Leaderboard

My second Chrysalidocarpus (Dypsis) decipiens is going to flower. This one has the crownshaft and inflorescence more colorful than the others that are more greenish.

Another flower spathe on one of my Areca Vestiarias. 😍

@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

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.

had the opportunity to visit @Hilo Jason and their garden of wonders today, no surprise they synchronized with a slice of heaven on earth

Chrysalidocarpus Prestonianus dropped a leaf to reveal some color

A couple of juvenile Iguanura wallichiana var. wallichiana were looking quite happy in a shady spot. Tim

Yesterday, the members of the Hawaii Island Palm Society not presently in Peru traveled to Captain Cook, south of Kailua-Kona, to see the palm collection of George Peavy, proprietor of Kahili Kona farms, which grows quantities of citrus fruits and dragon fruits. But this topic is not about the club activity, but about many of the spectacular palms that we saw. The pics are in alphabetical order by genus for no better reason than that the order in which File Explorer stores them. First up is a spectacular pair of Bismarckia nobilis: Borassodendron machadonis Burretiokentia grandiflora Calyptrocalyx hollrungii A Chrysalidocarpus baronii with two heads. George Peavy says that the pair emerged when an old frond dropped. A trio of Coccothrinax crinita Cryosophila warscewiczii (upper center) A pair of Dypsis rosea (yes, still Dypsis) Elaeis oleifera Johannesteijsmannia (Joey) magnifica Joey perakensis (Joey-on-a-stick) Pelagodoxa henryana Sclerosperma mannii (center) and Pinanga javana (upper right) A trio of Vonitra utilis (George Peavy underneath) Finally, a landscape view from the farm with the ocean in the distance. End of story.

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.

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

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.

Lanonia magaloni and a dypsis lantzeana caught my eye.

Geonoma undata

There will be more “palm portraits” with Latin names, but too busy today. Many head home this morning but I am lucky enough to head to Cajamarca with a small group. Yesterday orchids in bloom and dormant were numerous along the road so we happily took a break from the long bus rides. There were many plants which we were happy to even get to the family level of identification. I was told this strikingly yellow plant was some form of mistlestoe. And all ages of Dictyocaryum surrounded us. This baby was low enough that I could reverse the leaf to show off the silver underside. Look at that crownshaft color. Note stilt roots on the left. So many Dictyocaryum palms!!

Areca vestria orange form

Dictyocaryum lamarckianum

Prestoea longivaginata

This Attalea species, not sure what kind.

some chamaedorea in my garden

Ceroxylon quindiuense

Ceroxylon peruvianum

Ceroxylon echinulatum

Ceroxylon vogelianum

Unknown Geonoma ankle-biter

Bill Baker (Kew) descending the Bosque de palmeras Ocol. This is where we saw hundreds of ceroxylons. Norm from Hawaii having a grand time hiking in the forest. Notice the boots on each of them. It was muddy and slippery. I learned the value of using a walking stick.

When you have a nursery the size of what I have, and as many plants that I have in containers. There’s always behind the scenes stuff that they don’t let you see, it goes with any industry the waste. Either unwanted plants, dead plants or just complete failures due to no fault of the grower. Some is grower fault through learning about new varieties or plants that just won’t grow in your climate. Well iam no different than any other grower. Every now and then you have to go through the nursery and clean the dead or dying stock. Especially after winter it has its toll on most growers. So the next time you see that instagram shot that’s absolutely perfect peek behind the scenes!

Three spears on this Rhopalysyis caught me eye.

Yesterday afternoon, we wanted to visit various garden centers in Austria again. As always, we were very excited. However, after customs, we were abruptly stopped by the police. We stopped and I was asked to show my papers and vehicle registration immediately. At first there were two of them, then four more police officers joined them, making a total of six. They weren't interested in Sabine at all. They passed my ID card around, discussed it, and then asked me to get out of the car. I wanted to say something, but was immediately interrupted with questions about whether I had been drinking alcohol, whether I used or sold drugs. Of course, I answered no, which is the truth. They looked at me again and I asked if I looked like someone they were looking for. The answer was a relieved “no” from the police chief and I could continue driving, as this was just a routine check. I got back in the car. Sabine was surprised, but calm, and when we drove on, she just smiled and said that it was never boring with me. We drove to the garden center, and while I was talking to a salesperson, Sabine came up and said, “Look, that's a Chamaedorea metallica, and we can get it for 30 USDA, okay?” I was speechless again, once more... She just said, “See, it's good I was with you...” So, what a happy end 🤗

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.

Bismarckia reflection on the morning sun

Ceroxylon parvifrons

The palms were great, but the people are what makes the IPS the most special group on the planet.

To clarify, you're just wanting to sell what you currently have or are you planning on scaling up and trying to sell on a larger scale??? If it's just the few plants you currently own, Craigslist and FB marketplace will work just fine, or eBay with Local Pickup as the option, no shipping. No permits should be necessary...

A few high elevation bromeliads, in the Ceroxylon forest.

Sometimes we forget why we planted a species that is relatively common. This was a reminder. It is a weed in most of the tropics because it is so common yet has some redeeming value. I planted it for it's speedy and dense foliage as a screen above the wall height.

First leaf on my Bismarckia sprout emerged yesterday - love the red tip on the silver leaf! ☺️

Nothing particularly exciting unfortunately, but I was in Shoreham in West Sussex on Tuesday for business. I happened to pass a decent sized CIDP that I wasn't aware of. The fronds go above the house. Makes you wonder just how many more like this are lurking out there nowadays. If they trimmed up the trunk properly, it would look majestic. To play devil's advocate however, I spotted another one I didn't know about... except this one had been OVER pruned! It's like feast or famine. Big crown, or big trunk? There doesn't seem to be any half measures... 🤣 I looked that one up on Google maps after seeing it and it has been growing there since at least 2012. Also further testament to just how quick growing CIDP is in southern England. 2012 vs 2025 image above... I could post a bunch of other pics from today, but I'll just add these two. Pretty sure I have posted this Washie before...

Just a not-often-discussed topic since you're a newbie to germinating palm seeds...there are three main types of palm seeds found in the tropics and subtropics: orthodox, recalcitrant, and intermediate. Unlike temperate-zone and desert seeds, which usually can be stored dry and even frozen, only orthodox seeds can handle long periods of dryness or cold temperatures and still remain viable. Recalcitrant seeds are sensitive to a lack of warmth and moisture, and will fail if exposed to "standard" dry-seed-storage practices. Intermediate types can handle a longer amount of dryness and usually some amount of cold (probably not really freezing in most cases) and can be stored a little more loosely for a longer period. You can look up the status of a species' seed with a google search. But you can also guess if you know their native habitat. Rainforest palms, since they usually drop their seeds into a place with constant warmth and moisture, will likely be recalcitrant; palms that grow in tropical/subtropical areas with a marked dry season and monsoon-style moisture (like Western Mexico) may be intermediate; and those from drought-ridden or desert areas will likely be orthodox, for obvious reasons. Since the seed-dealers you find online (Etsy, eBay, et al.) generally have no idea about this, it's best to either buy from a known palm-savvy grower (as here on PalmTalk) or collect your own fresh seed and make sure, as Meg mentions above, that they have not been devoured yet by borers (this is very common in fallen seed in Florida). Best is to watch for the "season" for a species and then grab the seeds off of a tree before they hit the ground. Clean off the fruit by soaking/fermenting (you can place in a water-filled baggie and massage daily and keep rinsing until they're clean) and then put into a clean baggie with just-moist (not wet) peat-moss/coco-coir/perlite/sand or a mix thereof; or in a greenhouse in either community or individual pots. Then wait. The two species you have are both very, very slow. Thrinax faster than Coccothrinax. they will look like blades of grass for two or three years before they start to develop thicker leaves and even longer before you see their "character leaves." Since blades of grass are going to be very depressing for any newbie, you might also get some Veitchia (Montgomery Palm) seeds or Adonidia (Christmas Palm) seeds. Also a coconut or two. They sprout quickly, throw up large leaves from the start and will get you very excited, particularly the coconut and the Veitchia, because they grow like rocketships. And then you might want to go down to Homestead when you have a chance, find a nice inexpensive mom-and-pop nursery on/around Krome Ave. and buy some Thrinax or Coccothrinax palms (the fastest Coccothrinax is C. barbadensis, often sold in SoFla as "Coccothrinax alta") to enjoy while you spend years watching your seedlings grow into something. But be careful, because, slow or not, seed-sprouting can become addictive!

Chambeyronia divaricarta.

Chamaedorea pauciflora at about 2500' elevation

Hey Mazat, this baby has been raised from seed bought from rps. I have another one in the ground, which is rather big. Peculiarly it did not bloom this summer but still looks healthy. Perhaps soil is too dry for its increasing size and offshoots. I had not not pruned it though during past winter. After winter pruning is no more advisable or even legal, as it would equal an invitation to rpw.

who can guess this ID? Hedyscepe

Areca tunku

We have almost finished salvaging what's left of my Container Garden, cleaned up the lanai, then positioned and filled the mini greenhouses with palms and philodendrons in preparation for winter, which may be a bad one. I've lost 100s of plants in the past year because of illness and diabolically hot summer days that made it impossible for me to venture outdoors. The summer rains at our house have been infrequent and sparse - we have had rain deficits of 12-15" all year. Much of my Container Garden died off because of heat, drought and lack of care when I couldn't function much of the time. Seven months of pneumonia does that to you. So now daily highs have dropped to the low 90s vs. upper 90s I have felt well enough to tackle the lanai and the plants that live on it. My camera skills have languished for much of the past 18 months but I managed to produce some anemic photos of the results. Container Garden, Cape Coral, FL, September 2025 Chamaedorea metallica pinnate form Is the palm on the right below Howea forsteriana? Archonotophoenix purpurea: It has lived the longest for me even thought this species hates my sweltering climate Variegated Rhapis

It's been a long while since I posted anything in-ground, but everything has been doing pretty good! The Needle Palm has been doing amazing as expected! There are now 5 suckers as there'es one more coming up in the front. The Cycas Revoluta seems to be doing pretty good after defoliation. The new flush was definitely smaller than the original size of the leaves, but it should start looking how it did last year with a bit more protection. It even has a little offshoot next to it! The tropical plants part of my garden has also done really well! Well actually not right now cuz of spider mites, but i've been trying to get rid of them lol. The Colocasia and Canna clumps I planted deeper this time, and not at the very top, so they might have a chance at surviving this winter. I know a Colocasia CAN survive a michigan winter because i've had a smaller clump survive one year before I accidentalyl killed it. the Ensete I will dig up once the frost hits, and store in the basement! Soon I need to put WAYY more mulch everywhere as it all got displaced from the last couple of years.

I can see both sides of this . If visitors use common sense and obey traffic laws it ain’t a problem . Problems arise when visitors are intrusive and ignore boundaries. Harry

I was growing this Joey outdoors to see how they would go. Absolutely perfect nothing to worry about growing joeys outside. They are quite tough, this one sat in a tray of water all winter it loved it. I think it’s time the Joey rule book had an update. There so easy to grow, Just add water! This one will make a nice feature alongside the driveway in a few years.