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I have visited Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami FL many times but always enjoy seeing new additions and checking on “old friends”. This Sabinaria caught my attention especially since it looks untouched planted outside despite the recent cold spell here. I eagerly await mine growing big enough to show off the gorgeous leaf shape and color! Below are two different Kerriodoxa elegans. Rhino beetles in Puerto Rico love these so not sure if I will get any to trunking size. I am really looking forward to seeing them in habitat in Phuket Island.Thailand on the soon to start IPS post tour. Calyptrocalyx albertisianus is a fairly new addition to my own farm after I saw a beauty at Dean Ouer’s place in HI a few years ago. Here is one at FTG reminding me that they are likely to be much taller than my other more shrub size Calyptrocalyx. I am including a striking cycad that I wish I grew. Microcycas calocoma.

I took a pass through the butterfly collection and this papilio lowii posed for me. Pigafetta elata (I only saw one) seemed fine outside. I am down to 2 of these from 5 I grew from seed and planted out in PR. Another rhino beetle delicacy. I now have some seedling Pigafetta filaris (the white one) gifted to me by PR00360 from RPS seeds. Hoping I can get some to trunking size when my beetles seem to ignore them. Mine are at the very dangerous to touch stage but eventually the smooth trunk becomes huggable. This Calyptrocalyx hollrungii is much bigger than mine. Such a nice palm. Sommieria is another species I “met” at FTG many years ago and am so happy to now have in PR. Next some classic FTG views. Entrance to the conservatory:

I gave this palm a fresh haircut and trim - i have to say that it looks amazing that way

White triangle

Ok I shall settle the score and start a on the potting bench thread to appease the palm gods. So it is as follows, on the potting bench you shall see what’s been growing and what reds to be potted up, freshly germinated to anything else that needs to be potted, it shall be gor reference as seedling identification. If anyone wants to identify a seedling, and also as documentation of what and how the plants are growing for the palm talk audience and for my own documentation!

Getting into a few seeds this week, you gotta keep sowing them if you want to grow them! And a nice haul of some dypsis baronii from the garden that shall be distributed around to a few IPS members, sharing the palm seed love around!

I was able to force this color with 23 degrees but i don't think I’ll be able to maintain this look.

My little SO Cal. V. arecina jungle... Mom just dropped the seeds and I didn't have the heart to remove them... That promiscuous little tree snuck around the front, got cozy with a foxtail and produced this... Butch

Nice double roebelenii! I almost bought one too - $70 at the orange store, right? I settled instead for a $35 foxtail and a $10 Dypsis lutescens. I managed to get both in my Nissan (somehow).

Amazing to get such great germination with a rare and exciting palm like this.

Pretty much most of what you see , botanically speaking , is going to be things that won’t grow in the desert . The islands I have visited do have some desert areas but most areas are high humidity and warm trade winds bringing tropical rains . The growth rate of tropical or some temperate plants is about 3x the growth rate even here in Southern California . I have never been to Oahu , other than a stop over , so I can’t recommend any specific gardens . I am sure you will see plenty of palms and tropicals . Some nurseries will sell orchids and small palms , with certs, that you can bring home . The palms I brought home from Maui were growing in shredded paper and came with import certificates . They are still living in my garden 25 years later. Enjoy your trip! Harry This Pritchardia was a seedling that I carried home in my back pack! Not pictured is the Chambeyronia I brought home that is now flowering . I think I paid less than $5 for each seedling in 2002. Harry

Wow, thanks for the ‘bump’ Richard. Well, an update. The sessifolia got tired of being frail and checked out. The simulans, which was acquired later, died of thirst. The rest of the Veitchia have done well. The metiti, IMO, is a rather unremarkable palm and better planted in a group. I find it interesting that a grouping planted close together can have such a large variation in stature. Anyway, here’s a photo of V. metiti. Tim

So I got a good deal on this approx 10ft Beccariophoenix Alfredii. Purchased a couple months ago and paid for installation. Well fast forward a couple frosts and the FL hard freeze and the nursary never called, and I was cool with that, heck I was cool with them holding it until March especially with the recent cold snap, didn’t want to disturb the root system well they called two days ago with no prior warning “we’ve got it loaded and would like to deliver today” so I really had no choice. Still alive obviously but I’m concerned about the burned fronds a the transplant, in fact I feel they under exaggerated how burnt it got. Am I crazy for thinking it a little unprofessional of the nursary to deliver it in this state given it was not burnt at all when purchased. Anyways it’s in the ground at my place and I guess I’m looking for reassurance and care going forward. I was very excited to find it and now I’m worried about it below is before and after

Here are a couple that I grew from seed.

Looks really good! Happy early birthday!

Where its planted will see full sun for most of the day luckily. Time will tell

In pots I would bring in at least under 25F or if mine small seedlings under freezing

The palm from the original poster ended up being mine. It is one tough palm. We had the a winter bomb cyclone in 2023 with hurricane force winds and I woke up in the morning and the shelter had blown off and temps were 19F. No damage at all. Mind you this in Pacific Northwest 19F so its much tougher on plants than it sounds. 19F here in Houston is a cakewalk compared to 19F there. January 2024 I ended up moving and a very bad arctic blast hit a couple days after we left. I know the new owners are not gardeners and didn't protect anything. They may have not even been moved in yet and the palm survived and appears to have suffered no damage. I looked up the weather for that time period and it was colder than anything I ever experienced living there. Looks like about 120 consecutive hours below freezing and I never saw 14F in all my years living there. This is the sort of cold spell that can damage or even kill Trachys up there. Jan 12 - 42F, 21F Jan 13 - 20F, 14F Jan 14, 22F, 16F' Jan 15 - 27F, 21F Jan 16, 25F, 19F Jan 17 - 35F, 23F

My potting bench is the top of our trash cans ! Perfect height and size for my small projects . Harry It works!

Foster BG should definitely be on your list. Paradise in the middle of a concrete jungle! Lots of Lodoicia (double coconut) trees to see. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

A few chamaedorea seeds on there way!chamaedorea plumosa chamaedorea adscendens chamaedorea metallica

@FlaPalmLover if it's easy to keep water out then it's a good idea. Conventional wisdom also says to avoid overhead sprinklers. Yet every single palm nursery on the planet uses big overhead sprinklers, at least until 10g or bigger sizes. They switch to drip lines with emitters or bubblers on 10 to 100g pots. If overhead sprinkling was a serious risk then they wouldn't do it...they'd be risking their livelihood on it. For sure I wouldn't intentionally spray water in the crown, but I doubt a bit of rain is a serious risk. Other people here suggested Daconil in the crown, partially because it stays tacky when it dries. So the mixture *might* stick around in the crown even with some rain. Honestly, as long as torrential rain doesn't wash into the crown, many (or most?) would stay in place. And a systemic (like Banrot or Aliette or others) is great when absorbed. Systemics may be slower though, I read a study somewhere that it could take 1 to 2 weeks to get from the soil to the crown. So I like the idea of the 2 step treatment. I did a soil drench of Banrot + Aliette on a few key palms like my mutant Elaeis, a couple big Arenga Pinnata, and several Attalea Brejinhoensis. Those were all seriously burnt and the frond stems were at least partially burnt towards the crown. So I figure both is a good choice. @junglejim welcome to PalmTalk! I had a couple of 1-2 year old Pandanus Utilis (I think), but both died after 27-30F frosts. They defoliated and started to regrow, but then caught a crown rot and died. So a good crown treatment (Daconil, hydrogen peroxide, Mancozeb, any copper-based, etc) and a systemic (Banrot, Aliette, others) is a good choice.

@pj_orlando_z9b + @Kiplin + @PalmBossTampa + @gyuseppe These are my Phoenix reclinata hybrids with a juvenile coconut that got 100% defoliated for comparison. My best guess is that they are crossed with Phoenix canariensis since that was the closest other species, but they don't have enough trunk to say for sure. Guest appearances from Livistona chinensis, Syagrus romanzoffiana, and Washingtonia robusta as well.

My Robusta isn't very leaf hardy. Low 20s , the fronds will turn brown, all of them. I see some they look exactly like mine but seem to handle the cold better. At least mine is pretty bud hardy and recovers fast. I leave the fronds on until they're crispy but the new frond that is currently seeking daylight doesn't look bad at all.

Cibolo TX Post Winter storm report: Temps in my neck of the woods hit 19F or 20F, with some freezing rain. As usual, I think the freezing precipitation was the bigger problem. C. radicalis with East Northeast exposure and partial overhead protection from the eave of the house. P. dactylifera was almost immediately dead. It was about 3 ft in overall height and very healthy going into this event. I covered it, but not until it was already wet. So it's spear pulled almost immediately after the freeze. It's leaves were brown within a few days. I cut the trunk down and there was no living tissue left, despite treating it with hydrogen peroxide within a couple of days of the ice. Butia took a little longer to show damage. It was covered with a large patio umbrella, but it blew off during the storm. It was a couple of weeks before the newest leaves started losing color. Spear pulled, and I have been treating it with H2O2 as well. No signs of a new spear yet. Even my S. mexicanas (No protection) have a leaf or two that have lost their color. This surprised me: My Washingtonia that grows like a weed looks pretty much perfect with no protection: Not all Washingtonians are created equal though. This is what another one just a couple of houses down from mine looks like: Small trachycarpus F x Ws took no damage with a bucket to cover them:

Chrysalidocarpus Basilongus

Patiently waiting for the seed to mature

Yep this year apparently it's just normal for me to be below freezing half the winter. Normaly it's super hard to get below freezing buttons year its just normal. I'll have to break out all the protection again since I'm forecast to be 35 as of now witch means more like 30.

Yesterday, the girlfriend got me a European Fan Palm as an early birthday present. I repotted it this morning. This is my first time growing one of these.

There are people who plant palms year round. It's a matter of taste.

The cold spell that Florida had in early February.

I think you're on to something. After a night that dip down to 32 degrees for a short time mine had almost no visible damage. But it's a fine line to walk because after that a hard freeze hit putting temps at mid 20's for several hours. Even covered that killed it. Photos are difference between short 32 and extended 20's

Thank you Thank you! I have never asked any gardening type questions on the internet before because I'm usually good with just waiting and see what happens. The aloe tree has always done well and this bothered me enough to ask someone who knows more than i do about it. I have a feeling that you're right, mainly because i have never even seen another one of these trees before. I think they're popular in southern California or more arid parts of the southwest, by the lake in central florida is not this plants natural habitat. I randomly got it from a guy with a nursery in st pete. But... i did at least take warning about it's size and heavy/damaging branches, so i put it where it can get as big as it wants without being able to damage structures or anything important. This variety seems to not mind excess water from rainy season and likes the nutrient deficit sand on the central florida ridge. I read they would die at 21 degrees, which is unheard of here and 24 was the coldest it's been in 20yrs. But the wind resistant is my biggest concern, (until this hard freeze) there are summer downburst that come across the lake as powerful as any hurricane just a shorter duration, in it's smaller state it shrugged off a direct hit from cat2 hurricane, but i fear it will be a different story when it's bigger. Do people ever trim them to stay lower and squatty rather than high?

Some lessons have to be learned the hard way. Prioritizing instant gratification often just leads to punishment in the long run, when it comes to plants (and other things in life, of course). I bought a copernicia fallaensis in the middle of the winter a couple of years ago. It had an infection when I got it, unbeknownst to me, and it never really fully recovered from that. I will be adding it to the mulch pile soon. I was all excited when I got it because it looked nice and I couldn't help but to envision what it could look like one day. I, like you, thought I was getting a good deal. I also got a beccariophoenix alfredii that was about that size two years ago. It was way overgrown for its pot and its roots were badly entangled in the pot. I thought I was getting a good deal because of how tall and overgrown it was for its pot size. I tried transplanting it all on my own without the help of any landscaper or nursery employee, too. It's now about ready for the mulch pile itself. It never really took hold in its current location and was an extremely slow grower. Then the cold snap this winter finally took it out for good. Now, both of these palms were planted in my backyard, which seems to not be as favorable in general for palms... Anything planted in my front yard seems to grow better, for whatever reason. Point is, regardless, there's a method to buying palms in a way that leads to success. It's best to avoid buying things in the middle of the cold season. It's also best to avoid transplanting things in a way that causes root damage. In most cases, it's better to buy small. In this case, it may seem like the nursery screwed you over, but you also shouldn't really be palm shopping in December. And most nurseries won't stop you from yourself - if you're about to do something unwise they (mostly) won't lose out on an opportunity to make some money. Maybe this one makes it, and maybe it doesn't, but it's all part of the process of learning how to grow palms.

@PalmBossTampa Looks like you got a little too excited with the flamethrower!

Did you cut them open? I have had seed sink, I cut them open, and no embryo. Some even hollow.

Sounds perfectly fine to me. This stuff happens in nature all of the time and nature has it's own way of sorting this stuff out.

So here in Florida we had that cold front that did a number on all my Clusia plants and my two Christmas palms which are babies and were just put in the ground. The Sylvester palm is thriving great. what can I do to speed up the growth process? the Christmas palms have all turned brown and the new frond sprouting looks brown as well. They do seem to be alive, just need a lot of love. I have been watering them. Anything I can give them to help them.

Oh yes how well I remember! Now I can do the same thing!

My verschaffeltia splendida gaining size and opening a new leaf. and my Areca macrocalyx starting to show some nice colour.

Interesting flowers on the Chambeyronia Macrocarpa . This is the first inflorescence so I’m not sure fruit will happen . Previous spathes would not open at all. Harry By the look of the crown shaft swelling , maybe more on the way.

Took Sancho for a hike through the woods today and we saw some interesting tree growth --- I have no idea what would cause them to grow like this. Maybe they were wrapped around something years and years ago? Anyway, cool stuff.

I have a question why is there no Mid Atlantic Palm Society I know there is plenty of palm growers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware And more that would be happy to be in a palm society. (I don't know if this is the right place to post this if it isn't please move it to the right place)

Hey, just curious how the chapter start-ups are going? Feels like a sports league adding expansion teams Im rooting for you (pun intended)

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...

So moved. Interesting. Hopefully it proves not to be a one-off.

Phoenix I planted was mowed over with a tractor 🤦‍♂️, but very much alive, cut back yesterday and barricaded with landscape fabric and rocks and mulch, spears already grew up one cm or so in one day. These can grow in cool summer conditions well.

looks like a star, impressive

Blooming a little earlier this year. Tons of buds to come. It spent the entire winter outside with no protection,so looks a little ratty at the moment. Also started a few seedlings from the seeds it produced last year. I believe it is also the only flowering specimen in the entire state of Arizona. People just don't grow,what they don't know...🤷‍♂️ aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Last one. V. joannis. Another beautiful species, pendant leaves are the feature. The crownshaft not near as nice as V. arecina in my opinion. Growth pretty much the same as V. arecina. (this spell check is driving me nuts, gonna have to check into that) Hard to get a good photo of this one, but it's finally starting to have a presence. Tim