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More smuggled seeds are arriving. Parajubaea Torally seeds. I hope to receive a small batch of Sunkha very soon. My friend in Bolivia sent them exclusively for me. Business is business. I hope to germinate them with my friend here in Chile. I hope they germinate. If they do, I'll put them in battle formation alongside the Jubaea chilensis. 🌴🌴🌴🦜🦜

Exactly, my friend. There's no palm tree culture here. And even fewer tropical palms line the streets. There are only a few nurseries that carry some novel palm varieties. Tropical palms are more common in the cities of northern Chile, but only a few varieties. Private collectors and I are the only ones who truly appreciate the palm kingdom, its luxuries, and its exoticism. 🌴🌴🌴🦜🦜🗿

Thank you all for your comments! Keep them coming. @James B I’m sad too. Thank you @sonoranfans @happypalms @Phoenikakias @aztropic @richnorm and @Stevetoad for your thoughts! Everyone keep them coming. The one between your ears is the best garden tool. New data will help! Thanks again!

I know this deviates from palms but no denying the foliage of Ceratozamia latifolia flushing is colorful.

Hmm, All my cunninghamiana (50+) are prettty dark green regardless of the amount of sun exposure. They are all really well fed and watered however. The only Archontophoenix species I can’t seem to green up is purpurea. The three I have are yellowy/green and would likely like less direct afternoon sun.

A nice day for a bit of tidying up and some leaf mulching in the garden. With good rainfall about it’s time to get a bit of mulch on the ground.

It has been another year since I planted my backyard Washingtonia. I thought it would be good to post another update so I can track growth over the years. Last winter saw an ultimate low of around 20F and freezing rain. While two nearby Sabal mexicana of similar size spear pulled, this washy did not. After its spears grew out though, it was clear that it did take some damage to the fronds that were emerging during the freeze. At planting around June 1st 2024: Then October 2024: Feb 2025: Then May 2025: December 2025: And today: I am 6'2" for scale (1.88 m for our friends outside the US) These grow so fast and so easily in this region, it seems no palm garden would be complete without one. I need to clear the grass back from the base, but I haven't prioritized it enough, since it continues to grow so fast...with no extra care.

Hey Dave, my friend. Your palm trees are incredible, Dave. You have a great collection there. And I saw the picture where you're with your big Parajubaea Torally. That palm tree is gigantic. You have a great private collection of palm trees.

Thanks, friend. That's interesting what you say. I hope you get some seeds. These palm trees are truly magnificent.

A bit more of the tropical look.

Cuando fui a Bolivia, tuve el suerte de ir al hábitat de parajubaea torallyi y los locales venden las semillas del 'janchicoco' sin cáscara para comer. You should go there as a tourist, it would be much easier for you. Unfortunately my surviving seedlings were eaten by mice 😡 🤬

Ta. Da ! The spathe finally detached. Let’s see what happens. Tim

Absolute madness on the models. 36C / 97F on Arpege for Monday 37C / 100F on Arpege for Tuesday In fact Arpege goes to 38C / 101F on the hi-resolution chart for Tuesday… Met Office slightly more reserved, but still showing two consecutive days of 34-35C and a nighttime low of 22C… in meteorological spring!? Also looks like a one single day cool down on Wednesday to 24-25C then back up towards 30’s C again. ECM and GFS have 35C / 95F next Friday and Saturday too. So this heat event is here for the next 7-8 days at least. Maybe the next 10 days. ECM just reloads the inferno for mid-30’s C again late next week, so it never really ends. This is an unprecedented event… The all-time May record WILL fall on Monday and again on Tuesday. The nighttime record is going as well. That is a certainty now. From a conservative perspective, I think we will have a 35C max and a 21C min. But it could be even higher. Watch this space.

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.

@SCVpalmenthusiast very true I have probably 15 of them but they aren’t long lasting as a solitary palm as our sun bakes the exposed trunk!! Here is a picture of royals!!

Tracy, checking the local community colleges now for a ‘button making’ course. ‘Beast’ is an apt name for a trunking specimen, and the inflorescence are so interesting on a mature palm. The one in the photo is a male, obviously. Check these photos out, taken in upslope Hilo a few years back. Tim

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!

Joe - the Coco Queen I bought last year has not missed a beat! Greenest palm I have!

Essentially nothing downloads; if I am ever able to open a topic it is frustratingly slow. I assume this will all be corrected in due time. For the moment, I miss Palmtalk.😔

Have a bunch of this hybrid between the Queen palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana) and the Arikury palm (Syagrus schizophylla) in 15 and 20 gallon containers. The fronds take on the characteristics of the Arikury, where the leaflets are in plane (like king, royal, etc...) but growth rate is way faster. Trunk does not get as fat as a queen and wont grow as tall, making maintenance easier. Pick up in San Marcos, CA with local delivery available (760)300-7339 This size 15 gallon $275

Awesome Jeff! Glad to hear it. These are a great hybrid palm!

Thank you so much.

Las variedades tropicales son complejas, debido a la Corriente de Humboldt que fluje desde el sur. The tropical varieties are complicated due to the Humboldt Current that flows from the south.

Getting closer to ripening

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

I have adjusted that somewhat. I could do a little more, but let’s see how this setting works. Any more and it starts to get a little too narrow on some devices. I have another idea I’m working on to eliminate the sidebar completely when viewing a post, so that the pics will appear bigger without having to expand them if wanting a larger view. Stay tuned.

Have well over 100 of these still in 15 and 20 gallon. Give me a call if you have an interest! Can be delivered as far north in CA as Santa Barbara..... Also, have Mule palms and some other hybrid Chamaedoreas........ TONS OF OTHER PALMS FOR SALE TOO....... Thanks -Joe 760-300-7339

" Commercial " cultivars might offset slightly less than wild plants, but all Ananas will produce some deg of ground level pups / offsets. Could be wrong but think they stay closer to the " mother " plant than offsets < ..also called " Ratoons "... > produced by Bromelia. Note all the shots of clumps, vs single / individual plants here: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/122965-Ananas-comosus/browse_photos

These require some patience in my part of the world, but this one is cool. At least 6-7 years old from a store bought pineapple top that my wife planted, which then split into two growing sections. It’s always looked great though, being a really large robust plant and never having any brown tip issues. One side began fruiting in late August of last year and is still developing. The other side is just getting going as well. How common is it for these to bifurcate?

Tis season I guess…

I harvested the fruit of my Champaca pineapple. And what can I say? It's much smaller than the first fruit I had, due to a lack of nutrients and, in part, water (I didn't fertilize it and watered it only with distilled water). On a positive note, the fruit did not suffer from "Black Heart" disease, despite my absolute minimum temperatures of +6.5°C and +6.8°C with hail on January 11-12, and strong winds with heavy rain on January 20-21 (Cyclone Harry). The fruit continued to ripen and grow well into the winter, and the flavor was identical to what you'd expect from a pineapple ripened on the tree. I still have some growing to do to understand how to handle pineapples when they're bearing fruit. In any case, thanks everyone for the advice you've given me. I'll definitely put more effort into my next pineapple, since the other plant still has the other little fruit growing (although given the average January temperatures, below +15°C and the heavy cloud cover, it's growing slowly).

#4 rotted. But #2 is starting to push new growth and is firmly rooted in a 1g pot. So I'm batting .250. I dunno if I'll try again, I'm sure I will at some point. I don't know what I did differently other than running peroxide through the crown of this one, maybe that's the key to growing them indoors in pots.

My first attempt rotted, my 2nd attempt rooted, my 3rd attempt I cut off too much, and we'll see how #4 goes (just potted up)

Picked mine today, only two slips tho.

I heartily agree on both points! 😀

Palm road trips are the best !! People, don't miss this sale, Joe has really well grown palms at very favorable pricing ! I have purchased a lot of palms from him !

Lots of these easy to grow hybrids still available in 15 and 20 gallon! They are growing fast and getting big. Let me know if you have some interest. I can deliver to a very wide range. Thx! -Joe 760-300-7339

I am the Palmtalk King of Overcomplicating Things And Then Can't Figure Out Why It Went Sideways. Yes, it's a long title, but I've earned it.

Hi Jim, give me some more details about the root growth. Apparently you have a good theory I really like to know.

@MarcusH "Those Filiferas have been in the ground for about 2.5 years. They grow slower than the one in front even they get full sun and those purchased and not grown from seeds. Why ? I'm not really sure . " Roots, roots, Roots!!!

It all depends on growing conditions like sun/shade , how often you water , soil, fertilizer , pruning , genetics ,etc. Filiferas are definitely slower. I have 4 in a ground where 2 were grown from seeds but were planted in different locations. One gets full sun while the other gets shade to partial shade. The one in shade grew barely in size and seems not to like the spot , for now. The other one growing in full sun took off as soon as I planted it , even more since I added organic soil . All my palms get watered , 1 to 3 times a week depending on the weather and time of the year. Deep soaking once a week. My Robusta compared to my Filiferas, grows much faster, also it seems to be that Filiferas concentrate on growing on trunk width first instead of growing vertical unlike Robustas growing vertically quicker and add width to the trunk as time goes by. That's my observation since I grow both varieties. Here are some pictures. First two pictures shows my Filifera in the front of our house planted on April 14th, 2024 and May 22nd , 2025. Picture 3 and 4 shows my Robusta. March 2022 and May 22nd. Remember the Filiferas at the backyard when you came over to visit me ? Those Filiferas have been in the ground for about 2.5 years. They grow slower than the one in front even they get full sun and those purchased and not grown from seeds. Why ? I'm not really sure .

I see the odd fat Washingtonia around here but nothing compared to what I saw in Palm Springs.

I would be curious to see more filiferas further east as well. This one had a few damaged fronds from 2 instances of lows around 22F to 24F, with just a little bit of ice/snow. I wasn't too surprised, since it was it's first winter in ground. The damage didn't show until probably 4 weeks after the second cold event though.

Khogiensis

Grandiflora setting seed

Here’s my triple kog, they’ve been in the ground for 5 years from a 15 gal. I would have just purchased a single but this one was the same price and was growing in more sunlight which was helpful since mine have been in full, all day sun from the get go. Off to the far right in the second pic is dumasii and in front are two grandiflora.

Hey Sue, Yes, I have a bunch of these left. Go ahead and call or text me. Thx! -Joe 760-300-7339

Hey, Joe... Any of these left? We're in Arizona but are willing to make the trek down. We lost a mature Mule Palm and are looking for one of these hybrids to put in its spot. We have two of them already and they're great in Arizona.

I'm still mad I lost a couple of these ! Wish you had these in some shippable sizes haha ! T J

Larger 15 gallon ones, basically 24" box size