I've been shopping again!!!

[mjff]

Did anybody really think that when the head of my largest Jubaea fell over and I started inquiring about where the Jubaeas in El Paso were located that that was going to be the end of the story?

El Paso only has one large Jubaea that I know of as of a couple of weeks ago (it's owner wouldn't sell or they would have none). Their other one now resides in my front yard in San Angelo, TX. For those of you wondering how my Silver Queen did after being defoliated last winter you can see it and it's 3 scraggly fronds in the background of the photo above (not the best angle to see its fronds).

It's a poor use of $4.00 per gallon diesel to haul one Jubaea, so...

Why not add a ginormous Silver Butia from Botanical Partners?

The trunk on that thing is almost as big as a Jubaea's!

Mule Palm from Phil should provide some much needed shade by my office.

[mjff]

Funny story about this Filifera, a local woman bought it as an obviously mislabeled 5 gallon Windmill Palm 15 years ago, and planted it in a 5'x 7' courtyard next to her front door. How she left it there for 15 years I can't even begin to imagine. The trunk on it is around 3' wide, and the fronds had to be slapping anybody who came in or out the front door in the face for years. It finally grew to the point where the trunk was touching the eaves on two sides, and it towered over their ranch style home. Her husband could no longer trim it, and they were afraid it would damage the house. I swapped her a 5 gallon Sabal Minor for it, and now it dwarfs one of my 18' tall Jubaeas in the back yard.

This little Brahea moorei really looks good in this corner by my water feature.

Here is a small Guihaia argyrata in a pot on the porch under my pergola. Now if I could just find one more about the same size for the other side.

[mjff]

The Trachycarpus garden is coming along nicely with the addition of a large Trachycarpus oreophilus and Trachycarpus princeps. I think these were previously Gary Woods' plants.

In that area there are also Trachycarpus fortunei, Trachycarpus wagnerianus, Trachycarpus takil (probably nanital, not takil), Trithrinax acanthicoma, and once it gets larger Tachycarpus geminisectus.

[mjff]

Here is something unique that I got from Phil, a clumping Butia.

I finally found a Butia archeri.

[mjff]

This portion of the garden will be home to Brahea edulis (closest), Brahea armata (small palm to left of edulis), Sabal rosei (sabal on the left, from Gary Woods?), Sabal yapa (sabal on right, possibly Gary's also).

Better shot of the Sabals with their heads still tied.

Not pictured because they aren't in the ground yet are Sabal causiarum, riverside, uresana, bermudana, domingensis, x texensis, and etonia.

[quaman58]

Martin,

That is going to look really good in a few years. The Trachy area will look like an oasis. Nice plants, nicely done..

Bret

[freakypalmguy]

Nice scores. Your place is going to look really nice when it all fills in.

[_Keith]

You are nuts, and I love it. I can't wait to follow your garden through the years as it matures.

[FRITO]

wow nuts! goodluck with everything, lots of marginal planting for late in the season I think?

what the clumping butia? got a trunk closeup!

[mjff]

Thanks everyone. I'll get y'all a closeup of the clumping Butia tomorrow. If last year was any guide, most of what I planted should be fine here, and a good portion of it came reestablished in boxes already or in plastic containers.

Edited October 26, 2008 by mjff

[DoomsDave]

Clumping Butea? > > > > ? ? ? ? ?

WHOA!

What-ever!

Martin, your garden rocks, maybe we'll all schlep on over there, feast on goat, and have a great time . . .

[freakypalmguy]

Also, be careful with the wire around your archeri. I had the same stuff around a few and the rabbits were able to stick their heads in and nibble away. I finally went to chicken wire.

[deezpalms]

Nice score's Martin!

Your garden is going to be a great example of cold hardy palm garden.

[Mark Heath]

Cool!! You finally got that Jubaea that you told me you were going to get!! Now,,,,, i am waiting for my Jubaea pollen!!!

I do hope you still have some of that Queen pollen that i sent you so you can hit that sucker!!!!!! How are the seeds doing that you made?? Did any experts finally answer your questions as to whether or not your palm was a hybrid??

Keep up the good work!! In a few years when everything is rooted in i have a feeling that all of us will be jealous!!!!

[mjff]

Cool!! You finally got that Jubaea that you told me you were going to get!! Now,,,,, i am waiting for my Jubaea pollen!!!

I do hope you still have some of that Queen pollen that i sent you so you can hit that sucker!!!!!! How are the seeds doing that you made?? Did any experts finally answer your questions as to whether or not your palm was a hybrid??

Keep up the good work!! In a few years when everything is rooted in i have a feeling that all of us will be jealous!!!!

How do these look Mark? I have two infructences rapidly ripening. Two close calls last week. Airport got to freezing, but nothing froze here. I still have some pollen, if at least one of the Jubaeas flowers this spring I will get you some Jubaea pollen and use the Queen pollen on it. Dick said that his JxB had similar characteristics to mine when it flowered, but Merrill never replied.

[mjff]

Here is the Clumping Butia porn y'all requested.

[mjff]

Work it baby, the camera loves you! One more of the clumping Butia. Perhaps Phil can post the history on this plant. He told me, but I can't recall the name of his source.

[mjff]

Not bad growth on the new Jubaea considering how cold some of the mornings were this week,

and the disaster that occurred when we moved it, and most of the sandy soil fell off. Doesn't anybody in El Paso know what sand is? I only asked about a dozen times if this tree was growing in sand before and during the root pruning process. As it turns out it was 18" of sand on top of rock, so the roots went down 18" then grew to the side. I was told we had a 4' deep rootball of good dirt. Whatever!!!

It'll be interesting to see how it does, but I figure if the spear is growing the roots probably are too.

[gsn]

Butia?

I don't see any armament on the petioles?

[mjff]

Butia?

I don't see any armament on the petioles?

Scott,

There are several Butias that do not have armament such as B. paraguayensis, B. purpurascens, and this unnamed subterranean branched Butia from paraguay that is similar to mine http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Butia/spParaguay.html I didn't say it was a clumping B. capitata. I have no idea what species of Butia it is. It is probably one that has not been named yet. It will be interesting to see what the infloresence looks like when it blooms.

Edited October 27, 2008 by mjff

[Mark Heath]

Hey Martin,

thanks for sending the pic of your infruitescence! You did a good job!! I'll shoot you a pic of the father on your regular e-mail if you like.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your Jubaea! I would though if i were you,,, cut off some of the older fronds just to help it along!

I agree w/ Dave, we should all shoot over there and view some massive palms and feast on curry goat!!

[mjff]

Hey Martin,

thanks for sending the pic of your infruitescence! You did a good job!! I'll shoot you a pic of the father on your regular e-mail if you like.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your Jubaea! I would though if i were you,,, cut off some of the older fronds just to help it along!

I agree w/ Dave, we should all shoot over there and view some massive palms and feast on curry goat!!

Mark,

Thanks. I'd like to see a photo of the Queen, post it or email it to me. I've already cut off several ranks of fronds on the Jubaea. The experts I consulted in CA actually recommended I leave them all on, and let the tree adjust itself, but I was worried about the wind load. I've got 8 cables holding it upright until it roots in. The cables handled 40+ mph winds last night. I noticed on the Jubaea that I pulled out that all the new root growth seemed to have come from the root crown, not the existing roots. The cut roots didn't die, but they didn't resprout either.

Anytime y'all want to visit just let me know.

[deezpalms]

Martin, good luck with that Jubaea. Hopefully the lack of soil when transported won't hinder the growth and recovery of the giant you got there!!

[Tad]

the guihayia needs shaaaade

[mjff]

Tad,

It gets shade almost all day except late afternoon when the sun gets low enough to shine under the pergola. It seems to be happy there, it's starting to open a new frond. It came from Phil with only two fronds. In his defense he did warn me that it didn't look very good before he sent it. Anybody down there growing some small ones I could put in the other planter?

[mjff]

I just realized I forgot the photo of the Butia capitata on the island in back. Ok, it isn't an island yet, but hopefully soon. When complete the island will have 6 waterfalls and 7 planters constructed of concrete colored and sculpted to look like a natural rock formation. This 10' CT Butia will be in the center surrounded by Trachycarpus princeps, Serenoa repens, maybe some Sabal etonia or minor, and flowering perennials/annuals.

[iamjv]

Martin, wonderful replacement Jub!!! It really looks good. I guess it was doing well back in El Paso. Did you get any info from the owners on how they took care of it??? How long it had been there, etc. All your other palms are looking good as well. It'll be nice to see the garden when you have everything in place (pool, fountains etc.). Keep us up to date. Jv

[mjff]

JV,

If I recall correctly the Jubaea had been there 30 or 35 years. It was growing in front of the building in an area completely covered with heavy plastic and gravel. There was a single bubbler placed next to the tree for water. The plastic ended only about 6" from the trunk. This Jubaea is a lttle strange. It's hard to see in the photos, but the fronds are much shorter than normal, about 2/3 the length of the others I have, and the fruit from the tree was much smaller than normal too. I'm curious if the abnormalities are related to the hot dry climate in El Paso, or are genetic. I noticed the same traits in the other large Jubaea in El Paso. It will be interesting to see if it grows larger fronds and fruit here after it gets reestablished. I am continuing to monitor the spear growth, and even though we are having lows in the high 20's to low 30's 3-4 mornings every week with highs in the 60-85 degree range, it is still growing about 1.25" every week, and it still hasn't lost a frond.

[iamjv]

Hopefully that growth is a good sign of a successful transport/transplant operation.... I bet those are characteristics of it not getting enough water and fertilizer... probably needs some TLC! I am sure you'll provide it. Look forward to more posts and pics. This is a favorite tree of mine, for they are majestic! Jv

[Gtlevine]

That Jubaea is even nicer than the one that croaked, glad things worked out.

Gary

[mjff]

JV, It's in some good black dirt, and will have a 100' soaker hose coiled around it with landcape fabric and gravel around it to help retain moisture and eliminate competition from weeds. The irrigation sytem will use a dosatron to inject fertilizer, so I'm confident it will be happy.

Gary, Thanks, I was happy I could locate another one. This one is quite a bit shorter, mostly because of the short fronds, but is nice and fat all the way up. No hourglass trunk on this one.

[DoomsDave]

the guihayia needs shaaaade

I concur!

[DoomsDave]

So, how's the old garden coming along?

More pictures, please pretty please!

[mjff]

Dave,

Things are going very slowly. I have most of the front done now, but when I filled the pond with water I discovered I had a 1,200 gallon/day leaking problem. I think I have located and fixed most of them, but need to reinforce the rock retaining wall (which is cracking) before I refill the pond. Trying to get that done this week, than I will refill and post some photos of it and my latest acquisitions from Tad and Horticultural Consultants.

I had Tad send me some 4' CT Canaries, 6' Filiferas, 5' Sabal mexicanas, a double trunk Phoenix humilis, and a Livistona decipiens. I got some Serenoa repens (blue, green, 2 silver), Guihaia argyrata and grossefibrosa (male and female of each), Sabal palmetto and guatamalensis, Medjool dactylifera, Allagoptera arenaria, and a couple of Trachycarpus wagnerianus from HCI.

The winter was really mild here this year temperature wise (low of 23), but we had some really brutal warm, dry wind events with steady 50+ mph winds and gusts to over 70 mph that really left some of the newer trees looking pretty bad. Nothing like a 70 degree, 50 mph wind with 10% humidity to dessicate a palm frond. Almost forgot the ice storm. It turns out small mule palms, trachycarpus and butias aren't big fans of ice. Had lots of spears pull on them, but they are pushing like crazy now.

Look for some more photos soon. Once we get the front done the NE side isn't far behind, so I'm hoping to have it finished too pretty quick.

[mjff]

Well, I've got the pond down to leaking 400 gpd, and a pretty good idea where the last leaks are. At least I got the rock wall reinforced, it was only 107F that day! In the meantime, here are some of my latest acquisitions.

Allagoptera arenaria with Brahea moori to the left.

Patrick was convinced to part with this Butia x Parajubaea for the right price. Those Flame Acanthus on either side of it are really out of control. They will be relocated this winter.

Planted out some Chamaedorea radicalis and microspadix in the waterfall planters.

The back porch is pretty shady. An ideal spot for Guihaia grossefibrosa (and argyrata which I posted earlier).

Who says Nannorhops ritchiana is slow? This little guy was a 3-leaf 1 gallon when I planted it late last summer, and it's spear pulled after the ice storm last winter. Now it grows faster than the weeds!

Have four Serenoa repens (2 silver, 1 blue, and 1 green) planted in what will be a large rock formation/waterfall island similar to the one the Chamaedoreas are growing in.

Trachycarpus geminisectus that I had in a pot in too much sun. Hoping it likes this spot in the ground a little better.

Boy are these hard to find, Trachycarpus nanus keeping my geminesectus company in the same planter.

Tad should recognize these Washingtonia filiferas. The area covered in black fabric will be a moat that runs around the house to keep the goats out of the yard.

These Sabal minors aren't new, but they looked so good... The seedlings in the pots are silver Butias i found sprouting in the leaf bases of their mother.

The Jubaeas aren't new either, but I thought you might like to see how they are doing almost 2 years after I moved them from CA.

[Brad Mondel]

if you dont mind me asking how much was your jubeas? can i ask how you ID all your palms to the specific variety? thanx for reply

[mjff]

if you dont mind me asking how much was your jubeas? can i ask how you ID all your palms to the specific variety? thanx for reply

The Jubaeas cost about $7,000.00 each planted in my yard.

ID's on the palms assumes the grower's labels are accurate, but most of them came from IPS member growers so I'm sure they are all accurate.

[Alicehunter2000]

$7,000 EACH!! Good GAWD!!

[BS Man about Palms]

$7,000 EACH!! Good GAWD!!

I suspect thats about $150-200 per year of age....not bad.

[Gan Eden]

if you dont mind me asking how much was your jubeas? can i ask how you ID all your palms to the specific variety? thanx for reply

The Jubaeas cost about $7,000.00 each planted in my yard.

ID's on the palms assumes the grower's labels are accurate, but most of them came from IPS member growers so I'm sure they are all accurate.

Wow disposable income! And the world was told that a recession was on...