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I would like to thank @SailorBold for offering these seeds. I have had great germination rates around 60%-70% so far. I started the seeds in December in three batches for a school project testing cocoid hybrid germination methods and my first flat is already pushing out their second leaves. These babies are fast! I hope everyone else is having good luck and looking forward to seeing your success! Philippe

After 2 frantically busy days bringing all my potted plants and hanging baskets indoors, plus all assorted backyard junk, treasures and memorabilia, bringing all the birds inside and taping up vulnerable windows, I just sat there waiting for something to happen. By the second day of nothing I was so bored I decided to install the new dishwasher that has been sitting in the kitchen laughing at for 3 weeks. Like most good things, a lot of rolling around the floor was required but it is up and running if ever I decide to cook something. Then the cyclone came. Okay now I have lived though a real cyclone. I asked myself , "Is that all there is to a cyclone ? Is that ALL there is ?" Ooooh spooking moment... I am channelling Peggy Lee.....quick someone cut my hair....I need to blink. Let me assure you that taking all the plants and hangers back out is a lot harder than bringing them inside. First all the twigs and small branches have to cleaned up outside, the Chamaedorea plumosa that got torn out by the wind replanted ( it lives it lives) and the hired help paid overtime to clean the floor after days of muddy little dogs and cats, birdseed and feathers from all parrots and a few little wee wee spots that appeared when the dogs were too scared of the heavy rain to go outdoors. Today, a week later, the place is back to normal apart from my back and the only thing left to do is load the dishwasher with a week's worth of dog plates and coffee cups. Oh there is the shade house to rearrange eventually but it took me a year to get the placements right the first time and that was without any cyclonic interventions. Sorry to all those who think they are in my will too Peachy, Cyclone Survivor.

Palms being delivered in Ngaparou.

UPDATE Needle palm was kept in an unheated garage since Thanksgiving. It looked great for a month or so, so I left it alone. I came back around Valentine’s Day and it looked really bad (no water). Fast forward a couple of weeks (some water) and it looks better. I planted yesterday and it is a little pale. No spear pulls so I hope it recovers. It’s been bomb proof for me the last 5 years and if it makes it through this past winter it would be miraculous.

@Jubilation here is my largest JxB hybrid from Patrick Schaefer. I bought them as large strap leaf seedlings in early 2019 and they struggled to grow in pots. This one was planted in November 2020 as a barely pinnate seedling, and ended up getting a lot of shade for several years. I recently cleared it some space, and it's now about 8 feet tall overall. As a comparison, the towering Beccariophoenix Alfredii fronds on the right side were 5' tall overall in June 2018, and are now about 20 feet tall...maybe a little bit more.

They need some deep soakings, Trachys love water. Get them hydrated and in better shape before the heat hits. Also, wrapping the trunks does nothing for protecting the palms from the cold. You need to focus on the crown. If that spear and growing point get killed, so does the palm. I realize they are super tall, so its difficult to do. So save yourself some work and don't bother next year.

We had between 32 to 36 deg C.

I applaud the determination of those in challenging climates, which in reality, is all of us.

This month Jungle Music Nursery (palms, cycads & tropical plants) has moved. We were at the same location on Ocean View Ave. in Encinitas for over 30 years but have now moved about a mile to the east. We're off Leucadia Ave. but east (1/4 mile) of Freeway 5. Our new address is: 1111 Urania Ave, Encinitas, CA 92024 We hope to see many IPS member and palm enthusiasts at our new location. As many of you know, we're one of the original nurseries around that specializes in rare palm trees. Our website is www.junglemusic.net - Check it out. It's a massive website with hundreds of informative articles on the plants. Phil Bergman Past President, IPS & PSSSC Owner, Jungle Music Nursery

With recent rain event the garden certainly appreciated it. Also with some good hot humid days after the rain. The new growth is pushing hard, hopefully this will set the garden up for winter. With about 3 months to go before it starts to get cold and do damage to the new plants in the collection in the ground. Time will tell how many new plants succumb to old man winter. Sometimes I wish I had a large computer screen to see the garden pictures in larger size instead of an iPad. When I walk I see the beauty of the garden but when I I look at the pictures I have taken in the garden then I go wow and it amazes me the beauty of such a garden.

That's great! Please share temperatures, moisture, and medium type you used. Any special treatment before planting? Thanks!

Here are my photos from Dean’s yard. Nice to meet you all and thanks for coming over!

Hard to tell at such a young age , but my guess would be Chrysalidiocarpus Lutescens. In the States they are sold in small pots with a bunch of little sprouts for a few bucks . They will probably survive but in a few years will become over crowded. They get fairly big and are clumpers by nature. Each individual plant will form multiple stems, if that’s what it is . The dead or brown leaves can be trimmed. Harry

One of my variegated rhapis was seeking a bit of attention today.

Thank you it has taken 25 years to grow that garden. I wish I could grow the tropical plants you see in Hawaii it is possible to turn a desert into a tropical garden it just takes time and a lot of money unfortunately but it is possible.

These bismarcks on the I4 corridor that FDOT apparently thought it'd be smart to transplant in December. Now several of them have had multiple fronds die due to the ill-timed plantings. They also planted some sabals and long leaf pines that are doing fine, but those are presumably more resilient and transplant friendly.

Nice job. I commend your dedication to these plants. 👍

here is mine next to my chamaerops volcano. i call this my david and goliath pic. it was planted in 2009 in a 20 gallon. it has just started to find its stride. leaves are about 8ft long. i live in the high desert 9b so we get snow and really hot 115F during summer. in any case, this was one palm that every socal person should grow just because its just so majestic. i am so glad i planted it small because my hoa would not approve of it now. in fact, my whole garden was planted small so my hoa never thought that in 15 years it would be a jungle. my poor new neighbor is struggling to get hoa approval to plant a small 3ft citrus tree in his front yard. if i had to do it again, i would definitely not live in an hoa establishment. cheers tin

My Jubaea this morning, 3-17-25. Almost 4 years in the ground now. Not much taller, 5' total but the fronds are deep green and healthy. They new leaves started out a little stunted but it seems to be growing out of it. At some point, hopefully in my lifetime, the Queen palms in the background will be edited out Tough plant.

The last Jubaea I know in Rome is on its way of no return 😥

There are quite a few around SF, including this beauty in Salesforce Park that is itself only maybe 6 years old. No idea where they got it but they must have craned it into place (this is four tall stories in the air). Little brother to the right.

Looking good! Nice to see other people growing palms relatively close to me

A couple of Chambeyronia did catch my eye today.

Brown tree frog in a Livistona australis leaf...he must be a keen little bugger to brave those spikes!

Today this new spear on a Verschaffeltia caught my eye as i was checking the plants. The color is almost dayglow orange/green on it so it popped out of the background in brighter light.

Independence Square

Spindle palm starting to look Spindly!

Today I was caught by my punk Bismarckia showing early signs of momentum, and Psychophoenix nucele has interesting leaves as does Caryota - zoom in on the leaves and see their teethy grin.

Hi, just checking if my left windmill palm is okay? I notice some fronds hanging down but it appears that some new growth is coming out as well. We had some really cold days in Dallas this winter and I’m just checking if it’s okay. When I bought it in 2007 it was probably 8 feet tall. I already lost the one to the left of it last year. I can’t lose this one.

My neighbor had one here in AZ. Sadly i don’t have photos of it but he planted it about 3 years ago and it’s been on the struggle bus for a while but it recently touched freezing after some rains and it died sadly.

@RobDFW How in the world could your windmill look worse than mine in my colder zone 7B climate? My low was 10'F with 72 consecutive hours below freezing. How low did you go? I'm just trying to make sense of it. Do they really need wrapped in DFW?

I agree with the above recommendations. I will also add that my Hospita looks very much like yours. Pretty normal condition.

Incredible virtual garden tour. I appreciate my Dypsis "black stem" even more now knowing that the seed came from Bill. Thanks for sharing!

I would just put down the sulpomag, it has both Mg and K in the best ratio and its slow release. I do rarely use a potassium only supplement if I cant find the sulpomag. I would also use a palm gain/florikan type complete slow release or controlled release fertilizer. Typically I add the sulpomag when I see the deficiency, the complete fertilizer is for maintenance, the sulpomag is to correct an issue with K, Mg.

I am pleased to assist with your new Friday fitness program and do my best to ensure you have the Friday fitness sessions for some time 😁😁😁. Looking forward to my next visit and thank you for taking on the project and thank Jodie for her support. Doing a fantastic job. Regards Colin

likewise. you thought it through immediately and so we can both continue to buy and plant palm trees 😃

What an incredible garden, and stunning palms. Thoroughly enjoyed the pictures. Thanks for posting Jason.

Thanks Jason, never tire of Bill’s garden, either through photos or in person. Bill is so mellow that wandering his garden is a self guided relaxing experience. No matter how many times you visit, you always see something new. So many of the palms in my garden were acquired from Bill, there was no shortage of amazing species to choose from. My pick-up truck could make the trip to his place from memory. Tim

An admirable undertaking! (get it... planting....undertaking...cough...) But seriously it is rare to find people who will not only conceive of a positive thought, but also follow through to the completion and continued maintenance. It's a huge commitment and I salute all involved.

So what are you implying, Tim? That I'm stiff, unemotive? I'll have you know that I frequently burst into interpretive dance while taking my morning walk through the garden. Just to illustrate the point, here are a couple of recent stills from my garden cam the day I discovered the Sabinaria was blooming. I'm guessing this might have been snapped while I was doing the pollination dance. The dance didn't work. I got no fruit. Maybe next time.

I have one planted in ground about the same size and questionable confines in Mesa, Arizona. Even though it gets blazing hot here,with summer lows hovering in the low 90's F, up to 120F highs, they still keep chugging along. Very tough and durable palm once established. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Here’s mine, about 4’ overall in height. Bordered by my new retaining wall. What could possibly go wrong?😑

Thought I’d post an update on this palm, dropped a leaf sheath yesterday and is looking stellar and chunky. Grown quite a bit in four years. So many threads for this Betakaka/Blue decipiens, I thought I’d add it here instead of creating yet another new one. Tim

I started my seeds exactly like this. I collected the seeds by chance from the one blue Jubaea in the mission bay grove (was the ONLY tree dropping seeds at the time in November 2016). Just threw a bag of them into an unused corner of my yard,and a year later,I had a lot of sprouts. I let them be for a couple more years, then dug them all up and transplanted them into 5 gallon pots. I don't think I had any losses from digging, as they seem to transplant very easily. After a couple more years growing and establishing, I sold off dozens at this size for $100 each. There were even a few surprises from that seed batch as 2 of the seedlings developed into the highly coveted JxS cross (last 2 pics). You can see how much faster they were growing than the standards in the first seedlings pic. Now, the few standards I have left are in 15 gallon pots with 4" plus bases after about 9 years of growing, and are now selling for $250 each. It's actually a good long term project (if you have the space) that can help you make your palm hobby pay for itself. 👍 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Another day, another new zone pusher 😃

Boy, how time flies! It’s almost been a year since scouting around Rick Kelley’s garden and took this photo of his Sabinaria. Nice looking specimen and growing in quite a bit of sun which I think has contributed to its growth. I asked Rick to stand next to the palm and ‘loosen up’ a bit……this is all I got. 😎 Tim

I went over there last fall just to see how the "famous" mule recovered . Kind of disappointing to see how it recovered. Absolutely neglected , no care at all. I'm sure with the right watering and fertilization schedule it would have been an amazing palm. Even with the on-going drought and "severe " freeze the best palms that don't get bothered by anything are Sabal palms ( of all kind) and Washies. Even Butias look unphased.

Do any large or mature specimens exist out East (Florida, SC etc?) Are the butia x jubaeas crosses faster growing / maturing? The few bigguns I've read of stateside are from Cali or Oregon I think.

Would have been a nice rack of bananas this year. Not bad for a first from tissue culture.

Thanks for those nice visuals...