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Chamaedorea arenbergiana, chamaedorea liebmanii, chamaedorea tenella and chamaedorea nubium. It’s chamaedorea paradise in my climate one genus that does so well. And with so many to collect it never ends the hunt for them, a true collectors gem!

Interesting reading about everyone's experiences in different locales, and also the differences between the species. Here in San Diego, I have a couple of borinquenas that are glorious. Although they're big palms, the base's don't seem to get those massive proportions that I've seen on regia. On the other hand my neighbor & I got a couple of princeps from Floribunda years ago because we'd heard that they have more slender proportions. Ah, no; at least assuming that they are the real deal. They're much thicker palms from top to bottom.

Here’s a little update on the smallest of the two I have. After flowering it split growth points and continued without slowing down. May be a bad way to treat these but as mentioned countless times, my yard does not support my ignorant quest for more plants so I must adapt. These leaves easily get 3ft+ so I like to trim them up so the crown is more vertical. I cut the leaves off and leave a few inches at the trunk. Within a week or so the piece falls off by itself. I do like the look and it produces cool leaf scars as well. About 9ft to the tips now. -dale

Good point about the Santa Ana conditions. Stacey doesn’t get them as frequent or severe as up here in Ventura County but they are becoming more frequent and more intense in recent years. The humidity drops and the wind is destructive to the more vulnerable species. Even mature palms can be damaged by the stronger gusts of 60mph . I’ve seen 90mph gusts up on our hill. Harry

Iguanura polymorpha and iguanura wallachiana, they don’t mind the cool conditions!

I wish I had a Roystonea falling leaf problem. Iv got one plant that I intend to zone push with. I miss my Roystoneas from my Perth garden. They were just getting big when I had to leave them behind. I think the new owners removed them, along with 80% of the rest of the palms. Sigggghhhhhh.

My Roystonia Oleracae drops its fronds on occasion . I try to cut the fronds from the base prior to it happening to reduce the risk of any damage to my other palms. The Oleracae isn’t nearly as heavy as Regia ( also a bit more tender to grow) . I chose it because it is not as massive as the Regia . The tree is getting to the point of being too tall to reach though. Harry This was a couple of winters ago after a trimming of the Syagrus on the left . I was told that it would not survive in my area so I planted it under the Queen Palm for a bit of protection.

After trimming some tall fan palms day before yesterday I was greeted with a boom late last night as the rain came down. Its more like w whumpff! One of my mature royals decided to release a leaf with a wet crownshaft. The leaf stem and leaflets were completely dry, but the massive crownshaft was quite wet and heavy. Seeing it there on the ground I was grateful I didn't have to trim that sucker from below! So I went out to see it in the morning and took a pic with Adirondack chair for scale The palm is a fattie for a royal and is approaching full recovery from hurricane Milton in oct 2024. The older these royals get the more I appreciate the self shedding, saves me being on a ladder underneath. These royals cost me $160 each with delivery and 90 for planting (each) with a bobcat. They had 3-4' trunk in late 2011 as delivered. We are aware when a leaf dries out or even looks half dried out and avoid being under them at that time. Credit florida weather and a popup automatic irrigation system for its appearance, I don't really put too much care into them! Its nice to have something bullet proof and low maintenance. Most of the time they dont drop with a heavy wet crownshaft but when they do its like what I imagine a big dinosaur sound like with the heavy footfall. I have two large royals, this is the smaller of the two and they are enough for me. Warning! You should be able to see why you should not have these in a place where you walk (or sit) regularly like a front yard path to the front door. And if you park a car under one like this, expect a big body shop repair bill as it is about 50-60 lbs falling frm 25+ feet.

Wallichia densifolia new leaf, and the Chambeyronia off in the distance. And a nice bit of colour with the Chambeyronia, dypsis cabadae and archontophoenix purperea!

@Tyrone i hope you have success , they are lovely palms . The R. Regia has proven to be quite resilient here in Southern California . I just didn’t have room at the time . It had to be tough to have your prior collection removed by the new owners. My old house still has a lot of the palms I planted 30 years ago. Every time I pass by on my way home , I get a smile . I was only there 7 years so a lot of my collection was still potted and got planted here . I don’t know if the greenhouse is still in the backyard , I really miss that feature. Harry

Incredible how much diversity indeed!

Little iguanura wallachiana doing well planted out as tube stock.

Good things come in three they say. A few more planted today. Chamaedorea arenbergiana chamaedorea nubium Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana

I just love plants and gardening always have. My job is working in the horticultural industry. Look at anyone’s garden and it’s a reflection of their character. I love living in the bush with all the trees and animals. Weeding is one of the jobs I love the most in my garden and nursery. You may have a small garden as you say but you will find yourself in that garden plodding around enjoying life. Plants let a person be away from the world with not a care in the world, it’s such a wonderful feeling just working in the garden. Richard

A not so common itaya armacorium, just a few that were hitting the top of the lid. The Amazonica licuala ramsayi. The large one in my greenhouse made it through last winter, so iam positive about this variety, but still need a couple more winter just to test the real cool hardiness of this variety. But you have to try!

Platycerium on the macrocarpa!

Wishing you the best with it Stacey, I love your dedication!!

Here's mine planted February 1997 In the second photo, sharing the spotlight with Coccothrinax X Angelae

I have some pictures that I took a few days ago. I'm growing 3 Filiferas. The two in the backyard seem to finally grow faster after being in the ground for three years. The one in front, I grew from seed, grows way faster and has been in the ground only for two years.

Not going to be able to tell any difference. They are all Washingtonia. 🤷‍♂️ aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Here are a couple of Zamia flushes in the garden. Zamia vazquezii Zamia lindenii Zamia tuerckheimii In full sun

Stacy, the more light and humidity you can provide to a winter indoor location the better. Should do well outside in warmer weather except during a hot dry Santa Ana. I have seen posts of Florida grown Verschaffeltia, spending time outside and in a greenhouse where they eventually grow too tall. Good luck, updates will be hellpful. Tim

It’s an indoor palm for me (winters get too cold here). It would live in that corner - or a high ceiling atrium if it outgrows that space. I’m going to add grow lights, a water dish below, and a dedicated humidifier. Then pray. 🙏 Here’s my inspirational photo, from another collector. He’s in South Florida so much more favorable growing conditions. But this is the dream…

But most of all love of plants and time!

I gotta get in on this one!

I was given around two dozen howeas about 30 years ago from a friend. They were all in 250mm containers and quite strong looking palms. At the time I received them nothing special stood out in the gift as being unique. How wrong I was in that gift was two variegated fosteriana. Over the years I watched them get more variegation and stay true to form. It’s a beautiful palm. The only thing wrong is it’s planted out of the way where it hardly gets noticed. And iam not going to clear the garden in any time soon just get a daily look at it!

First flowering of my previously named Thrinax morrisii. Much slower grower than its radiata cousin. Unfortunately,with our current 118F degree temps,no new seeds will be produced. Still ok though, as I already have a community pot of them growing from seeds I collected in habitat on New Providence island,Bahamas. 😄 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Yes south Tampa.

Peppermint oil works to stop their sampling of stems and camping in the pots or vicinity. I mostly use it to keep rats and mice out of the greenhouse, and the garage. Once had to pay 9700 bucks to get my car rewired after rat chewing. The peppermint oil makes them turn around and leave before coming any further.

Looks like a nasty case of boron deficiency to me. I have no idea how you would treat it, but maybe @Merlynwould know. Good luck, and welcome to Palmtalk!

After living here and growing these for 15 years you understand that normally the oldest green stems snap off and leave the crownshafts on the tree in gale force wind which has been is a every year event. Those crownshafts dont come down wet as there is no leverage from the stem to pry them off. If a crownshaft is in place the leaf above wont come off without big wind. If I had small children, I probably wouldnt plant these at least not inside the fenced in part of the yard where they are planted. I think other palms are more dangerous to be under while trimming them. I have also planted other palms around my royals to :catch" a falling leaf. This one has satakentia and livistona saribus on either side. It is open towards the camera so that direction would be an angular risk area to be avoided if the stems of the oldest leaves were over it. My other royal has a large B alfredii we walk under. That BA will catch a falling royal leaf and will not break. In bradenton we have tons of publicly planted royals. I think the city is proactive in leaf removal as I have not seen a dead royal leaf on the street in 15 years. I don't even see the leaflets turning half brown on the public ones. I cant speak for other areas in SW FL and how they maintain their landscaping. When I lived in CA everyone talked about earthquakes and what to do in the event of one. California also had scary fires. We lived in the bay area during the santa rosa fires in 2018(?). The fires were the most scary danger to me. IN Florida, its hurricanes and gators. I see gators often, a few times a week when I daily walk my dog. But I never get closer than 30-40 feet away as I know they wont chase at that distance. My yard is fenced(aluminum) in a design that makes it extra tough to climb, nothing to grab onto for the buggers, so I don't have to worry about gators cruising through it at night when they tend to travel over land. they did try to dig under the fence 2x and I just buried pavers there to stop them. You learn to mitigate risk wherever you live. Part of that is learning what not to do. I see my royals every day so I am watching them dry out. I expected that leaf to come down, just didnt think the crownshaft would be so wet. I would really miss mine if I had to move as they stand tall and regal creating my top canopy for understory. Much like tall ceilings in a room make a room feel bigger, tall canopy makes a yard space feel more expansive. Then there is the much appreciated shade these palms bring, makes the outdoors tolerable for an extra month or two a year. Tyrone how are your B. Alfrediis doing? I remember you had several in a grove? Those should create a great ambience. Yeah my last place in arizona got dug up and "sterilized". Lots of palm removals and the brahea armatas sabal bermudana, and livistona are "hurricane cut" to 5 to 6 stunted leaves. The word "idiot" comes to mind. The palms and shrubs have been given the banzai treatment and look terrible. Pencil pointiung from overtrimming of a livistona rigida and its only 3-4' tall(doubled in height) after 15 years. No palm that still exists has grown notably in a vertical direction after 15 years. They "pineapple palmed" the bismarckias too, which look stunted. Cutting lots of viable leaves on every palm, maybe 3/4 of the crowns are gone. Everything looks like its a few years from death in that difficult climate. The queens were robust, 25' tall carrying 8-10 leaves each now carry 3-4 leaves that look dried out, and they have abnormally thin trunks, ughhh! I hadnt looked in at least 5 years. I am done looking back, it feels terrible to know that the majority of what I grew is either ripped out or living a tortured existence underwatered.

I have had them indoors, but I usually only have my palms inside for a couple of weeks, I rotate them having so many different ones. It would do well in the kitchen or bathroom.

Songthanhensis is I would say a tough palm, it’s coped well with my winter temps and done well this year in the dry hot summer, under irrigation.

Sobralia mirabilis is in bloom for me at the moment. Flowers last about 3 days and they bloom in succession.

Oh and just add water!

It's a beautiful, exotic, tropical treasure. You must care for it like it's your most valuable possession. Congratulations! Give it light and moderate watering when the soil is a little dry. Be careful with that jungle; it will impress with its beauty and elegance.

Schizolobium parahyba/Brazilian Fern Tree/Tower Tree:

NoMa/Capitol Hill (Downtownish, Washington, DC—Zone 8a This winter was absolutely brutal and relentless. It had been unusually cold during the day for many weeks (high30’s-low 40’s), and unlike most winters, there were virtually no mild breaks in the cold. My wife and I returned from 3 weeks in London, mid to late January, and returned to an ice ramp over top of the stairs leading to our front down. We’ve lived here, in different neighborhoods in DC proper, for a total of near 25 years between us. The year of “Snowmaggedon” was not one of those years. I had never seen anything like it here—6 inches of thick ass ice. Driving was a nightmare for two weeks. Oh, and there was that 2 week stretch of low temperatures that ranged from about 2F through the teens, depending on whether you lived in the burbs or the city. I’ve know for sometime that our neighborhood was likely one of, if not THE warmest location anywhere in the area. It’s consistently warmer than many places far south of here(particularly our minimum temps), like Richmond, Norfolk, Raleigh, Atlanta. Especially during severe cold snaps that affect the whole eastern seaboard.. Our winter minimum temp was 17.6F (2 nights), with many (about 6-7 others) in the 21-24 range during that same awful stretch. When normally we’d have some of our days “warm up” to 50 or so, this past winter it was few and far between. I had long since resigned myself to the fact that a lot of palms and plants were likely cooked-Butia, pineapple guava, maybe even a couple Sago. I never even questioned the Brazilian Passiflora Edulis vine that grew so vigorously, and yelled many lbs of delicious fruit from September to December—I knew that plant had ZERO shot. Until today… Out on the edge of our grass, next to our holly tree, 3 or 4 small, but thick shoots, about 3 feet high, as of April 18, with undeniable Passiflora Edulis leaves. I could not believe what I saw. I have no idea how the root system could’ve made it through the horrible winter—or that it could make it through any marginally cold winter in Washington, DC, heat island or otherwise. This plant is NOT hardy. Can anyone explain this to me? I’m completely at a loss for how this was even possible.

My interior NorCal/Sacramento suburb garden: Bauhinia bloom bonanza this month. Keeps local hummingbirds well fed (B. candida and B. blakeana). That's a Butia yatay in the foreground.

This is Bauhinia monandra which is native to Guatemala. My plant is just beginning to leaf out again after winter so the pics are from past years. It blooms from April to December and only grows to about 8'.

Here's my Bauhinia lunarioides, raised from seed, now in bloom too!

I do get what you’re saying. I would hate to devote time and money to see it ruined in one cold snap. But how do you know the hardiness of a plant unless you test it. Boundaries were meant to be pushed. Seeing a tropical garden in Hawaii, nice, but not impressive. Seeing a tropical garden in a zone where its “not possible” is impressive. There’s a guy on YouTube called Jeff the tropical garden guy, he has all kinds of tropicals in modesto. Im hesitant myself because im a complete novice. Not an experienced palm grower.

This might be the most specific topic I've ever seen.

Hello Everyone i thought this would be a cool forum to start. I want everyone to show their best tropical garden pitcher of their garden or what their garden looks like right now. This is mine back in august

Here’s the bigger L. Morrisii

Here’s the bigger C. Argentata

Here's mine on a foggy morning. Loving the color of the underside