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This guy is 3yrs from a 5G. Growing well. Not a speed demon but not slow either. I have noticed it picks up speed dramatically in the summer. -dale

No time like the present then to plant my alfredii, if there as tough as they say they are this planting session will be a spring holiday for the afredii then! How tough are they we will find out!

Here are a couple pictures of my Chrysalidocarpus Blue Decipiens. Purchased from Jerry Andersen in a 3 or 5 gallon pot about 4.5 years ago. Planted out 3 years ago.

Here’s what was sold to me as Cocothrinax Spissa. I planted it as a one gallon at the old place, and dug it up, and it didn’t miss a beat. Puts out a lot of leaves, but not much size, yet. Almost time to fertilize.

Here’s my Baronii. It’s been a great grower for me. 3.5yrs ago it was a single stick 1G from FB. It appears to have stopped splitting but who knows. Seems to like what I’m doing….whatever that is. -dale

 Good to see this palm being widely cultivated in subtropical and tropical locales, it will be worth the wait. Have patience. The one in the garden has hit its stride in the last few years, from ungainly looking while young to quite attractive now. The blazing orange crown shaft revealed after losing the leaf sheath lasts only a few days and then softens to a beautiful ‘Dreamsicle’ color eventually turning to the pale blue/green. Stocky palm with short petioles and LONG plumose fronds. Lots of room better. On another note, I don’t remember my palm ever having the grass green color that some of the previous posts exhibit. Mine was always a grey/ green color, but I’ll have to look at earlier photos I’ve taken to verify. Len, looking pretty fantastic along with that inflorescence. Dale, looks like you have a bit of time before you get into trouble. Tim Sent from my iPad

It might have survived a wind storm earlier this year / in years past, ...but, .. As skinny as the trunk is in the center + height and mass of the canopy = a really good storm = A major liability waiting to happen. Stinks it had to go, but ..Property manager has to watch out for their back$ide first.. Exactly this sort of thing has happened numerous times here. Rather it be taken down before it causes damage and / or hurts someone.. Unpopular opinion i'm sure that will be ..but, sometimes, honesty, rather than ignoring the issue because it's pretty is the best policy. Perhaps they could plant a new one ( or two ) ..or something else in it's place.

A couple nice Copernina growing along nicely. Pretty sure they were a purchase when the world was locked up. So slow growing that’s for sure. But interesting as far as seedlings go especially the yaray.

A few more seeds is the only way you get good plants on a fairly cheap budget (sort of) and a lot of them if you get good germination rates. It’s a great way to get rare plants that are unattainable at a fare price, if you can track down the seeds. It’s a never ending quest for seeds in the way I prefer to grow. Constantly ordering seeds and with so many different varieties you don’t have to wait around for months as there is always something popping up. And it’s a fantastic way to build up a garden with so much stock on hand you can always plant something. Also the satisfaction one gets from germinating a seeds is so relaxing and a wonderful thing for the mind. It is certainly proven the affects of plants on the mind for someone not in that right mind space to relax and unwind wth gardening. So a few seeds this time I managed to get hold a few schippia seeds through a member on palm talk thank you. A couple of Bismarck as well for a bit of fun. Then some baronii seeds from a tree south of Sydney, and I certainly like the colour of this one a special baronii and a big thank you. And a purchase of some mucana seeds the yellow jade vine. Which I was given germination notes with to drill a small hole in the side to aid in germination. And a nice gift of some rare rainforest species from North Queensland, some great looking fresh seeds and a big thank you.

I made this INaturalist project about palms in the Mid Atlantic, upper, South and the Midwest if anyone would like To join https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/palm-trees-of-the-mid-atlantic-midwest-and-the-upper-south

Here’s a few updates from the old neighborhood.

There's a lot of stuff you can grow indoors without having to get this involved - this is what I lovingly refer to as my Palm Condo™, and it's pretty low buck. I bought a wire rack, a couple of light fixtures w/switches, and a couple grow bulbs. I don't know what the bulbs cost now, I think I paid $15ea for them a few years ago. I'm using aluminum foil baking pans to hold the plants so when I water, it all doesn't go everywhere. I try to keep the stuff that doesn't like wet feet back in the corner, and I can dump all the excess water into just one pan and then feed it to another palm. It's kind of sparsely populated right now because it was apparently too much light for some of my stuff. I water everything once a week or so, I mist daily. Granted I'm in Mississippi so it doesn't get nearly as cold here (typically), but there's always a humidifier I can bring in and you could always add some heat mats for bottom heat. Not that I'm trying to discourage you from building this - there's a whole community of people building stuff like this out of IKEA cabinets and whatnot. Edit - Oops. Guess it'd help if I added the photo.

As a rule of thumb, this seems to be true for most Chamaedorea sp I’ve grown in terms of the more spaced out female flowers. On balance I’d say I have more male than female plants overall though. I’d be curious to know if a large study has been done to know the % of each sex.

From normal nurserys with your hardiness zone in mind and avoided phoenix palms (diseases) due to your area, ordered by uniqueness Common Palms: Pindo Palm (Butia capitata) Windmill Palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) Bismarck Palm (Bismarckia nobilis) Foxtail Palm (Wodyetia bifurcata) Cabbage Palm (Sabal palmetto) King Palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana) Unique Palms: Mule Palm (Butia capitata x Syagrus romanzoffiana) Mediterranean Fan Palm (Chamaerops humilis) Chinese Fan Palm (Livistona chinensis) Royal Cuban Palm (Roystonea regia) Really Unique Palms: Giant Yarey Palm (Copernicia macroglossa) Chilean Wine Palm (Jubaea chilensis) Yarey Palm (Copernicia baileyana) Mexican Blue Palm (Brahea armata)

Always nice H rheophytica.

That’s a great size to plant out! Here is mine today.

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.

Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. WATERMELON" Have 71 total....$1 each, Chambeyronia "HOOKERI" only have 23,....$1.50 each Aiphanes sp. probably minima, super spikey only have 80, ..... 50 cents each Hydriastele pinangoides, clumping..reddish new leaf 50 cents each Archontophoenix purpurea, really nice purple crownshaft have 90... $1 each 20 dollar minimum, US only, $7 shipping, includes mandatory USDA inspection out of Honolulu HI

Darn! Those sold quick!! 😳

A nice winter afternoon with the garden looking well watered and rested up tucking in for the next couple of cool months. With a lot of new plantings in the ground it will be an interesting few months to see who is going to make the zone push race in the garden. So enjoy a nice wander in the garden.

Female

Male

Wow thanks for the replies! I was having a grieving period when this palm was removed. I'm sort of over that a bit. The removal happened one day without warning and of course I had to process the loss. I didn't even see it get removed. I heard cutting all day but figured it was nothing to worry about. Then I looked at my view and it was gone. I lived with this tree for 27 years. The view was comforting. I watched it grow from about 1/2 way up. I knew for a few years that the middle section looked weak. That's amazing if it was 100 years old. My view is not the same. It's absence is significant. Rather tragic to lose a beautiful tree. They have planted another baby palm I believe the same kind near the spot. It's actually closer to the structure. Oh well. What can you do. I had to accept it as it goes. Not my property anyway. Here's a photo from my view I would catch in the mornings. Thanks for all the replies!!

The giant murder spiders only come out at night……………to drink the moisture from your eyelids while you sleep………………..then murder you.

They’re super tough. They will laugh at your winters. I’ve got heaps planted out and in pots. They never get damaged by the cold and I’ve gone below minus 2C before. They just need free draining soil. Treat them like a solar panel, just like a coconut, the more sun the better and you will have what looks like a bulky coconut in a few years.

First flower on Lanonia calciphila. Wild collected the seed from Vietnam many years ago. Back again later in the year.

@MoPalm nice to meet you! Whatever kind of Phoenix you have they’re pretty! I’m not a botanist but I’m pretty sure they’re not reclinatas; they’re much too silvery looking. Pure reclinatas are a deep rich green. The great thing about Phoenix is they’re really adaptable; they’re both relatively flood and drought tolerant. Give your palms in the pictures plenty of water in the summer and they should grow great.

The guys at jungle music told me a 30 minute soak is adequate. It’s the fruit that always wants to start developing fungus…

How often it rains there? Here the weather is Mediterranean! Super dry in summer and fall, wet in winter.

I think the microspadix is male. They should open up and drop pollen everywhere. The radicalus looks female, but you may need to wait a bit to see. The third one is female.

The same palm as of today... June 9, 2025

I have two Encephalartos arenarius, one is greenish and the other blue. The blue one germinated with two main roots and two different growing points for the first emerging leafs, so it’s always had twin caudex. They always seem to flush one after the other. Here is one caudex currently flushing.

This is my David and Goliath pic. Chamaerops volcano and jubaea chilensis. So glad @Darold Petty and @Hillizard that both of your volcanos are looking superb. 😉

Santa Clarita can get hot in summer through fall . I would select palms that can handle that heat . There are several choices available . Make sure the palm nursery you go to is aware of your location. Harry

First you should ask which pronoun they prefer and which gender they identify as. Get with the times kiddo Peachy (Cisgender female)

I would speciulate roebelenii (pygmy palm) somewhere in there. Phoenix are very promiscuous so it is going to be hard to be sure. Nice palms though and well suited for almost every soil type and climate!

Joe at Discovery Island Palms is located in San Marcos. I definitely recommend making the trip down to Joe's as the majority of his inventory is sun grown and ready to throw in the ground. He's got a good inventory of collector palms and companion plants to buy, plus his prices are tough to beat. As far as species selection that depends on your climate, lot size, sun exposure, desired look for your garden, etc. I'm not familiar with the climate in Santa Clarita but if you're looking for species you don't see in all your neighbors yards I'd recommend Archontophoenix tuckeri, Beccariophoenix alfredii, Brahea armata, Bismarckia nobilis, Cyphophoenix elegans, Dypsis decaryi (plus any hardy Dypsis species), and maybe some Pritchardia species such as martii or hillebrandii.

Here is a pictures of the one with single trunk.

You cannot really overwater these, they naturalize around here by the resacas just above or at the shoreline. I don't think the palm in your photo, however, is a reclinata - at least a pure one. It appears to be some kind of hybrid. Also, any palm which is single-trunked is unequivocally not a reclinata. One of the defining characteristics of this species is its profuse suckering habit.

It's a good question Mo. I assume that they like water based on their habitat being seasonally waterlogged or inundated with rain. Like roebelenii I don't think they necessarily need a lot of water all the time.

Oh, let me correct that. “Honkona” with an “o” is what it should have been. Jeff’s Hankona that I have grows super fast and appears to be a hybrid. Totally different plants. The palm “Betafaka” is really 3 different ones (I know of - could be more). The original became legend on here in like 2007 when Alfred showed some plants. I was lucky to get two plants from Mardy Darien. Those grew into Oropedionis. Like many popular Malagasy palms online, once sold out, amazingly enough, more seed was found And of course it was different. Second round became this Betafaka we are talking about now. A third came around and was a really cool palm. I killed all mine. It was a super slow grower and preferred death to living. It was so difficult, I’m not sure how many survived to live in gardens. Palm Springs? Is that where the Glaucescens will go if you get some to germinate?

Only took 15 years to get it's first ring of trunk. Purchased as prestoniana but probably a hybrid way back for Floribunda. It has survived two snow events and regular 110f summers.

Amazing Len! @richnorm what do you reckon…to me this looks like the decipiens I saw throughout NZ (Landsendt, Auckland BGs, South Pacific Palms). The blue fronds, plumose leaflet arrangement and even orange freshly exposed crownshaft. I didn’t see large ones of what I know as the typical form at all over your side of the ditch.

Those smooth bands keep rodents out of the palms.

ya clean them real good. I soak overnight. damp medium in one gallon zip lock bag, the thick ones that dont let medium dry out, and bam they germinate like flys. In my super warm garage aloha

How long to peroxide them?

My double Gardenias are flowering profusely these days . This is a hardy variety called Summer Snow and they have done really well in my yard . Lots of buds left too . Will Can you imagine the scent around this ?

Andy is an amazing guy and I am very privileged to call him my friend-we are all lucky to have him as the IPS President.

Carlo, Here's one of the photos from Jeff's Garden Tour. And his commentary mentions the upright habit along with some other interesting info.