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Little update on the bondaria and she is doing well.

A top little miniature palm, easy to grow they flower pretty well much after a couple years of growing. Cool tolerant growing as far south as Sydney. Somewhat dry tolerant, perfect shade understory palm, patio, greenhouse and mist likely indoors. Very predictable growth pattern and they will fit into pretty well much any space available. The perfect miniature palm. And yes @gyuseppe I shall be thinking of you for a few seeds. And @tim_brissy_13 have tried this little beauty in your backyard refrigerator.

I have 4 planted around the yard. These two put out after years in pots back in 2021 when Covid was giving me plenty of time to clear and build terraces. On that single behind them is my Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. 'hookeri' planted out about the same time. Any way after clearing grass that blocked the path for the past month and a half I discovered that some how the soil must have softened w/all the rain in March n April and something caused the to lean toward each other. LOL Can't wait till the get taller and cross. LOL

These are cool palms. The swollen base is really cool looking; they just don’t seem to reach their potential in my climate. I suspect you’ll have way better luck!

They are a nice palm with that chamaedorea look, I planted one in the ground the other day.

This has become a handsome medium sized palm with a nice colored crown shaft after leaf sheath drop. It was acquired as C. malcomberi in a 1 gal. container in late 2011 and still not convinced of the ID. Anyway, here are a few photos from last week. Tim

My Encephalartos longifolius is growing both in longitude and latitude with these two flushes.

Yep I’ve got C tenella going well here Richard. Similar size to yours shown. Like yours, they flowered after only a couple of years from seed, both females though unfortunately so no viable seed. Just checked today and they’re sending out new inflorescences again for the next season. No issues down here in the fridge. Photo from a year ago. They’re a bit larger now.

Finally got around to cutting the 3-4 foot high grass around this palm and the trail leading to it. Not the best lighting but it's HEALTHY. Bought a 1 gallon plant from FB back in 2020. Here is is 6 years later. First two show the grass that grew WILD after 21" of rain in March and 5 more in April. Cleaned it up yesterday.

Interesting palm, getting scary big as well. Every year I look at it and go hmmmmm…… Acquired it in a 1 gallon pot in 2019, still no trunk and extremely long fronds. Interesting pinnae arrangement in pairs, thin and long. Dioecious, I doubt I’ll be getting a mate. Too bad, I was looking forward to making my own buttons from the seeds. There is an orange handled full size shovel in one of the photos for scale. Tim

Oncidium hastatum inflorescence and flowers. The inflorescence extends 7 feet in an arc, from the pseudobulb of the plant. It's flowers are woven in amongst several other orchids and an Anthurium. The plant is in the right hand corner of the first photo (its royal blue pot can be made out). The inflorescense is attached to a stick (also visible in the first photo) rising up about 2' before it goes horizontal and bends down. It's flowers are intermixed with the Panarica prismatocarpa in the second photo.

Without looking at the palm , I cannot help. I will say I bought two “King” palms at HD years ago . One was a double and one single . I knew immediately that the single was not a Cunninghamiana like the double . Turns out it was(is) an Alexandrae . It has silvery undersides and a bottle shaped trunk . Big box stores don’t really know palms that well. Harry

Close second today E. Arenarius x Latifrons.

We all seem to have similar favorites😊 pretty much always my fav E. Latifrons.

Hyphaene spp. Maybe coriacea or petersiana

If you're in Phoenix use heat loving sun tank palms to your advantage ! Copernicia (patience required, slow growers, worth the wait) Bismarckia Royal Palms Brahea Armata

Big sister or brother is further into the flush so it's leaflets will begin to darken to a deep green as they harden. Which of the two do you prefer? This one or it's sibling across the driveway?

There’s a lot I can’t grow and there’s a lot I have killed trying, iam quite happy to black sandy soil, and a lot of sandstone rocks in my soil. Plus the ocean influence, my elevation is around 130 meters. So quite a unique microclimate, a palm growers paradise close to halfway in between Sydney and Brisbane.

If ever there was a little cute palm to fall in love with then this is the princess for me in the Palm kingdom omg it’s so cute I purchased 5 seeds from rps and got one but what a winner it is.

They are a nice duo you got there, if I collect any pollen will send it down to you, keep it in the refrigerator if the girls are not ready. The three I have in my greenhouse come from eBay, so I know they are the real deal, and requested a male plant in the last eBay purchase. I got lucky!

Livistona Australis, a pslm I can’t fault for ease of growing with them being native to my backyard.

Hers a nice little batch I germinated from RPS seeds,

Yes I am. One of the few in So Cal still doing it. I have tons of nice stuff. About 30 species of Chamaedoreas.....

Couple favorites: Encephalartos Longifolius x Latifrons Encephalartos Arenarius x Latifrons -dale

Getting ready to pot up the next generation of Buccaneer palms! Somebody has to grow them, right? 😄 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Dendrobium gracilicaule ssp howeana bloomed a few weeks back. Now it is loaded with seed pods. I haven't taken the time to learn how to germinate these properly so will probably just try spreading some seeds on the bases of where I grow other epiphytes and let nature work or not.

Here’s mine growing in Phoenix!! So if you treat them right they are tough palms!!

Both of these have needles on the trunks . The rest of the photos most probably are Needle Palms ( Rhapidophylum Hystix)

Pinanga sarawakensis for a splash of colour!

The color of Arenga Engleri inflorescence. Harry

More red! Dypsis rosea opening a new leaf.

You're in luck... I put a dozen Bucanneer palms up for sale this February in 5 gallon pots. Still have 6 left currently. Definitely a viable, (albeit slow growing), palm for the desert.🌴 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Dave, I ditto a lot of the same recommendations as @Tracy. I do think Hedyscepe and Ambositrae are fantastic growers in my area. Do they get “too big”….maybe. But you b will get many years of beauty before you need to worry about the power lines. They are an average grower, not like Archontophoenix that grow feet per year. I’d say plant away but know your previous Hedy or Ambo may require removal in 20yrs. Pritchardia Minor, Bentinkia Condapanna, Pinanga Javana, and Hyophorbe Indica are all winners as well. You could also get away with planting a clumping Dypsis like Heteromorpha or Lanceolata as well. They don’t get massively tall (less than 20’) and are fantastic looking. Subsidizing palms for Encephalartos is a winning combination. Some big Encephalartos like Whitelockii, Ituriensis, or Kisambo get very tall if kept upright. You’re talking decades before those would be a concern. HB is prime location for growing Encephalartos. All of mine seem very happy. Cordyline, Plumeria, Heliconia etc all excel as companion plants. My lot is fairly small @ 6500sqft so my gardens are cramped. I know without a doubt I will have to dig plants out as they mature but that’s ok. I knew the job when I took it. If I can get 20yrs out of a plant, I will be very happy. I completely understand I’m the outlier and not the rule though. HB is prime palm tree, cycad and tropical plant growing conditions. So many possibilities. -dale Bentinkia Condapanna Pinanga Javana Dypsis Ambositrae Hyophorbe Indica

Ravenea hildebrandtii, Syagrus hoehnei

Great looking palm , but they just have that “tricky to grow” look. I don’t know what it is , just has that look. Harry

Oh buddy, this is gonna be a potted patio plant. From what I've read, full sun here will cook them. You're not gonna find another one this size for the price, I can tell you that much. Plus there's the famous jeep/motorcycle/truck stop/gun shop/diner up there. This was all a chance find though. Go snag one before they're all gone.

Hi, my first post here and I'm going to try and revive this thread. I just bought this palm that was unknown by the nursery that sold it to me and in trying to track down what it is I came across this thread. So know I'm almost positive it is a Pelagodoxa Henryana, does this seem right? If so it sounds like sounds like we will have the best luck planting in a wind protected area that is not full sun all day? We live in Papaikou, Hamakua Coast, Big Island. We have been here about 5 years. The property we moved on to has an absolutely incredible palm collection, there must be over 30 different varieties. A fraction of which we have been able to confidently name but learning more and more each day. So, we are now trying to thoughtfully add on to the collection. Thanks for any help!

Four dypsis louvelli about to show off what they are known for.

Only one new frond but looking good, they're slower when grown in shade.

Dark mode!

Today the favorite is this Encephalartos which is currently flushing. I include some photos of it earlier in the flush.

Encephalartos longifolius arguably has the best structure of any of the Encephalartos. It has such an organized, dare I say formal structure yet there are plenty of variations in form as well. Below are a couple I'm growing. The smaller one stalled after transplanting from my old garden where changes in the neighbor's landscaping necessitated that I move it to a sunnier spot in the new garden. Those re-curved leaf ends makes it extra appealing. I just hope it retains this characteristic when it gets to the size of my big boy. I wish I had more space to plant more of these!

Yes, I love my blue cycads but don't undersell the green ones. Flush has hardened off now and you can see the beautiful deep green which looks very tropical in my opinion. The densely packed leaflets add to the look. I'm surprised I haven't seen Encephalartos turneri in more gardens. Pictured to the left of the KO trunk in the first photo and the leaflet stacking detail in second photo. If I were ever to move, this would be a must have in the next garden. I have no plans on moving though so that is just a hypothetical.

Peter Pacific, Thanks for your comment! Encouraged me to venture away from the computer and take an updated photo of some of our Pelagodoxas. Bo-Göran

close up

Bo, Congratulations on an almost single handed effort to conserve this species. I took these phots in Fiji at the Raymond Burr garden, where they have something like 10-20 and also have a program to preserve them. The mother tree:

The individual above, BTW, is in the group that's protected from wind and it is also in mostly shade. The other group is completely exposed, and here's a group shot of some of them. There are more but they are not visible in this photo. A total of 9 Pelagodoxas are visible, even though one of them is tough to see; only the trunk is (barely) visible, to the right of the Pelagodoxa that's just to the left of the Metroxylon warburgii (all the way on the right)!

A few more current photos. First, this is the under side of a Pelagodoxa frond with the sun shining on the top side.