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If anyone would like to see how my gardens doing this year i made a video here on youtube:

An original rhapis germinated from seed some 24 years past. It has finally become an adult palm after all those years. Most likely the big rain event we just for 3 months triggered the response. I doubt I will get any seeds it’s rare for rhapis to set seed in my climate, they will set seed but very rarely, I will be hopeful gor a couple of seeds if iam lucky. But still it’s nice to see it flowering after such a long time.

We have a few at the RTBG in Hobart.

Earlier today I took a trip to the national zoo in Washington DC and here are some of the pictures of plants and stuff I found

Building the new greenhouse so why not start a bit of landscaping. A couple of rouge macrospermum in the greenhouse and a kentia should do for a start around the new greenhouse. It seemed to have worked planting a few palms around the old greenhouse. At least I will see them grow up and be part of a feature in the future.

yes, i was just thinking the same thing as you, Darold. unfortunately, the exact description of a plant is often not quite right. we have often experienced this. but it's pretty anyway 😃

Here is that palm two years later

Stefanus, my plant was a gift from the friend who grew it from seed. Not all vulcano seed will show the desired character of few, very broad leaflets. My friend had discarded 50% of the seedlings for this failure to express the compact form. Your plant may have been labeled 'vulcano' to you, but compare the older frond in the lower right corner to the most recent one in the top right corner. To my eye your plant is not maintaining the look of very few, but very wide leaflets.

Great topic...although I'm obviously biased! So many Aus natives grow well in my climate, probably a higher percentage of the total palm flora of any continent except Nth America I'd think...oh and Europe, which is 100%! My current list of species in ground: Livistona australis (Eungella Qld form and Durras NSW form, so close to northern and southern extreme of the species distribution. No discernible difference in cold hardiness) L nitida L fulva L decora Archontophoenix cunninghamiana Hedyscepe Lepidorrachis Howea f Rhopalostylis baueri Species waiting to be planted: Livistona rigida L drudei L mariae Archontophoenix alexandrae A maxima Howea b Linospadix monostachya Laccospadix I count 17 species out of 60 total, so nearly 1/3...I'm thinking that I might be able to push that out to around 20 with L lanuginosa and a couple of the highland Linospadix from NQ...but it might be a stretch. Still, a good list considering I live on a sub Antarctic island!

A Rhopy is definitely on the want list for the Future Spider Mite Factory©.

I got one last year and found a nice semi shady spot for it and it is doing great so far. I’m looking forward to watching it grow. Harry

@SCVpalmenthusiast I'll guess Howea Forsteriana for the first photo, and Phoenix Reclinata on the second.

A new frond on my Rhopalostylus Bauri Cheesmania . I lost a R. Sapida a few years ago after 20 years of solid growth . It was terminated by a heat wave because I failed to give it shade . I happened on to this species and decided on a shady position in the garden . It has been here for about a year and thriving. Harry

Here’s my standard and my dwarfs. Growing super fast in the Caribbean

Vanda tricolor

@JohnAndSancho much as I love Rhopalistylus in my garden and here in California in general, I think you’ll be in for grave disappointment in the southeastern US. They really hate the hot humid summers there, especially the high night temperatures. Other Palm Talkers have tried them over the decades with disappointing results, alas.

You won’t be disappointed, they are tough and moderately fast when young , at least in the garden . I got mine from @DoomsDave and by the time I got it home , it was loose and kind of leaning over. I waited a couple of weeks to plant it . By the time I pulled the pot out from behind the fountain , it had straightened up , firmly stable , and a spear was growing! I think they like cool air in the evenings , much like a Howea or Chambeyronia. Harry

Very Nice. Worth waiting so things could green up better.

Thank you! The red colored stuff is wood chips and you can get bags of them here pretty cheap . My wife likes the red colored ones but you can get them with a natural , non colored look if you prefer. Any mulch you use will help the soil . And , after years of using wood chips , the soil becomes looser (not crusty) . The wood decomposes as you continually mulch . The garden soil is easily mixed in with the top layer of existing dirt . It really does help the top layer of soil from getting “baked” in the warmer months. Harry

I find that palm seedlings need a damp soil to start life just as much as when they are older. As @happypalms says , SOIL QUALITY is imperative . My garden is well amended and mulched so drainage is good( I have volunteers pop up from my mature palms ) . It depends on your area how much watering you do . I am in my garden daily this time of the year , Southern California is a coastal desert . We don’t get rain during the summer - fall and very little in spring . Your area may be different . I would check to make sure your seedlings to make sure the ground is damp most of the time, they don’t have anyway to hold water when they are young and can dry out quickly . Harry

I would say a tiny seedling planted in the ground would require good waterings. Obviously soil quality and temperature along with light and what variety the palm is. If I plant a tube stock palm (75mm container) I would certainly need to keep an eye on it. Also a small seedling struggles in comparison to a 140mm container palm in the ground. In containers it varies by your soil and temperatures in winter and watering in a cool climate is tricky. In summer with good drainage you can water a lot in a week again temperature plays a big part. It’s a balance with soil and weather condition’s along with air movement, watering is one element that plays a big role in growing good healthy seedlings, overwatering causes big problems. Indoor growing or hothouse growing is another story.

To me excelsia are weed in my garden and iam slowly removing them and replacing them with much better exotic plants, or variegated rhapis varieties. Subtilis are so cute I have another one in a container. I might just have to plant it in the garden. Ricahrd

I was given three coconut plants by my wife as gift. And with them was a few grow instructions and one was occasionally get a bucket sea water and water them with it apparently it is what they need. Makes sense sense to me

excellent hard work; beautiful garden!

Thank you Harry, I will do that. I watered it yesterday and I will water every other day from now on, or every day if it becomes very hot. Right now it's quite mild, with highs of only 85F. Btw, what is this red cover around your Syagrus on the last photos? Is it ceramic or fallen leaves or smth else? Whatever it is it looks awesome! You are right about Syagrus being messy but providing great canopy. It's mainly for their canopy that I want them. I will plant Archontophoenix too soon but I will have to find shady spots for them while Syagrus can take full sun; a huge advantage.

Some new palms purchased prior to last winter in summer., so round two for these beauties facing another winter. Pinanga declinata, Areca rhephyptica and areca vidaliana. All the tropical growth has suffered in aclimitisation, with them being solely tropical sp. Some zone push winers in the collection now. It was worth the try.

Wallachia densifolia looks pretty good looking west into the sunset

Think you’ll need a male and female to get viable seed Richard, but regardless that’s a great achievement!

It’s not Archontophoenix. Praemorse leaflets tips for a start…

Two nights in a row of 0c and several of 2 to 3c. Cold days of 15 to 20 with an icy wind just to round it off. So far all my high risk babies are okay, just a Socratea looking slightly yellow. The Sommeria and my Iguanura don't seem to be affected yet. Some of the Caladiums have not even tried to go dormant but the ground is very dry. Yes even after all that recent rain, the palms have drank it all and I have to water daily ! This is the time of year when my rampant zone pushing doesn't seem like the good idea it was back in summer. Peachy

It’s definitely somewhat different looking than your run-of-the-mill Pritchardia, but I remember seeing photographs of a very similar plant in Hawaii, either at the zoo or outside of the church in Maui. Can’t remember, but I believe it’s the one that was sold as blue moon for a number of years from the seeds.

It helps that your surrounding plantings are also beautiful and provide a setting that makes them feel harmonious, and not just stuck there. Your timing couldn't be better, too. I was looking for inspiration for what to do with the Trachy I picked up at Lowe's this morning on the clearance rack for $25. I don't know if this is a good deal or not but it's one of the few remaining palms I don't have that are reasonably reliable in zone 8B. I read an article years ago by a garden writer (I think it might be Alan Lacey) entitled something like "In Praise of the Ordinary" that talked about how a healthy plant properly situated in the landscape is the equal or even superior of any rare specimen. It resonated and has stuck with me for decades now. Thanks for sharing your fine example of this.

Iguanura polymorpha!

I always overlooked this palm species until I got my own and it now is my favorite palm I own. Planted this one out in the beginning of April this year (2 last photos) and it looks happy so far (first photo from last week). I live in 8/8b and never saw any Chamaerops humilis planted out in my area before. What kind of growth can I expect over the next few years? Its 6 y.o. and planted with south-west orientation.

I have no experience with this species of Puya, but have grown a few others over the years. I just looked this one up, and note that you may never see it bloom based on its normal reproductive cycle. According to the article I read, in habitat, they can take between 40 - 100 years to achieve maturity and bloom. It is a moncarpic species. You might get lucky, as they observed that one plant in the collection at UC Berkeley, here in northern California actually bloomed in a mere 28 years. My two subspecies of Puya alpestris, which I have posted blooming in the past, have each bloomed once in the last 15 years. Give this one plenty of room. I assume it is like the other Puya's and is an extremely vicious plant up close... very tough to week around. Given the overall size your Puya raimondii will achieve, just make sure to give it sufficient space away from any walkways or areas you may need to access without donning full body armor. I look forward to seeing your specimen planted out! Good luck and keep this thread updated on the growth!

short videos by Manu (colleague of ours) from the Palm Garden. She is less familiar with palm trees, enjoys nature and knows a lot about flowers 😄 thank you very much, Manu for the Videos 🤗 VID-20250606-WA0024.mp4 VID-20250606-WA0023.mp4 VID-20250606-WA0022.mp4

I purchased an Alcantarea imperialis about 15 or 20 years ago and planted it in my yard. Unfortunately, when I moved out and began renting the house, the bromeliad didn't get its cup watered ever and I have drip irrigation. So my original plant died in early 2015 before ever blooming. I was at least smart enough to remove one of the basal starts before I moved and planted it in my current residence. I don't recall when I removed the pup from it's parent, but it got put in the ground in 2015. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and I can see that a flower is beginning to emerge. I have numerous pups I have planted or shared from this 2nd generation plant, so although I will miss it when it goes, I can plant another in its spot. One of the leaves on my Cycads conveniently pointed out the emerging flower initially for me. I didn't want it to block the new flower stalk, so I trimmed that one leaf off as the Cycad should be flushing soon anyway. More recent progress is shown in the last 3 photos.

Just purchased a couple 7g minors. Nice looking plants but it looks to me that they are 3 or 4 individual plants in the pot as there are multiple spears. Is this normal for a plant this size? Don’t think trying to seperate would be advisable but what would be the result if planted? A huge entanglement of massive minor or a couple nice specimens to add to the collection.

I lied. The TV is on The Simpsons but I haven't put Twitter down. So we're halfway there. I just took my night night meds so maybe it's a good time for some palm videos.

Nice score on the blue glows! They're beautiful Agaves. I recently planted 2 here in zone 8b/9a. I've been seeing them for a few years planted around town so I figured I'll give them a try.

First flower spathes on this 2 headed Chrysalidocarpus Prestonianus Hybrid

My old garden was very exposed, a touch of frost now and then and the winter nights went down to -03c regularly. My Beccariophoenix alfredii was untouched by any of it. As far as cold tolerance goes they are equal to Bismarckia. I also had B. fenestra which shared cold hardiness with both aforementioned. Peachy

Monsoon Magic? ..How about some Cactus Magic ..before Monsoon Season arrives.. Cochemia grahamii ..and fraileana responding in tandem to last weeks rain.. Trichocereus x " June Noon " Echinopsis x Fond Adieu ( Orange ) Sorceress ( Pink / Magenta ) and another whose name i can't remember atm.. Thelocactus bicolor, one of the standard form specimens T. bicolor v alba.. Adenium x Purple Jade.. ..the P.J. half.. Pachycormus discolor Looks like the TX Ebony also really liked the out of season rain too.. Zinnia elegans.. " 75 days until bloom " it says on the seed packs.. Not here.. Planted about a month ago and just about ready to go.. As it typical for me ..even the Zinnia varieties / colors chosen are unique vs. anything standard or ordinary.. More will get planted once rains arrive..

Growing a few Bismarcks for the cold climate land owners. One question I do asked often is what have you got that will take the cold and a lot of sun. Well that answer is the Bismarck palm. Easy to grow and germinate if you have patience. Although a learning curve to work out how to pot them up as seedlings once germinated. Usually a deep community pot in the hothouse with the container inside a plastic bag no bottom heating just left on there own to pop up.

Here’s this beauty fighting with my Bismarckia.

Where there any palms injured in the filming of this production ?

Can you lend me this guy for a pair of pine trees in and next to my garden? I pay airtickets! PS Also a chainsaw is available for the job... ... and beers of course or rather a Moet for celebration ...

au contraire, Mary (as in Mary quite contrary) one more word outta you and you're next in line for the buzzsaw treatment...

Wow. You trust that guy with a chainsaw?