

New Year - New Additions:

Dypsis bed before - still sodded and only little carve-outs for the plants:

Dypsis in progress - mostly de-sodded and ready for the rake:

Dypsis mostly completed - stone and mulch are in place.  Just need to cover the overflow:

South border bed before - Just a planting of surplus plants that are in varying degrees of poor health:

South border bed - First phase of the de-sodding:

South border bed - Second phase of the de-sodding:

South border bed - Cleaned and contoured:

South border bed - posts and twine to guide the border placements on each side:

South border bed - border still needs straightened a bit, but the walkway is in place and there is a new Panama Tall coconut palm keeping everything company:

[kinzyjr]

@palmfriend had said he was looking forward to a spring update here.  Since a lot of the garden is under construction, there will be multiple updates as the various moves and updates are completed.  @Lou-StAugFL had mentioned that the property looks huge from the photos at the CFPACS Spring Meeting.  It's actually not all that large to be honest - certainly not even an acre. 

Anyways, here are some newer arrivals:

Borassus aethiopum - bought this one at the CFPACS Spring Meeting.  The constant wind bend this over and snapped the leaf off, but another is growing out.

Hyphorbe verschafeltii - when I was getting some landscaping stone at the blue big box, this Spindle followed me home.

Licuala grandis - thank you to @redant

Chamaedorea tepejilote - another thank you to redant!

Ptychosperma elegans seedlings - a thank you to @D. Morrowii for bringing a dozen of these to the 2021 Holiday CFPACS meeting.  I had to put the fence up because of the rabbits.  Yes, they were in the ground for January.

Veitchia joannis - Another purchase from the holiday meeting, but I forget who brought it.  Maybe @Steve the palmreader?  I pulled the Jubaea out of this spot and decided to pot-grow it for a while since this needed to go in the ground desperately.

Trachycarpus fortunei - I got this right before the price jumped from $24 to $27 at the big blue box.

The next photos are stuff that has been moved around.  Sometimes you plants something somewhere and it just doesn't do well.  So you try somewhere else.  Other times you just need things out of an area.

This first photo is the avocado/mango area.  It has been extended and the scalloped edging has been traded for the interlocking Alameda border.  The Hyphaene coriacea in front has been there for a bit.  The Ptychosperma macarthuri has been moved here along with a few Hyphaene thebaica that needed another shot in the ground.  The small sugarcane sprouts are from a small cutting soaked in water.  In the far back, I moved the red mangrove from another bed to this one.

In the first photo, all of the crownshaft palms near the fence line have been moved from there over near the Beccariophoenix area.  The second area shows where they were previously.  These include Chambeyronia macrocarpa 'Houailou', Chambeyronia oliviformis, and Carpoxylon macrospermum.

After moving this sugarcane clump and watching it reduce down to one cane, I figured it was DOA.  It recently started pushing leaflets out of the remaining stem.

The next photo set are of my two Ficus aurea and a Delonix regia that I grew from local seed.

Since this is a spring update, mandatory flower pictures:

Coccoloba uvifera - the pollinators are loving it!

Phoenix dactylifera - going to be a lot of these this year!

Adenium obesum - it really likes its new location on the entryway in the back.

Rhapis excelsa - a lot of blooms but not a lot of seeds.

[D. Morrowii]

You’ve been busy and its looking good too! The C. Tepejilote is a cool looking palm. If I ever get any canopy going I’ll have to add a couple of those. 
BTW I also thought you were on an acre or two for some reason 

[Merlyn]

Looks great!  I started out with straight beds about 5 years ago and quickly changed to curves, exactly because of the problem you had with getting and keeping a straight line.  If it's a curve, there's no definition of whether it's a good or bad curve, as long as it's reasonably consistent.  If it's not quite right you can just say, "I meant to do that!"  A straight line is much more obvious when it's off... 

I'm surprised the seagrapes are blooming, mine got burned to the ground at the end of January and are just barely growing tiny leaves now.  How cold did it get there?  I have some on the SE side (24-25F min) and E side (27-28F min) and they were completely defoliated. 

[kinzyjr]

@D. Morrowii

I think the property is just a little larger than a third of an acre.

@Merlyn

The various sensors bottomed off between 31F and 34F.  I compared my records to those at the Lakeland Airport (KLAL) in my post in the January 2022 Florida Freeze Report thread.

There are still some straight lines in the garden.  They tend to become "not-so_straight" when the rabbits and stray cats are running through the garden.  In the case above, I cannibalized the scalloped edging from the garden bed I extended for another project.  The path through the coconut bed now has a border to keep the mulch from washing onto the sidewalk... plus it changed colors

[palmfriend]

Thank you for the update!

Well, growing a T. fortunei  and a V. joannis  in the same garden sounds quite challenging - but fingers crossed and all the best!

Good luck!

regards 

Lars

 

[redbeard917]

It's ambitious. I was lucky to get a tour a few years back and I can report that it's a normal suburban sized lot, and the front is mostly open and not used for palm plantings. Yet somehow your huge collection doesn't look cramped.

What did you use to paint the concrete edging in the last photo?

[kinzyjr]

6 minutes ago, redbeard917 said:

It's ambitious. I was lucky to get a tour a few years back and I can report that it's a normal suburban sized lot, and the front is mostly open and not used for palm plantings. Yet somehow your huge collection doesn't look cramped.

What did you use to paint the concrete edging in the last photo?

You're welcome to stop in again if you happen to pass through.  We're planning on hosting the CFPACS Fall Meeting here in Lakeland on October 26th, 2022 (Saturday) if you want to see more than just my little slice of paradise.

The concrete edging was painted with Rustoleum Flat Black spray paint: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rust-Oleum-Professional-Flat-Black-Spray-Paint-Actual-Net-Contents-15-oz/3729781

[JohnAndSancho]

I love how you've got such a diverse group of palms in a relatively small area without it looking cluttered. Also it's still hard for me to read Lakeland without hearing JIN JIN KITCHEN. 

[kinzyjr]

The Bursera simaruba (Gumbo Limbo) I got at the 2021 Holiday CFPACS meeting is growing pretty well this spring.  There is one a little distance away setting fruit already.

[RedRabbit]

3 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

The Bursera simaruba (Gumbo Limbo) I got at the 2021 Holiday CFPACS meeting is growing pretty well this spring.  There is one a little distance away setting fruit already.

Great addition!!!

[kinzyjr]

It's that time of year where everything starts growing really fast because of the heat and moisture: