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I started planting tiny Rhopalostylis seedlings (bauri and sapida) many years ago. Was worth the wait. Here are some of them.

For a complete collection of photos with IDs, please click here Here are some photos I've taken over the last few days in San Diego, CA! Borassus madagascariensis Jubaea chilensis Chambeyronia hookeri and Ptychococcus lepidotus Coccothrinax macroglossa Dictyosperma album Oraniopsis appendiculata Ptychosperma elegans Syagrus amara Caryota gigas

There is a an undocumented population of Braheas located just 40 miles south of Douglas, Arizona near the town of Esqueda, Sonora. These palms seem to be a variation of the Brahea Calcarea but with a taller trunk and fuller crown. I would also like to mention that these specimens of Brahea are very likely to be more hardy than Brahea Armata considering they are growing in elevations of 4000 or more where winters are extremely more cold than that of the Brahea Armata range. They palms are located in a ranch named Rancho Los Baños - Tierra Chamahua EcoAdventures which appears to have recently closed and has virtually no public access. There are dozens of pictures of the palms in the TripAdvisor page of the ranch online. I thought yall would enjoy knowing of these groves as they might have the potential of being the MOST hardy Brahea of all the genus. Getting seeds from these plants would be amazing but the location is very remote and a known area of high cartel activity.

I wanted to start this thread to document myself and others’ plants so post if you got em. There wasn’t that many produced but they are out there. The “Lady Luck” Palm is a cross between Wodyetia Bifurcata x Veitchia Winin so the cousin to the well known Foxy Lady hybrid. I got the plant from Seabreeze / @Josh-O as a 1G a few years back and it’s the first time it was produced. Admittedly I did not plant it out for well over a year but this summer it has grown great and seems to be catching up for lost time. Ideal location in morning sun, watered and fed regularly. Here’s a few old pics along its journey as well as a recent. First pic planted out March 2024. Lets see em. -dale

Chrysalidocarpus Prestonianus dropped a leaf to reveal some color

I spotted these Parajubeas near our hotel in The Presidio. Beautiful!! Mine in Dana Point is struggling. Enjoy IMG_8662.mov

Excited to finally see a flower on one of my P. torallyi. This one is 18 years old from germination.

Simply Juania Australis

This one has been in the ground for ten years out of a one gallon container. Neither Wodyetia nor Veitchia will grow well at all here but their hybrid does shockingly well. I wish a had a few more of them. Anyone growing one or more in a cooler climate?

A couple days ago we took photos of some of our palms catching up on some last minute growing while the early fall weather is still warm. We started in the back yard facing south and overlooking the Isabelle Canal. We've been blessed by a lack of hurricanes and tropical storms compared the the past few years so what wasn't killed by the likes of Ian has had a chance to recover. Allagoptera caudescens Dictyosperma album Livistona jenkinsiana Livistona drudei Kerridoxa elegans Satakentia liukiuensis Chrysaladocarpus leptocheilos Philodendron Pink Princess Chamaedorea sp Moving west toward our Garden Lot View looking east toward Back Yard Jungle Cocos nucifera Dwarf Red Spicata Twins Sabal causiarium by @sonoranfans after Ian Sabal palmetto variegata Sabal grethereae Chrysaladocarpus decaryi Leucothrinax morrisii Sabal minor Chipola Dwarf Livistona muellerii Coccothrinax sp Borassus flabellifer Syagrus kellyana Pritchardia sp Livistona saribus Pritchardia vuylslekeana

Just pulled off a leaf base this morning and noticed the first ring!! Tree is about 16-17ft overall. Zone 10b. Was bought as a Floribunda 1 gallon around 2019. Does anyone in South FL have a Redneck with trunk. The true C. lastellianus seems pretty rare here...all you see are C. leptocheilos

Now that it's autumn, watch for falling leaves! 🍂🍁🌴 Extremely robust crownshaft of Chrysalidocarpus canaliculata flattened an old ti plant. (Purchased as C. canaliculatus so that's what I call it.)

@Hilo Jason and i have had an annual tradition three years running to visit a palm that makes my eyes water, a specimen of Tahina spectabilis in Hawaii that has thrived in its planted location 2023: 2024: 2025: seems to have fully grown out of those rough leaf pushes Jason has some great photos of years prior to this that they might post, thankful for the opportunity, the owner for letting us nerd out in their yard, and @bgl for the plant origin

Three spears on this Rhopalysyis caught me eye.

I had not walked on this street recently until this morning. As my dog and I walked by, It was a Reunion of sorts... a Hyophorbe verschaffeltii.

New new leaves on some young Livistona saribus caught my eye. Some are in the shade and one is colored from the sunshine.

The leaves can be big and heavy. Here’s one of my baueri.

Not too much to look at for some but this Bentinkia caught my eye this early morning as the landscape lighting was still on illuminating. Bummer the Blood Leaf looks terrible at the base of the Bismarck behind. I just hacked it back. -dale

made from seed collected at the Naples Botanical Garden in 1999

Lovely! I happened to pass this six-in-a-row sidewalk planting in SF's Mission District last night.

After 22 years, or so, of spectacular leaf spreads I had to say goodbye to my beloved Gigas. Two seed spathes dropped and no growth in over a year. It was time. I used a company called Arkadia ( https://yourarkadia.com/) . They did a great job! Very proffessional, on time, clean and left without a trace.

A few more Jubaea chilensis coconuts. These coconuts are sold from Chile to RPS Germany. They're also sold in China. My friend hopes to close a deal with the United Arab Emirates for giant Jubaea chilensis palm trees. I'll keep you informed about this in the future. This is the world of palm trees, friends.

Mass shipment of Jubaeas chilensis to Europe. Container shipping by ship. Courtesy of my Belgian friend Michel Lancel.

Doesn't seem to be for plants grown in dryer desert conditions anyways. I've been growing this species in the Arizona desert for 25 years now and have about 20 examples planted throughout my garden. Never seen the decline symptoms here.🤷‍♂️ aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Thought I’d post an update of this standout palm. It’s grown quite a bit in 18 months still exhibiting wide internodes. Although the dropped frond doesn’t have the weight and heft of say C. prestonianus, it can still be a hernia inducing lift. Ufta! Tim

First flowering of my Prestoea acuminata came as a welcome surprise.

Ok, I see it every day, but wasn’t sure what species it was. I used to live in Middle Tennessee (USA), and my folks were in Gainesville, Florida. I kept lots of potted palm there, underneath a Live Oak tree, in the irrigation zone. So they were neglected, but most of them didn’t die. I started a bunch of seeds from RPS in the mid-late-2000s and took them to Gainesville when they got a little size. Eliminated the need for a greenhouse in TN, since just about everything I was growing had some cold-hardiness. Mom decided to plant this Butia probably a little over 10 years ago, but the tag was lost. So it was just a guess what it was. I thought it could have been the rare Butia capitata, since I had a couple of them from RPS seeds. Or maybe B. catarinensis. It was definitely not any of the dwarf species. Fast forward to 2020, I moved in with them to help them out with the house. Well, I was walking past it a few days ago and something caught my eye…a spathe! A very DARK spathe! I sped up just a little and swatted petioles aside to check closely. Sure enough, it was WOOLY! Not only that, there were 2 of them. Well, that pretty much eliminates all the other species that I thought it could have been. So after searching high and low over the past couple of years for a decent-sized Butia eriospatha, and only finding small ones and seeds, I have a mature one in my front yard! Can’t wait to start crossing it next year. I’m glad it decided to push out its first inflorescences in October, so I wouldn’t be tempted to pollinate them, haha!

Regular form: Smaller form with red fruit: Butia eriospatha I grew from RPS seed. It had no damage in most recent single digit freeze… has taken damage previously but never bad and think fruiting heavily can cause this. The one below is supposedly Butia x Jubaea. Only the huge size relative to my other Butias makes me believe this may be true

Red leaf on this Archontophoenix "Teracarpa" (it's a hybrid from Jungle Music Nursery).

Rhopalostylus Sapida taking off vertically. I also noticed a flower spathe emerging. Growing in Dana Point, CA.

my small garden is growing in! archontophoenix cunninghamiana, hedyscepe canterburyana, howea forsteriana, and dypsis baronii (can’t recall the new name) more is more!

Another year has passed since an update. Doesn’t look too different but it definitely takes up more room in all directions. Got to step back for pics. here it is…. -dale

Australis is Latin for south or southern: Terra Australis = Southern land, which ultimately became Australia.

I really think , for a lot of us growing up visiting Disneyland as kids , The Jungle Cruise ride was an inspiration. Either consciously or unconsciously we fantasize about having our very own jungle cruise….nuthin wrong with that! Harry Our private botanical tour of Disneyland , Anaheim. Jungle Cruise on a small boat modeled after the African Queen

Bottle Palm in my front yard.......

It’s always a pleasure to visit another private garden, it brings great joy to see another gardener’s passion. It makes you want plant more plants in own garden.

A few glauca in the garden. They are super tough cool tolerant and love growing in my garden, so far out 5 palms 3 are boys and 1 female with the last one not sure what he or she wants to be. Hopefully one day the bees will do there job and a few seeds.

I had one in a 15 gallon container pretty exposed and it did fine last winter in Santa Barbara. Winter was mild; temps hit the high 30's a couple times. Planted it out at the end of June.

More palms and plants from Garden Lot Livistona mariae Bismarackia nobilis, smaller of two surviving Bizzie's West End of Garden Lot looking South Livistona decora Livistona sp Areca catechu Dwarf; left is Pritchardia sp; right is Dictyosperma Albus Coccothrinax sp by Garden Shed Blue green Agave Sabal palmetto 'Lisa' #1 Sabal palmetto 'Lisa' #2 Sabal palmetto 'Mocksville' Hemithrinax ekmaniana Sabal minor x2: Left is typical S. minor; right was sold as seeds of what Seller in Savannah, GA, called 'Savanna Dwarf'. Is there such a thing? I don't know but it is certainly different. Seller disappeared into cyberspace about 15 years ago. Coccothrinax proctorii Dutchman's Pipe Coccothrinax sp - very large Chrysaladocarpus lutescens 'Fused Leaf' Plumeria w/ pink flowers

After spotting this palm being advertised on Facebook group “Palm Nutters”, I contacted the vendor (Cairns) on behalf of Colin Wilson who wanted it for Wollongong botanical garden, NSW. Paul Latzias and Michael Smith stepped up to inspect the palm last weekend, and were joined by Arden Dearden to salvage her this afternoon. Massive thanks to Paul, Michael, Arden, Digby (vendor), and of course Colin.

The best way to grow a palm is in the ground, so time for this one to go in the ground. Germinated from a few purchased seeds online. With 2 left from 4 seeds not to bad 50/50 odds. Planted in about one of the wettest and cooler spots in my garden I shall see how I go.

Almost two years later update…They are growing well. A bit more sun exposure has brightened the previous deep green leaves.

Chrysalidocarpus (Dypsis) ambositrae, I planted this palm on June 1st, 2014 as a small plant, it was about 12 inches (30cm) tall. I planted it in my neighbor's land adjacent to my front walkway. It has grown really well, so well that I was convinced to plant one in my own garden. Here are images taken today, October 8th, 2025, after just 11 years of growth. The palm now has 42 inches (107 cm) of true trunk below the leafbases, the bulging base is 8.25 inches (21 cm) in diameter, and the upper trunk is 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter. It holds 6 or 7 good fronds. I also favor its habit of a very short period of senescence. The older fronds will change from green to brown, and fall off cleanly in only 7 to 10 days. I have never given it any special care, and actually have somewhat ignored it since I am a notorious procrastinator !

Chrysalidocarpus leucomallus after a leaf drop

I was just noticing how bowl shaped the new leaves open on this Pritchardia flynnii. I absolutely love the look especially with the color of the abaxial leaf.

Not typically a recommended palm species for my area but this Geonoma pohliana has remained healthy and grown slowly throughout the last few years putting out two red fronds per year. It’s little offset has a red spear as seen in one photo below. Anyone else growing this species?

Maybe not so exciting for the North American members, but I’m pretty happy to see my one and only Sabal minor maturing. This one is the sole survivor from a batch of 10 seeds germinated 10 years ago. I left it in a baggie forgotten for about 3 years, then when I checked it nearly busted its way out. A rewarding palm to grow from seed. Not fast, but reliable and robust.

With recent humid weather we are having comes some happy palms. Clinostigma savoryanum Chrysalidocarpus ambositrae and this sort of unknown which was previously discussed on here sold as a D. decipiens, determined to be perhaps crossed with Chrysalidocarpus onilahensis. ??? All I know is it grows with hybrid vigor. I wish I would have planted it in a more prominent spot in my garden. It has two stems both in process of bifurcating.