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Thought this one was photo worthy for the aquamarine and powder blue tones. Even more striking in person. NE Houston

I’m glad you got it sorted out. Nice looking palms that do grow very fast , once established . From what I understand , they can hybridize quite easily but I don’t know first hand. I have Alexandrae , Maxima , and Purpurae as well as Cunninghamiana . They all seem to do well here. So far , the Alexandrae is the largest. Thank you Australia! Harry

Dypsis onilihanses

Even in Australia they get older yellow tattered leaves. They do like a good feed now and then. I would say that your one has drainage issues, thus causing the nutrient deficiency. They key to growing wodyetia is drainage.

Encephalartos latifrons x altensteinii natural hybrid. This came from Loran Whitlock in around 1980. Loran got a group of 5 plants in Durban at a nursery. I've been able to acquire 2 of them over the decades. This specimen hasn't grown for 4 years, but had tremendous cataphyll spread at the apex. There are rarely, but occasionally, man-made hybrids available; but they always lack the lustrous beauty of these plants from the natural population. 21 leaves this time. This was originally an 8-inch tuber. Now it's 2 feet of stem!

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

Encyclia hanburyii is opening this year's flowers in my garden. This species has long lived flowers which is a bonus. I really liked it's fat red pseudobulbs when I bought it, without having seen the flowers.

My JxS from Patrick is slow but steady here in North Florida Coastal Panhandle. We had an unheard of 5 inches of snow that stayed on the ground for 3 days. This palm never flinched.

What about Brahea Clara? Mine has grown at a decent clip in hot Woodland Hills

Livistona Australis if heat and sun are a problem.

Alfredii take, in my garden up to 40 degrees Celsius and we just had a long hot dry summer.

I have so many plants to plant in the garden, a lot of what is in there needs special attention and that’s what it will get. Some stuff in there will perhaps never go in the ground. A couple more winters will play a big role in what gets planted in the garden! Richard

Such a beautiful palm the dypsis louvelli

flowers

5/22/26 I would like to start this post with my big Queens. These are the last good photos I got of them: For the past several seasons, these palms have been defoliated. I could tell, especially with the one in the front yard, that it was starting to cause decline. They were not growing back as quickly with each passing season. With that all being said, I decided to edit these out and replace them with mules. Front yard: Back yard: Aside from that, there have been no other changes. Just progress updates. Starting with the palmettos, both of these are taller than me. Theyre both also turning 6 years old this year! My seed grown washy was almost completely defoliated this winter, but as of today, it almost looks like nothing happened: The other washy has taken on an interesting look after defoliation: The seed grown Queen is pushing out new growth after a spear pull. I will hold onto this one for a while, Im not gonna let the past few years of my time go to waste like that: Lastly in the back yard, the bananas and the big mule. That clump of bananas is an absolute UNIT. After cutting those stems back in March, they pushed out 6-12 inches of growth within 24 hours. Absolutely wild. The big mule had some latent spear damage but it has pushed all that out now. Its starting to get fat too: Jumping out front, starting with the CIDP/Sylvestris whatever hybrid thingy: The butia looking good as ever. It has recently shown some variegated leaflets, which there is a seperate thread about: The OG mule in the front yard is definitely something. It has quite the twist going on in the fronds. Not sure if thats just the genetics of this palm or if it has something to do with the trunk cut it got a few years ago. Guess we will see. Its definitely not the fastest grower: The Livistona nitida is doing well other than a minor setback from nutrient deficiency which began during the fall. And finally, the pygmy date. This had most of my focus for cold protection thru the season. It didnt have to be wrapped a ton of times, but it did stay wrapped for a week during the big freeze. It came out on the other side still looking pretty decent, and it has flowered profusely this spring. Thats all for now. Maybe Ill update again in a month, maybe next year. Who knows!

The more exposed to the sun the more yellow they go, they love a shaded root zone with moisture. They really are a rainforest palm,in gullies and creeks, the more exposed they are in habitat they tend to go a light lime green. A cool root run is what they prefer.

flower

Hi all, Some years ago, this palm was purchased as a seedling, labeled “Dypsis sp. unknown, rare”. Knowing full well that this was a mere marketing ploy, I elbowed other customers out of the way in my effort to grab it before someone else could. In all seriousness, it was very pretty, showing a nice chalky white crown shaft at that young age. It’s a medium size palm, and has kept that attractive white crown shaft. I’m just not sure where the separation point is between the two species. I suspect others are growing this, so feel free to weigh in!

Piccabeen palm in Australia is the common name. And yes the good old Bangalow palm is Archontophoenix Cunninghamiana. It’s a good sales trick, oh i havent got that palm! So if you see a piccabeen palm for sale you already have it!

Metroxylon seedling looking robust.

Freshly collected seeds of Carpoxylon macrospermum (Aneityum Palm). I got some other new species in my website too. I took a photograph of the cross-section to show its health. Carpoxylon macrospermum seeds for sale - PalmSeedlings.com

I saw these beauties when walking around Howth last summer, are they date palms of some sort?

A carpentaris grows faster than any palm mentioned but it is a skinny tree with little biomass. To some degree many fast growers in ehight are not so fast in biomass. So from 2020 to 2026 my causiarum grew 20' of trunk to 23' feet trunk at this time. The initial growth 18" to 10' overall in 4 years involves lots of subterranean growth that enables growth of about 3' of thick trunk a year. Its a trunk that likely weighs more than 4 queens of similar height. The soil under mine is about half clay for 2', the rest is more sandy at depth. It gets plenty of broadcast sprinkler water 2-3 times a week( but now the water restrictions mean 1x a week) plus rain when that happens. This palm would be slower in sandy soil or with irrigation drippers in high drainage soil as the roots wont spread wide into dry soil. I think you need 3 queens to match the causiarum crown in size, then you have those non shedding queen trunks to trim. I had 9 queens in arizona, watering them is an uphill battle, no thanks. As they grow tall it becomes tougher to keep them happy there. Causiarum normally sheds it own leaves. If I was in arizona and the ground wasn't clay based and I couldn't afford to liberally water the palm in high drainage soil, I would go more for the waxy desert adapted palms. Hyphaene etc. If drainage is too fast and I wanted to expand possibilities, I'd bring in a few cubic yards of clayish soil (to that spot) to provide better water retention and a soil better matched to a drip irrigation application.

@Chester B Yikes! I'm sorry you're dealing with ox beetles. I hope you're successful at keeping them away.

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

Tim, When I read your request about mananjarensis pics, I was puzzled. When I took another look at my mananjarensises, I began to understand - it's because of their resemblance to the malcomberis (maybe) that we have been discussing. Of my three, planted April 2013 and grown from seeds sowed in April 2007, one has grown very tall, the second is healthy looking but only about 2/3 as tall, and the third was a non-grower that I just wanted to get rid of (but later started growing). Here is the tall one (with an Attalea maripa to its left): Here is the middle sized one: And here is the formerly non-growing one (my tractor is behind it): So what do you think?

sabal causiarum is the fastest palm in my yard. Water plus heat= over 35' in 15 years. All sabals are a little slow before trunking but in my experience causiarum is faster than any other sabal pre and post trunking. july 2011 it goes into the ground as sabal domingensis(later confirmed causiarum from inflorescences, fruits) then in early summer 2013 then in mid summer 2015, 4 years after going into the ground the leaves lengthened quite a bit. overall height 10' or so In summer 2020 it was well into trunking Today after I removed 15+ hurricane damaged leaves it stands tall, over 35' less than 40' All things considered, it put height on as fast as my fastest of two royals in that time. Bismarckia is also very fast for me. If sabal causiarum is growing slow it probably needs more water and less sun in Arizona. Bismarckia were slower in AZ for me, might be the dry heat slows them a bit. They didnt burn from heat but didnt seem to go vertical as they do here in FL. Bismarckia will be more sun tolerant of arizonas dry heat than any sabal except possibly uresana.

It could be El Niño as it seems that previous developing El Nino’s have led to warm and dry springs here it seems, or at least I think that is the case. So there may be some truth to ENSO causing that. However transition to El Niño by June usually causes poor, wet, cloudy summers (1997, 2015, 2023) although I think that is being overruled more and more nowadays by the switch to warm-summer Med for us here. Even with El Niño, I suspect we will have a warm/hot and dry summer again this year. Which is almost becoming the case every year now. Anyway, we are expecting temperatures of up to 34C and nighttime minimums of 21-22C now in a few days time. Madness for what is meteorological spring still. I have seen 37C / 100F modelled on Met Office charts even for this Monday, although that won’t happen now, I am sure. The upper level airmass (hPa 850) isn’t going to be warm enough. But with 18C ‘uppers’ being modelled it has produced 37C / 100F in spring in the UK. That wouldn’t be possible without the additional background warming from climate change.

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.

Arthur, similarities for sure, but different subfamilies. Phytelephanioideae and Arecoideae. Say that three times as fast as you can. Tim

Pinanga sarawakensis and a new leaf opening on the polyandrococus caudescens.

It looks like an onilahensis

OK, here are three pics of my palm: And here are three habitat pictures taken by Jeff Marcus, I think in October 2008: Interesting topic, thanks for bringing it up.

Of the palms I've planted, two musts for such conditions should be Pinanga coronata and Bentinckia condapanna. If they're not in a hurry, Hedyscepe and Kentias/Belmores.

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.

Beautiful palm. Hmm I see what you mean. Almost looks like C pilulifer but not quite right for that either I think. There’s a bit of a key in the recent article on C hamannii of these related species: https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2025-09/Chrysalidocarpus hamannii PalmArbor FINAL 29 Sept 2025.pdf Honestly though I’m not sure how useful it is. The descriptions are often based on limited samples and may not fully take into account the variability of each species especially when different climates in cultivation are factored in. Also, the increasingly strong possibility of hybridising within Chrysalidocarpus which is even discussed in the article. Interestingly to me, all of the species in the article of which your palm is clearly within the group, are described as having waxy white or partially waxy white leaf bases whereas your palm does not appear to (or perhaps only slightly).

Here is the supermodel shovel for some scale. Tim

Tim, the ones I have referenced online have had more robust trunks with abundant tomentum. This one has neither, but I suppose there is species variability. Hilo Jason also told me he has three palms he acquired as C. malcomberi and is perplexed as well. This is certainly something I won’t be losing any sleep over. Tim

I can imagine its weight. I managed to germinate 10 Phoenix rupicola seeds that I bought from the RPS store in Germany. Pure seeds. Only 2 seedlings survived. These palms are beautiful because of their color. I hope to see their pinnate leaves very soon. I recommend buying this beautiful palm from India; it's one of the most beautiful varieties of Phoenix.

I spent a lot of time in Ireland and Northern Ireland, but I wasn't into gardening then. The only thing I remember were the Cordylines.

Phoenix Rupicola🌴🌴🌴🦜

I know when we stayed in the Ballsbridge area I noted several palms along the R815 as we walked to get to the rail station near Aviva stadium.

A few links in regard to the February cold snap. Some locations did set records for February. Melbourne WFO February Summary: https://www.weather.gov/media/mlb/summary/FebWinter2026.pdf US Sugar Summary: https://www.ussugar.com/record-breaking-freeze-impacts-florida-agriculture-sparks-widespread-coverage/ Men's Journal: https://www.mensjournal.com/news/florida-deep-freeze-breaks-117-year-record-strange-sky-phenomenon-2026 Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January–February_2026_North_American_cold_wave Additionally, the Google map was updated with more records for the February 2026 Freeze.

Research, research, research. Do your own and don't depend solely on pleas for others to do it for you. There are 1,000s of homegrown nurseries out there and most last only a short time before going out of business and floating away into cyberspace. PalmTalk can't keep track of them and nobody here wants them to. Find out what you want to purchase and look for it diligently until you find it - bear in mind that many species are virtually unobtainable anywhere. Also, a good idea to research whether a palm species can survive in your climate before you toss money at it. Steep learning curves but worth the effort if you love palms as much as many members here do. People that don't float off into cyberspace never to be heard from again. Another reason for PT not to post lists of defunct nurseries. Watch the SALE Forum and you will soon learn who the sellers are: PT/IPS members. All others should be considered suspect until they prove to you otherwise.

Have met his nephew and wife who are in Bochum in his apartment right now ... his last words were for his Lytos and me ... And now? Have loaded 3 larger and one really large L. weddelianum + 2 L. itapebiense (one mid-sized, 1 seedling) and a L. hoehnei into my car ... this was the last promise I gave him; to take care on his "babies", as long as I am alive. Heaven was crying on my way back, much of rain came down ... 😪

**My thoughts only ** After ..over a decade.. of participating here, and utilizing info from palmpedia as ..one of many.. cross reference sources, informational wealth gained from the Forum is actually far more valuable than what additional insight i might gain from palmpedia, or any other such guide. Regardless, 🤔 I thought the forum and palmpedia were linked ..somewhere.. within the overall IPS site already.. Best way to achieve personal level consensus in such a situation? go for some rides / visit gardens and other places where more unique palms / other plants might be planted.. As mentioned elsewhere, have done this countless times / do this often myself to solve these kinds of " yay / nay " discussions. Sentences and pretty pictures on a page in a book / in an often generalized, online reference guide may have value worth the effort, but will only get you so far.

^ Second This.. I'd also add that who grows " the good stuff.. " will vary by location and... in some cases, they only ship smaller things.. In other cases, take X or Y palm specialty nursery in FL. they may not be able to ship plants to say California. Nursery business is always in flux too, so a list made today, might not be accurate in 5 or 10 years. In the .....12+ years i've been here, i've seen that change -A -LOT in a pretty short amount of time. Best bet at finding stuff ..Palms, or pretty much anything else.. is: ..and has always been... * Doing your homework / research.. * Making connections while attending local or regional plant sales, and looking beyond what nurseries might exist in your back yard for what plant /plants you might desire, ...that might not be available in your immediate area. * If you can't find something, somewhere local, it's time for a road trip. * If the only option out there is starting off w/ something smaller than you'd have envisioned, ..or from seed.. that's life.. Pull the trigger and be patient, ..or move on.. * As far as " what grows where " info? Go visit some local Botanical Gardens.. You're next door to 2 of the best in the area ..Huntington and L.A. Arboretum ...and close enough to several other notable gardens ..Lotusland, Fullerton, South Coast, ...in Palos Verdes, ...BOTH zoo locations in San Diego ..and Balboa Park, ....and San Diego Botanical ( Formally Quail Botanical ) ( No doubt i'm probably missing others ) Absolute no shortage of places to see a variety of palms to look over ..most of which should work in your location. ** As always , if you ask, i'm sure there are plenty of S. Cal members who would happily welcome a visit. As i'm sure you might have noted over on Palmpedia, a former member put together a pretty good list of palms that work in CA.. Yes, it has been several years and there are likely other palms that could be added but, it is the starting point anyone in CA should begin their palm - related journey from. *** In the end, esp. if in pursuit of -anything- that might be rare in your particular area, sometimes, you have to simply roll the dice / be the person who proved it could grow there.

Hopefully we get a mild winter and these Patric hybrids can keep chugging along. Spear pulling every year is getting old. T J

I grow this hybrid in San Marcos, TX z8b. It now has 12’ of trunk and is a stunning hybrid.