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The late Richard Douglas and Inge Hoffmann, two of my palm mentors, (Richard was more than six feet tall) then three images of my Ceroxylon quindiuense. I don't feel confident about estimating height, but I believe it to have about 35 feet of clean trunk below the leafbases. (10.6 m )

San Diego, CA, USA is treating her right

A few more, From left, Chambeyronia var. hookeri, Cyathea intermedia, Iriartea deltoidea, Socratea exorrhiza, and Wettinia hirsuita behind. Glorious is the adjective that best describes this view for me. Thanks for the inspiration Dave, I’ve been meaning to post this photo. Tim

Ceroxylon quindiuense, this is an old image, the crown is more relaxed and hemispherical now.

One of those days so gorgeous you pinch yourself to be sure you’re not hallucinating. So how about the rest of you?

Had to run down to the Keys for a couple of days. Here’s some pics from the hotel. It is hot, bone dry, and sunny this time of year. Desert conditions. Didn’t have any time to run around looking for out of the way stuff, but the hotel did a really great job with the landscaping, so I thought I’d share….. It was a quick trip. Whoever put all this together really knew what they were doing. Great selections for the climate and conditions. Tourist Palmscaping to start…. In place of bottles and spindles for accents, they plugged in a lot of coccothrinax… Random Zombia antillarum… Some Latania for silver accents… Lots of Thrinax Radiata all over for some lower cover and shade… Leucothrinax morisii everywhere down here as accents… way better ones along the roads. These and Thrinax are in every yard, median and parking lot. Chrysalidocarpus Pembana clumps recurring as under tree accents… Typical Areca / Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens all over as screening palms…. Mostly looking ok for down here. Lots of these as screens… blanking on the name right now… that clumping one with the fragment fruit, I think, or maybe Arykury Palms/Syagrus schizophylla. Not sure, favor the first…. Some Vetechia sprinkled in… A Copernicia alba… A few Satakentia…. A random Atela… Lots of Serenoa repans, some stands 8-10 feet tall…. Lots of Allagoptera arenaria… Lots of Chamaerops humilis as accents… a common yard palm down here. Some Acoelrrhaphe wrightii screens…. Looking happy even in dry spots. This random huge palm was not too happy…. (Not sure, but it was a big young boy) Lots of cool understory and ground cover plants around too… all appropriate choices Missing was Pseudophoenix Sargentii and more Copernicia…. Many great Pseudophoenix along the roads and the way down. 300lb Goliath Grouper…. Always watching… always judging… Tarpon of course (off site)

Well after all those dazzling displays please remember my garden is not quite 4 years old yet. Here is my Archontophoenix maxima purchased as a 40cm overall height specimen at the palm show in march 2024 and now is just above the 2 metre mark. An A for effort ? Peachy

ALl the taller palms have a hurricane haircut now from Milton(110mph gusts). Nothing too tall in my yard, a couple royals 40-45 feet tall estimate but there are some pretty thick trunks. Its tough to estimate height that tall. But the smooth trunks are 26-30 feet and crownshafts are 6 1/2 feet. That leaves leaves and spear extending past 31 feet(smaller one) and 36 feet(larger one). I estimate leaves/spear extend 10' + past top of crownshaft. The royal trunks are a bit more slim down low with some coke bottling up around 15-20 feet or so. First pic is the taller one which is more slim in trunk by 3" perhaps. The fence is 7' The smaller one is near a hose bib and got more water, a bit less sun. Down low its 27" thick next to the 30" wide chair(viewed straight on). It appears to bulge a bit, perhaps 3-4". Here is the bottom 20 feet of trunk with chair for scale. These are my tallest palms and the heaviest trunks(25' to 30' of trunk weighs several tons. They are not the thickest trunked palms down low. That would be sabal causiarum at about 42-44" bulge down low this is the thickest trunked palm down low. My favorite trunk is the concrete pillar looking trunk of copernicia fallaensis. It does not taper at 28-29" thick last time I measured the perimeter(2piR) with a tape last year. The causiarum tapers notably, fallaensis does not taper thus far. It is notably thicker than the causiarum at 10 feet above ground as the causiarum trunk tapers to 24" or so at that height. And last but not least is the fastest tapering palm, beccariophoenix alfredii, about 32" thick at the base but rapidly tapering. I also like the undulations on the clean trunk. I have never cut leaf bases off all these palms, they are naturally shedding. Alfredii trunk base And the overall of alfredii showing the rapid tapering of trunk. Alfredii seems to recover well from hurricane but it still has the comb over effect of asymetry. Funny alfredii looks like my best recovering palm right now but we haven't hit the wet season yet when everything grows a lot faster.. I learned a less from Milton, damage was more a function of height than species. The tallest were the most damaged.

Size is most definitely "relative". I just took this photo showing what I see when I walk past my most finished area of the yard. The Flamethrower (a palm I bought at a large size to get some "instant gratification") dominates the grouping... But if you step back a few feet (and look up) all of these palms are dwarfed by the two Caryota obtusa/gigas which are fully mature, and are the only palms remaining from the original landscaping. Caryota obtusa/gigas are already huge, but are EXTRA large when compared against a young garden...

Geeze Jim, now I need a chiropractor! A shot of a trio of Euterpe precatoria. Tim

(Not mine) I took this at the angle where would would see the sky, but it’s a Corypha

From no trunk rings in 2021 to several now.

Great idea , Dave! I came up with a few, my Washingtonia providing a tower to the sky , outside my porch looking up through a Howea Foresteriana , and the tall Caryota on the West side. Harry ‘Hello Washy A peak a boo sky through the Kentia a tall Caryota Urens

A couple shots I'm quite fond of; Hydriastele ramsayi in habitat (Northern Territory), and Chamaerops humilis "Vulcano" at Colin Wilson's place (Kiama, NSW).

The time has finally come, after years of waiting. Today I planted the first palms (and other plants) in my new garden. Since the local soil was very alkaline, I added two truckloads of highly acidic sand soil (pH 3,8) I bought and then i mixed it with the local soil. Hopefully it will work. There is very little organic matter in it but I put worm castings on top of the soil every time I plant something and I will keep adding compost from my compost maker. So here are my pioneers. I know that some of them will not make it but some may do and I am very excited!

Still looking up. Tim

We got plenty of that down under blue skies that is!

So I took my dog to the park this morning and saw this. I'm amazed how long this Sabal palmetto has been able to thrive on this tree. It must have about 8-10 feet of trunk. There is no telling how many hurricanes it has been through.

This image is from five years ago, here is the same vantage point today. The foliage on the left is Howea, and on the right Rhopalostylis. Look closely at the lower left corner through the Howea and one can glimpse a tiny bit of the ocean horizon.

these are some of the stuff I see daily (I am currently residing in Barcelona for a bit)

A world's first...as far as I am aware...after hand-pollinating around 20,000 flowers under tightly controlled conditions, I got just 3 viable seeds on the last infructescense and now have my first triple Dypsis cross!! I sewed the 3 seeds on Feb 28, 2025 and just discovered the first sprout today. I jumped in the air in excitement!! Introducing.. Chrysalidocarpus (pembanus x decaryi) x leptocheilos. TriBana Hybrid crossed with Teddybear Palm.

One palm that always confuses me always forgetting that name that’s so hard to say and spell. These two are around at least 30 years of age both gifted to me as a 24th birthday present. Super tough heat cold wet feet all round palm. They look there best when given a good clean up and a bit of care, but can be left in there own do just as good. These ones are setting seeds I don’t worry about growing them but I should do a couple of dozen just to have to in the collection for other collectors who are brave enough to grow them.

Yesterday was a great day in the garden after encountering this C. ovobontsira reveal. Up until now this young palm was rather unremarkable, no longer. It was gifted to me by Hilo Jason a few years back, you picked out a good one Jason, and no, you can’t have it back. Glad I’m able to share these photos. Tim

‘Looking east , past my wife’s Hawk sculpture Looking South , from under the pergola in the late afternoon looking Southwest towards the ocean.

Some recent additions to the garden. Thankful for another mild Central Florida winter. Happy Spring everyone Chrysalidocarpus Lanceolatus (Blended with a 3 yo Pembana clump) Chamaedorea Ernesti Augustii Pinanga Adagensis Sabal Mauritiformis Coccothrinax Macroglossa “Azul” Leucothrinax Morrissii Coccothrinax Crinita Copernicia Prunifera Pseudophoenix Sargentii

I had a moment to search my older files, here is an image from 12 years ago.

@peachy okay Darl here’s my big Archontophoenix Slapsie Maxie planted in December 2006. About 40 feet or 12-13 M tall.

Another beautiful rhapis in the collection I have is laosensis. Slow growing this one at least 20 years in the ground as tube stock. In a hot dry sunny spot. A rosebud farm original from Rich Trapnell. Those where the days, he introduced so many new palms into Australia.

Ran into this suspect that I had never seen in the hood until today:

Ok we all have a nice place to sit in the garden, I know I do. So what’s your view?

One of my favorite grows!

I’m back after a long posting hiatus, here’s a picture of the Tahina about 12 years since planting, it’s really been cranking for the past 6 months.

My tallest is probably a Caryota Urens but it is hard to tell from the ground . It is the only palm that outpaces the Syagrus Romanzoffiana’s . The largest by volume is the Butia Oderata on my hill, it has a very large trunk and has many large fronds ( not a palm for small gardens). The largest single frond is the Caryota Obtusa , the fronds are huge . Harry ‘Caryota Urens, with a partial view of the C. Obtusa . I’m not sure if the Washingtonia Robusta down my hill is taller , Caryota Obtusa single frond! ‘This was about a year ago , even larger now by just a bit. It is not a palm I would like to have near my house or in a small backyard. I am glad I put this one on the hill . They look manageable when they are young but grow to be quite large. ‘The Butia as seen from our deck. Harry

@Billy Nearly a year since posting. Give us an update!! Here’s two of mine. Hard to photo the largest but it’s been in the ground since 2021 as a FB 1G. Growing well. The smaller just found Earth last year. Also as a 1G. -dale

Would love to see pics of Southern CA and Northern CA Burretiokentia koghiensis and dumasii at any stage of development. Mine are in the ground two and a half years from tiny liner sized seedlings. First year was difficult since they were getting way too much straight sun but are growing fast after planting a 15 gallon Archontophoenix cunninghamiana nearby that shades them in the afternoon. Winter growth has been surprisingly fast. First two pictures are B. koghiensis and below them, the B. dumasii. Can’t wait to see summer growth.

They are painfully slow growing while in the seedling and pre-trunking stages even under optimal growing conditions. I planted this one as a small seedling thirty years ago. My soil is neutral and clay based. Irrigation water is very alkaline at about 8.2. It gets watered once per week in the summer. Potassium deficiency has occasionally been a problem but I feed it more often now and the problem has subsided. These are really tough, drought tolerant palms as well as tolerant to freezing temperatures though mine hasn’t experienced that in eighteen years.

@peachy here’s some more pictures of Slapsie Maxie, including Conan (the real owner of the garden) for scale at the base of the trunk.

Satakentia liukiuensis:

Geonoma atrovirens, pretty as a picture. Tim

A leaf came off my Chrysalidocarpus prestonianus a couple of weeks ago, and I noticed that another is peeling back. Now it is decision time since the leaflets are green, do I leave it? Do I remove it down to the crownshaft so it doesn't destroy something underneath when it crashes down? For now, I'm waiting a little longer but will probably follow the first path since I don't want it to damage plants below. Sometimes what catches our eye can be thought provoking or provide a dilemma.

What is or are your biggest palm(s)? This includes outdoors and indoors, overall height, crown width, trunk thickness, whatever. In my case one contendah’ is my large Roystonea oleracea, purchased as a fiver from Mardy Darian back around 2010. About forty five feet tall. I’ve got more, but show us some of yours!

By popular demand from @aztropic who sold me this palm. I present to you, the 2nd (that I know of) pure Chilean Wine palm in Florida. location: Deland, FL i have been following @Scott Ws Journey of growing his Jubaea and decided I wanted to try as well. Since I am only a hour south of his Jubaea in Jacksonville, fl. I also have a nice microclimate from a pond in my backyard that might help the humidity issue with airflow. My phoenix Canariensis is loving it so far. I originally was not going to post out of fear of failure but decided why not.

We got plenty of blue skies down under.

Gray skies this time of year are a sign of our coastal air conditioning system. It keeps the temperatures a comfortable constant night and day, when temperatures a few miles east begin to soar. Consequently, I appreciate seeing this color sky in Spring. So here are some palms against a gray or grey sky, depending on where you are.

Some of my collection with the sky

Some Madagascan species against the blue Melbourne sky. Left to right: Chrysalidocarpus prestonianus hybrid (maybe x cabadae), C ambositrae, C baronii, Bismarckia, C lutescens tucked in the back, C decaryi x leptocheilos, C decaryi and C pilulifer (probable hybrid).

And here’s a Pritchardtia species.