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H rheophytica and Bismarkia today

Nice one, I have been planting a few around the garden!

Even before we opened at 9am, the garden was buzzing with activity. (9 photos) When we finally opened, some familiar faces showed up to fill their wagons with new plants. Dr. Rossi leads the Tour de Freeze, showcasing the palms that performed best and worst during the cold outbreak that dropped the garden to 21.5F. You can't say the Central Florida folks aren't adventurous, with Rhopalostylus planted. The baureri didn't handle the event as well as cheesemanii. A special thanks to @Jeff Searle, @Fishinsteeg234, @howfam, @STLOUISPALMGUY, @CodyM, Clay Porch and Steve Farnsworth for an excellent selection at the sale. Also a special thanks to @PalmJuan, @ChristianStAug, @RiverCityRichard, @flplantguy, @Jblume, @Kekoanui, and all of our new and current members for making the event a success.

Chambeyronia hookeri

I have Ceroxylon alpinum, quindiuence, and amazonicum doing well for years. No trunks yet but hopefully soon.

Listen to @Butch , NO PEPPER TREE ! They will take over. I had one on my hill that kept blocking my view ( all of it ) . I had it trimmed once a year but after a while grew faster . It was the same cost to cut it down as trimming , so…. Yea it’s gone now . I had to drill holes in the stump and fill with rock salt to stop it from growing back. Harry

As was said , the best fairly tall “screen palms “ are the C. Lutescens but may not look their best in Santa Clarita . They would , if you decide to use them, require copious amounts of water. Several would be required , depending the length you require. I would go about 4’ on center max between clumps . Mine , here in Santa Paula look great but don’t get super wide like they do in more humid climates. My climate is not THAT different than yours. Harry The early morning highlights the golden colour of these palms.

Her are mine on an East facing wall about 15 miles inland in SOC/NLA County.... Biggest problem near a pool is the many dropping seeds... If your not too close to the pool that may not be a problem... Mine may have out grown your screening needs, but you could always remove the larger palms and just keep the smaller ones... Mine just keep putting out new seedlings because of dropped seeds... Just don't put in a pepper tree like my neighbor did 5-6 years ago, for privacy... He put it about 1' away from the corner of 4 adjacent neighbor... That tree is huge now and will someday take out all 4 block walls... It makes a mess on my and 1 other neighbors patio and pools, and shades the other neighbors veggie garden... I keep the limbs trimmed back that overhang my yard, but the other neighbors don't... It's now getting too big for me to trim any farther.. Hopefully Edison will come out and remove it like they did my foxtail... Butch

Dypsis pembana an easy one to grow.

@Than can you observe medium?

The base and crown of mine. The crown has a diameter at least 4 meters; it’s a big boy!

Most definitely not a palm in a windy area, but tuck them away out of the wind and you have a true masterpiece in the garden!

I am in Dublin now. Please help and post interesting addresses to visit to see palms. I will take photos. 🙂

A couple of good collecter palmscocothrinax eckmanii dypsis proceralicuala fordiana

No, these were all planted in 2020 into this area. Here’s a not so good pic of the Bismarckia in the background. This pic was taken on November 15, 2020.

May 3, 2026 update I don’t see much of a difference since the last update. It’s hard to tell when all the new growth is out of my view. It’s been very nice these last few months. yellow golden green

Calyptrocalyx leptostachys. Tim

The first two photos go together…

Tracy, yours looks 100% like beccariana to me. Great looking palm..

Bump...updated photos of #1 and #2 palms. I have a palm acquired from Phil at Jungle Music about a dozen years ago that was labeled as Pritchardia beccariana. I think it most resembles your #2 palm Matty. It has flat, large round leaves with many shallow pleats compared to the deeper pleats on most other Pritchardia I have growing. Steve please share a photo or two of yours as well.

Dave, I’ve always been a “plant them even when they’re tiny” kind of guy. Many of my big honking palms were planted as 2 or 3 inch seedlings directly to the ground. Here are just a few of them…

I had 11/11 (100%) germination from a RPS batch last year. No added heat, just indoor room temperature in baggies of sphagnum moss. Here’s one in April about 4-5 months after germination. A few have now opened the second frond 7-8 months after germination. A solid grower for me in cool Melbourne, I’m keeping them in nearly full shade for now.

This one is around 5years from a bare rooted mail order in a 140mm container. I also dug it up once due to a tree that had to be removed. So it’s just really starting to get a move on. Your temperatures won’t hurt the schefferii lows as 2 degrees celsius in my garden. They are tough and moderately paced growing habit.

Most of my landscape is shaded of partially shaded so I’ve not had any difficulties with acclimating palms from Floribunda. I just plant them and watch them grow. Two of my Ceroxylon came from a now defunct nursery in Southen CA (DR Palms and Plumeria) years ago. The Ceroxylon amazonicum was an eBay purchase about four years ago.

Yes I’m pretty far inland

There is a good chance that the one I collected died ( I’m starting to recall being numbed that it died) and this is the one I got from Jastin. Still I’m pretty sure it’s not baccariana though. It’s gets the crap kicked out of it by basketballs and wiggle balls.

I hate to say it, but as much as I understand wanting one, this seems like it's probably not a good idea. These are very sensitive palms. I don't see them growing well in such conditions. @sonoranfans , thoughts? Also, how are you acquiring these OP?

Yes, I have five of them in the ground...Three of what I'm fairly sure are Jamaican/Atlantic Talls; and two of what I purchased as Red Spicata, in both cases from mail-order nurseries in Miami. They do "fine" here (some other types, however, have collapsed in winter). "Fine" meaning if you find just the right amount of morning sun and dappled shade, in an east- or south-facing area under good canopy, they put out nice leaves...problems being at least when young, they only produce about three leaves per year under those conditions. Really not enough to have a great plant, I feel that five is the absolute minimum for a healthy specimen...though I suspect leaf-production will improve over time. Also some issues with blanching if the sun hits the leaves during the low-sun season, again, careful siting required! There are mature palms here in the desert, most of them now cut down by unwary home-buyers who didn't know or care what they had. The remaining one in La Quinta is impressive in size but the crown can look dry and kind of ratty at certain times of year, and old leaf-bases hold on since there's little rain or humidity to tease them off naturally. Nice to have it here, nonetheless! There are beautiful specimens growing a couple hundred miles southeast of here at Golfo de Santa Clara, but since it's on the Gulf it enjoys humidity and slightly milder highs in summer. The crazy case was an absolutely gorgeous one growing outside of the desert, in Corona of all places, it was beautiful, but when sold, the new owner chopped it down. There are plenty of threads on all of this, if you search, elsewhere on this forum. This topic has been drilled to death here...but ultimately I look at it as a somewhat marginal but fun thing to have around, but I keep it in the "semi-temporary" category. If they start trunking and looking great, so much the better, but I don't necessarily expect it.

A bit of luck with the pollination on the adscendens in the garden. Should go close to another 400 seeds from the rest of the mother plants, not a bad haul from the garden for a relatively rare palm.

Mediterranean fan palms are slow growing and they grow outwards leaving gaps that don’t provide enough screening. Im thinking the best option is probably a non-palm. Im thinking fern podocarpus is probably going to suit my needs and goals. .

I suspect that if I lived in the tropics, I would be bored to tears with this particular palm, but they are an unusual, elegant addition to a Southern California garden. Here are a couple growing in mine and my next-door neighbors yard.

Hi mnorell, and thanks for the question. I have three types Medjool about 120 trees, 50 Zahidi and 10Barhi, I have just started with Barhi and only have 10 trees. Barhi are expensive to get started with at about $300 each as a Medjool is around $50. So for one row of 10 trees with irrigation is about $4,500 to start Barhi, My understanding of the Barhi cost is from them not producing as many offshoots compared to Medjools. I'm all ears on growing one off's like my favorite a Zahidi but it comes down to how do you get 40-50 trees at one time to allow a good start and from whom? I know they have farms but its very difficult and some times they do not like to share and the next obstacle is these types of trees cant be imported. I'm all for a group effort or even to take advice for what would be the next tree that has interest.

Yep, ^ this is exactly what i saw when roaming the area after the 2010 freeze.. Wasn't there in '18, but did see a morning or two near freezing ( ..light frost in my yard, over by IMG Academy ) in early '16, right before moving here. As mentioned elsewhere, saw frost in yards near where i'd worked at the time in Sarasota, just west of 75 on the same days as well. Saw some 2026 street views near the old house in Bradenton yesterday and ..I too was surprised to see specific trees i'd pass daily / observe closely looking completely flawless ( Gumbo Limbo planted near the Oyster Bar, Cassia afrofistula in a yard nearby on FL. Blvd, Pseudobombax e. near the CVS / Target on Bayshore Gardens ) Expected to see more remnant damage..

I also got a archontophenoix tuckeri, and my star fruit, mango tree and bardebos cherry are all coming back after the 22 degrees. After the coconut was planted I saw 40 degrees a week after it was planted. Coconut has grown about 2 feet in the main spear 3 feet in a smaller one and a completely new spear is emerging. It hasn’t really gotten taller is just widened out

This is a Specimen acquired as possibly a Pritchardia hillebrandii. As it grew I don't think that was fulfilled. I don't have Don Hodel's book on Pritchardia to key this out. Given the prevalence of hybrid Pritchardia in the trade here in California, I might not be able to key it to a single species anyway. I don't recall it ever pushing out a successful inflorescence that resulted in flowers let alone fruit. Thoughts on it's id are welcome.

Chamaedorea Radicalis

Latania loddigesii at Four Arts:

And an absolute perfect variegated rhapis!

Chamaedorea metallica and a dypsis lantzeana enjoying the rain!

Chamaedorea adscendens 27 years old in the garden and he is a beauty!

Five top palms for any collection. Left to right, licuala ramsayi, Chambeyronia macrocarpa,Ravenna glauca, dictyosperma album and ptychosperma elegans!

Chamaedorea klotzshciana loving the shade.

Been trying to determine if mine is P schefferi or P lauterbachii but these seeds confirm P schefferi do they not?

Kerriodoxa elegans

Ptychosperma schefferi

Apart from perlite and lava in its place, I used same ingredients to save few seedlings of this kind, which endured a 3 weeks long journey but finally the seeds had been separated.

Dypsis baronii don’t need bottom heat. I germinate mine in winter in a tin garden shed in clear plastic storage bins that might get into the 20C range during the day and single digit at night. I get around 70% germination this way. From 10 black petiole seed I have 7 plants. Have germinated lots of standard D baronii this way.

Seed

Okay Managed to rescue a few! Gonna try again. Dypsis baronii don't germ well for me, no doubt because of my inteptitude.