Species Count

[Really full garden]

Someone recently asked me how many palm species I am growing and I really could not give them a factual answer. This afternoon was stormy so this was a perfect rainy day project. I decided that I would include palms that have been planted out for a year or more. I counted Cocos nucifera as one species even though I probably have six cultivars.

My total palm species planted out in both gardens count came to 138.

80 species in the beach garden and 120 growing in my highland garden . There are many species that grow in both gardens.

I have another 30 or so species in pots that comprise freshly germinated seeds to potted specimens.

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by Really full garden

[GottmitAlex]

I may be the forum member with the least amount of palm species:

4 Cocos nucifera in ground, 1 in a pot. Several B.alfredii (1 in ground) , D. carlsmithii,  1 majesty, 1 catpalm, 1 A. Merillii, 4 queens, several Hyophorbe L and indica red. Oh, and 1 D. plumosa, courtesy of DD.

So...10 species.

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by GottmitAlex

[Really full garden]

The thousand mile journey begins with the first step.

[Marius]

I now have 78 species and one hybrid. My goal is 150 species although I’m starting to run out of space. 

[Marius]

Also 60 Aloe species & 24 Cycad species 

[Really full garden]

4 hours ago, Marius said:

I now have 78 species and one hybrid. My goal is 150 species although I’m starting to run out of space. 

That is very impressive for your climate.

[Marius]

Thank you. I only counted the ones planted in the garden. We are now in the cold part of winter and all of them are still unscathed except for my Chambeyronia which has burn on its two oldest fronds. 

[waykoolplantz]

The numbers game came with the hobby...tho it’s not the end goal.

we lost @20 species during the 2010 freeze...Mother Nature will always win...still at 700+

[kinzyjr]

Variety is the spice of life, but I have a fairly low number of species for a relatively warm zone 9 climate. Currently, 31 unique species with several variants of a few of them.  Regardless of the total number, I think it is more important to enjoy growing whatever you have and/or intend on getting.

[Merlyn]

2 years ago I started with only the basic "big box store" types, but now I've got almost all of the ones that will grow in the ground here in the Orlando area.  At current count I have 87 palms in the ground out of 35 species, and another 76 in pots from 38 more species.  There's a little overlap on potted ones that just aren't quite big enough (or I'm too OCD to decide on a final location).  At a quick glance on my spreadsheet for duplicates I'd guess just under 69 different species total.

I also have 51 different Agave species and 34 different cycad species.

[Really full garden]

I don’t think my goal was to aim for a high species count. My interest lies more in the overall landscape. My garden is not a palm zoo.

95% of what I have I have grown from seed because we have very few palms available despite living in a tropical country.

[Jim in Los Altos]

Being a landscape architect, overall design is a paramount but I’m also a palm collector so the challenge is keeping a nice overall design while having most of the palm species I really desire. I’m at 140 species and over 300 palms in the ground. With the garden maturing, there really is no more space for more palms, I’m in a Mediterranean climate zone 10a here in CA so technically I could be growing 100 more species. 

[GottmitAlex]

12 minutes ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Being a landscape architect, overall design is a paramount but I’m also a palm collector so the challenge is keeping a nice overall design while having most of the palm species I really desire. I’m at 140 species and over 300 palms in the ground. With the garden maturing, there really is no more space for more palms, I’m in a Mediterranean climate zone 10a here in CA so technically I could be growing 100 more species. 

I bet you could! As I see it, it's paradise.   Love "Lassie",  long-Haired Collies.   Back to palms: Personally, I prefer the pinnate palms over the "fan" palms (Palmate/contra/costal/whatever) palms. (with very few exceptions.)

300 palms? You are set! You have a jungle!

 

 

 

[Pal Meir]

I owned 70+ species in the early 2000s, and according to an old list I had 3 spp (Phoenix dactylifera, Chamaedorea elegans, Chamaerops humilis)  in 1962, already 13 spp (!) in 1972, but now in 2019 I have only 4 Lytocaryum spp and 8 others = 12 spp :-(

[cm05]

14 species, 22 palms in total.

I’m in New York, our winters suck, so I’m restricted to about 5 species that can survive here (4 of which I have). While I dream of Bismarckias and Foxtails, I’m extremely grateful to even have the ability to grow the likes of Rhapidophyllum and Trachycarpus.

11 of my palms are hardy to my zone (7b), exactly half of my small collection. I have 6 palms (5 eco types) belonging to one species, Sabal minor, which are hardy here.

[Really full garden]

These are panorama of my Highland Garden

I actually can’t find some palms in this jungle,

Edited July 28, 2019 by Really full garden

[kinzyjr]

23 minutes ago, Really full garden said:

These are panorama of my Highland Garden

I actually can’t find some palms in this jungle,

It's an incredibly lush garden that looks as if it was landscaped by nature rather than human hands.  Very nice!

[Really full garden]

18 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

It's an incredibly lush garden that looks as if it was landscaped by nature rather than human hands.  Very nice!

Thanks, it was a coffee plantation at one time and then became a military base during the Guatemalan civil war so it was abandoned completely . My house was on the front lines during the conflict.

[Chatta]

Wow thats a fantastic garden!!! @Really full garden

My gardens young but I believe my count is around 85 different palm species

[Jubaea_James760]

22 species, 29 total palms in the ground. 

Also, 4 species, 7 total cycads in ground.