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It's wintertime in Holland with snow and a few degrees below zero C.. Nothing to worry about, just enjoying the view of the garden with some Trachy. fortunei, a Chamaerops humilis vulcano, laurels with winterprotection for the stems and a few date palms! By the end of the week, it will all be over again!

@juju95 I would say Elaeis Guineensis, but a rare mutation called "whole leaf" or "Idolatrica." ...and welcome to Palmtalk!

Christmas Palm seeds update. Received these seeds in late November & nearly every seed germinated by the middle of December, so these seedlings are around 3 weeks old now. Thank you again! @kinzyjr

@PalmBossTampa It does look like you might have gotten the link for the poster rather than the thread. I took the liberty to correct it in your post. All: For the podcasts mentioned, we've linked them on the CFPACS site on our Publications page: https://cfpacs.com/org/palmateer/ The Webinar I did back in February 2021 is the third link down IPS Webinar - A Blank Slate to Flourishing Palm Garden. All of them were great from my point of view, but some of them are not searchable. In addition to webinars, all of the CFPACS publications back to 1990 are posted for everyone to enjoy. Hope this helps.

Mine is nice and curvy…

Nothing special nor rare just some common forms set free from the pot.

Palm was received as Ptycho woodfordiana. But don’t think that’s a species. Also seeds aren’t star shaped in cross section when cut. I’m thinking Pinanga philippinensis?

Finally got a bloom, overeating lookin inflorescence. Tim

You guys get a few more points in California for Rhopalostylis, Ceroxylon, Hesyscepe, etc. hah! Here’s my Blue Decipiens. Still a ways off from trunking when they seem to speed up. I’m guessing this one is 8-9 feet tall from ground to tip of newest leaf.

Yes, there is even more snow than here at Lake Constance, although I would prefer no snow at all in the community garden rather than the few centimeters we had and some still have. Perhaps I should have visualized that even more or better 😊

Wimmie, which region are you in exactly? How cold are the winters there on average over many years? In any case, you have a wonderful collection of exotic plants that you care for 🤗

When you want

I can't imagine a scene with so much snow in my garden, I would lose all the plants😥

Oh my , that seems challenging. It looks like you have a system though. Harry

I've been fascinated by this tiny mutant variation of the familiar Rhapis excelsa but over the years managed to kill several when I repotted and/or separated the clumps. Last fall I bought another pot of this densely clumping palm from Jeff Searle and swore to handle it extra carefully. On the surface, this variation looks like a rat's nest of grasslike leaves. On closer inspection you will see among the strap leaves tiny palmate leaves of 3-4 leaflets belonging to 6" tall, 1/8" diameter stems of individual palms. This afternoon I brought my Super Dwarf out of the jungle to inspect and trim away excess dead leaves. And what did I find? In the center of the clump one little stem was producing an infructescense of 5-6 green seeds. I've never seen that before so I grabbed my phone and 4X reading glasses to document this find. Unfortunately for all of us, I've read that Rhapis Super Dwarf is female only so those seed are infertile. But it shares the same structure as its gigantic cousins. It wasn't easy capturing this one stem among 100s of others so I marked some of the photos. Rhapis excelsa "Super Dwarf" w/seeds, Cape Coral, FL

A garden owner here in China is selling this. I'm not sure it is exactly the Super Dwarf form. He said his uncle has propagated a lot from a dwarf variant individual of Rhapis excelsa that he found many years ago.

It is tricky to see differences between C arenarum and C lutescens because they have similar traits and C lutescens especially can be variable. From what I’ve seen, I’d say this is what I look for: Emergent spear colour: C arenarum- always red/maroon. C lutescens - variable from slightly red to green. Even if red, it’s usually not as striking as C arenarum and colour is only on recently exposed spear at the base near the growth point. Trunk: C arenarum- when young, usually a blue/green with a silvery sheen. When older, colour darkens. C lutescens - variable especially depending on sun exposure and climate but ranges from a blue/green similar to C arenarum all the way through to golden yellow. Growth habit: C arenarum- fronds and trunks generally more upright. New stems form by splitting at the growth point. C lutescens - trunks arch away from each other more and fronds arch further down towards horizontal. Clumping habit generally more dense although this is variable and there are solitary specimens. New stems form via new shoots at ground level, splitting at growth point or aerial branches. A couple of photos of mine which may or may not help: C arenarum: C lutescens:

Ghe xe un mucio de altre palme ca podarìa sopraviver li, butia, phoenix theofrastii etc. La dactylifera xe una dele me palme favorite ma intel me zardín a ne go mucio de spassio, sfortunatamente. El xe sojo 450 metri quadrati e la xe na palma enorme. Un di a vegnerò a Venessia par praticar el véneto e forse anca vedar el to zardín!

Update #2: Several more Serenoa repens seeds from @Boca Palms germinated. They’re in their own cups now. Update #3: Currently soaking the Buccaneer Palm seeds that @Johnny Palmseed sent my way. Thank you again for the seeds! I need springtime to hurry up. 😂

or rupicola It doesn't look like my hybrids roebelenii x reclinata,roebelenii x dactylifera

It’s not cunninghamiana or purpurea. On the basis of probability I’d go with alexandrae but that’s a pure guess. To rule out tuckeri, myolensis, or maxima you’d need to see it in flower and up close, to start narrowing it down properly.

Hey Tom, thank you for the kind message. Let me give you my honest opinion about warm winters. The only thing why I pray for a mild winter is because of my plants , that's the only reason. I can't stand long periods of hot weather and I really hoped for a cooler winter to get a break from the never-ending summer lol. We have 2 more months of zick zack weather then the weather patterns become more stable and warmer. I miss the snow that's why I'm going to spend 5 days in Colorado next week.

@Mishaq Loureiroi has a fairly thin trunk, as does Reclinata. I could see those as a Reclinata pruned to just one trunk, maybe?

Yep, it's not cheap. That said, you have some time to decide what you want to do and maybe you'll get a scholarship or some grants to offset the cost. I didn't start growing palms until after I graduated, so you have a leg up there. My choices when I graduated were moving here or moving to SoCal. The primary drivers for coming here were that it was cheaper for housing and I already knew a few people in the area. If you're open to other options as far as majors, USF and UCF have some really good programs and are public. They also have decent botanical areas on campus. FIT in Melbourne has the Dent Smith Trail and is very close to a lot of other botanical gardens and CFPACS members. If you and the family happen to be in the neighborhood down here, go ahead and holler and I can show you all around. My garden is always open to you all for a tour as well: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/52296-palms-and-others-of-interest/ Good luck with whatever you decide to do with the college/university.

Agreed. And wow!!

Sunny ( for most areas of town. Some clouds hanging around to the west / north ) and 71F at 3:49PM as the first weekend of 26 and ..most.. of the holiday lights come down for the year.. Week ahead looks ..pretty avrg. Maybe more spit mid week. Yesssir, when it comes to rain, anything less than .25" is ..spit. Dry ( ..or so it appears atm ) beyond that slight chance for rain. Looking at the two, main extended forecasts i trust the most ( ..which isn't 100% btw ) Not too bad. Like time and date's more but it has a tendency to flip n' flop more than WX Undergrounds.. Heck, half an hour ago, it was tempting me with a couple 80F days as we approach mid month. Current " flip " holds temps down in the more logical lower 70s for the same timeframe.. We'll see if either pans out. That said, ..If today's 6 - 10 and 8 - 14 day thoughts from the CPC are roughly " in the park " as we head forward, perhaps the first 80F day(s) of 2026 are possible, sooner than i'd thought. Nice thought, but, ..we'll see.. Regardless, not a bad look / nuthin' to howl about as we trek thru the middle of " winter " here in the low desert / rest of the Southwest.. Think CA could use a nice break from the rain again too. Pretty decent Spring Wildflower season appears to be locked in for most of the state this year. Some pockets of color around to enjoy i'm sure ..but, not looking like a " super - year " out here this spring.. Want a lot of Snow in the mountains ..Outside parts of the Pac. N.W / upper interior west / Sierra? ( Don't think it's looking all that great, despite the storms, up there too ) this winter ain't looking like your winner. Still some time of course, ..but, you'd be better not to place any bets on a February or March Miracle this year.

Those hybrids you have mentioned, have considerably thicker trunks.

I hope everyone is having a great new year so far! Here are a few pics from today.

Golf course at Lajitas Resort, which borders Big Bend and the Rio Grande.

I went walking in Crescent Bend Nature Park today. The area was a residential area until it flooded in 1996 and 1997. It was then made into a park with lots of trails. There are a couple of old Washingtonias in the park that were likely in someone's backyard at some point. They blend in nicely in the savanna environment of the park though:

Clear Lake Shores, Texas

I have searched everywhere which palm tree in Singapore botanic gardens this is but I can’t get behind the exact species.

TRACHYCARPUS RAVENII I have recently placed an order for 200 seeds of Trachycarpus ravenii from Rarepalmseeds. This marks the first known commercial availability of seeds for this species. T. ravenii was formally described in 2014 and is recognized as an accepted species by the Plants of the World Online database maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Trachycarpus ravenii is restricted to a very small limestone habitat in central Laos. According to the 2014 field report, the species occupies less than 100 km², with an estimated population of fewer than 100 mature individuals. The habitat is both limited in size and undergoing significant degradation, leading to the species being regarded as Critically Endangered. The scarcity of reproductive individuals and the extremely localized distribution contribute to the very limited seed availability and correspondingly high cost. No verified cultivated specimens, no horticultural cultivars, and no live plants are known to be in circulation. Photographic documentation is also very limited, with nearly all existing images coming from the 2014 field report. One of the morphological traits highlighted in the original description is the distinctive foliar coloration. The leaves exhibit a subtle blue-green tone. Because so few biological and horticultural data exist, this project will focus on generating baseline observations once the seeds arrive. Planned documentation includes germination behaviour, early developmental morphology, growth rates, and potential cold tolerance, as well as any noteworthy foliar or structural characteristics that emerge during cultivation. Given the species’ extreme rarity in the wild, even small-scale cultivation trials may provide useful insights into its ecological adaptations and long-term viability outside its native habitat. Further documentation will follow as the research progresses. I will post some on my instagram page "norwaypalmtrees" and I will also follow up on this thread.

Wow, 13,3 C average is very close to the average of some northern Greek towns. Not bad for Switzerland. Where I live now it is like 17,5 C. Personally, I am jealous of the Azores or Madeira: plenty of sun, no cold, no heat. Perfect.

I wouldn't have thought so, Than. Then you would like it here, especially the higher-altitude places and the many lakes and diverse climates, the many mountains, good air, and of course we would show you Quinten SG, which has achieved and offers a special cfa climate and is only an hour away from me by car and yet is much milder. -3°C was the lowest temperature there so far this winter 2025/2026, which the people there describe as really arctic when you ask them about it. Last year, the lowest temperature was -1.8°C... My goodness, I am envious... The annual average there was 13.3°C, measured on a Davis Vantage Pro 2, and 1580 mm of rain. In the community garden, we had an annual average of 11.4°C...

Thought this was the strangest thing from a seedling... Figured I'd share and any input would be appreciated

Latania new spear

We'll miss you if you don't make it, but a lot of them are pretty far away from your area. We should have some fall events up that way. Some of the membership up your way may have some stuff going on or maybe the First Coast or Southeastern Palm Society. As far as colleges go, which one? There's Florida Southern College, Southeastern University, Florida Polytechnic University, Polk State College, and then some of the private universities like Keiser. Also, which field of study?

Simply great 🤗

Not overkill . My friend Kurt has a few botanical pics on the wall of his classic home . Harry

On behalf of Director Glenn Franklin , Chair of our Save the Species program I want to thank all of you who donated! I understand there might be a paper check or two not yet added to the donation total but regardless once again the IPS will be sending significant funds towards fulfilling our conservation mission. It took many hours of work done by Glenn and her committee to narrow down the 2025 project to select a project where we can make a real difference and then to explain and promote all on a volunteer basis. I am very grateful. Stay tuned for an eventual progress report here on PT as well as in our journal PALMS and the IPS newsletters.

Ma questo dialetto veneto? Ahahahah

Zamia inermis sending up its first flush

Snagged a couple of free Sagos sitting by the curb tonight. Potted them up once I got home.

very nice and well manicured. what are your temp extremes?

They’re slow here, too. Here’s one (next to the white Corvette) that I planted, probably close to ten years ago, now. It doesn’t get any help. And here’s a green Sabal (Mexicana type?) , next door, for reference. It’s grown significantly faster. I believe that they were both planted from a similar size, at a similar time.

More from my Latania collection

Very nice. Yours looks like it’s in a similar situation as mine. I think the extra water from the lawn really helps with the speed on these guys. Yours looks like it’s on the same path of color change too. Here’s mine from 2017 at around the same size as yours. Top leaf shot too from back then.

Added photos to my original post. Couldn’t wait!

Current situation. Pictures taken today (February 2, 2023).