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This pretty little palm, planted right outside my front porch, just put out her first flowers. I think she’s happy to have not been burned back the past couple winters.

Another old crownshaft on a Chrysaltidocarpus prestonianus came off today and the new color never fails to catch my eye.

Chrysalidocarpus Prestonianus Hybrid doing the splits

Planted this Washingtonia filifera last spring as a one gallon, left it out during this last winter and this is where we are at now in July. Burned a bit during the winter but it’s a 🚀 I had two planted, lost one but this one has been a tank. Genetics are from a local DFW parent that has been here for over 30 years.

I found some old paperwork from around 21 years back incredible what was available and how cheap it was just for 100 seedlings you pay that for just one palm nowadays how times have changed it’s interesting to see the names of some of the plants i purchased that are still in the garden today and it was before the internet you actually made phone calls or sent letters.

Finally planed out my Coccothrinax montana and hope it continues to flourish. It joins Coccothrinax borhidiana (super slow!) and C. miraguama in the garden a few years. Who else is growing C. montana and how well has it done for you in your location? C. montana C. miraguama C. borhidiana

Moving along 😍

Hey Jason, thanks again for the Chrysalidocarpus malcomberi photos. You saw this one a few years back before trunking, it has since grown quite a bit. Great color and nice leaf arrangement, although it still looks very similar to C. mananjarensis to me. Tim

Cyphokentia cerifera, Joeys, and more! Floribunda hopes your summer growing season is in full swing. We have a few new items to share on our new July price list, here are some highlights: Cyphokentia cerifera This elusive New Caledonia gem takes patience to grow, but the reward is a rare and spectacular beauty. Seedlings available at $8.00 Johannesteijsmannia magnifica The silver Joey is offered as a first leaf seedling shipped with or without the pot. The most ornamental of the Joey palms with a stunning silver underside to the leaves. Seedlings $25.00 Johannesteijsmannia altifrons Another Joey with an exotic leaf shape and variable forms. First leaf seedling, shipped with or without pot, $15.00 Hydriastele selebica This clustering plumose leafed Hydriastele is one of the true beauties of the genus. Seedlings $8.00 Areca vidaliana This miniature Philippine Areca fits in any tropical garden. Seedling $8.00 Last but not least, Veillonia alba has been resurrected! So, we have moved it out of Cyphophoenix (as it never really belonged) and it now is listed under Veillonia, and available in three sizes. View Price List Thanks and happy planting, Jeff, Su & the Floribunda Crew

I wanted to show a picture but didn’t have a decent one. As stated earlier, facing North, protected from the back, slight protection from the West but after looking at it more today, it gets more sun than I thought in the late afternoon. Picture looking North. Been in the ground 3 1/2yrs from a large 15G -dale

Smashburger cocos this weekend

One of my H. forsteriana suffered sunburn on the new, emerging frond during the July 4th heatwave. All of my H. belmoreana palms are sheltered by a canopy of Trachycarpus wagnerianus and Cyathea medularis and showed no damage. Paul, I think your palm has other issues besides excessive sun exposure. My sun-burned frond is a uniform light brown color. I would cover this palm with a shade cloth canopy, then consider moving it a few months later. I agree with Billeb, stop fertilizing now, and for the next few fronds. Some of these images for potassium ( K ) deficiency match your foliage. K deficiency is the most common one, as it is water soluble and is leached out by irrigation. I use greensand (glauconite), an organic, slow release source for K. It is very safe, and cannot overdose. Buy some, or come over and I will give you a quantity. Again, stop the complete fertilizer and use only greensand. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP273

Paul, I personally would have planted the palm in a morning sun, afternoon shade setting versus the reverse. Some H. belmoreana, even when well established, can sunburn in full afternoon sun even along the coast. Some eventually acclimate over time however. You’re in zone 10b so cold temperatures are not a problem nor are long cool periods for the palm. Cross your fingers and hope that your belmoreana is one of the ones that eventually acclimates to direct sun.

My giant Roystonea reemphasized how ginormous its leaves are, apparently in response to this thread.

Last week I stayed at the newly opened Evermore Resort in Orlando and enjoyed some nice exotic plantings all around the property. The resort opened just this Jan 2024, so these palms haven’t lived through any significant cold events yet, but they will be interesting to watch in the upcoming years. The 8 acre man-made swimming lagoon surrounded by multi story buildings definitely creates an ideal microclimate. For me, the dozens of Satakentia liukiuensis on the sandy beaches stole the show. Also observed was a large Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. 'watermelon', Copernicia baileyana(I believe?), Coccothrinax crinita, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, and Licuala grandis…along with many others. Theres a good chance I missed some other rare palms, as the new $1billion dollar property was quite huge and didn’t have time to walk every sidewalk. I highly recommend a visit.

Our Sabal minors all survived our zone 4b/5a winter with no heat but lots of mulch. Surprisingly, one is shooting up what is probably the inflorescence. Is it usual for very young plants to bloom? Maybe it thought last winter was a near death experience and is reacting accordingly. These were just planted last year from mail order sources.

What I say may not be pertinent to H belmoreana grown in No Cal but I’ve had a belmoreana growing in my back yard jungle for nigh on 20 years (from a 1g to 3’ tall). My H forsteriana now has 5’ of clear trunk after it was planted 20 years ago. I know both my Howeas hate my sweltering 6-7 month summers but glory in our dryer cooler winters. Knowing this I planted them under deep canopy in our jungle, esp the belmoreana so it gets little to no sun and the forsteriana as little as possible. Under deep canopy summer temps run 10-15 degrees cooler than ambient air. Somehow this juggling act has made their survival possible these past 20 years. In addition, both palms managed to survive Hurricanes Irma and Ian because of the canopy. The forsteriana lost most of its canopy to Ian and now gets more sun than I’d like but apparently it is large and robust enough to cope with the increased sun. The belmoreana lost little to no canopy but ended up with wind-burned leaflets from Ian’s cat 4/5 winds. These two Howeas are dear to me but require special care here in SWFL and maybe in CA

Wow, Jason, that is something to aspire to! Beautiful palm! Okay, here are my 2 little C. ifanadianae. #1 is just under 6 ft. overall height, while #2 is over 7 ft. height. No indication of any color, and no trunk. When will they begin trunking? I have no clue -- wild guess? Another 2-3 years?

Paul, both of my exposed H belmoreana suffered some sunburn on emerging leaves during our late spring/early summer run of warm, dry days. The average UV index was quite high for a while there (relative to our norms for May/June). I planted them from 15g less than a year ago, and they're still settling in. Nearby H forsteriana has been in the ground a couple years (also no trunk), gets lots of water, and only had the slightest browning of some terminal leaflet tips. This palm burned pretty badly its first year when I tried to acclimate it to the sun too quickly. My Sphaeropteris cooperi was also burned during the same period when I allowed it to dry out, and this plant typically goes unscathed without a lot of attention.

Cluster of old Ptychosperma sanderianum at ANSG:

That’s amazing. I have one that is much larger and never shown signs of flowering. It doesn’t get cold enough here to really hurt it but it does push out a few fronds every once in a while that have a bit of brown on the edges . I just trim those off after the fronds open. The fronds get big on these, they are beautiful palms ….and no teeth ! Harrythis will be the last year I have to trim it so close. It is next to a narrow pathway and the fronds , when open, block access! It is now over head for my wife and I. I had no idea how large the fronds get when I planted it 25 years ago as a seedling. My wife gave me grief for planting it there. Over the weekend we were doing yard work and she called me over to the side of the house “ you were right , this palm provides a wonderful canopy “ . Now she can see my vision . As it was growing and I saw how big the fronds get I thought how wonderful it would be to look up at them fully opened over head. I had no idea it would take so long. Harry

Fascinating Richard. Where are all those palms now? Quite amazing that the diversity of species offered was so high, compared to now...I wouldn't mind a few Dypsis decipiens in 5" pots for $8.50! We need Dr Who.

@PindoPalm f you can, plant your palm and give regular good drinks of water. If you can’t plant l it, put it in the shade till you can. It’s HOT in AZ as I know you know. Keep us apprised of what happens.

The silver varieties of Serenoa repens or chamaerops humilis could be an option.

@Colin1110082 No copper fungicide won't burn the plant. Do not apply it during the middle of the day. Early morning or late evening hours are best (this goes for anything you apply). No H2O2 @ 3% solution won't cause damage . This would be the peroxide you can buy in the pharmacy. DO NOT USE 30% solution! I would apply it once weekly and monitor. Don't apply if you know you're going to get rain within 24hrs (wasteful). @ZPalms If those are the same plants in the ground for 2 seasons I would start over personally. Excavate the hole and remove the existing soil. When replanting use ESPOMA BioTone Starter in the planting hole (a cup or two). I would use a generous amount of compost and manure in the planting hole, and MULCH well (2-3") with a high quality natural mulch like shredded hardwood, pine bark, pine straw, or cypress mulch. DO NOT USE THE "premium" mulches at BB stores that are dyed. Once you've done this, water it in with a mixture of seaweed extract, and blackstrap unsulfured molasses. (I use Blue Planet Nutrients Easy Weed at a rate of 1 scoop per gallon, and 1 TBS per gallon of the UNSULFURED molasses - IT MUST BE UNSULFURED!). Here's the theory on the seaweed and molasses thing: Seaweed is chock-a-block FULL of potassium and natural gibberellin's that will aid in the establishment and growth of any new planting, while the molasses is a sugar source (carbs) that will help jumpstart all of the beneficial bacterial and fungal colonies you've inoculated the soil with by using BioTone starter thereby allowing quick bonding with the newly growing roots of the plant. That's the quick-and-dirty anyway. During this phase, water deeply 2X weekly unless you get more than an inch of rainfall (then you can skip 1 watering). At 1 month begin using a water soluble fertilizer (I like MG Performance Organics all-purpose) in conjunction with the seaweed and molasses. Feed every 2 weeks like this between April - September. Terminate this at the end of September, and begin again the first week of April. I have been doing this now for 5 years to establish all sorts of plantings from Palms, to Bananas, from Heliconia to Petunias. I haven't found anything that doesn't respond well to this aside from maybe succulents. haha If this doesn't work something else is going on in the soil or surrounding area. BTW, I just did this myself after removing about 2 dozen pups from my Namwah and Basjoo's. I saved 1 of the Namwah pups and potted it up to give to a friend of mind down here. @Colin1110082 It could be, perhaps. The only sure way is to sample and submit for testing. That also looks like its been too wet and cool. In cool wet conditions this can happen. Down here Bananas will usually throw what I call "pancake leaves" in February/March. (You know, because when you make pancakes the first 1 or two always are crap) These are the first 2-3 leaves after winter that always look funky. Mind you it's still cool at night in February/Early March. However, after that leaf development is normal. ALL of this to be said - Keep in mind that Bananas are RAPIDLY growing plants and will usually pull out of any ailment as long as they have the Sun, Water, and Fertilizer they need. With Basjoo's in good conditions you should have 1-3 leaves per week emerging. More when they are younger/smaller, and 1-2 per week or so when they get large. If you have less than that either they are establishing, or conditions are suboptimal.

Roystonea, Queen and Phoenix reclinata leaves were the bane of my existance in my previous garden. I had to cable tie them to the back of my wheelchair and drag them out of the way. Effective in dry weather but after rain the wheels would just spin and I would be going nowhere. Determined not to make the same mistake in the new house, I only planted palms with average leaves....or so I thought. The tiny Teddy Bear I planted morphed into a monster very quickly with some fronds hitting the 5 metre mark. Okay not as bad as former garden but with a postage stamp sized yard there's no manoeuvring room for the tie and drag trick. Everyone knows how averse I am to rampant consumerism so I had to force myself to suffer through the retail experience and buy a cute little chainsaw, with a 30cm 'blade'. I can now slice the big leaves into little sections and hide them under the mulch. Peachy

Belmoreana is more delicate than the Forsteriana . They can take some morning sun for me, but afternoon sunlight is just too strong for them and many other plants. The black areas on your leaves are not indicitive of sunburn so it might be a drainage issue. Sorry not to be of much help but maybe some of my experience will be useful. Peachy

I am not sure haven’t been there in a while, call and ask they are fairly knowledgeable and if not they can have the guy who is call you back: Southen Paradise (361) 765-1150 Have you called Palm Buddha in San Antonio he usually has different sizes including some smaller Mules? Palm Buddha (210) 520-6529 Other than the Valley or Houston those are the only other Mule dealers I know of in the region.

Today my wife and I went for a walk after spending the last three days in the garden. Yesterday was very warm and I think I got a little too much heat while planting my babies. About two blocks down the hill one of the older homes has some Ravenna Rivularis in the front yard and as we walked down the adjacent street , I saw the top of what looked like a Wodyetia ! So we turned down the street and they have a similar wall in the same direction ( north -south , south and east exposure)as the wall in our courtyard. Their Wodyetia was planted right by the wall and looked great. HOPE! Harry

Thank you for the advice we’re currently moving the rocks out of the way for the palm

A couple pics from today’s morning garden walk. Mowing the grass today! This is 2 weeks of grass growth here on the Hamakua Coast!

Morning garden walk with Suubi at the new house and these Chrysalidocarpus Sp Mayotte hybrids caught my eye.

Walking around the neighborhood and this guy jumped out, never seen him before.. variegated Sabal

For me, nothing comes close to Roystonea!

Short update, getermination rate is 18/20, I'm impressed! Three of these are developing their second strap leaf.

Ferox

@TampaBayRay, forgive me for being proud of what I've grown

We’re getting slammed at our location by Hurricane Beryl. Based on what I’m seeing on the news I’ve been one of the areas most impacted by wind being on the dirty side. Wind gusts approaching 70 mph. Rain totals are definitely lower than areas in the south and SW of Houston but still seeing a lot of flooding in the backyard. Hardly any sleep last night as the wind woke me up, it sounded like a freight train. Power was lost around 5 am and internet a couple of hours after that. It’s going to be a long day. The storm should be out of here by 3 or 4 pm thankfully. At this time it’s still a Cat 1 Hurricane and the first one I’ve been through, so wasn’t sure what to expect. Not as scary as the forest fires out west, at least to me. Now if it were a stronger storm like a Cat 4, I may change my tune.

So nice!

A heavy serving of heat, dash of Smoke ...and the July New Moon for that extra Chef's Kiss. = Not too shabby..

That house belongs to an architect and has been specifically designed to be able to grow exotic plants indoors. It has a suspended roof and either 360º or nearly so exposure to light coming from the outside. So, not your usual domestic environment.

Lots of choices for fan palms if you can find them: Sabal uresana 'highlands' form, Chamaerops humilis 'argentea', Brahea armata, Brahea 'super silver', Serenoa repens silver form, and Nannorrhops richiana 'arabica'. Not as many for pinnate palms. Butia odorata has a nice silver form and Phoenix dactylifera can be somewhat silver or Phoenix theophrasti like this one at Kopsick. All should be good for zone 8b except maybe for the Nannorrhops if your winters are wet and cold. Right now it's one of my favorites.

@peachy Now I wish I had planned to spend more than 5 minutes in Melbourne! Moving on to Sydney for a brief stay. One day I'll make a dedicated trip to Australia and spend a lot more time exploring.

@PalmatierMeg and Billeb: There is something about handling huge fans, right? They are so amazingly gorgeous that I don't mind the work of it. Difficult on a windy day. 😄

A very subdued 4th of July in the 'hood, but a few decent shots regardless.

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Chrysalidocarpus Malcomberi showing nice color (and its first ring of trunk) after the leaf base came off