Your favorite palm of 2021

[Swolte 984]

That you own, of course. And add a pic!

It's January so we can still do these yearly reviews. My favorite pam for 2021 was the Phoenix Canariensis.

What determined favorability in 2021 was strongly influenced by how Palms recovered during our winter event (aka Palmageddon) here in Central Texas. This palm was completely defoliated (I cut it to a single spear) and protected by several layers of fleece blankets and frost cloth. What you see in the picture is a full blown recovery explosion. I got the palm in Jan/Feb of 2020 from one of those Houston Garden Centers along the highway for a discounted price. It was in a 5 Gallon pot with a trunk diameter of 5 inches. Now it measures a whopping 13 inches. Hardy ever had to water it. Definitely palm of the year for me! 

Edited January 16 by Swolte

[RyManUtah 1,766]

[Trustandi 285]

It is hard for me to choose between Patrick's ButiaXParajubaea Sunkha or Brahea Clara.  I will go with my Brahea clara.  This year Clara finally decided not to crawl anymore and it flushed many beautiful blue fronds. It doesn't even mind our rain. 

[MarkbVet 493]

6 hours ago, Trustandi said:

It is hard for me to choose between Patrick's ButiaXParajubaea Sunkha or Brahea Clara.  I will go with my Brahea clara.  This year Clara finally decided not to crawl anymore and it flushed many beautiful blue fronds. It doesn't even mind our rain. 

 

beautiful palm!  Definitely on my 'get' list.  Can u tell me more about your hybrid?  Any pics of it?   Thanks!

[KDubU 334]

For 2021 I have to go with my large Butia capitata. My first year having palms and so far, so good.
 

 

[Allen 1,273]

My mule I think

 

[Dartolution 945]

Probably my little Butia capitata (Likely catarinensis) that exploded in growth this year. 

[Las Palmas Norte 519]

My favorite 2021 palm won't grow here.  

[Collectorpalms 1,877]

12 hours ago, Swolte said:

That you own, of course. And add a pic!

It's January so we can still do these yearly reviews. My favorite pam for 2021 was the Phoenix Canariensis.

What determined favorability in 2021 was strongly influenced by how Palms recovered during our winter event (aka Palmageddon) here in Central Texas. This palm was completely defoliated (I cut it to a single spear) and protected by several layers of fleece blankets and frost cloth. What you see in the picture is a full blown recovery explosion. I got the palm in Jan/Feb of 2020 from one of those Houston Garden Centers along the highway for a discounted price. It was in a 5 Gallon pot with a trunk diameter of 5 inches. Now it measures a whopping 13 inches. Hardy ever had to water it. Definitely palm of the year for me! 

I bought mine at HGC at 70% off the 48” box in 2001. This is what it became. It was always my favorite. Pictured this fall after the mega freeze recovery. 

It’s a she. Sadly College Station thinks the sidewalks on my avenue should be 6ft instead of the standard 3ft. So many taxes nothing better to do I guess. So it’s my final farewell.

Edited January 16 by Collectorpalms

[Collectorpalms 1,877]

Here this better. Oops. Now perfect. 
that was Late Fall 2018 when hit 14.5F that spring, everything came back. No so 2021. But she did.

 

Edited January 16 by Collectorpalms

[Xenon 2,366]

Monster growth rate on this is well worth the 30 bux even if it dies next winter (or next month? Next decade?) 

March

 

A few days ago

 

Edited January 16 by Xenon

[Fallen Munk 816]

This little one has been impressing me with it's frosty sea green leaves and fast growth.  B. armata X  B. brandegeei hybrid.  AKA "Frankenbrahea".

[palmsOrl 2,035]

Veichia winin!!!

[Trustandi 285]

9 hours ago, MarkbVet said:

beautiful palm!  Definitely on my 'get' list.  Can u tell me more about your hybrid?  Any pics of it?   Thanks!

I planted it last year. Parajubaea sunkha is supposedly the hardiest parajubaea and tolerate slightly more wet condition. 

[MarkbVet 493]

1 minute ago, Trustandi said:

I planted it last year. Parajubaea sunkha is supposedly the hardiest parajubaea and tolerate slightly more wet condition. 

Nice!  Are u protecting it?   According to my (admittedly limited) research,  this species isn't as cold hardy as P. torallyi, but I'm thinking maybe more wet tolerant?  That might not be as big an issue in So. Oregon (the wet, that is...).  Any idea how these hybrids look when larger, compared to Jubaea, Butia, etc?  Anything to distinguish them and make them worthwhile in addition to those other palms?  

[Trustandi 285]

@MarkbVet yes. I am protecting it since I just planted last year. Plus, we had four days below freezing. 

Hmm... I grabbed the last year picture of its bigger sibling from @Ben in Norcal. Maybe he could post the more recent one. 

It is more resemblance to coconut tree maybe and less fussy by crossing it with butia. 

[Steve in Florida 282]

7 hours ago, Dartolution said:

Probably my little Butia capitata (Likely catarinensis) that exploded in growth this year. 

It is a butia odorata. 

[Dartolution 945]

29 minutes ago, Steve in Florida said:

t is a butia odorata.

@Steve in Florida No, it is not odorata. The Butia that are local are not odorata. We do however have odorata that grow in south Alabama and the panhandle that I have seen. These that are local are not as robust in size as odorata, and do not have large round seeds that have been described by Noblick and Lorenzi. Our local populations produce ovoid seed, slightly pointed at the ends (not as sharply as yatay or as large) that are roughly 3/4 inch long. 

Nigel Kembrey identified them as shown HERE. 

 

Based upon those images, and many others I have deduced that our local populations are more likely to be catarinensis or dare I say - true capitata (must less likely) than odorata. 

I do have some odorata seed that is outside for the winter in a community pot. It is as appears in the linked photo - large, and nearly perfectly round. 

 

[DAVEinMB 1,940]

Really tough to pick one but mine is probably a toss up between these two: 

- Livistona Chinensis 

- Lytocaryum Hoehnei 

[MarkbVet 493]

9 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

I bought mine at HGC at 70% off the 48” box in 2001. This is what it became. It was always my favorite. Pictured this fall after the mega freeze recovery. 

It’s a she. Sadly College Station thinks the sidewalks on my avenue should be 6ft instead of the standard 3ft. So many taxes nothing better to do I guess. So it’s my final farewell.

Impressive palm!

[MarkbVet 493]

10 hours ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

My favorite 2021 palm won't grow here.  

What is it?

[MarkbVet 493]

10 hours ago, Dartolution said:

Probably my little Butia capitata (Likely catarinensis) that exploded in growth this year. 

Pretty!  The leaves really twist, and long feathery leaflets. 

[MarkbVet 493]

5 hours ago, Trustandi said:

@MarkbVet yes. I am protecting it since I just planted last year. Plus, we had four days below freezing. 

Hmm... I grabbed the last year picture of its bigger sibling from @Ben in Norcal. Maybe he could post the more recent one. 

It is more resemblance to coconut tree maybe and less fussy by crossing it with butia. 

Thanks for the information!  Will be interested to see how your little palm does.  You're wise to protect it for now,  then maybe someday it can wear big boy pants and brave the weather hehe! 

[SailorBold 836]

I like my filiferas.. but not huge huge yet..and I love my bxjxb... but this year... my fave palm has been the JXB f3.  

[JohnAndSancho 1,416]

This is hard. I'll have to get pics when I put everything back outside when we aren't expecting freezing temps. All of these are in a YouTube vid from a couple weeks ago in another thread tho

Groot Jr. (R. Rivularis) - has grown and grown and is pushing itself out of a 2gal pot. 

Felix(C. Cataractarum) - I threatened to yeet this palm into the dumpster a dozen times and it's growing. It's about 2 ft tall vs my indoor Cat Palm that's pushing 6 ft tall, but for a plant I had left for dead so many times, I'm happy.

C. Benezeii - I made a comment that this plant was h*rny because it keeps trying to flower even though there's not another for at least 50 miles 

C. Plumosa - just grows. Wish I bought more of these. 

L. Chinesis- I bought this clump for $10 and it seems bulletproof in this climate. I feel like I underappreciated it. 

[DAVEinMB 1,940]

1 hour ago, SailorBold said:

I like my filiferas.. but not huge huge yet..and I love my bxjxb... but this year... my fave palm has been the JXB f3.  

Holy smokes that is gorgeous. How long has it been in the ground? 

I vaguely remember a post about it elsewhere but can't remember for sure

[Chris Wilson 239]

My favorite is definitely my Trachycarpus Fortunei with its insane growth rate. It’s was only 2.5 feet tall when I planted it in 2016.

[KDubU 334]

4 hours ago, Chris Wilson said:

My favorite is definitely my Trachycarpus Fortunei with its insane growth rate. It’s was only 2.5 feet tall when I planted it in 2016.

Okay then, that is one happy palm obviously. Nice growth!

[SailorBold 836]

10 hours ago, DAVEinMB said:

Holy smokes that is gorgeous. How long has it been in the ground? 

I vaguely remember a post about it elsewhere but can't remember for sure

Thank you!.. It's 7 1/2 years from a 5 gallon. I've been sharing it more and more in different posts..  thats a view from my roof while I was taking down xmas lights..  the leaves are whirling (whorling?) all the same way..

I need more palms..

Edited January 17 by SailorBold

[Steve in Florida 282]

23 hours ago, Dartolution said:

@Steve in Florida No, it is not odorata. The Butia that are local are not odorata. We do however have odorata that grow in south Alabama and the panhandle that I have seen. These that are local are not as robust in size as odorata, and do not have large round seeds that have been described by Noblick and Lorenzi. Our local populations produce ovoid seed, slightly pointed at the ends (not as sharply as yatay or as large) that are roughly 3/4 inch long. 

Nigel Kembrey identified them as shown HERE. 

 

Based upon those images, and many others I have deduced that our local populations are more likely to be catarinensis or dare I say - true capitata (must less likely) than odorata. 

I do have some odorata seed that is outside for the winter in a community pot. It is as appears in the linked photo - large, and nearly perfectly round. 

 

Nigel stated Butia catarinensis does not have leaves that twist on the end like yours does.  He said this is very common on Butia odorata and he has never seen this on pure B. catarinensis. Yours could also be a mutt between the two species. True B. capitata is not cold hardy at all and burns badly below 26F.

Edited January 17 by Steve in Florida

[Steve in Florida 282]

18 minutes ago, Steve in Florida said:

Nigel stated Butia catarinensis does not have leaves that twist on the end like yours does.  He said this is very common on Butia odorata and he has never seen this on pure B. catarinensis. Yours could also be a mutt between the two species. True B. capitata is not cold hardy at all and burns badly below 26F.

This is what pure Butia catarinensis looks like.  Alberto in Brazil posted this pic years ago.

[Dartolution 945]

1 hour ago, Steve in Florida said:

Nigel stated Butia catarinensis does not have leaves that twist on the end like yours does.  He said this is very common on Butia odorata and he has never seen this on pure B. catarinensis. Yours could also be a mutt between the two species. True B. capitata is not cold hardy at all and burns badly below 26F.

@Steve in Florida I havent come across this information. Could you direct me where this is found, I would like to read more. 

Well, it must not be capitata if that is the case - as our local populations and mine are leaf hardy into the mid teens easily. Mine saw 15F its first year in the ground with 0 damage. 

 

Odorata produces those big round seeds and is extremely large compared to these - perhaps it has odorata in it after all. 
Yes the leaves definitely have a good 90 degree to nearly 180 degree twist to them. 

Any other speculations? 

Thanks for this info, and the image for reference. 

 

[DAVEinMB 1,940]

12 hours ago, SailorBold said:

Thank you!.. It's 7 1/2 years from a 5 gallon. I've been sharing it more and more in different posts..  thats a view from my roof while I was taking down xmas lights..  the leaves are whirling (whorling?) all the same way..

Well it is aging like fine wine! Really looking forward to seeing what the next 7 1/2 years brings

 

12 hours ago, SailorBold said:

I need more palms..

My ass is saying this every day. Surprised my hoa hasn't told me to dial it back yet 

[teddytn 1,385]

Good ole Sabal minor, can get flattened by snow doesn’t care, single digits doesn’t care. I’m going to start planting as many as I can get my hands on this coming year. Going to start experimenting more with marginal palms for my area, good to have a ton that I’ll never have to worry about. 

[RyManUtah 1,766]

On 1/17/2022 at 8:21 AM, SailorBold said:

I need more palms..

Everybody does. Provided I get germination - I will have some things I think you should try. 

[DreaminAboutPalms 397]

Rescued this sabal seedling from a parking lot back in July and out of the 4 I dug up it is doing the best. I’m pretty sure it’s palmetto or mexicana and it’s parent tree is one of the ones in the last two pics (March 2021 streetview btw- no defoliation and minimal burn). 

Hope to be able to put it in ground someday  

Edited January 20 by DreaminAboutPalms

[knikfar 256]

On 1/15/2022 at 11:29 PM, Swolte said:

That you own, of course. And add a pic!

It's January so we can still do these yearly reviews. My favorite pam for 2021 was the Phoenix Canariensis.

What determined favorability in 2021 was strongly influenced by how Palms recovered during our winter event (aka Palmageddon) here in Central Texas. This palm was completely defoliated (I cut it to a single spear) and protected by several layers of fleece blankets and frost cloth. What you see in the picture is a full blown recovery explosion. I got the palm in Jan/Feb of 2020 from one of those Houston Garden Centers along the highway for a discounted price. It was in a 5 Gallon pot with a trunk diameter of 5 inches. Now it measures a whopping 13 inches. Hardy ever had to water it. Definitely palm of the year for me! 

What was the lowest temp this tree experienced? And did you provide any heat? 

[Swolte 984]

35 minutes ago, knikfar said:

What was the lowest temp this tree experienced? And did you provide any heat?

3F and no heat. We had Canaries that recovered without protections. They were, along with some Sabal species, the big 'winners' of the big freeze in Texas. 

[knikfar 256]

23 minutes ago, Swolte said:

3F and no heat. We had Canaries that recovered without protections. They were, along with some Sabal species, the big 'winners' of the big freeze in Texas. 

That's shocking in an awesome way. I actually grew a canary from seed years ago. It got too big for me to keep moving around so I gave it away. Now I wish I tried planting it outside. I don't think I ever see them being sold in my area but if I see one, I think I'll purchase it and give it a try. 

[Steve in Florida 282]

On 1/17/2022 at 6:08 PM, Dartolution said:

@Steve in Florida I havent come across this information. Could you direct me where this is found, I would like to read more. 

Well, it must not be capitata if that is the case - as our local populations and mine are leaf hardy into the mid teens easily. Mine saw 15F its first year in the ground with 0 damage. 

 

Odorata produces those big round seeds and is extremely large compared to these - perhaps it has odorata in it after all. 
Yes the leaves definitely have a good 90 degree to nearly 180 degree twist to them. 

Any other speculations? 

Thanks for this info, and the image for reference. 

 

The genus Butia was formally reorganized 12 years ago.   There are many posts on this forum starting back then on that topic.  The characteristics of turned leaves on Butia odorata was something I noticed on some of the plants I grew in the past 17 years and this was pointed out by Nigel on the European Palm Society board and through personal communications with him.