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Faster growing, literally 3 times the speed of a purebred, yet still maintains the short petiole/tight leaf spacing that makes it a good palm choice for a small yard. Shorter fibers, but still a looker that grows trouble free and is drought tolerant. These flower multiple times per year,but to produce viable seed,it has to happen when our temperatures are lower than 95F. Early spring and late fall flowerings are almost always successful.👍 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Great pictorial on these palms . It looks like “ B “ is going to be a silver / green one. Harry

One of my favorite Coccothrinax species, these guys stay small and petite for quite a while. Almost maintenance free. A homeowners dream that will take full Arizona sun and is drought tolerant to boot. Would be MUCH more commonly planted if only they weren't so slow to produce. Here's a pic of one of my mature trees getting ready to flower for the first time. Fingers crossed for viable seeds.🤞😄 Also,one of my trees I grew from seed in a 5 gallon pot. Quick way to tell the purebreds from hybrids on this species is that the fiber sheath will be almost as long as the emerging spear. Hybrids grow shorter fiber,and cover less than half of the emerging spear.🌴 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Yes, Richard, and I'm completely ignorant of the more tropical species. But Rupicola is different from the other phoenix species, and it's beautiful! This one shouldn't be missing from your collection.

No offence taken I will stick with my tropicals. Phoenix have never been on my wish list. There for the cold climate growers, and there spiney things that bite you even when there long dead in the compost heap.

Yep that’s an elegans, we got plenty of them down under!

Hey Bret, I think you nailed the P. elegans ID. I found an old map from the local palm society who supplied most, if not all, palms for the mall plantings. There were only three Ptychosperma landscape species listed, P. elegans, macarthurii, and salomenense. P. macarthurii and salomenense have prominent terminal leaflets, elegans does not, hence I believe you have the right identification. Tim

I really had to dig around to find photos. Never did find a pic of the one out front that is gaining in size. First, a photo from 7/2023 of Small, Medium and Large (planted 7/2015 from 1-gal.) growing in the very back jungle, see if you can find them! 😄 Below, view from the opposite direction of Small: Next, photo of the double C. titans, germinated in 2015, planted 5/2020: I have given away a few that I germinated, spreading the love in Leilani Estates! One thing to note, if you are growing this palm, it can take some time for the tip of a new spear to become visible, to the extent that you begin to wonder if something is wrong with the palm. Be patient, the next spear will eventually appear.

I have a lot of container palms and Butia is one of my favorites. The day to day might be slow but they're pretty steady throughout the whole year, even when the unforgiving heat causes other plants to halt, struggling to survive. This progress over time is enjoyable. Summer 2022 I pick up this pair of young pindos from my favorite local nursery. There are no clear winners in the lot so I just grab two without much thought. In hindsight, I think I should have paid a little more attention to whether the arch in the leaf twists sideways. I don't know if they keep certain characteristics their whole lives or not, but so far these have and I prefer one to the other. The staff says they grew them from seed and if memory serves, they are at this point 2 or 3 years old. We’ll call this one A. It’s a little more wispy than B, and it will maintain that trait for at least the next few years, maybe always. This one we’ll call B. It has a more compact crown than A. It may be hard to tell from this photo but it will become apparent with new fronds. Summer 2023 One year in. The trunks have about doubled in diameter but height remains roughly the same. During spring they are moved into tall pots where they can bake in the sun from first light to last. To my surprise, those barrel pots are already full of roots so I have to do some cutting and shoving but I finally get the round peg stuffed into the square hole. For a while, A looks a bit droopy after the upgrade but those new spears keep coming anyway. Unfortunately, I do a bad job eyeballing the amount of dirt for the pot upgrade. B sinks and I don't want to rough it up anymore so I let it be for a couple years. After taking these 2023 pics I chop a lot of lower fronds off. There are some dark blotches on the stems that don't seem to affect anything, but why take a chance? While cutting them apart I realize they'll end up looking like the Game of Thrones chair if I use regular loppers instead of a reciprocating saw. And I really don’t want that! So I decide to make the cuts vertical, as close to the trunk as comfortable. 2024 The pindos have kicked into gear and are putting on a little more height. They're thicker. During April I bring home a mule from the same nursery that's bone dry and very leggy. It's only just making its first split leaf. Turns out it’s going to be a rocket. Here they are at Christmas, starting to look more appealing. A B Summer 2025 Earlier in the year I was away for a couple weeks and a handful of potted Sabals lost their fronds for lack of water. Were the butia affected? They don't show it! Now they are pushing multiple spears at once. A first for these two. As the trunk diameter increases some of the lowest leaf bases split in half. No fronds have been trimmed this year but it's tempting every time I mow the lawn. A B The mule is already reaching higher than the pindos at maybe half the age.

A couple of some exotics in my collection fit for any garden, with winter just about over it’s time to start potting up, so the exotics in tubes will be on my list jobs to do. The new tubes i didnt want to pot up last summer autumn. I would rather let them grow through winter in the tubes they came in, then repot in spring, summer. The old saying do not repot prior to winter!

Ok yes. I'm serious. I spent some literal pocket change on a grow bulb. I'm having pretty good luck with some 2/$10 Sansi LEDs off of Amazon, and this company (Phlizon) has some ok reviews for anything manufactured after around 2023, so why not take a shot and see what $1.01 gets you shipped to your door. The photos don't do it any justice, just not in the way you're thinking. If I could find the photographer/editor they did, my plants would all sell and I'd have women lined up around the block. Of course they'd all be disappointed in the end, but anyway - on to the review. So me and Sancho take a leisurely stroll down to the mailbox after he checks on the kittens and pees a couple times, and there's a nondescript white bubble mailer. It definitely doesn't feel large enough to hold a lightbulb. Sancho pees a few more times, and then I bring him back inside and pass him back off to Mom since she has an air conditioner in her window. Finally, I'm alone with my precious little bundle of joy. What wonders of technology can possibly be packed into such a tiny package? I tear open the bubble mailer with the same level of excitement one can only compare to a text message from their boss, and inside is another discreet white envelope, marked only with a barcode. By now, my heart is racing. Actually that's a health problem, my resting heart rate is 95bpm which seems to concern my cardiologist about as much as the weather in Bucharest concerns me, but anyway I tear open the second envelope wondering what wonders await. It's a smushed little box! It's maybe 1"x1.5"x1". Your average Timex wristwatch comes in a larger box. Let's see what's inside, as I can feel my plants giddy with anticipation. No lens, just straight exposed LEDs. Actually I find the heatsink very attractive in the directional pattern it's machined in, and it does have a lightbulb base attached to it. All of this for the insane auction price of just $1.01? What a steal! Since my OG ghetto floor lamp grow bulb setup is still here, and all of my other bulbs are kinda warm right now, let's fire this bad boy up and see what it does! Wow, just remarkable. Look at that. It shines just as bright into my phone's camera as my TV remote control does. (Seriously, if your TV remote is IR and it's not acting right, your phone's camera is a good way to test it). All of this light output for just $1.01? All of my palms will be trunking in no time. I'll have no choice but to move to a tropical paradise now, and I can with all the money I saved from buying so-called "higher end" and "real" grow lights. In conclusion, it was $1.01 shipped to my door and as of this post my house hasn't burned down. And since McDonald's did away with the $1 drinks, what else can you buy with a dollar these days? I don't know, but it cost more to ship this thing from China and mail it to me than $1, but at least now I've got 2 bubble mailers and a tiny box.

Butia do really well in pots even long term. They're pretty variable too - I grew a Butia from a very silver mother. It stayed green throughout its life. I've noticed my Butia and mule both have worked on widening their girth first before going vertical. Yours are definitely working on the root system! 😃

Update to this guy after another year and 1/2 from last post. Doing good. Let’s see some updates. -dale

Just keep him walking around the garden, get sancho to be your gardening buddy, and create that oasis sancho has in his mind you’re just his gardener. You must have enough palms to harden off and start planting them around your yard.

Yes I know the Royals you are talking about. They are still there, check the intersection at Westwood blvd and International dr, right near SeaWorld. If you have time, Leu Gardens near downtown Orlando is the best palm viewing we have here in the Orlando area. Highly recommend. Anther good spot for some big royals is the intersection of Westpointe Blvd and Lake Vilma Dr. in Orlando’s Metrowest area. The Orange County Convention Center also has some nice palms around the property. If you’re interested in any seedlings to take home, including royals, let me know I live in Longwood just north of town. enjoy your trip! -Alex

There is a cut of point with purchasing prior to winter especially bare rooted palm!

My hookeri flower but seeds set yet they will one day, hookeri I will say throw a more brighter red. Macrocarpa more scarlet red, either way there both beautiful. Ricgard

Before things really got hot this year I removed the pots to backfill and raise the soil level. All my palms in tall pots fill the entire space with roots, but the mule was already circling at just a year in!

Agree, not rupicola. I’d say P dactylifera likely.

Just stand back and throw them in wherever they land is fine there easy Howea.

A nice little box of a few palms hydriastele kasesa an intresting varietie. Some licuala spinosa, a few trees polyathia longifolia, 30 Chambeyronia hookeri for the garden, they will be used as pioneer palms. And a few of my joeys just for a bit of fun. The garden will have a few more to plant out in a few years time. A little bit of osmocote slow release fertiliser was used, I just top dress a pinch on top of the soil and then just poke it in the soil so it doesn’t get washed out when I water. All in all a bit of afternoon fun after work.

Thank you I think my one will be fine. It’s in a protected spot.

Geonoma interrupta, gifted to me a few years ago from ‘mike in kurtistown’, a vigerous grower. Tim

So far, G Princeps has grown as planned. With vertical tending fronds that stay out of the way at this size. Pretty happy and easy, with the tips of the fronds about 9 feet tall now. Blight spots mentioned above seem to have mostly gone away on their own.

……and over 5yrs of a stalled thread, I’m going to bring it back to life! Let’s see your H. Indica out there. Mine has been a rocket! Pictures are not even 3yrs apart. Planted out at the end of 2022 as a Floribunda 1G H Indica Red variety. It grows amazingly fast but only keeps 3 leaves before the oldest looks terrible. Admittedly it’s too close to the rock edging but oh well. -dale

Anyone growing this dwarf Butia? I have an unknown dwarf Butia flowering (due to poor lablelling) though I suspect it to be Butia lepidiospatha. In February 2016 I purchased 4 dwarf species from Rare Palm Seeds; Archeri, Mattogrossensis, Lepidiospatha and Lallemantii. The only 2 Mattogrossensis that germinated did not make it, and it is not clustering which is a habit of Lallemantii. This also looks nothing like the nearly 2 dozen Archeri that have grown and matured, as even the spathes are different. So that leaves me to believe Lepidiospatha. Thoughts? Anyone else have a mature Butia lepidiospatha? Butia Archeri is back left in this picture.

A purchase a little while back of a Titan and with 200mm of rain forecast time to plant another palm. I have been planting a lot of palms in last 12 month season and it has to be one of the best wet planting seasons I have ever seen in a long time over 20 years, what a wet season it has been and the forecast is for a wet spring, let it rain I say!

@trippc If you happen to go to ICON Park, you'll get to see the infamous I-Drive coconut outside of Charley's Steakhouse.

Those palm trees are beautiful. They will grow beautifully, my friend.

I'd like to talk you out of it as well...

Tim, in my opinion, not a pure dactylifera, perhaps a hybrid. I'm waiting for Konstantinos to intervene; he knows more than me.

Richard no rupicola

Pongo las semillas en remojo en agua tibia durante dos o tres días. Luego las planto en un sustrato compuesto por 50% de perlita y 50% de turba rubia. Las coloco sobre la estera térmica y lista. Esperaré, como dije, a que germinen. You are good friends. I hope you always succeed with your palm trees. Have a wonderful job. Rest and have fun. We don't just depend on ourselves. We also depend on God.

This palmy house is located four blocks from where I live. I believe these palms were planted in 2008. They’ve grown very well over the years. The royal palm had no trunk back in 2008. Unfortunately, you cannot see all the palms around this house. I believe there’s Veitchia species, Wodyetia bifurcata, Wodveitchia, Howea, Roystonea regia.

Huge palm trees. They're gigantic. That's the world of palm trees. I hope to buy more seeds of those specimens. So far, the only giant palm I have is several Bismarckia palms.

Mike & Jon, thanks for the input! Although it was certainly not the type of response I was expecting. Although I have heard of the genus you guys are describing, I never related it in anyway to something that could be grown here, so at the very least it gave me an education into genus is. Boy, would I like you guys to be right. Growing a palm from Nicobar Islands in San Diego would be as cool as it gets. But I’m trying to be a cool headed realist, haha. Would love more opinions, please!

I dunno how well these will do indoors, but my luck with separation hasn't been great. I'm far from an expert but they look really dry.

August 24, 2025 I read this has been the coolest summer in a few decades here and I agree I only have used the AC 2 times. The real heat started a couple days ago however so it has been 85f plus. The bigger it gets the more I have to backup and the smaller it looks but trust me it’s very large, it towers over me. Also remember a year ago I talked about it potentially reaching the power lines? 😂 it is just below touching them now. This one has a really bad spider mite infestation, I don’t want to poison the soil by spraying too much and I hose it down every single day and squish what I can see. Squishing them makes me fingers look like I just ate hot Cheetos

I believe you're right Mike. I looked up the profile on Palmpedia to check out photos of the fruits and they look more closely to the size and shape of Adonidia fruits than Ptychosperma elegans does. Also photos from Dr. George Peavy mention Hilo Hatties. Nice palm Bret! https://palmpedia.net/wiki/Rhopaloblaste_augusta

Yes, Konstantinos had already sent me 5 Livistona Mariae, but 3 died during the journey (and yet it didn't last long) but I have 2 Livistona Mariae and they are enough for me. Thanks again to our dear Konstantinos

It's not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but I keep it up against the wall. I also know these are water lovers so I don't empty it's drain tray and I mist it nightly. It gets lots of light too. It's slowly opening up a new leaf. Remind me tomorrow and I'll take a pic for you. It's still just a seedling, but you know how that goes with any palm besides a Washy.

I'm curious to know how it does. The house gets pretty cool in the winter. I'm not sure if the soil would get too cold.

Not palm related but since you mention mangoes do you grow those in st augustine? If so… how?? Winters in my backyard can be brutal, I have young mango trees that I do not expect to ever plant 😭. I only see some tropical stuff in coastal st aug.

I should clarify that 9b in Southern California is a bit different than other areas. Our cold is very fleeting and of no concern most of the time. I am technically 9b but up on a south facing hill with great cold air drainage so my garden never sees frost . Roystonia Oleracae is doing very well , planted not far from the Alexandrea. I am pretty sure my micro climate is at least a 10a . Harry

Pembana. Exactly 3 years from a 2 leaf bare root seedling.

Cleaned off some boots from the pembana

Geeze Jim, now I need a chiropractor! A shot of a trio of Euterpe precatoria. Tim

🫠 It won't be fair for Hawaii growers to add to this thread. 🌴

What a great looking Juania! Best I’ve seen out of habitat. Impossible grow for me