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Posting a few photos of my Parajubaea torallyi. I planted this palm about 15 years ago from a 5-gallon pot. It currently has about six feet of clean trunk and it’s about 25+ feet tall. This time of year, I tug on the old leaf sheaths to see if any of them are ready to come off. If they're ready, they pull off easily. However, if they aren't, no amount of pulling will remove them. It’s not unusual to find Arboreal Salamanders (Aneides lugubris) under the old leaf sheaths as shown in the photo below. I'm in the San Francisco bay area.

January 2026 update:

A nice summer swim and a walk along a beach, with absolutely no body on the beach for miles, except for a few seeds!

New member, but have been getting some good info from everyone on this site for a while. Started getting some palms a few years back and got inspired to start a bigger garden. In DeBary FL, about 30 miles north of Orlando. Progress so far: 2 B. Alfredii, one on the left planted from a 15g in June 2022, other went in this week from a 25g. Archontophoenix Cunninghamiana planted from a 7g in November 2021. Side yard has a couple of flamethrowers, Chambeyronia Oliviformis, another king palm, Lanonia Dasyantha, Caryota Obtusa, Chamaedorea Radicalis x Cataractarum (most likely) and Chamaedorea Microspadix. Plenty of other tropicals mixed in, big fan of Plumerias. Always run the risk of a hard freeze, but taking advantage of some high oak canopy and looking forward to a dense jungle look in a few years time.

Nothing palm-related here. I sat and watched some squirrel videos with the Yorkie.

Some happy plants in winter after a few freezes, just some chlorosis from sun or chill. The current project is a greenhouse, so no photos of other stuff yet till it's done in the next few weeks. After the summer slaughter things calmed down and the potted plants are mostly happy, so once they are organized into a good look I'll get more photos of them too. In order: cyphophoenix (I think Alba), chrysalidocarpus lanceolata, leptocheilos, basilongus, carlsmithii, B. alfredii, and chrysalidocarpus titan and Prestonianus to finish. All in ground two seasons and starting to get going a bit faster than the start. Losses were all due to heat and wet after the January freeze deaths, so learned to give more shade in summer planting spots, and less water with the high humidity even if they drain super sharp. Not pictured are a bunch of others, cold damaged and recovering from the cold last year, like hyophorbe and chambeyronia. Chrysalidocarpus lastellianus is not a good 10A palm for looks, it chill spots in the low 30s, but could survive a warm 9b event most likely under good cover (like a Christmas palm would do I think). Hoping the two cold events this November and new years are the two this year (average is 1 or so) and we are done but that's a stretch being January 7th.

Doing a spot of landscaping, and as usual I need to plant palms in the new garden. I will see how this one goes all i know is I had choose carefully where this one went, not a palm you plant next to path with thorns thorns that would stop Alcatraz escapes!

Some nice summer seedlings just perfect for potting up in the warm weather. Now’s the perfect time for those tropical seedlings, heat and humidity certainly help tiny seedlings, I might as we’ll take advantage of the warm weather iam sure winter will be a different story!

That looks similar to my seedling mix. I will change things depending on the species and age of the plant. Dypsis and Chrysalidocarpus tend to need excellent drainage so more perlite is put in. Howea, Archontophoenix and even Chambeyronia don’t require much more than a good potting mix with plenty of pine bark and less perlite. Hyophorbe indica actually needs a soil you could grow orchids or bromeliads in as they come from areas of lava flows with incredibly good drainage and humus rich soil over almost solid crumbly rock. So I’ll use the coarse coir, clay balls, coarse river sand a bit of the pine bark from a good potting mix for them. I get much better success than using straight potting mix. I buy Richgro Pro base mix in bulk and add Osmocote 6 month with Scott’s micromax.

Thanks for the "Bible," you're very kind. However, I haven't contributed to the encyclopedia for several years. Regarding the Veitchia, I had the arecina in my garden for many years before it was cut down during renovations. The joannis is growing ever more vigorously. This album contains photos of the arecina and the joannis, which is not recent, it's currently about 1 m taller: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pietropuccio/albums/72177720322877228/

Rub it on Jason! Some of us wonder if we will live long enough to see any trunks in the garden 😅

Another update on this one, sorry. It caught my eye this morning opening a new frond. It’s been growing great. -dale

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!

Happy new year everybody. A small update of my coconut palm in Cyprus. It's still alive for another winter. I increased the water in the summer and it started to make a difference in the growth.

I can only imagine your nightmares, if huntsman eggs are that big omg!

With only -1 perhaps those measures would suffice, if they are not 10B palms. I repeat, you are extremely fortunate, that you do not get snow cover unlike central eastern parts, which are affected by the Aegean jet stream.

3 1/2 seems to be about normal for me. I was wondering if they started exploding like most palms once trunking begins.

When I first bought my place in Rhodes, I put in a couple citrus plants and an avacado. When I returned a week later, they were all dead. Before buying even one more tree, I put in irrigation for the entire garden. Maybe not so important today as I have a lot of shade in the back garden where it has been out for a couple of years. But at the beginning, full sun was bloody deadly for everything.

This is a lesson I too have learned this summer, about all my plants! All, no exceptions, wanna be watered every day. I underwatered even my African acacia. Once rains started they started growing so much faster.

Hahaha! No way. I must love a plant too much. I love my Ravenala enough perhaps but the electric socket is too far..... Anyway, I dunno what the future will bring, but if I don't get below -1 C and light frost, I believe simply covering the plants will be enough. I will also add bottles with hot water on the coldest nights (water from the water heater - the sun is not enough).

My cimate is pretty much identical to both yours and Jonathan's (in Malta). I have 20 degrees today with a low of 16 tonight. The coldest night I've had this year has been 9 degrees one night last week. The lowest high was in the same 24 hour period and it was 14. Every year is getting noticeably warmer. I read an article a few weeks back that states the same for Cyprus. I have these 3 right now. The larger one is Green Mayaln Dwarf (third winter outside). The smaller ones were both purchased as Panama Talls. Another Palmtalk member, who lived for some time in Florida, had purchased the same "Panama Talls" from the same South Florida nursery but he is quite cerain they are Jamaica Talls or crossbreeds of the same. Regardless, I love them as they take my full summer heat and sun quite well. The Green Malayans (I've gone through at least a dozen of them) need to spend the hotter part of the summer in the shade or they are too beat up to make it through winter. For that reason, I have started leaving them in pots. I marked the spears on all three 9 days ago. One of the smaller ones has grown about 1 cm since then. The other tow cocos have both grown about 2 cm. You told me a couple of years ago you have a Golden Malayan Dwarf and I believe the other one in Paphos is a Golden Malay as well. It is truly amazing to see photos of that one. Maybe I will put the smaller ones in the ground this year or maybe I will keep them one more year in pots. The Green Malay will only go in the ground when I can leave it in full summer sun. I think that's going to take another 3 or 4 years.

Because there are no other more marginal plants around...Btw bougainvillea can be scorched to the ground and resprout and even flower during following summer. Of course this is not possible with a solitary palm sp.

Lacospadix, kerriodoxa and a nice little dypsis lantzeana all seem to get my attention!

Highly unlikely for Greece in particular, because this system focuses on what can or can not be cultivated in a certain region or area. In other words it uses canaries. But the cultivation of non commercial tropicals in Greece is very limited. You know how it goes, everything that can be eaten is to be preserved and the rest to be dumped. Long story short, there are not enough canaries in Greece for a reliable application. If you create a new topic prompting experienced US growers to assert the special Sunset Zone for your garden, you may get some very considerate replies. Although even those highly experienced people may underestimate the negative importance of poor quality of soil and water for marginal tropical, as almost all of them have in their gardens a quite generous top soil layer and have larger estates, where they can bring in truck loads of compost easily. Now try doing that in a small lot in a slope...

I guess V Joannis is a 9b plant but only if we consider zones the way you suggested: if we're in Europe we must reduce it by half or one. So if theoretically my garden is 9b/10a, in reality I'm 9a..

Planted a 1 gallon pot from FB in November of 2021. It's growing nicely. BUT this summer all the fronds got fried. Just spotted a new bright red today. Had it under shade cloth at planting Took the shade cloth down in February of '23. Looked ok for a few years. Then this summer I noticed the fronds getting "toasted". But it's still pumping new RED fronds. This summer was VERY DRY. From June to Sept. only had 1.48" of rain. Irrigation twice a week at night for 40 minutes each session. Might have to do some weeding and increase length of watering. But I think it was just TO HOT in the full sun this summer.

My Chambeyronia Macrcarpa emerged into the sun 5 or so years ago. It was growing well beneath some other palms . Once it emerged the fronds would burn badly not long after opening . I doubled the amount of water and started a light organic fertilizer . The burning has been reduced dramatically. I’m not sure how large they have to get until they can handle full sun but it seems to be getting better . It now has about five feet of trunk below the crown shaft. Harry

Awful news, but thank you for sharing. The disease seems to have traversed I-75 as fast as it did I-4.

I acquired this lithograph at the Paris flea market, L'Illustration Horticole, circa 1880, It is not labeled but almost certainly is Howea belmoreana.

Happy New Year to everyone here and continued joy, health, happiness, success, and love in 2026☀️ Best regards from Lake Constance from the two of us

Happy New Year and success growing palms in 2026 ✌🏻😎

Well, here’s an update on mine. The good news, it’s still growing very nicely. The bad news, as if it didn’t have enough room already, we installed rain gutters a couple years back, which extended the eaves of the house out another 8 inches. So, it’s doing its best to bend like a pretzel and conform. Nonetheless, it seems to be healthy and has been flowering for a number of years, even producing a few seeds that are in the process of ripening. I would attempt to dig it up, but I’m wagering that I would kill it if I tried it. So there’s a choice between almost definitely killing it or letting it live a reasonably good life as best it can. Been a great grower for me though…

Once you get hooked on palms there’s no turning back the only therapy you can get is buying and planting more palms it seems to work for me

Welcome to the palm addict support group. Looks like you are off to a great start for a new garden and it will soon be fabulous. Plumeria will survive a bad freeze. About 15 years we had a freak event and it went down to -5c overnight. The whole city was a dead wasteland but many things I thought were goners came back in time. Keep up the good work, you are on a winning streak already. Peachy

What a beauty, congratulations! Nice to see the clean trunk without leaf bases...I wonder at what age/size they become self cleaning?

Palm road trips are the best !! People, don't miss this sale, Joe has really well grown palms at very favorable pricing ! I have purchased a lot of palms from him !

I can't see the inflorescence too well but definitely a Ptychosperma. Pinanga have two dimensional inflorescence and I dont see that. And definitely not philippinensis

Tennis anyone!🥎

You never know. From my recent experience with a mild frost in my garden, it's not the temperature but the frost that damages the plants more. Do you get frost on the grass and leaves in your garden? If not then go for it. Even if you do, you can always cover it when frost is expected. A sheet will do. Nothing sophisticated. I won't bother with trying to raise ths temperature inside the cover again. I'll just cover loosely to stop frost from forming. I think it's enough when temperatures are not too below zero.

Is that a coconut?

For transplanting Sabal palms: Use a long shovel to sever the roots on approximately one-third to one-half of the circumference of the plant. Leave the remaining roots intact on the opposite side so they can continue to support the palm. This staged approach allows new roots to regenerate and extend several inches from the root initiation zone before the palm is fully dug. Because Sabal roots die back completely when cut, this advance root pruning gives the palm a critical head start and greatly improves transplant success. Why Sabal roots die back when severed Palm roots do not branch or heal like woody plant roots. Each root grows from the trunk’s root-initiation zone and extends outward as a single, unbranched structure. All growth occurs at the root tip. When a Sabal root is cut, the growing tip is destroyed, and that root can no longer elongate or regenerate. The entire cut root becomes nonfunctional. Unlike oaks or maples, palms cannot produce lateral roots behind the cut; the severed root simply dies back. New roots must be grown from the trunk, not the cut root. Sabals respond by initiating entirely new roots from the base of the trunk, which takes time and energy. Why this matters for transplanting If all roots are cut at once, the palm temporarily has no functional root system, leading to severe stress or failure. Staged root pruning works because uncut roots continue water and nutrient uptake while new roots are forming from the trunk. Giving Sabal palms time to generate new roots before full digging dramatically improves survival, especially for small un-trunked specimens with less than 6' of trunk.

Wow! I cannot ID eucalyptus #3 with the multi-stemmed mallee habit. Pics of fruit and flowers would also go a long way to help ID if you ever go out collecting! I spotted this little Eucalyptus cinerea (pretty sure) when the kids and I went for a bike ride to a friend's house this weekend. It was in flower, in early January (after a very warm December). This is in Anacortes, Washington. The scent was full-on Vapo-Rub, just from being close to the plant. I tried to see if it was the flowers putting put so much of the scent, but I couldn't tell because there was so much SMELL. We moved recently and I planted some Eucalyptus seeds, too. I was going to try to sell the starts but they EXPLODED. The ones with the really nice, full round leaves with red venation and lacing are Eucalyptus kitsoniana - the 'Gippsland Mallee' or 'bog gum.' It is endemic to Victoria AUS (wombat country!) and is, I just discovered, critically endangered. The teeny ones to the lower right are Eucalyptus pulchella, the Tasmanian white peppermint. This species grows at medium altitudes in Tasmania (surprise) and is a real tree, to 20 meters or more with white bark. The seedlings have small, falcate leaves (like a mature tree). Then I have just a couple of Eucalyptus gregsoniana (previously E. pauciflora var nana), the Wolgan dwarf snow gum; a snow gum mallee (short tree, open habit, multiple stems) from the Blue Mountains near Wallerawang NSW. Also has large, falcate leaves even as a juvenile. And finally, the species I was actually trying to get seeds from (some of the others were gifts!) - Eucalyptus rodwayi, the Tasmanian swamp peppermint (not related to other Eucalyptus known as peppermints, to add confusion). E. rodwayi grows in heavy, wet soils in frost pockets at 'high' altitutes. E. rodwayi was the species I was trying hardest to get seed for, as it can grow at a) high altitudes, in b) pockets of prolonged frost where it can be exposed to c) winds too. Up here in Anacortes, we are in one of the few areas of the world that are getting *colder winter temps* as weather patterns get more energetic. Basically, it comes down to "squamish" winds - very cold, dry air being pushed or sucked over the high mountains that normally keep our weather in the PNW pretty mild. These winds come howling out of the Fraser Canyon and can blast us with severe cold to the single digits F for short periods. Anyhow, I've got all these trees now and I only wanted 2 (1 rodwayi and 1 gregsoniana). Lordy!

Keep an eye out for these idenity markers on Cycas debaoensis - extra long secondary petioles, median leaflet that are about the same size as the basal ones. This will be visable even on younger plants.

My biggest surprise was my two veitchia arecina. They propably becoming my fastest palms. When I put them in the ground last summer they were 2 feet overall height. Now they are about 7 feet with a few rings of trunk. I'm glad they survived in the summer heat. I lost some palms in the heat waves, and some don't happy under the summer sun. I increased the watering for all the palms and it helps a lot.

I love the cocos but I also wanted to give priority to palms that can more easily grow in my climate. Here are some photos. Sorry for the mess. I have a lot of cleaning to do, but I've been very busy lately with work.

Latania new spear

Welcome back!

I don't think there's any appreciable difference in hardiness. I assume they can handle occasional nips into the upper 30s but will be unhappy below that point or if encountered with any regularity. The one I had all those years ago in Natchez did not attempt to come back after that first winter. I grew it again when we moved to the Florida Keys and of course it was just fine there...I believe the story is that the silver form was discovered in one small area (I think the Long Beach area of Big Pine Key) and ultimately put into propagation. The green form is everywhere in the Keys, natively and also planted ad nauseum by the government or Florida DOT as a barrier along the Overseas Highway and elsewhere, a job for which it is I must admit quite appropriate. The silver one is much more ornamental in the majority of people's eyes, and its popularity in the trade attests to this. I should try one out here in the Palm Springs area as most of the stuff from the Keys and the balance of the semi-arid Caribbean areas seem strangely happy here.

There are so many tropical plants that are native to the Florida Keys and the very southern edges of Florida above the Keys. However, many are too tender to grow in the northern Florida/Atlantic coast up to Charleston SC/southern portions of the Gulf states/and Texas north of Corpus Christi. Others will do fine in these borderline regions, but we don't bother trying because they are either unavailable or we assume that they won't survive. Here are some of my experiments in chilly northern Florida (below), but please add to the list with your own experiments: SEAGRAPE: - We have had a lot of chilly weather here since the new year (Polar Vortex, etc) and my seagrape is totally undamaged. I was told that this beautiful tree would not grow north of Orlando, but this appears to be false. There isn't a single leaf that has browned or fallen off. Of course, Seagrape isn't just native to the Florida Keys. It is native all the way up to St. Petersburg, FL and perhaps even further north in saltwater coastal areas. SILVER BUTTONWOOD: - I had great hopes for this gorgeous Florida Keys native, but it has lost most of its leaves since our chilly weather began. It isn't looking very healthy right now, but it is going to pull through because it is staying alive. Unlike here, Silver Buttonwood stays gorgeous all year round in the perma-summer regions of extreme southern Florida. THRINAX MORRISII, aka. LEUCOTHRINAX MORRISII: - wow -- zero damage. I can't believe how bulletproof this Keys native is. It's a georgeous tropical palm and has been unaffected by our dreadful cold snaps this year. I haven't tried the other thrinax palms which are native to the Florida Keys, i.e. Thrinax Radiata and Thrinax Argentata. PSEUDOPHOENIX SARGENTII: - I have heard mixed reviews of how this Keys palm survives in our borderline regions. Any knowledge? It is expensive, so I don't want to experiment if it is simply going to die up here. ROYSTONIA REGIA: - This palm native to wilderness/swamp areas just north of Marco Island (e.g. Fakahatchee Strand- Royal Palm Hammock zone; Collier-Seminole State Park) does not appear to survive up in the north of Florida, although I have heard that the Atlantic coast may be the exception. After a cold night a few years ago, I noticed that two in Gainesville were looking rather dead or severely damaged. A couple of years later, the home owner had removed them. ACOELORRAPHE WRIGHTII: - I have heard that this, the suckering "everglades palm", does survive up on much colder regions than its native turf down in the Florida Everglades ****************************** Please add your comments about other Florida natives that are worth trying outside of their native range. Any native orchids worthy trying? Others?

No, I don't think that's all correct, Tank. Copernicia and Livistona are very closely related. Pritchardia and Washingtonia are closely related. I believe Brahea is closely related to Serenoa and Acoelorrhaphe. Rhapidophyllum is closely related to Rhapis(which we all knew). With respect to the preferences of Paysandisia archon the needle palm is also close to the european fan palm unfortunately.