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I am so sorry to hear about Walter! I have been following photos of his garden in Lake Placid since approximately 2003! He taught so many people about growing palms in central Florida. Thank you for letting us know.

I just got back from a brief road trip to Bahia de Los Angeles to see the northernmost red mangroves on an island in the Gulf of California! It is a tiny coastal village in the middle of nowhere with no cell service and only satellite internet. Nevertheless, I stumbled upon some incredibly rare palms in a random garden! Anyone know any information about this garden? I tried knocking on the doors nearby but nobody was home, but there was a house pipe with wet ground beneath it so it looks like someone is tending to these palms. Click here if you want to see ALL the photos from the road trip First is the trip's purpose: the colony of red mangroves with the second pic being the particular northernmost mangrove in the colony. I'm guessing palms are Medemia argun, Bismarckia nobilis, Copernicia baileyana, Hyphaene coriacea, Cocos nucifera (only one in the village), Sabal riverside, Brahea armata (native), and Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera.

The palm didn’t miss a beat with the move… Seems equally happy in its new location. Both the old and new locations see a lot of sun (the new location slightly more sun than the old). I haven’t tried it in either of my two “worst of the worst” spots for sun, but it seems fairly sun tolerant to me (within reason). Likely similar to lutescens in that regard, but more cold tolerant (as in fewer “fried” looking fronds coming out of winter). Here’s a snap I just took at 9:30am this morning…

Walt's wife just posted on the main forum on an Elaeis guineensis post that he passed away in June 2025. I don't know if she is aware of this subforum so figured I would post here. I never met Walt, however, have been following his posts on his garden since approximately 2003. He was one of the first contributors who regularly posted photos in posts, which I always appreciated because I lived in Seattle, WA at the time and loved seeing palm photos. It was fascinating learning about the difference between USDA zones in CA and FL because of him, as he would "famously" grow coconuts in USDA zone 9b! He also would share photos of his trees that would recover from seasonal frosts. Anyways, his posts will be missed!

Acquired from Floribunda and planted January 2019, this palm is looking really lovely at the moment. It has always been a very spiny thing, but yesterday I did a double take -- it's as smooth as a fine suede jacket! And such color! No evidence of the "rubra" (red) for which it is named, but beautiful all the same. Still young, and has only a few spines on one side of the trunk. I'm interested to see yours -- please share photos if you are growing this species.

I’ve been cleaning up the garden beds recently, and they are packed with bromeliads. Here’s some of my favorites so far this year. They really start to multiply over the years.

crysophilla warscewizianus Johannesteijsmannia Altifrons Chuniophoenix nana All looking rather good! And they catch my eye continually!

Here’s a picture of Sabal palmetto along the St. John’s River in central florida. Roots can grow in air and in standing water. The river edges get flooded from each hurricane and thats what probably eroded away the shoreline overtime. I thought this picture clearly shows how resilient and impressive this species is.

Came out true...I just had one seed I left sprouted to see if it would come true and it did. Picture attached...

A gift from a palm talk member @Harry’s Palms sent me some decipens seeds. They have germinated quite well and apparently they came from a well know palm growers collection. Which makes them even more special to me. I put some seeds in and the rest got disturbed to a few other fellow palm talk members in Australia. And it seems none of there ones have germinated yet, so if those couple of growers need a lesson on germinater palm seeds iam running a online course just for those couple of members 🤣 so they can’t blame the seeds! But jokes aside thank you Harry for the lovely gift of seeds, they have become rather special now! Richard

Lc. Irene Finney ' Springs Best' AM/AOS; 1964 (Lc. Bruno Alberts x Catt. J.A. Carbone). I love this variety, so reliable blooming every spring and not fussy at all in care. The most regal of my catts. And cattleyas taking over my kitchen table, can’t wait to kick them all outdoors when our night time temps finally get above 50 degrees F in May….

So sorry to hear about Walt's passing. What a fine gentleman and a real cutting edge palm enthusiast. He always made keen observations about the intricacies of his climate, in the lower Central Florida ridge and lake area. I know that he pioneered the introduction of many cutting edge palms in his area, including but not limited to Cocos nucifera. I greatly enjoyed his stories about his time in the navy and his experiences observing the effect of the Gulf Stream on temperatures off Charleston when his ship hit it in the winter. He also spent a number of years in Key West in the Navy and that had to pique his interest in palms. God bless Walt!

Chrysalidocarpus pauleenensis?

some of my ALSTROEMERIA in bloom, called lily of the Andes of Peru

Here are a couple of pics from the garden and the parent to your babies! Harry One of two that produce copious amounts of fruit . This is the smaller one of the two. A Ceroxyline ( spelling?) at the Sullivan garden. Hedyscape that is doing quite well in Ventura at their apartment building by Ventura College. Looking up at the SECOND STORY of the building ( to give scale).

Good going mate! I am still holding out hope for some here . Terry Sullivan ( his family is the owner of the parent palms) told me it takes quite some time to germinate and are tricky here. I have had a few success messages from folks I distributed to . If only one palm grows from my efforts , it will have been worth the effort. The parent palms are such lovely examples that it seems only right that the seeds are germinated for others. Terry told me the back story of the palms . His mother and father had a tropical nursery in Ventura in about 1951 ( the year Terry was born) and they had only 3 seeds which became the two palms that are gifting the world with all these seeds! When I first saw the palms , about 1990 , they were such a statement that I had to ask what they were . My mentor at the time was very familiar with the garden and told me . I would ride my bicycle by there occasionally just to see the collection. A few years later I met Terry at a coffee bar and after a brief conversation realized he was Pauline’s son! We are still friends to this day . A very nice family and super generous. Harry

I'm sure if one were to make arrangements in advance, you could safely do some exploring in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. You would not be able to wander off on your own, and permissions from tribes would have to be arranged in advance, similar to what I've heard about New Caledonia, and escorts obviously required. Bo and I went to Goroka in the highlands of Papua New Guinea in September 2024 to see 2 days of the Goroka cultural show. Honestly, I don't remember any unusual palms while we were there, but we didn't (and couldn't) wander off anywhere -- to the show grounds, the city center, and back to our Airbnb. Afterward we went to New Britain island and on a guided walk into the hills we were excited to come across some Licuala, some thorny climbing palms, maybe calamus? rattan? and a few big Caryota, impossible to see the whole of the palm. Honestly we saw more African oil palms than anything. The following year in the Raja Ampats, islands off of West Papua, Indonesia I came across a major infestation of Metroxylon sagu, and was so excited! Then on a break from diving in the Fam Islands I saw some palms that were new to me -- scroll down in this thread: It would be thrilling to get beyond the main Papua New Guinea and West New Guinea destinations and into the wilds. I had spent some time in my copy of "Palms of New Guinea" but exploration was quite limited and never saw a Wallaceodoxa. Not a chance. Best corals I've ever seen in my life, though.

Estaba con la esperanaza que alguien aqui conoceria la persona responsable para esa sorpresa en el medio de la nada! XP There are trunking coconut palms all the way up to San Felipe! There is actually one on the side of the main road just a few miles south of the outskirts of Mexicali as well that's about to get a trunk that I've seen over the last few years.

A fellow Floridian can better tell you how quickly these recover. For me, it come down to cost. Queens are very cheap. I would opt for a larger one in 10" or 14" pot.

Intriguing subject regarding the lack of palms from what one would expect to be one of the most lucrative areas in the world-New Guinea. It causes me to wonder how Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, on the Intracoastal in WPB was able to score this Calyptrocalyx spicatus probably 70 years ago:

In an area full of Copernicia's:

My spindle is growing a new frond. 2 fronds were lost to roommates abusing it. 1 to spidetmites.

… you end up finding one more spot 🤣 Old man palm. Perfect for small areas.

Fantastic view, Harry 🤗and a picture that looks like it was painted by Pablo Picasso or some other great artist. What fascinates us most is that it keeps changing and looks different and great every time—it’s magnificentand. we're glad that you and your wife continue to enjoy it time and again; that's a special kind of appreciation 🤗

This sunrise caught my eye as I venture out onto our deck . Harry Sunrise over the palms….

Oh, and I forgot to mrntion... This 42" pot isn't too heavy on it's own, when full of potting soil and a decent palm tree, I wouldn't try to move it... It's very heavy and awkward... Butch

Hi Carlos, This is Walter's wife, Walter passed away in June. I haven't seen any seeds from oil palm yet. Lots of (teddy bear) seeds Dypsis leptocheilos . Cathy

Sure looks nice there . I am so glad it handled the move so well. There is something about successful transplants that rewards the gardener. Planting a palm and watching it grow is great , digging one up and transplanting it , then seeing it thrive is awesome! I have been gifted palms from people who no longer wanted them , “ just dig ‘em up and you can have them” , it’s truly gratifying. I have dug up and moved volunteers , same feeling. Harry

tried many times, but always dead in summer

A few more exotics going in again! It’s not only rare palms but the exotics accent the palms and the palms accent the exotics! Draceana surcullosa zingiber sp from Borneo cycas deboansis x multipinata

Awesome! Random Medemia and Hyphaene in the middle of nowhere is wild

Indeed they are, lanonia dasyantha would be great palm for you to grow!

Super easy to germinate just a warm place or bottom heating 30 degrees Celsius. Only problem is dont break there roots. I have a hundred seeds in at the moment starting to pop up, they are best grown in a coco coir perlite mix with about 30 percent good quality potting mix. There easy to grow but dont let them dry out!

This plant needs to be potted up badly. I'm willing to sell this plant for $1100. Socal pick-up only, or perhaps I can meet some of you out of towners half way (within reason). This plant will be put into a box the first weekend of April and will no longer be available for this price. 9+ X 9+ inches of caudex, super blue, sex unknown.

I saw one of these in person at the DC National Arboretum they're very cool!

Thank you so much! Yes, I assumed someone with palm knowledge would bring a Medemia argun there since they aren't very easy to come across! haha You really know your plants! I can't believe how common Bursera hindsiana are for not showing up on any of my google searches when I was trying to identify it... but that's totally it! Thank you! Bahia de Los Angeles is about 6 hours from the border, however I live by Mexicali, so it's a little closer than coming from San Diego. Thank you for the sand dollar ID too! bonus!

The assumed palm IDs are in the last paragraph!

The town of Bahia de los Angeles is at 28.95 N.

Palm Sunday - looks like our last freeze is behind us! Going in-ground this weekend with a few agave and Sabals. Also adding a L. Chinensis to my protected section. Elephant ears and exotics are going outside. This year will be all about non-palm additions. Working on adding “fillers, thrillers, and spillers” to my beds. Saving $ for some rare broadleaf evergreens around my wooded area, and a lot of flowers for my wife. Also working on re arranging my garden to be more low-maintenance. Putting the right plants in the rights spot, and not having to water so much. My favorite addition has been a Bog Planter/Frog Hotel I’ve started for the kids. Really looking forward to this taking off.

Very nice!

I think A macrocalyx is one of those species where the >2000m examples are the outliers for the species. In cultivation A macrocalyx is known to be particularly wimpy to cold especially the red var marie. I guess possibly most in cultivation originate from much lower altitude which would be true tropics? Heterospathe muelleriana and H obriensis interest me because they aren’t known below 1000m so would expect them to have some cool tolerance. Not sure I’ll ever be going on a seed hunting expedition up there, good luck to anyone willing!

Iam already thinking of building another one. Palm growing n ver ends, once your hooked it’s an addiction palms. It is fun and very rewarding, if you choose the right plants!

They were probably imported from the US because getting most of those species in my country is super hard.

We have liftoff.... Shy -er potted specimen kicking things off .. " Sidewalk Shorty " joining in this morning.. Specimen at the old house is also blooming now.. Larger, planted specimen and bigger, more reliable potted specimen will be opening flowers shortly... Guaiacum sanctum.. Hippies at peak bloom.. Echinocereus reichenbachii v. albispinus Thelocactus bicolor Echinocereus englemanii ..i think.. " Black - Spined form " with a surprise.. Planted out last fall and wasn't expecting any sort of flowering until ..at least.. next spring. First come them fuzzy buds.. Next come the season's first flowers bathed in moonlight, and shot again in the morning . ..Could be Oenothera pallida after all, but, ..i'm still not convinced. Some other Clarkia amonea color forms.. ...It's one thing for the recent heat to really put the " Bam! " in " Palo Verde Season " this year. ..It's another thing entirely to see -any- flowers on neighborhood Ironwood already. Noticed buds atop a few of the Saguaro planted by the mall as well. Randoms a few.. Coast Live Oak seedling = doing pretty well so far, despite purposely leaving it out where it is fully exposed to both a lot sun and the recent heat.. ..We'll see how it fares as we edge closer to the hottest part of the year...

Hydriastele gibbsiana is very high up on my wishlist. Never seen seed available or even really spoken about anywhere in cultivation. Still never grown Ptychococcus lepidotus but would like to try. Other than that, there’s a few highland Calamus species that would likely grow well in our climates, but still not too many others from >2000m. Palms of New Guinea is a good resource which has a nice summary I’ve attached. The Heterospathe sp are interesting.

I'm biased. Needs redone though... AI art is trash.

My lafazamanga caught my eye this evening, and I thought I’d share a photo of it post-transplant (which happened months ago). 🪏 as far as I can tell, it’s very happy in its new location, and hasn’t missed a beat from the move.🤞 Has been such a great plant for me, so I’m hoping it will do as well in the new (equally prominent) location. 💕

I feel like I should recognize these palms. But I don’t. Maybe my brain is waterlogged after too many days 20 meters underwater. This is in the Fam Islands. Anyone know? Below: the view from this spot