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Glad you got one of these. Yours is doing great - especially for a palm that can be a bit fastidious. One of my favorites in my yard. Here is mine now flowering. This came as a 7 gallon from JDA in 2008. Little more history on the palm. JDA had two similar palms at the time “Betefaka” and “Honkona” (note the ‘o’). Both grew very similar. Betefaka being more glaucous, Hankona green. This is the plant Ron Lawyer once called the “butt-ugly betefaka” because the original Betefaka was such a looker from a young age. That original betefaka turned into Oropedionis.

Here is my eleven year old Chamaerops 'vulcano'. It was a gift to me in September, 2021 by a guy who will remain unknown. Let's just say he knows the best place for pho ! It is 3 cm diameter by 30 cm tall (1.25x12 inches) I ground planted it today.

Recent update in greenhouse where it's 85f+ and 70%+ humidity consistently throughout the year.

The large Tahina spectabilis has done fantastic in just 12 months post transplant. Here’s to a short mild winter, and a full crown next season. I couldn’t bring myself to take a picture of the smaller Tahina, as it’s not looking good. They’ve put a plastic tent over it for now. I’m hopeful it’ll recover in due course, but it’ll take a while.

Always wondered what this palm was so today I wondered over to check the tag, which confirmed Geonoma sp. 'Palanquilla'. I like it a lot.

Coccothrinax miraguama next to the bonsai house.

The Venezuelan form of Roystonea oleracea. These are the most stocky Royals I’ve ever seen.

It took these Veitchia joannis a while to settle in, but they’re starting to take off now, and are in perfect condition. Resident Bush Stone-Curlews nearby.

I don’t recall seeing this Cyrtostachys renda in the dome before. I thought it might have come from a fellow PACSOA member, Anthony van Herwaarden, but it’s not the same pot his was in. The dome is overdue a refurbishment, so hopefully it gets planted in due course.

Chamaedorea metallica are one of those palms you can never have enough of. Just pop them in wherever there is some shade.

Thought this Encephalartos was looking especially nice, although not sure on the species. Bismarckia nobilis in the background.

We then headed over to the restaurant. I took my Açaí smoothie to go and commenced a quick stroll around the gardens. I bumped into Phil Arrowsmith who lead me to the Sabinaria magnifica that had recently been planted, which will hopefully look stunning in years to come. It's certainly in a good spot. Anyway, on with the tour. Here are some pristine examples of Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos near the visitor centre.

It had been 30 years since my last visit to this very special place . My friends and fellow gardeners / palm people invited us to go. We made plans and went down on a Friday , unfortunately during a heat wave . There is plenty of shade there but I didn’t pause for any photos outdoors , just in the glass house . The palm garden is very well stocked with mature specimens and we spent a lot of time touring various gardens , all well marked with nice pathways and easy access to. It is such a large place it would take multiple visits to see it all. I did pause to take some pics inside the glass house . Harry This one is for @happypalms I’ve tried growing these outdoors but failed This one was unmarked Caryota Zebrini , one of my favorites!

There are a couple of iguanura that tolerate the cool weather, at first I had them in the hothouse thinking that was what they needed to survive in my climate and all that did was give me dried leaf edges due to lack of humidity. Iam still reluctant to plant them in the ground. I will wait gor them to have survived about 4 winters, which will give a bit more confidence in them surviving winters in the ground and hopefully they will be a bit bigger.

A few palms going in the ground. Winter won’t stop these garden gems. First up a red lattania, dypsis baby red stem some linospadix monostachya a archontophoenix tuckeri, Dypsis carlsmithii, Chambeyronia macrocarpa and a cocothrinax barbadensis. They will have to tough out the winter outside now all surviving winter in the greenhouse so out into the big world it is for them now.

A final shot of that gorgeous Tahina spectabilis.

Rhapis pushing through asphalt. Yeah nah thanks.

Love Borassodendron machadonis., but boy do the leaves gets easily trashed by the wind!!!

Burretiokentia hapala.

Not labelled, but it looks like Heterospathe delicatula. Exceptionally beautiful palm.

Twice I’ve managed to source seed of Cyrtostachys loriae and I’ve yet to produce a single seedling 😩. One day I’ll crack it.

Satakentia liukiuensis always impresses.

Lovely Chamaedorea tepejilote.

Labelled Areca aliceae, which is a synonym of Areca triandra.

The Cocos nucifera are doing fantastic in this spot and (I believe) started flowering this year.

A fairly recent planting of Coccothrinax alta I think.

Without winter protection this one would not make it here. Got lazy a couple winters ago…the panic lights went on after the damage was done… And now a complete recovery to the point where protection will be more of a challenge…it’s overtaking the McCurtain. I’ll have to make this winter’s shroud bigger for sure…doesn’t take a lot, just a little with a load of lights.

A healthy 100 year old Canary Island Date Palm. A shame its life ended that way.

They look fine to me a good sign of healthy environment. The only thing I would worry about is if I ate them. There is currently a court case in Australia where a lady killed three of her husband’s relatives and tried to bump him off as well with a beef Wellington dinner using the deadly death cap mushrooms, she foraged for them and said it was a mistake. But if you have been listening to the evidence she is guilty as she poisoned the hubby once before. It’s an interesting case in court now and we all know she did it. I will be surprised if she gets away with it. Oh and she coincidentally didn’t have the same meal as them night what a strange coincidence.

My wife had a rare weekend off work and was keen to try the Eggs Benedict and Açaí smoothie at the gardens restaurant, which my son and I have been raving about for some time. So on Saturday morning, we headed up the M1 to Brisbane for breakfast. We purposely arrived a little early before the restaurant opened so I could show her the Tahina spectabilis PACSOA successfully transplanted 12 months prior.

I am under contract on a second home up in Laredo with around a 20,000 sq. ft. lot. Not huge, but decent. My Brownsville garden is not going anywhere. I am building up a collection of small seedlings (and seeds) that I think will do well up there with little to no supplemental irrigation, with an emphasis on natives (or regional natives), or plants native to similar environs (super hot, subtropical, fluctuating humidity levels but often high, 20" of rain a year). Laredo is a solid 9B, with an average yearly low of 29F. Occasionally, the big freezes come through. In 1983 the town spent nearly 40 hours straight at or below freezing, but a good friend of mine noted a high rate of survival for sheltered queen palms during that time. So far, I have collected the following plants: Olneya tesota (desert ironwood) Ebanopsis ebano (texas ebony) (native) Ungnadia speciosa (mexican buckeye) (native) Bauhinia luniaroides (anacacho orchid tree) (native) Bauhinia (Lysiphyllum) carronii (queensland ebony) Prosopis (Neltuma) chilensis (chilean mesquite) Adelia vaseyi (vasey's wild lime) (native) Vachellia bravoensis (huisachillo) (native) Senegalia roemeriana (round-flower catclaw) (native) In the next couple weeks I am also picking up: Caesalpinia (Libidibia) paraguarensis Eucalyptus sideroxylon 'Rosea' Eucalyptus microtheca 'Blue Ghost' Eucalyptus camaldulensis 'Silverton' Eucalyptus polyanthemos ssp. polyanthemos And I have seed that I have to germinate of: Prosopis (Strombocarpa) tamarugo Prosopis (Neltuma) alba Prosopis (Neltuma) nigra Prosopis (Neltuma) affinis Prosopis (Strombocarpa) palmeri Prosopis (Neltuma) juliflora Vachellia haematoxylon Vachellia schottii (regionally native) Vachellia schaffneri(regionally native) Bauhinia divaricata (regionally native) Senegalia crassifolia (regionally native) Senegalia mellifera Sophora (Dermatophyllum) secundiflora 'Silver Peso' (regionally native) Acacia craspedocarpa Parkinsonia texana (native) And, eventually, I plan on sourcing: Esenbeckia runyonii (native) Fouquieria columnaris Fouquieria splendens (native) Condalia hookeri (native) Caesalpinia gilliesii Bauhinia macranthera (regionally native) Prosopis (Neltuma) glandulosa (this is the native honey mesquite that is everywhere) My plan is to turn the place into a xeric thornscrub playground to shelter my kids from the surreal Laredo heat when we are at that house. I would invite anyone with an interest in plants like this to offer any suggestions you might have. I am hopeful this will be the most thoughtful and unique garden I have ever planted.

They say the difference between a good and a bad haircut is two weeks. Not so with this Beccariophoenix fenestralis, which has taken a full 12 months to recover its crown after a butchering.

Love both Chrysalidocarpus titan and Chrysalidocarpus lastellianus, but it’s a shame they are planted so close to each other. As there are a few more C. lastellianus elsewhere in the gardens, personally I’d chop this one out or at least try to relocate it.

Only one Kerriodoxa elegans in the garden, so unfortunately destined for a long “dry spell” 😜.

Chuniophoenix hainanensis and Tahina spectabilis are part of the same subtribe (Chuniophoeniceae). Imagine a hybrid between the two!!! A Tahina sized clumping palm 🤣. Would love to try crossing a Tahina with Kerriodoxa someday. Not sure it would even be possible as the former is monoecious and the latter dioecious.

What appears to be significant algal bloom/duckweed in the lake. Quite like the look, but don’t think it’s good for water quality. Flanked by Wodyetia bifurcata left, and Archontophoenix sp. right.

@Mazat Thank you for the kind words. Here is a pic from last year before the haircut.

Perhaps not the most interesting insect but I wouldn't call it boring! 😆 Hopefully he can find out what it is and get rid of it.

Yep , same here . Tap , tap , tap on the leaf bases of the Syagrus , also my big Washingtonia. Harry

I would keep an eye on it . Watch the crown for any health issues . Check with a local palm nursery in the area to see if there is any knowledge . I live north of there and have never seen that . Harry

it does look like a bird. in my opinion, it takes a strong beak to leave this kind of damage/holes. the question is simply, what did this animal want to get out of the wood, what food? you would have to protect the trunk somehow. also it looks like a structure from the behavior and birds are very intelligent, in this case of course it is bad for the plant 🤔😟

I was surprised as to how cool tolerant they were for such an exotic tropical palm. A zone push winner. But the jury is still out just like the mushroom killer time will tell if it really grows well or struggles. Richard

My Encephalartos Arenarius Blue has flushed twice a year for the last 3 so it’s a happy plant. It regularly pushes 6-8 leaves every flush. It’s very hard to see but this particular Arenarius has super fat leaflets as compared to others I’ve seen. When it hardens off and gets its blue color, it’s very unique. -dale

It wasn’t me who gave her the recipe, you never know what you will find on the internet if you look up devilsadvocate.grimreaper 😄 Richard

I bought one of these from Floribunda and in conversation with Jeff, he told me what he sells as "blue decipiens' is indeed the same thing that used to be called 'betafaka.' He also said that the story of its identity is rather complicated and that he is fairly confident that it is not an actual decipiens.

Well it depends if you want 10000 seeds or not. I’m assuming you don’t , so probably get them cut now. Otherwise later you’ll have to climb to cut them and also do a bunch of weeding palm seedlings below. Please though, if you decide to cut the flower stalks off, cut only that and nothing else. Your palm looks pretty trimmed already in terms of leaves and I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone you hire would mindlessly butcher your palm and leave it with 5 fronds.

this large specimen in a pot is from the botanical garden (St. Gallen)

I agree - what is interesting to me is the wide variability of the species from palm to palm. Here's one of my three. What I like about this one is the white tomentum on the underside of the new leaves and the relatively minor petiole thorns.