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Seems that I've collected quite a few interesting Syagrus (and butia) in the past couple of years. Here's a lineup of most of them this morning. Back row L to R: syagrus vagans, butia diamantina, syagrus guaratingensis, syagrus microphylla Middle row L to R : either picrophylla or oleracea from @DoomsDave , syagrus picrophylla, syagrus santosii, Bottom row L to R Butia archeri and a variegated butia odorata. A chance seedling.

The cascade palm, an old favourite that has been around for some time now. A fantastic ornamental palm, perfect for a small hedge or a nice fill in for a corner or anywhere in the understory. Makes a great patio container palm, has somewhat of a cool tolerance. A landscapers dream Paolo that’s as tough as nails. A great all round chamaedorea that’s ver forgiving to a growers blunder or two!

Chambeyronia are very nice palms though, depending how far inland you are. They tend to burn easily in full sun until they get large , and even then. Slower growing palm and would grow in that spot but not as vigorously , quite a bit more $$ than Archontophoenix. Harry

A few seeds are setting on the lytocarum in garden. A fantastic palm that’s easy to grow. Super tough and very forgiving. I would say a bit slow growing to reach maturity in a subtropical climate. But once they get there they don’t look back. Very predictable and a great learning palm to grow, just put them in the shade as seedlings and away they grow.

If these all grow up you will need to purchase the adjacent yard !

Here it was when I first planted it! I really had no hopes it was surviving up here 😂 Crazy how much it filled out this corner in only 4 years with suckers lol

Congrats @Robert Cade Ross! What a great opportunity to grow some truly tropical palms. Florida seems to be a safer bet than even Deep South Texas. I wanted to move to Florida when I was younger but now I think I’ll stay where I’m at. I like Texas! Sure we’re all looking forward to your updates.

Yes! I had a pretty nice , heated greenhouse at my old house . I left it behind and there really isn’t much room up here for one like I had but I am looking at building a lean to style against the house just for my seedlings. I would spend some time in my greenhouse , just fussing about or sometimes sitting in my chair ( it was sauna like ) having a cuppa tea . I stole a saying from the late Jimmy Buffet, “ Mental Floss” . I do get anxious from time to time so I do a walk about the garden and it calms me to touch the palms and feel the cool energy coming from our garden. The only other thing that helps is cycling . Harry A path way to ease of mind………east side. Most of the area around our home is pretty much like this. By the time I circle the house , I am relaxed and tensions are relieved. Harry After an overnight rain squall it is even better! West side .

It is a no, no, no in my arid climate. It dies readily during local summer.

In this stage you should have been already able to observe a tiny seed.

A wonderful hobby, and plants will save your mental health that’s for sure.

It's great hobby for mental health 😊 I had one "laboratory" and had to let it go 4 years ago. Definitely will try to get one again 😁 🥂

They are self cleaning about 3 leaves a year, very neat and clean palm. You wouldn’t have to worry about seeds for about 25 to 30 years, if you purchased some in 200mm containers. They are a seed that’s bigger than the archontophoenix, and quite easy to clean up in comparison to archontophoenix. And two planted together would be fine. Plus the added bonus of the red leaf near your front door as you drive in your driveway, quite a sight in that open space. Reasonably priced and moderately paced growing not a rocket ship but given some cultivation and a bit of water you would have a nice feature palm, and even someone with not a lot of interest in plants would say wow look at that!

Hudson beach in northwest pasco seems to be an extremely warm micro climate...... not to far inland from this was in the mid teens this winter.

@OCKev welcome to Palmtalk! A couple of thoughts: I'd have them take away the grindings. Don't use them as mulch. Though it might be a small risk, ground up bits of the lower trunk and roots could be a magnet for fungus that could (maybe) infect the replacements. I'd also avoid the Queens for the mess. I chopped mine down partially for that, and partially because they become telephone poles in 4 or so years here. I havebavoided Royals for the giant BOOM of a heavy Royal frond. I grew several Kings herd, unfortunately they couldn't handle my frequent yearly freezes. The sap could be the result of aphids or scale insects on your current palms. That'll be a risk with any replacement too. A systemic insecticide can fix that part, but many of them are banned in CA. A big/tall palm might be more of a pain than a smaller one, just because the small ones wouldn't hang over the top of a car.

This Encephalartos Longifolious x Horridus was buried behind other 15 gals. so I dug it out and trimmed the older leaves off to make room for the new flush. The new leaves are very fuzzy due to the Longifolious influence.

Yep we can, it looks like white louse scale. Couple of approaches to help your palm. You could trim of the really badly affected leaves and spray it with an insecticide. Or you could spray the plant with an insecticide of your Choice. It looks like the palm is under an awning, to help prevent the problem a regular hose down will deter them to some affect.

Looks like a sclavoi to me too. Here's mine to compare. aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Greetings a Cuban royal will not be the smallest palm in a number of years that’s for sure. A very easy and beautiful palm to maintain is the Chambeyronia macrocarpa. Another great palm the Howea fosteriana tough and obtainable. Or if you’re in the market for something super exotic and rare there are quite a few options. But that’s another topic. A Chambeyronia would be statement in that spot you have there.

When I first moved to Florida, I planted a Bismarckia in mid2010 and a sabal uresana in summer 2011. Uresanas are often mentioned as alternatives to bismarckia in 9a. These palms have stood next to each other over the years making for an easy growth comparison. Bismarckias are generally regarded as fast growers and uresanas are said to be slow. First, Bismarckia several months after planting a 5 gallon bought at a big box store. Everything but the spear had heavy mold spots so I kind of treated it as a rescue. It seems to have that purplish hue after winter that is often associalted with a whiter leaf. It adapted fast to sun after being tortured inside the box store with palms stacked in a pile around it. It put 5-6 new leaves out the first year. late july 2010 bismarckia then about a year later I planted a sabal uresana "icy blue" I bought from tejas tropicals in texas. It was a strap leafer and I put it in a pot. About 6 months later it was ready to go into the ground as the pot was root bound. A little over 2 years later in sept 2013 both had grown well. IN this pic the uresana looks a bit bigger than it was (relatively) since it was closer to the observer. It had turned darker with less "icy blue" color but was clearly not just a green sabal. The uresana was about 6' overall and the Bismarckia was closer to 10' in this pic At this point the bismarckia was trunking and growth was accelerating and here is the pic from june 2015. The uresana not trunking was putting more leaves for a bigger crown About 4 years later the uresana had lengthened it leaves and had gone into trunking mode. It went skyward chasing the bismarckia but still 6-7 feet over all behind the biz in height Last week I took another pic and noticed about a 10' gap even though the uresana had sped up and grown to about 25' tall. compared with 35' for the bismarckia I thought it was interesting that the growth burst of each happened at trunking, as we are often told by the literature. Yes even sabal uresana grows well after trunking. I also though it is interesting to note that Sabal Uresana has a wider crown, that was a surprise. I had always thought Bismarckia would be wider as it throws more shade but its a couple fee less in width of the crown. The Uresana crown is more open though, and it took a lot less damage than the Bismarckia in hurricane Milton(oct2024). Part of the lesser damage suffered by uresana could be due to less wind damage as there are higher wind velocities at height, but also part might be the Uresana having an open crown with smaller leaves that have less wind drag. I do think Uresanas will have more blue than mine in a drier hot climate. Bismarckias are very versatile, they don't need much fertilizer and mostly they are self shedding. Just keep them happy and the weevils wont come to dinner(I had a sick one attacked by weevils and killed). I treated the Uresana same as Bismarckia, limited fertilizer compared with my other palms The Uresana has persistent leaf bases which are still strongly attached near the ground. Since I do the trimming, I am happy that Uresana is a slower grower, as the Bismarckia is now too tall for me to trim from the ground. And the Bismarckia(female) is a mess, dropping 150-200 lbs of seed a year. I just got done raking up half a trash can full of Bismarckia fruits, and there is at least that much still hanging on the tree. Uresana has not fruited yet at 15 yrs. Sabals are notorious for liking heat to grow fast and they both had plenty of Florida heat. For those thinking about Sabal Uresana, its not Bismarckia fast but its more of a medium grower for me after trunking.

Putting palms in bunches helps with sunburn resistance, watering, and wind resistance(to drying). I would plan that spot with a multi of some crownshafted type. I would also be careful with how inland you are. If you are even in Irvine its hot and dry a lot and some of those palms will take a lot of attention to keep them looking good. WHen I see a chamby in a forest of trees, the sun exposure may be some directly overhead by not late day. My macrocarpas burn a little towards the western summer sun. Chambeyronia oliviformis doesnt have a red emerging leaf but they are more sun tough and wind dessication resistant due to a waxy leaf. And they are IMO more attractive than a macrocarpa aside the red leaf. They will grow taller than the macrocarpa for sure but not so fast as an King. Might be interesting to plant (2) oliviformis to the west and one macrocarpa to the east in a triple. The dark green of the oliviformis and the marcocarpa should have a striking appearance and witht he oliviformis protecting the macrocarpa from western sun. Here is oliviformis(center, dark green crownshaft) 13 years in the ground from a seedling.

Yes , especially during Fall when the Santa Ana winds blow . Our humidity drops and the temperature climbs , sometimes into triple digits . Archontophoenix can burn too but not as bad as a moderately sized Chambey . @DoomsDave has a Chambey forest down in La Habra and they look awesome . He has a few varieties that have survived years there . I’m pretty sure they would survive at that spot in the OP’s driveway but there isn’t a lot of cooling from other plants and palms ( none ) . We certainly don’t have the humidity that you guys have most of the time . Harry

yes, I agree. The first 2 to 3 influorescence typically don't produce any fruits, but I am going to use my knowledge from hybridizing to try to store some pollen and then apply it once the females open, perhaps I can get a fruit set on the first or second influorescence.?.. JD

That's what I was wondering. I've grown Flamethrowers in full sun here in swampy FL, the only problem was exposure to frost and getting defoliated. But I've read a bunch of people having sunburn issues with them in full sun, both in Tampa and Miami, and also out in CA. One big connecting problem seemed to be planting near reflecting walls and lots of concrete, just amplifying the heat and torching them. But I've also seen some great photos in CA with literal forests of Chamberyonia, so it sure seems possible! @OCKev I'd also think about whether you want something that gets tall fast, or takes decades to get there, or stays somewhat short forever. For example, a common Bottle or Spindle might take 10-15 years to grow to roof height...but a King could get over-roof height in 3-5 years, depending on the size when you buy it. Likewise a Jubaea might take 20-30 years to get over roof height. Others like Parajubaea are quicker but the fronds might be too big for that area. A Butia (Pindo) would probably work in that spot too, and be quicker than a Jubaea. If you wanted a smaller palm the Pygmy Date (Phoenix Roebellini) or Chamaerops Humilis (European fan palm) are slow to gain height and pretty tough. If you want a BIG fan type palm that's slow to gain height, Copernicia Baileyana or Fallanesis or Gigas might work.

I was worried I would lose all my seedlings during this cold spell, but a small space heater in a pop-up greenhouse has worked like a charm. I'm definitely hooked.

Mine seed like crazy and the little seeds drop into the mulch and grow like grass below them. Much bigger then expected, they grew eight feet tall in a few years, when I initially expected them to be waist hight when I put them in.

I use a soapy water solution and paper towels to manually wipe scale from infected palms . I don’t get much scale in my garden so the soapy solution keeps the scale at bay. Mix up a bit of dish soap and warm water , wipe the scale off with a soapy paper towel ( the nice , thick , soft ones) and dispose of the paper towel . Then spray the plant with the same type of solution with a sprayer for a few days . The scale or other insects really don’t like soapy water but I’ve never had any of my plants object . Only use chemical sprays if the scale is not manageable or you lack the time to do it manually ……OR you have thousands of plants to attend to like @happypalms . Harry

I really should lol Really excited about each of these

Where are you? Germany?

Encephalartos Lanatus throwing a nice flush. I have had this plant well over 20 years.

It looks a lot like a shade grown Aechmea gamosepala...or hybrid of?

Some great ones there, Ernie’s are so rewarding to grow a lot of palm and tropical look quite fast. The Arenga hookeriana is more of a shade lover than open hedge type. And they like their water. As usual microclimate dictates a lot of palm choices for many gardeners. Richard

I have 2 left thank you

Yes sir will deliver again no problem

Archontophoenix would be decades before they hit 50’ but they do eventually I guess. The trimming of the inflorescence is up to you and are at the base of the crown shaft, so easy to get to with a pole saw for the first several years. Mine took 15 years before they flowered and not every year so not near the nuisance of the Queens. If you really like Royal Palms , the Oleracae that @JohnStraz suggested has a smaller presence and the fronds won’t smash a car to bits . They are a bit sensitive to cold and it would probably harder to locate one . They are beautiful palms though and I love mine. Depending on your particular climate could do very well . Harry A much smaller base on this 15+ year old Oleracae.

Mines looking a wee bit rough these days…

Get two that’s what I did, one is not enough! 😂😂😂

A nice little female Zamia Fischeri cone.

Some nice ones there. A couple of those require a sub tropical or tropical environment , as far as I know . The Chamaedorea Ernesti Augusti should be a staple in any shady , temperate garden . I can’t believe that I ignored them up until a couple years ago. They are much faster growing than I thought they would be. The Arenga , if that is a clumping species , can be a great barrier along a property line . They handle almost anything that nature throws at them , wind , sun , shade , rain , or short dry spells. They are also self maintaining like the Caryota Mitis , grow , flower , stem dies , new stems grow. Lovely selection there if you are in the right climate zone! Harry

A true gardener never stops planting plants. Iam planting palms I will never see fruit, never get a trunk and never see them mature in the years I have left. Iam leaving behind a future generation garden, someone on day will say whoever planted this garden must have had a vision! Here’s another trio worth planting!chamaedorea falcifera Pinanga rumphianareindhartia latisecta

I didn't realize it's been so long since I posted an update here after years of daily updates. My brother got the central hvac replaced so I copped mom's window unit and put it in the grow room. The same grow room that I used to go check the heat every 2 hours, yes. If I was an intelligent and reasonable person I'd tie it to a smart plug and let it run for an hour or 2 before I planned to go out there, but if I was smart like that.....anyway. The heat index in there regularly hits 130, I've been trying to keep some rehabs in there but it might be time to load them on a tray and put them outside where the heat index is only 105 or so. I've made a few more sales, I tried a Whatnot live show but their shipping absolutely sucks unless you're selling tissue cultures and plugs. I've since figured it out but I stand on the hill that it sucks. They also promise the world to new sellers and deliver on nothing. I've also been dabbling with various fertilizers and stuff - it's super cool when everything wants a different fertilizer and a different ratio and this one also wants this and that one also wants this and everything gets cal mag and I'm mixing a gallon at a time so I'm too impatient to add the silica since it takes 20-30 minutes to properly absorb into the water and blah blah blah. Anyway let me see if I can just photo bomb for those of you who boldly and bravely refuse to submit to the evil empire. I salute you. I am @sanchosgreenpaws on Instagram and Sancho B Plants on the world's largest collection of AI slop and user tracking for those who care. That Thai Giant is just insane. I have a couple more that are taking an eternity to sprout and a couple smaller ones, and they've been getting weekly feedings of 20-10-20. I just haven't had the energy to dig holes, but I need to dig a lot of holes. I need to build some trellis for the dragonfruits, they haven't even seen full sun yet and they're going insane. Hibiscus has chosen to remain a stick. The 5g Alocasia Batik is INSANE, I thought I was done rearranging lights until it got cool. I've got a 1g I should flip before it gets any bigger, and it ain't gonna be cheap. I've also snatched up a couple Portora and what we believe are Regal Shields, others have said Buddha's Hand. They came from Wal-Mart so I'm more likely to believe Regal Shields and of course I go through all the pots looking for multiples. My alleged Regal Shields had 2, straight to 1g pots in evening sun. The portora has a total of 7 (!) Pups, got a Stingray, I forgot the name of the gigantic yellow one, a couple Yucatan Princess, 2 Sebrina, a Zebrina, pink dragon, several Cuprea, Macro Camouflage, there's..... there's a lot. Unfortunately it seems like most sellers harvest corms before shipping after they advertise it as a corming plant so they can kinda go to hell for that. I'd do the same, i just wouldn't advertise it as a corming plant. I have a few I've grown from corms, I've got some corms marinating but my confidence isn't high - they're from a big box Melo that was on a shelf a few plants down from the worst mealybug infestation I've ever seen and i still paid $10. Whatever. Anyway, Sancho is on thyroid pills now so he's up to 8 pills and 2 supplements a day, he's catching up to me but he's got a ways to go. On top of all of my mystery health problems, now I've lost a lot of flexibility and mobility in my left hip literally overnight. The physical therapist won't see me until I have coverage, I've been on hospital charity. Hospital says I need to apply for Medicaid, Medicaid denied me because they're waiting on the state and SSDI, and bless my Dr- I was telling him about all this and he just bumped my anxiety meds up. So anyway there's that.

Here’s that coconut today. Slight bit of green showing in the center, so there is a chance.

Some exciting news I’m moving to Florida this Fall - Port Orange to be exact it’s Z10A so I have the chance to grow some cool palms much easier than Texas weather permits 😅😅😅. I’ve been busy selling some palms and digging up a few I want to bring along. Seed grown Alexandre dwarf and tall form Radicalis Purpurea

I think there’s already enough to tell it’s not a Cocoid. Looks like Nannorrhops.

New to me Everglades palm (Acoelorrhaphe wrightii). I might hold off until next year to plant it.

OK , now I have to put a new tag on my Pyroformis! It’s so small most folks miss it anyway! Harry It looks much smaller in the ground near our other large , overshadowing palms. So very slow at this age.

Nothing very exotic. Washingtonia filifera (I collected seed from thick trunked grey green specimens), Sabal mexicana, Butia, and Medjool.

Here’s my sunkha out in front of my house; it’s about 25 feet (8 M) tall overall and about 14” across the base of the trunk. The Shoe is an American size 13 about 13” long.

I just took a picture of my Parajubaea sunkha ( think it is one) and my Parajubaea cocoides seedling. I love the colour of the petioles on the sunkha. It went unharmed through our last winter where I have had quite a lot of damage due to a three day very cold (-3 c) spell with black frost.

Ben, my tanga’s are finally producing viable seed which take, what seems forever, to ripen, I’ve been using the sphagnum moss baggie method which works well. The seed is so small it seems to be an easier way to keep track of them. They have grown well and have slowed down after initial growth. It’s nice that they aren’t large palms and maintain a manageable scale. They’re susceptible to scale, but regular care keeps things under control. They respond rather quickly to fertilizer, in fact more than just about all the palms in the garden. Impressive palms overall. Here are some recent photos. Tim