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I’ll be 75 next June and immigrated from the Netherlands in 1956 at 5yrs old. Been into surfing all over the world, road racing bicycles on and off until 65 years old. Been a Palm society member since 1977, and now I’m on my second go round with my 13 years old garden in the hills of Vista/ Bonsall area of San Diego. I just finished spreading 36 cubic yards of mulch this week myself. I’m growing cycads, aloes, agaves, plumerias, protea, boojums, and of course palms. The world keeps on changing but I’m still the same cantankerous beast that I’ve always been 😎

Nah, I don’t think that’s Macro. The coloring of the trunk looks way more on the Hookeri side than anything. Although it is more lime green than yellow. Most Hookeri I’ve seen around to include my own definitely have brown petioles. Yours does look to be more of a black hue than brown which is super cool. Never seen that before. Im wondering if this trait is simply sun exposure, fertilizer application or something weird like that and temporary? Has it always been like that? Everything besides the unique colors looks to be dead on Chambeyronia tho so it’s not likely a hybrid. The only palm I’ve seen in person with black in it is Cyphosperma Balansae. Here’s my two Hookeri planted side by side and 3yrs apart in growth. Little guy has more brown petioles than the large one -dale

Evening sun hitting this 2 headed Chrysalidocarpus Prestonianus Hybrid

My early Xmas present is here and I couldn't be happier. I got a tiny chambeyronia macrocarpa watermelon, a dypsis black petioles and a beccariop. alfredii. All kinda marginal here but not impossible. All are tiny so it'll take a few years before I see them in their full glory. And they will probably stay in pots for a couple of years till they are ready to face my alkaline soil. Finding larger specimens in my country is very difficult unless you pay a fortune.. I guess I'll put them indoors at nights for now and full time soon. Temperatures are still in the 60s during the day so they are out in shade.

Oh yeah, and my son Braden DeJong is perhaps the most talented cycad farmer in California. He has 5 acres of beautiful colonies of cycads in Bonsall. Sunset Cycads

Of the several Chambeyronia in the garden, this one originally identified as C. macrocarpa has the yellowish trunk of a hookeri and nearly black petioles. Is this unusual or have any of you seen this characteristic before?

I wanted to start a thread here to share photos and put a place for others to share as well. The more time I spend in Midland and Odessa for work the more I appreciate what people are growing here and have through many years even 2021. This climate is 8A but after going back through climate data about 90% of our winters are 7b/8a/8b, luckily leaning more heavily to 8a and 8b. However about 1/10 winters the area sees 7a or even 6b lows and each winter there will be about 3 days where highs don’t get above freezing. So it’s amazing to see what these have endured. Unless many were cut down after 2021 it seems like filifera survival was close to 100% here and these seem to be the most common palm here and then sabal, Trachycarpus and chamaerops.

Thank you for sharing. Satakentias are beautiful, not slow growing, very strong against high winds, never get sick or attacked by the rhinoceros beetle (at least over here) - in one word: They are perfect palms. You will be soon rewarded with a lot of joy. Just make sure that they get enough water and give them time to adjust to full sun when they were greenhouse grown. I have currently four of them as 'backup palms' just to have something left in case that a super strong typhoon wipes out my other mostly non-indigenous palms. Good luck - Lars

49..but just turned 43 in September

Today it caught my eye how difficult it is to photograph my Mauritia and how easy it is to photograph my Pinanga.

Yes you observe correctly that there are Licualas (several species) growing in Southern California but I don't recall seeing Pritchardia pacifica in any of the great gardens I have toured with the local Palm Society. If there are any grown successfully here I would have expected to see one on one of those tours. If you like big circular fan leaves consider growing Pritchardia beccariana instead. Many of us are growing them successfully here. Example below.

Great hobby to share with the children . I remember my little girl , then a toddler , following me around with her pink beach pail “helping “ me plant palms everywhere around our home . She would go with me to Jungle Music and different palm specialty nurseries around the north San Diego area on “ safari “ . Cherish the memories , as your palms grow , the child’s voices will echo after they have grown and left the nest . My favorite …” Why are you trying to hide our house , Dad ?” Now , at 71 it means so much. Once , while visiting us on holiday , she posted on social media a photo of the view from our deck with a one word caption “Home” ! Harry

A friend of mine and his wife were to Thailand a couple (pair) of weeks ago. He has sent me these pictures of " high class" species. From top to bottom: Verschaffeltia/ Latania lodigesii/ Carpoxylon/ Cryosophylla/ more Verschaffeltia/ Pelagodoxa/ Pelagodoxa drilling a hole through the roof/ Licualas/ Angiopteris/ Cissus. He has sent me some seeds too. Does anyone know how to sow Mauritiella seeds?

A few more seedlings that have popped needed to be potted up. The attalea and pritchardia where a gift from Colin Wilson so a big thank you Mr Wilson. And the genoformis are home harvested seeds. Along with one lone Chuniophoenix nana seedling. Theres nothing like a bit of potting up some seedlings to keep one stress free in life!

I hope you are a good example of the 31-40 group who can continue to build the next generation of collectors and more importantly conservationist for this field. Truly not everyone will continue the hobby into 40’s and 50’s but if a descent percentage do we are in good shape. I think many more people would be drawn to the hobby if exposed, and I have often thought that smaller palms for pots/patio are a great entry point for apartment dwellers and folks with smaller yards.

Lars, I forgot to tag you on my post from last week. I saw these nice Satakentia at a nursery in Miami. And the one I bought (rear, to the right of the Carpoxylon).

Here's a Corypha sp. at Kopsick loaded with fruits with lots of seeds to be collected later and a big removal to come as well!

@Chester B I’ve sent some to a few folks already. If you want some message me an address and I’ll send some. I’ve got 3 big community pots with seeds popping already too. I’m sure these would do amazing for you down there.

Some seeds from these nice fat filifera would be great to spread around the palm growing community.

Seeing some progress but still not speedy progress in the last 3 years. Patience is rewarded though.

Now you have me curious . I just sowed a few seeds from a HUGE Hookeri at the Sullivan’s place . I was amazed at the size of the palm , well overhead , at least 8-10 feet of trunk . Now way too tall reach the seeds(fruit) but I found some large seeds around the base that were fresh. Some of the nicest Chambeyronia I have seen were down at @DoomsDave garden but the Hookeri at the Sullivan’s was like on steroids. I will cruise by sometime and look at the petiole’s next time I think about it. My Macrocarpa has a much darker crown shaft than your example so I would also agree yours is something else , maybe a genetic variation or species variation . All aside , a very attractive palm and , oh! , that red. To die for! Harry

Well, after a relatively mild stretch for much of the state, winter will make its return late this week! Early morning hours of 11/28/2025 : Early morning hours of 11/29/2025 :

I remember yours well Kris, nice little palm and clearly pretty tough. I think you even suggested I should try one down here but at the time I assumed it would be torture. Based on some reports in this thread maybe they are worth a shot. I got a bunch of A triandra through winter (admittedly in my unheated greenhouse so somewhat protected) with only minor spotting.

Looks typical of Chambeyronia macrocarpa var hookeri to me Jim. They often have dark petioles. Every other feature including that vivid red new frond matches. Great palm!

Hi all, I have a few extra cycads and palms for sale. All are growing well in my garden in Central Texas since 2017. Cycas debaoensis: grew this individual from seed starting in 2012. One-10 gallon at $135 Dioon edule: grew this individual from seed starting in 1999. One-15 gallon $175 Chamaedorea radicals "tall form": these were grown from second generation seed from my garden starting in 2022. Three-2 gallons, $20 each I will attach photos of each. Cash or Venmo would work as payment. Pick up at mutually agreed open location in Central Texas Best, Jason

For sure it isn’t lutescens; lutescens has oblong seeds and the ones in the picture appear globose or perfectly round.

Here's a hybrid Phoenix reclinata x roebelenii that I just germinated. Going into a 12" liner for the winter - after that we'll see...

Incredible memories. Glad to hear that story. For now my 2 year old is the measuring stick for palm growth in the garden lol. Made a great spot for annual family photos, and will be great to see the family grow with the gardening growing behind us.

If I were 30, I'd buy a 15- gal Jubaea.

There’s a lot of Hawaiian pritchardtias; if you can, make room for a number of them.

My first germination was also CIDP, and also planted at my parents house! They were a much more prevalent species around here pre-Sylvester palm introduction.

Definitely not lutesence. I’ve grown this palm for 30 years and it came from Rancho Soledad tagged as Affinis var scotiana.

Advice- find a couple slow growing species that you like and start them now. Having something to look forward to is great for our longevity. I wish i started some species in my 30’s , but next best time is today 😎

Hey Jim, I thought there was an earlier discussion on PT about C, houailou having dark green, almost brownish petioles as opposed to the medium green of C. hookeri. Been awhile, but a one filament light bulb went off. 😳 Tim

No matter what container you put it in, it will fill it with roots in a few months. Desert palms have to be aggressive rooters because they have to secure a source of groundwater to survive. In your case, you could get a 7G pot, but within a year it will look like spaghetti in the pot with roots shooting out of the bottom straight into the ground. It could hold you over until March if you're planning on putting it in the ground next year though.

I think @peachy dislikes clumping palms that much I believe a plane ticket has been booked for California. So look out the roundup is on its way or did they ban that in the US yet. Pushing it with dioon I think peachy is more of a cute little Cerotazamia lady. Richard

Beautiful little palm. As you know Harry we both have a kentia stomping ground from back in the day. Richard

Definitely not a scottiana, looks more like a lutescens. But that grain silo on the right or is it a palm? 🤣

Happy to chat in the “tropical” section if you want to geek out with me about hibiscus propagation (since that’s obviously WAY off topic), but short version of my own method is “pencil size cutting / scratch up bottom end / dip in clonex gel”. 🌺 The bigger picture I was trying to say was that my favorite groups share growing tips in addition to just pretty photos for “likes” (which Facebook groups tend to deteriorate into). Palmtalk is very educational, with a bonus of many members being hilariously funny. 🤣

Hello fellow PT folks. For those of us that have Triangle palms , we know how the leaf bases can hang on for years. I haven’t been able to find a way to cut them without threatening damage to the trunk. They will eventually come off with a hard tug but only after a while. I don’t mind the rugged look but I have one out front that had a couple of years of bases stacked up. The rain finally stopped yesterday and now we have brisk, windy conditions and getting time in the garden. I looked up at the Triangle palm and just gave a tug , wow I got about six bases to just pull off . They were water soaked and came off easily exposing about 6” of more trunk. Harry This was during the rain with stacks of leaf bases After finishing the clean up Close up! Harry

For Palmtalk I can say I am retired, I started growing palms in 1998, joined Palmtalk in 2007, and currently have around 60 in ground palms in my yard, and half a dozen containers. I have planted a few hundred deciduous trees as well in 5 other homes I have lived in. So I have always liked growing plants.

A view from my new garden. I moved in April.

I recently turned 71 , about 2 weeks after getting my new hip. I started palm collecting in the early 1990’s . Harry

If you’re looking for inexpensive recycled deep container use a 2 liter bottle. You can also ‘hinge’ the top by leaving a inch uncut and have a little greenhouse effect too. Cap off

You are all safe. I hate flying even more than I do clumping palms. Peachy

That’s the spirit! I’m also willing to lose some in an effort to push whats possible

I blame my ADD. They'll be labelled properly after they soak and this time we're trying baggies with coffee filters.

I've been quiet, but I do lurk. The facebook groups are easy to post on, but they lack the breadth of relationships, knowledge and expertise you get here. Usually when I post on fb, I get a handful of likes and a few emoji reactions. It's a lot more intimate and personal here

Closer up: