Palm Paradise fit for Quarantine

[PalmatierMeg 5,071]

I have no wish to bring up the 800 lb gorilla sitting in most of our living rooms. My father was in the FBI so I grew up with 800 lb gorillas. Suffice it to say my husband and I are old and afflicted with conditions and ailments (type A blood anyone?) that render us both high risk. So, voluntarily, we have self-quarantined at our home on one of the larger residential properties in Cape Coral (0.61 acre - don't laugh). But we are blessed to be surrounded by 100s of my beloved palms and tropical plants that provide a cooling oasis and privacy. It's so restful to work in the yard, lots to be done to take my mind off the woes of the world.

I thought I'd take some time to share photos of our little palm paradise as it looks like we won't be going anywhere for a while. I started outside the front door and continued into our 3-lot Garden Lot, which is fully planted except for our 10x16' garden shed.

Blue & Red Latans

Blue Latan

Red Latan

Sabal minor Blountstown Dwarf x2 in planter box

Northern edge of Garden Lot

Allagoptera brevicaulis

Agave ovatifolia

Views from inside the Garden Lot

More later

[Reeverse 577]

Soo cool what you have done there! Looks great!! 

[Oviedo_z10b_lol 134]

Definitely not the worst place to be quarantined. Very nicely done!

[OC2Texaspalmlvr 543]

@PalmatierMeg can you send us some pics of Sabal row please =) Love your garden would love to see it one day !! 

[PalmatierMeg 5,071]

Greetings and positive vibes to all. Just another day in quarantine paradise. My son and his wife dropped by to check on us and we talked outdoors 6+' apart as they did not want to disrupt our indoor eco-environment (really). They both work in doctor's offices and the hospital system and I'll say no more.

I spent most of the day indoors indulging in activities I seldom pursue: cooking and baking. Good thing I have years of experience to fall back on. Yesterday I roasted a turkey to share with our niece & nephew, who, being professional cleaners, are swamped with requests from local gov't to assist in disinfecting and sanitizing their facilities. Today I am making turkey rice soup and chocolate chip cookies to share. And I'm tired.

But not too tired to post more photos of our little botanical garden. More palm goodies from the Garden lot.

Tahina spectabilis

Zombia antillarum

Livistona saribus Green Form

Borassus flabellifer: one of two I germinated 10 years ago from seeds sent to me by Kris in India. Kris, much love to you!

Dypsis pembana 3-stem cluster - absolutely fabulous palm

Dypsis decaryi: not my favorite Dypsis but I grew this one from seeds and it is handsome in its own right

Copernicia prunifera & Livistona saribus black spines & yellow highlights

Coccothrinax spp group

Cocos nucifera & Coccothrinx spp near garden shed

Gaussia gomez-pompae in front of garden shed

 

Enjoy! More to come

[topwater 570]

Geez I’m lusting after the Borassus.  I had 10 B. aethiopum seeds and successfully germinated zero.  Good job!

[joe_OC 1,315]

My favorite palm in your garden so far:

[Palmaceae 2,290]

Looking great as usual Meg! You and Tim take care and be careful out there.

[Cindy Adair 2,713]

So impressive Meg! Glad you two are safe.

And aren't we all so lucky to have our garden retreats!

 

[Merlyn2220 946]

On 3/21/2020 at 4:49 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

Views from inside the Garden Lot

I love the Latans, it's too bad they are a definite no-go for me in borderline 9B/9A.  At least I can grow Ovatifolia with no worries, like your stabby beast!  One question...what's the palm on the right side?  It sort of looks like an Attalea of some sort, but maybe not?  The only other one I can think of at the moment is Raphia Sudanica.  I've really run out of space and am thinking the tall & skinny palms might be my only option to increase my palm count!

[Meangreen94z 625]

Very, very nice.

[Stevetoad 1,651]

Very nice. That Borassus is beautiful!!!

[PalmatierMeg 5,071]

2 hours ago, Merlyn2220 said:

I love the Latans, it's too bad they are a definite no-go for me in borderline 9B/9A.  At least I can grow Ovatifolia with no worries, like your stabby beast!  One question...what's the palm on the right side?  It sort of looks like an Attalea of some sort, but maybe not?  The only other one I can think of at the moment is Raphia Sudanica.  I've really run out of space and am thinking the tall & skinny palms might be my only option to increase my palm count!

It's Attalea cohune.

[PalmatierMeg 5,071]

Just another day and more palm photos in paradise.

Views from the Garden Lot

Attalea butyracea

Becarriophoenix alfredii

Silk Floss Tree double trunk

Tim & Lizzie relaxing beneath an Elaeis guineensis

Phalaenopsis orchids in spinach tree

Seedling container garden

Cocos nucifera Dwarf Red Spicata x3: offspring of my late mother palm

Cocos nucifera Dwarf Red Spicata single - germinated 2016

Cocos nucifera Dwarf Red Spicata twins - germinated 2015

Copernicia alba & Chamaerops humilis x4 - I germinated 2 (left, rear) of the Chamaerops from Vulcano seeds sent from Italy. Another is supposed to be solitary trunk (it's not). The last (right) is a Chamaerops 'Red Hair' from Croatia

Garden Lot south edge

Roystonea violacea

View down the Isabelle Canal from the berm of a vacant end lot. Our seawall, dock and jungle are on the left.

View of berm from vacant end lot. We planted 1/2 of the berm even though it is not our property.

Serenoa repens green I grew from seed

Serenoa repens silver I grew from seeds

 

That's all for now. Take care, all.

[akamu 515]

That is a really nice collection of Palms everything looks great really like the Latanias and borassus the canal is really nice too, something we don't have around here thanks for sharing be safe

[Palm Tree Jim 990]

Thanks for sharing.

Be well and safe.

[topwater 570]

If you get bored, more Coccothrinax.  

[sonoranfans 1,580]

You have a truly inspiring garden Meg!  Gorgeous palms and plenty of diversity!  What a happy place!  Paradise indeed!  

[PalmatierMeg 5,071]

10 hours ago, topwater said:

If you get bored, more Coccothrinax.  

The front garden is nearly devoted to them.

Can't have too many Coccothrinax.

[OC2Texaspalmlvr 543]

11 hours ago, topwater said:

If you get bored, more Coccothrinax.  

Welcome back hows the garden these days ? 

[realarch 4,247]

Thanks Meg, appreciate you scouting around the garden and taking photos. Tim looks great BTW. Sending good thoughts you way.

Tim

[weldertom 29]

Fabulous! 

 

Yes- the Dypsis pembana is the bees knees!

[topwater 570]

On 3/24/2020 at 8:39 AM, PalmatierMeg said:

The front garden is nearly devoted to them.

Can't have too many Coccothrinax.

Sorry, what I meant to say was, if you get bored, can you show us pics of some individual species. You have a cornucopia of Coccothrinax....wow.  Also, I’ve been aware that your hubby has had health issues for a while, but he sure looks hale and hearty now.  Best wishes for the both of you.  

[PalmatierMeg 5,071]

13 hours ago, topwater said:

Sorry, what I meant to say was, if you get bored, can you show us pics of some individual species. You have a cornucopia of Coccothrinax....wow.  Also, I’ve been aware that your hubby has had health issues for a while, but he sure looks hale and hearty now.  Best wishes for the both of you.  

Thank you

[Kris 1,350]

Dear Meg.

Your garden needs to be called as Palm Paradise...Beautiful and every inch of the property had been fully utilized with green cover.

Love,

Kris.

[Patrick 194]

Looks great Meg! I guess that's one great thing about being stuck at home vs. the folks that have nothing but grass and sun, even if it IS a lot of work keeping everything happy and tidy. Great job!

[Kim 3,174]

Lovely trip through your garden, Meg! I remember the difficulties you had after Hurricane Irma, I think it was; but today the garden looks perfect!

Times like these, we can all truly appreciate the peace in our gardens, be they large or small.

[Merlyn2220 946]

On 3/23/2020 at 10:56 AM, PalmatierMeg said:

Tim & Lizzie relaxing beneath an Elaeis guineensis

 

That looks like a great resting spot in the shade of the Elaeis!  I have a 2 gallon one that I'm trying to figure out where to plant, because all the photos I see of Elaeis show that they tend to grow "outwards" more so than "upwards."  I have Attalea Cohune and Phalerata seedlings too, and they tend to grow tighter and more vertical, but I might need to leave more horizontal space for the Elaeis?  How did you keep it trimmed to clear the bench and the other areas nearby?  Did you just keep the lower limbs pruned back so it didn't crowd everything else at ground level?  And, if you are bored in quarantine, how about a pic of the whole palm?

[GottmitAlex 2,856]

38 minutes ago, Merlyn2220 said:

That looks like a great resting spot in the shade of the Elaeis!  I have a 2 gallon one that I'm trying to figure out where to plant, because all the photos I see of Elaeis show that they tend to grow "outwards" more so than "upwards."  I have Attalea Cohune and Phalerata seedlings too, and they tend to grow tighter and more vertical, but I might need to leave more horizontal space for the Elaeis?  How did you keep it trimmed to clear the bench and the other areas nearby?  Did you just keep the lower limbs pruned back so it didn't crowd everything else at ground level?  And, if you are bored in quarantine, how about a pic of the whole palm?

Elaeis? It appears as Elysium!  Wonderful pics @PalmatierMeg !