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A few intresting varieties of palms caught my eye, as watered away! Dypsis rosea Rhapis nanzanishiki Dypsis tsaravoasira synecanthus warscewiczianus I

Another old frond removal today. This one is particularly special as it's the only solitary maroon leaf, red vestiaria I've ever been able to find. And believe me I've looked.

If you’re after a beautiful easy growing palm, look no further than the dasyantha. They seem to love whatever iam doing to them. A beautiful understory palm. I have a few in dappled light to deep shade to morning sun and they all seem to love growing in these conditions. They will drink as much water as you give them and a little tolerance to mild dry conditions if you miss a watering. I love them super easy to grow and not too bad on the eye, the poor man’s mapu is definitely worth growing. I even lucked up with a variegated variety from a seed batch I germinated.

I don’t think these are Adonidia.

Rich your advice was spot on. I didn't intervene and consequently didn't get any viable fruit to set. The leaf base came off that was holding the old inflorescence today. It revealed some nice color too.

One of the world’s most beautiful palms imo. But they won’t really grow here, so I can only admire them while traveling. In the tropics, their success is their downfall, as, like Cocos, they’re everywhere. Kind of like P. robellini out here.

Archontophoenix!

For reasons, unknown, this elegant palm does not receive much attention or admiration. I decided to take some shots today of ordinary specimens here in the hood:

I'd better go and tell all of mine that they are breaking the rules here in my 9b climate...and in all the cool, high altitude, wet mountain valleys I've seen them in in habitat! Be wary of blanket statements.

Kind of looked like Archontophoenix Cuninghamiana to me. Harry

A few more, here’s a close up of a frond I showed in the last post for growth comparison. then this one The visible trunk form a distance 😍

Chrysalidocarpus loucoubensis sowing some color after a frond drop. Tim

The ‘ole’ Chrysalidocarpus paucifolius, aka ‘orange crush.’ Love the scale that growing in almost solid rock dictates. Tim

Hello you guys, I'm moving across the country and I'm sadly getting rid of all my plants. Prices are negotiable. wholesale discounts available. Zamia furfuracea x spartea $5 ea Zamia standleyi $5 ea Zamia nesophila $25 ea Zamia Purpurea $30 ea Agave parryi var. huachucensis $2 Agave oteroi $2 Agave potatorum 'Dwarf' $2 Agave horrida subsp. horrida $2 Agave potatorum 'Verschaffeltii' $2 African violet Sunny salmon $5 African violet carolina elegant affair $5 African violet bob serbin $5 Begonia jubar $7 Begonia chloroneura $7 Sarracenia hybrid small seedling pot $3 Drosera capensis "alba" Drosera capensis "Red" Shipping priority $8 DM to inquire further or if you'd like to see any more pictures!

I’ve got these young Geonoma undata seedlings from seed collected at an elevation just over 7,000’ (about 2,000 meters) in Columbia and I have them in a shady location outside at ground level and am wondering if a heat mat would be beneficial to them. My December-January typical high-low temperatures are between 65-40F. Would adding 15 to 20F degrees to their soil, particularly at night, be good or not? Darold, I bet you know.

Yepp, Agree 100%... Would insert " Much " between the " ... a better ..." portion of your statement. Regardless, Yet to see a Mule that hasn't gotten through our summers w/out looking good. X 2 on Sabal sps doing well here.. Like Royals, while they aren't as common as they could be locally, there are some great examples planted in various neighborhoods near me ( Also in Chandler ) S. blackburnia ( and other sps seen here ) aside, harder to find but Sabal uresana is probably the Sabal sp. best adapted to our heat/ unpredictable rainfall patterns. Blue < Highland > form is more distinct / eye catching than the green < coastal > form. If you have enough room, you might also look over species in the Genus Brahea.. Most of them handle our conditions perfectly. The opposite of a water hog once established after planting as well.

When you were at tree land, you may have noticed the central oasis display at the rear of the retail area of the nursery. Large examples of Sabal blackburniana and a Cuban royal (Roystonea regia) are planted in that area, and have been there over 25 years. The sabal would be a bomb proof planting in Chandler. The royal is doable, but should be sited with some protection from our summer afternoon sun to get established. Planted on the east side of a house, or with shade producing trees to the west, it will survive unless you get a freeze below 25F. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Sabals do great in Phoenix! Royals are good but hard to find! Mules would be a better replacement than queens!

Just some queens left to fend for themselves at the Port of Houston next to the cargo terminals (Bayport). Still growing despite neglect and a very cold winter 😊

Thanks so much for taking the time to look over the guide. This is very helpful. I’ll look into fixing this if I get time to do the next revision

I have one here that, when kept brutally dry, seems to have survived a drop to 24.6 with nothing more than a weed matt cover. I think they survive cold better when super dry but that remains to be seen. It's very small still too, and I expected death last year, so to survive hard freezes two years in a row is impressive. It does look the worst out of everything but the chrysalidocarpus basilongus though lol.

wonderful, Richard

Absolutely beautiful, keep looking for more single stem beauties I say. I just managed to germinate a stack of them, I will keep an eye for the elusive single stem!

Couple updates and a couple fresh tweeties amongst the cycas

Thank you for putting this together. Definitely has potential as a book but does need more work. Esthetics I personally love the 18th-century botanical exploration look-and-feel. Yes, it does feel AI-ish but I can get over that. As far as I am concerned, keep the parchment feel but perhaps give the sentences more space to make it easier on the eyes. There are typos (e.g., "indicaition", "piized", "sub-teneranean"), redundancies (e.g., "trap warm air") and certain sentences are cut off (e.g., last sentence Myth page). Clarity Overall, pretty good. I think certain points can be made clearer. When you write, for example, that "it is often the low temperature they face that damages them", we palm nerds know what you mean but this is meaningless, or may even seem needlessly simplistic, to the average reader. The point is actually a very good one and worth making: Zone hardiness maps are based on averages across X years whereas plants are mostly sensitive to extremes; or, a 5F does occur in 8A. When speaking about foundation planting, its clear that they provide year-round structure and consistent tropical character, however, the point that foundation plants provide new introductions you want to trial is not clear to me (this is probably a error on your part). The picture next to explaining microclimates to south-facing walls is potentially misleading. It may make people believe that a walkway light will create a microclimate. A picture showing sunshine hitting the wall would be supportive of the text. These are just some examples! Content Honestly, I have been doing palms for several years and, although I have had some good mentors and experience, I consider you one of the world's leading experts when it comes to cold protection! Although I generally agree with everything, there's a few statements I am not always sure about if there is good empirical evidence for and I wouldn't be surprised if there are alternative explanations: - Light protection during establishment greatly improves long-term success? (I rarely ever do this except when planting mail orders in Texas summer) - In my experience needle palms can tolerate lower than ~16F when it comes to frond damage - Sabal Palmetto showed high survival rate after 3 F here in Texas. Is 8F too careful? Bedtime here now but this was a great read. Hope the feedback is useful! ~ S

March 4, 2026 This was a very warm winter, constant heatwaves with temperatures in the 80’s. I only ever used the AC 3 times last summer and I used it with this last heat wave when it got to 90f. This big one shot out a new frond. It’s getting really wide. There was a night where it got to like 44f since I last posted and you might be able to see the bronzing on the older fronds if you look closely. This yellow one is looking really good I think. I have been pumping it full of fertilizer constantly…I think it responds to that. Ever since late January, the White fly for the most part stopped attacking this one. I think that means it’s very healthy because of all of the heat and fertilizer because white fly attack weak plants. I should probably plant it soon in ground. I just have no idea where such a big plant could fit. It might replace the inga in the front. This one has had constant issues with white flies. It’s not growing much but that is what it did last year too.

One of my favorite palms, but here, only 1 or 2 of mine are going to make it. The rate of death here after the last event will be roughly 9 out of 10. The good thing about them is they are easy to replace.

I'm almost done with my clean up in the garden. Most plants are already in the recover process, some are still hiding until soil temperature is above 60°F at night. As far as rain goes , doesn’t look too promising. We might get some isolated rain showers up to 0.05" in our area but from my experience it's often less or nothing at all. I can't say it often enough but we're going to continue this cycle unfortunately. Our water reservoir levels are at a steady decline . Guadalupe River level is low so are other rivers , some like the Frio River and Medina River almost vanished like a ghost. River rock beds dominate the landscape. What we need is more than just a storm system .

John , you’re gonna be fine once it catches on and you’re selling more. Spring is right around the corner and folks will want to buy plants , reducing your inventory problem . Hopefully a balance will occur. 🙂 Harry

Picture of a mule and also a coconut queen which is a little harder to find!!

Dypsis louvelli Dypsis lantzeana Calyptrocalyx benga dawn

Hyophorbe indica green and red forms planted as a double showing off a nice contrast of colour.

Licuala orbicularis in the Coffs Harbour botanical gardens.

January 14, 2026 Before the Santa Ana winds comes in usually is the coldest temps of the year where I’m at and these last few days got down to mid 40’sf. Last year that same event brutalized my coconuts but this year the damage is very minimal. It’s kinda hard to see, but there is some spotting and leaf burn on the older fronds especially. Unfortunately, the biggest coconut is extremely close to the powerlines now. My advice to people is assume that your coconuts will be as big as a date palm. We’ll see how that goes. This coconut looks probably the best but it actually got an extremely bad white fly infestation. I smothered it in insecticide and will keep doing that when it comes back. This coconut might look ugly but I think it has a lot of potential. It is infested with white fly but I smother it with insecticide.

Seed season started so there will be a lot of new photos! Also, I'm working on an encyclopedia/gallery with my photos, i invite you all to check it out: Butia yatay - PalmSeedlings Butia yatay | Jelly Palm

Ok, sorry for the delay. Here are recent photos of my Geonoma undata, Dick Endt provenance. I planted these palms in year 2001. The color is not so bright now as when the palms were young. The pinkish color is exposed at first then darkens to maroon at maturity and to chocolate as the frond dies from old age. The petioles hold their color better throughout the frond lifespan. Don't get too excited about the spathes, they are surely not viable and likely won't even open !

After several revisions, I’m excited to share my ongoing PDF guide to cold hardy palms. This has been a long-term project and will continue to evolve as I learn more and gather new experiences. Feel free to share it anywhere by posting the link to the document — that will always point to the latest version for when I update. I am still working on some more pages in time. I truly appreciate all the support, knowledge, and friendships from this forum over the years. My goal has always been simple, help others enjoy and succeed in this hobby as much as I have. Hopefully this information will especially help others new to the hobby. While the design is AI assisted, all photos and text dictation are from my experiences. While I am aware there are a few errors still, let me know what you think TNTropics Cold Hardy Palm Guide https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w9-43MjGhgyQyqgVeQoWXU69GvRGLpdU/view?usp=sharing

Darod Petty and I are coming to the San Diego area the week of March 16th. We have a large truck and are on a buying trip for Northern California Palm Society. members So far we have almost 200 palms ordered from several nurseries in the area. There are several harder to find varieties we are still on the hunt for: Any Ceroxylons, Dypsis onilahensis, Plectocomia himalayana, Arenga ryukyuensis, Beccariophoenix madagascariensis, Butia bonnetii and purpurascens, Geonoma undata, jubaeopsis caffra, Kentiopsis piersoniorum, and Wallichia densiflora. If you have any of these, please let me know - size, price, quantity available etc. Or the other way around, if you have interesting or unusual plants, and think we should stop by, let me know.. Feel free to respond here or reach out to me directly. Thanks - Keith. keithjaeger@gmail.com

Hi Jim just scored a batch of seeds of this palm, my question is what temperature did you germinate them at thanks.

A surprisingly pleasant 85F at 5:32PM.. Immediate forecast, thru the start of next week at least, looks locked in.. More breeziness tomorrow though. Beyond that... some interesting ( but fun to glare at ) " scare - cast scenarios " being tossed around in the model runs today related to the potential return of the heat later on, ..particularly, today's 18z runs from the GFS, AIGFS, and EC - AIFS.. *** Keep in mind: this far out, while each is something to watch over the coming days, NONE of these particular model run outcomes are to be taken seriously. **** Important reference points, particularly for the AZ low desert cities: 582mb heights = Surface /2m temps generally landing somewhere in the 80s ..maybe a few 90s. 585mb heights = Mid 80s / more 90s.. 588... Widespread, " Somewhere in the 90s " kinda heat, isolated / widely scattered readings reaching 100 possible. 591... Upper 90s likely / 50%+ chance of widespread 100s / Some possible 100+ readings. AIGFS = ..The tamest: Relatively flat ridging across the Southwest / Troughiness over the Pac N.W. helping to keep the ridge subdued.. Would get warm of course, but nothing too crazy.. GFS = Middle of the road: Building ridge but still somewhat subdued ..thru this run at least.. Warm, ..about to where we've been so far, maybe a touch hotter. 588mb heights centered just to our west / southwest rather than overhead. EC - AIFS = What the heck is this model seeing: STRONG and pronounced ridge w/ 591mb heights slung over Eastern AZ / Western NM / and TX, and far Northern MEX.. 585mb height line reaching the SF Bay Area / Salt Lake City area. = Would be pretty early to see such a strong ridge develop over the area. Surface temps in this scenario from both Tidbits and Pivotal reach / breach 100F locally. Should this particular thought become reality, and we saw temps reach / exceed 100F, it would occur a few days earlier than the date it actually occurred, March 26th, 1988. 100F also represents the hottest reading ever recorded in March. ..We'll see which ..if any.. of these scenarios lies just beyond the reliable forecast horizon.. That said, ...the way this year has started off, can't toss this outcome / something close to it in the dumpster just yet, either.

20 minutes!

Everyone’s cold hardy favourite the tough old Arenga engleri.

Licuala ramsayi ready to make a mess!

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.

A bit of colour on the new sallaca leaf, and a nice pic of the garden git my attention!

May 11, 2025 I removed the really dead fronds on the bigger one all the way and I think I created the first little bit of trunk. It might have been premature? Not sure but but I hate seeing the bugs playing around on the dead fronds and coco coir husk. This is growing very slow but growing Here is this yellow one.

August 17, 2024 update It has been imo brutally hot and humid 84-89f this last month. At this point, I’ve seen a couple of the coconuts speed up in growth for the first time to some extent. Also I read about dwarf coconuts and those characteristics seem to match the “reddish” coconut I have in the back, so I’m thinking it’s fast growth might be related to it being a dwarf? Anyways, this coco is growing a bit faster, getting fatter and taller, more pinnate. Here are these 2 This coconut has grown beyond the roof of the greenhouse so I removed a piece of the roof for it to shoot out. There are so many benefits to the greenhouse that I’m gonna keep it assembled a while longer. There are so many violent possums, raccoons, and skunks that would love to attack the roots if given the chance. I’m loving the look of it and excited to see its future. This ugly duckling believe it or not is looking better shaped. It has never been beautiful, but it looked better during winter so I don’t know what is upsetting it. This one is getting pretty, I love the vibrant yellow. I’m going to get a nice big clay pot and it will be used as a decoration (no yard space left) This one is built funny, but getting fatter.

Step away from the heat mat, now ! And Do Not Ever let the medium dry out. (Advice from the school of hard knocks)