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Two of my Kentiopsis oliviformis are getting ready to bloom for the first time

I didn't think this would open sky flowers but I was mistaken. It is a pleasant surprise to see them.

You got me on this one Dave by a few years! Remember the older we get the better our palms look!

Last Friday, this Iriartea deltoidea dropped a flower sheath with a loud "thwop!" and shook itself out like a wet mop. A day or two later I finally returned with the camera to capture the glowing flowers. Now on the fourth day, the bees are still buzzing around it. These stately palms are a favorite.* I first saw them in Costa Rica, looking down on the fluffy crowns from hanging bridges, mesmerizing. These individuals were planted in July of 2011. IMG_5346.MOV *(All my palms are favorites.)

Found five Nubium a in the back of the greenhouse, it’s great having so many plants. You forget what you have until you see them again. So a quick repot and we have great chamaedoreas underway ready for next springs plantings.

It is that time of year again in the Northern Hemisphere. Mostly a variety with orange flowers here in my garden. They make a nice green ground cover when not in bloom.

The palm in the lower two pictures is sending out three inflorescences at once.

Dypsis saintlucei in flower, Chambeyronia macrocarpa and hookerii both flowering together, dypsis rosea and a archontophoenix Cunninghamiana with that rare orange leaf for a bit of colour!

Time for a bit of a repot on the confusa to get them going! They absolutely love the conditions in the greenhouse!

Dave it looks healthy so hopefully the spathe will open normally and you will actually get a flower bract. My largest has produced the flower spathes for years, only to abort them before opening. It is currently holding two, but I have learned not to expect much from them.

The first is Aiphanes minima. They are usually very spiny but can vary with less. And older palms often have less spines on the trunk as they age and wear off. Older Acrocomia do this too. I think the mystery skinny palm is Reinhardtia paiewonskiana.

A nice healthy Hedyscepe Canterburyana. And a group of three new plantings.

It looks like this one has many years to go before I see any flowers 💐

I have lots of pots in my nursery with moss on top of the soil. For me it is a good sign of a healthy microclimate. It doesn’t affect growth and for most palms it’s a good indicator of moisture at the right level.

Chamaerops humilis var. argentea (syn. Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera)

I found this photo from March 2016 with a description of Dypsis robusta in the ground. I'm not sure if I had just planted it or if it was a little before this that it went into the ground. The growth over a decade from this picture to the current is accurate though.

C nubium is such a great palm to grow from seed. Very robust, I’ve never lost one and relatively quick too. The one I planted in the ground in Spring is now flowering and producing clean trunk and it’s only a bit over 3 years old. Got a bit burnt from our extreme heat days this summer when this photo was taken but it’s just superficial and still growing well. This species has absolutely no problem with long cool winters; I suspect it would do well down in Tassie (and cool parts of SF Bay, etc)

A nifty diminutive palm from New Guinea, Hydriastele rheophytica. Loves water hence, the name, and sparsely clumping. I remember Brad posting a photo of one in his garden not too long ago. Tim

Progress:

Here’s a few of my own Texas palms. Still babies.

other alstroemeria in bloom

A few more new ones up this week. And even a few more joeys popping up!

A few more across the bench. A nice little Geonoma interupta from @tim_brissy_13 that’s still doing well. And a couple of basselina pseudovelitina growing well. And a hundred percent strike rate on a few Cham Metallica palms from home grown seeds.

A nice lepidozamia hopei flush with a beautiful plant in cone! A lovely pair sitting together!

That’s my understanding too. This one is definitely either a dwarf or what they call a semi dwarf.

I have what seems to me, a very strange situation. I have a 4 year old Sabal seedling that has shot up an inflorescence. Im not sure how this is possible at this age, and I have confirmed that the flower stalk is not from some rando weed seed in the pot. I wonder if it can set seed, and if so if the seed would be viable. Seems weird

Thanks for sharing. I hope you have many more palm trees or photos to show us.

Wow, Eric, I thought you might be joking a la "Reinhardtia pie-in-the-sky-ana"...I have only ever known about Reinhardtia simplex and gracilis and never looked any further into the genus...and now I see that this is a real thing...what a nice palm when well grown (see the beautiful pictures online at RPS), and why isn't it in greater cultivation?? I can't believe I've never heard of this thing. I'm always on the lookout for slender-trunked, more gracile palms as they serve such a purpose in our smaller residential landscapes (and easier to protect where I am in hot/sunny Palm Springs). I was wondering at first if this might be another species that I've been trialing here, Heterospathe uniformis, which has a similar form, and which cruised through our winter here (albeit a warm one this year). Does this Reinhardtia have any cold-hardiness? Perhaps your familiarity with it indicates you might be trialing it up in Orlando? I'd be interested to hear how it has fared in this great-for-testing Florida winter from which y'all have just emerged. And thanks, Bubbakeith, for showing this very interesting "what in the world" (and which were my thoughts exactly upon seeing it).

Nice Bruce! I have a few Butia spathes getting ready to open, so fresh pollen would be great for trying to make some hybrids!

My diannanensis decided to throw a double cone!!! 😯. Need to find a female so I can produce pure species on this, as the ones at @edbrown_III house are phenomenal specimens! Multifrondis also coning...looks like more hybrids this year! 😁

I’ve had this happen on Sabal palmetto and S mexicana and also Jubaeopsis afra more recently. Unfortunately in all cases, it is terminal and causes death to the palm and no viable seed is set. I’m really not sure what the root cause is, I’ve heard speculation it is nutrient deficiency but it can seem to happen at random. I haven’t heard of a single case of survival of this kind of premature flowering from anyone.

Reviving this old thread because I have SO much moss everywhere now. Today I was peeling back thick carpets of moss to sprinkle fertilizer around my palms. Palm trunks with thick moss on them have attracted (?) epiphytes such as the furry-foot "fern" that can strangle a palm, and Clusia rosea, the aggressive autograph tree, as well as wild orchid species that don't belong up in the crown of a palm . Okay, I'm not sure which arrives first, the moss or the epiphytes, but it seems far more prevalent than ever. Any fresh thoughts, experiences with moss? Curious to hear more.

Always a moving moment for the owner

You can cut the tall stems out of the clump at any time . The long petioles are because of low light. The more sun it gets , the shorter the petiole will be . New stems should continue when it gets in a larger pot. Harry

I don’t know Richard I think that Dypsis rosea new frond would be much redder down here - send it down and I’ll look after it 🤣

Merlyn, I totally respect Tim's expert opinion on this palm. Many years ago I inquired and was told that it was a Macaw palm. Many of these older Carribean palms have spines but seem to lose them with age. All pictures on Palmpedia or elsewhere show spines but as you can see none on this trunk. It cracks me up about the dwarf, semi-dwarf or standard A. catchetu! Who knows! I am most interested in identifying the "what in the world" palm. I will get better pictures that will hopefully assist the experts with identification. Thank you and everyone for their help.

I tried zooming in on the trunk and upper crown area, and I think there are thorns up near the top. Do some Aiphanes (or Bactris, etc) lose the trunk thorns with age? I don't think I've ever seen an old one in person, so I have no idea.

My wife was walking one of our cat on a leash outside (they are indoor cats) and she knocked over my nice tall ceramic pot with a Dendrobium speciosum ssp Pedunculatum in it. The original tiny plastic 3" pot was undamaged and the roots filled the ceramic pot encircling the cobblestones I used to hold the plastic pot at the top. It's new pot will be short and stout when I finish replanting it. I think it will handle the move fine.

Buba🌴🌴🦜🦜

Those grassy growths are not part of the palm , at least I’ve never seen anything like that growing out of a Rhapis palm. Your palm looks healthy and I wouldn’t worry too much about the change in location , as long as it gets bright , indirect light. I would remove the grassy stuff when you repot it . To me , your palm looks more like a Rhapis Humilus than Excelsia . The pointy leaf tips are not typical of Excelsia that usually have blunt , toothed tips. Harry Leaf tips of outdoor grown Rhapis Excelsia with some sun exposure You can see the tips are blunt and toothed. I hope this helps. The Rhapis Humilis , which is what I believe you have , would come to a point at the tips.

I don't remember what @Scott W said this was hybridized with but I swear it's half sago half pothos.

With winter approaching, fingers crossed for this one. It’s the hot dry low humidity that they dislike!

In Florida, absolutely. In Texas north of the RGV - not so much. Even here Adonidia isn't easy to find. The blue big box store just started selling Hyophorbe lagenicaulis here again this past year after several years. I wouldn't mind trying one of those coconuts if it's mature enough to be viable. ☺️

Agree. I tried the "weepy" form and it completely bombed out. This is a palm for SOCAL not FL. They don't take kindly to months of swelter and humidity. I believe they require a significant night time cooldown to survive long term. I've come to the conclusion that the genus Chrysalodocarpus prefers the Cali mediterranean climate over the FL tropical climate. I've tried a number of species, i.e., robusta, piulifera, yadda, yadda and succeeded with none of them.

Stangeria eriopus with a new frond coming

I have a lot of affection for this elegant palm. And the seeds are so pretty, too!

Been pleasantly surprised by my one and only to sprout from a small seed batch last year. Hasn’t been fully exposed to the elements yet but has coped with the cool. Suchan interesting and colourful little seedling. Very rewarding from seed.