Went on a Mini Palm Excursion....

[FRITO]

took a few hours today to do some drive-by palm hunting in parts of town that are off my beaten path. I focused in the FSU campus surrounding areas only, there is much more to  be covered in further explorations....

Started off near the Magnetic Research Lab At FSU... found a cool metal sculpture

large Needle Palm near a vistor center of some sort

Up close at NEEDLES

[FRITO]

Alumni Village... has tons of old Butia planted.  Probably in the nehborhood of 200 or so....

I had Jelly palm fever after this this village

heading towards  the stadium and found a washingtonia grove

[FRITO]

these were planted close to these little houses

stumbled upon a rare site here in town....

getting a closer look at these mistresses

[FRITO]

I had to get a frontal shot of the queens, but I was quickly distracted by a little house on a back street.

Chinese fan palm triples,and a huge butia

lush

swinging around to the queens I found a med. fan palm sticking out at me at redlight, had seeds also...

[FRITO]

thick

and juciy

these were at the back of a oldschool motel

[FRITO]

Motel

Hibiscus hedge at the base...pretty tropical for here

med fan palm  

[FRITO]

seed

got a few.... these looks ripe?

sweet looking mini Butia in apartment complex

until next time.........

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Cool photo journey... Really gives the feel of the area! :cool:

[paulgila]

nice tour!that livistona chinensis was sweet!

[KyleNcal]

Thanks for the mini tour.

Those chinese fan palms are awesome!

[bubba]

Great shots. Those Queens in Tally are eye openers!It must be getting warmer up there.

[FRITO]

(bubba @ Dec. 21 2007,11:29)

QUOTE

Great shots. Those Queens in Tally are eye openers!It must be getting warmer up there.

they probably are in a heat island of some sort.

but i was definently surprised when I saw them.

[FRITO]

the C. humilis seed were duds.... nothing but sour smelling fruit. must have not been polinated?

[FRITO]

took a few more photos.

here is a nice Trachycarpus Fortunei near parking garage

this Hotel has the best palm commercial palm planting in town.

Has a row of 5 Bismarkias out back -

these were undamaged lst winter with a official low of 19 degrees (however my meter bottomed out at 23.4 that night)

[FRITO]

the hotel hs split leaf philodendron, sagos, washys, Phoneix Canerisis and Sylvestris, along with a queen palm and a giant bird of paradise.

here is grouping of wahsy trunks and sylvestris

the tallaest queen palm ive seen in town

and here is a Butia with a stout trunk and nicely trimed leaf boots at an older publix grocer that theyfancied up a bit.

could this have jubaea blood? I think it was blooming I may have to get a photo and take a closer look

Luke

[MattyB]

Nice P. sylvestris!

[Shon]

19 degrees in Tallahasee? I only know from what I see on T.V watching FSU football games. Had know idea it got that cold. Announcers always tell you it's 75 with 80% humidity. I thought it was closer to Miami weather.

[TikiRick]

Shon,

Being a grad alumus of FSU, I can certainly tell you that once, while I was there it dipped to a whopping 7 degrees. I was so cold that I (along with half of the student body) refused to go to class.

Luke, thanks for the tour. Brings back some serious memories since I lived at Alumni Village for a year while working on my Masters degree. I am amazed of the Washingtonias in that lot. It looks like the Queens may have only been in a year or two.....and a row of Bismarkias? In Tallahassee? WOW! Let us know how they all fared from the last freeze on 1/2 and 1/3.

[Jeff Searle]

Luke,

     Thats a nice collection of palms that grow that far north. Do you have any idea on how many species can grow outside with no protection from the cold?

Jeff

[bubba]

Keep it coming .This is amazing for Tally.Please tell all is good after freeze.Thanks.

[FRITO]

Rick, never knew of the alumni village until I drove there. Glad I could bring back memories. I would guess the 3 queens behind that motel have been here longer than 2 years. Queens nearly stop growing here in winter. and those are much taller than the one at my mothers which gets watered and fert regualary. It is 4 years in the ground and just starting to for a trunk from a wimpy 3 gallon. I'll admit it not full sun like these 3 others though.

Jeff, I have been finding more and more species that can make it here. It is helping fuel my addiction I havn't counted species yet but a good chunk Keith's (in Louisana) ongoing palm list is hardy here.

[FRITO]

Here are a few photos I took while hiking at local parks.

Native Needle Palm

leaf detail

nice native sabal minor (usually whimpy and droopy)

Overlooking Lake Talquin from trail from higher ground. (Notice Bald Cypress in distance with no leaves)

[FRITO]

native Serenoa Repens. adpated to regrow from wildfire(in this case probably controlled burning)

too early for seeds

native Longleaf pine planted in 1996 as a restoration project (endagered)

native Opuntunia sp. cacti (dormant in winter) never seen this before

[FRITO]

bump up

Checked on the row of 5 bizmarkias at the Hotel above. I am Happy to report they look fine and dandy. no damage seen. however the landscaper trime about 3 frond off the bottom of each one anf same with the tall washys in the front of the hotel windows.

no damage to those palms. washys robustas has minor leaf burn. that was trimmed up. (my meter a few miles away bottomed out at 23 degrees)

[deezpalms]

nice tour Luke, thanks!!

[floridagrower]

I am in the Tallahasse area too and observed many marginal palms doing well for some time now. Many queens exist, if you know where to look. They don't use them as avenue palms here. I know of some that have bigger trunks than the one pictured on the parkway. Also, some nice Chinese fans that have nice trunks are scattered about.

[FRITO]

any fruiting queens? any specific locations? I need to check them out. I got a couple queens doing alright. only a couple years old however.

Im guessing there are large specimens in the Killearn area.....an area I don't travel in or around much.

[floridagrower]

any fruiting queens? any specific locations? I need to check them out. I got a couple queens doing alright. only a couple years old however.

Im guessing there are large specimens in the Killearn area.....an area I don't travel in or around much.

The ones I've seen are large enough to fruit but I haven't got close enough to see. I intend on snapping pictures as soon as I get a new camera. I do have one picture I will dig up of a house with about 8 large trunking Queens, and 3 large clumps of Phoenix Robellinis. Also, spotted a nice Mule palm recently.

[Alicehunter2000]

Wow those Bizmarkia's in Tally are giving me more hope here on the coast. We didn't see anywhere near your lows just 2 hrs. away. I am suprised to see the queens as well. They are popping up everywhere here now.....but we haven't had bone chilling cold in several years.

[Kris]

Dear Luke

lovely stills and beautiful palms_i love it !

thanks & love,

Kris

[bubba]

Great tour.Tally is a great town and it is amazing to see the Tropicals up there.Please keep us updated.Do you ever go to McClay Gardens?Love all those hills,lakes and giant Oaks through Plantation Country.Tally is the place for interesting old Florida history.Florida-The first state found in the New World and the last conquered.

[FRITO]

here are some shot I took may 15th on Florida states campus

xeric style area: Sabal, Butia, cootin cycad, yuccas, sagos

old butia

another pair

old CIDP

[FRITO]

heres just to the right of the previous shot

needle palm cluster with variegated lirope

howd that get there?

determination:

[FRITO]

trunk of a canary

looking up to the top

cute couple

tucked away in a corner

[FRITO]

this one had a nice color

up the strairs to get a nice easy shot of the inflorescence. nice contrast

old architecture

mirror tint windows

[FRITO]

a group of sabals I forgot earlier

cool building notice butia to the right side

the OLSEN TWINS!

[FRITO]

last one for now

This year they have added quuite a bit of palms and landscape. from transplanted large sabal and butia from other sites.

new planting including needle palms, serenoas (both green and blue), coonties, and a couple thousand dollars in windmills.

...Until next time.....

[_Keith]

Great job Luke. For those of us who have to contend with cold, this is an awesome thread.

And a lot of work too, I know. Thanks.

[floridagrower]

You should add some shots of the true date palms and robustas scattered about. There are much more impressive canarys on the campus as well. Where are the new windmills installed? I haven't seen these.

[FRITO]

where are the washys robustas on campus? The only P. Dactyfilera I know of are at Ruby Diamond - 3 of em very tall. and the two Canarys also but no where near as tall. I will get photos of this as it is an impressive area. This area has one of the best micro climates in Tallahassee I believe. It has really high elevation, east facing and is in the center of town(heat island)

The Windmills are in the courtyard in the student union. a few scattered about also. They also installed hundreds of sagos recently in mass plantings. (way to close to eachother)