HI Miccles,

Looks like your zone pushing has gone too far, where are the bangalows, kentias, Hedyscepe and Ceroxylon? Kidding you. Well done, I wish I had the ability to import largish grade warm palms from Brisbane on a handshake deal.

You think 38S is a long way from the equator?? Try my 39.5S!!!

Cheers,

Ben

Thanks Chris & Ari

Chris: Yes - that macrocarpa was too beautiful to pass up. I got it from a nursery up in Tullamarine...they have one more that size ...if you're interested

Michael,

I checked with the Palm Place in Greenvale, they said they have never heard of a Chambeyronia macrocarpa....... was the one you bought mislabled ?

Hi Chris: Yes - got the Macrocarpa from Palmplace. I was walking around there killing time.. waiting to collect someone from the airport. I stumbled across the Macrocarpa and when I asked one of the staff about it, he didn't know what I was talking about either. Some of the people on site there are little more than "waterers" I suspect.

Still, I saw the 2nd one for myself, as I had the choice of which one I wanted. It was similar height, more leaves, but the trunk was not quite as thick. Still a great specimen though !

I guess it depends who you manage to talk to at some of these places.

Long slow drive back to my place from the airport with that lying down on the back of the ute !

Regards

Michael.

Hi Miccles

What a great collection you have there ,i have posted some of mine that i grow down here in chilly Hobart under the "moving house "post title . Myself and Nomolos are the Tassie zone pushers.

G'day Troy...good to see another southerner battling against the odds

I heard somewhere that the weather boys have forecast a pretty cold winter ahead....only 3 months till Spring...and counting....

Michael, great to hear from another Melbourne based zone pusher. I planted out a Chambey macrocarpa and hookeri next to each other last summer and they both have new red leaves at the same time, so I have to get a photo (probably won't happen again for 10 years or so). Great to see someone trying Coccothrinax, Allagoptera and others. For what its worth, I've seen a Dypsis leptocheilos survive here at a local nursery for 4 years, but it slowly declined to its death (it was in shade so yours has a better shot). I've got other big Dypsis that perform much better including carlsmithii, 'canaliculata', nauseosa and prestoniana. Wodyetia seem to be temperamental herefrom what I've seen. There are a few in a garden near my house that still look good after 3 or 4 years, but most decline slowly. I also can't imagine your Caryota mitis flourishing, but its worth a go.

Chris, remember all those Roystonea regia seeds you gave me a while back? I have one survivor that is pushing out its 5th leaf. Really speedy down here...

Michael, great to hear from another Melbourne based zone pusher. I planted out a Chambey macrocarpa and hookeri next to each other last summer and they both have new red leaves at the same time, so I have to get a photo (probably won't happen again for 10 years or so). Great to see someone trying Coccothrinax, Allagoptera and others. For what its worth, I've seen a Dypsis leptocheilos survive here at a local nursery for 4 years, but it slowly declined to its death (it was in shade so yours has a better shot). I've got other big Dypsis that perform much better including carlsmithii, 'canaliculata', nauseosa and prestoniana. Wodyetia seem to be temperamental herefrom what I've seen. There are a few in a garden near my house that still look good after 3 or 4 years, but most decline slowly. I also can't imagine your Caryota mitis flourishing, but its worth a go.

Chris, remember all those Roystonea regia seeds you gave me a while back? I have one survivor that is pushing out its 5th leaf. Really speedy down here...

Hi Tim,

Another notable long term survivor in Carrum is the Caryota gigas..... that is if its correctly labelled.... the ID of some in this genus is problematic

I have heard it said that bringing large palms down from Qld is a death sentence. Actually I think bringing smaller ones down might be worse.

CHRIS

I think it is a gigas Chris, the trunk is very dark and already getting quite thick. It is more than surviving, it must be over 3m tall, each new leaf is much larger than the last. I have one that is growing very nicely as well, doesn't get damaged at all in winter.

I've had quite a few palms grow well from QLD, probably 70% of all the palms I've brought down are still alive and I'd say most ofthose are growing well, not bad considering a lot of those are marginal here. One particularly successful experiment for me has been Burretiokentia hapala. It is the most healthy palm I own, not even one brown tip on any frond, and is by far the fastest New Caledonian palm I own, at least twice as fast as Chambeyronia macrocarpa.

The centrepiece of my front yard is a sandstone ring, in which I have planted my Parajubaea Torallyi - this palm found its way to me via a gracious exchange with Adam (fellow Melb palm nut on here). It was planted in November, and has taken off and doubled in size.

And it's looking GREAT!

Hope that my grounded one takes off like this

Any Melbourne guys want a Parajub torallyi var, torallyi torallyii with a bit more torallyi thrown in, I have a couple of spares and nowhere to put them.

Am thinking of seeing if the Bot Gardens might like one or doing a random act of palmness.

Oh, and where's the %$#&ing rain? It's June, FGS!

Me.

You and your rain, Adam . Go and do some rain dance...

Regards, Ari

You and your rain, Adam . Go and do some rain dance...

Regards, Ari

For us here in the deep south Ari, [ BTW thats the opposite of the meaning of the deep south in the USA] lack of rain is a serious serious thing.

Whilst those north of the Tropo Capro can take 2 long showers a day, we can only manage one lasting 1 minute without guilt, and certainly no one brags about having a long shower in case we are dobbed in as a water wally to the government.

So for gardeners, prolonged lack of water is a denial that is now inflicting damage on the psyche. No more water guzzling exotic plants. No more lawns, rip out the rhododendrons and put in yuccas.

Theres a sort of politcal orrectness, so that if you are watering, and you let some go on the path, you look around to see if anyone saw such blatant waste.

Now it used to be that our countrymen form Sydney would come down here and say it rains all the time in Melbourne, well thats just not the case now if it ever was . I would say that we are down now from 600-700mm per year to 300-400mm and theres no sign of the winter rain coming yet.

Down here we are thinking that most farmers will have to pack up and go North, forget wheat and potatoes and learn to grow rice.

When I grew up Melbourne had 700 mm of rain and half the population . Now each person has about 25% of the water we once enjoyed.

I recently spent some time in Seoul, where you can have a long hot shower without guilt. Do you know how good that felt ?

========================

Got rid of all those depressed thoughts....... now I can enjoy my day !

what Chris says above about rain and water use in the southern half of Australia is correct. It's almost like a "big brother" scenario, well watered plants and a lush lawn drawing sceptical glances and murmours.

Terribly sad, considering Victoria used to be known as "the garden state".

Sorry, I was only joking. I didn't mean to offend...

Regards, Ari

Sorry, I was only joking. I didn't mean to offend...

Regards, Ari

Ha Ari,

No offence taken..... we are just jealous of your Carpentaria palms and stuff.

Actually, I am just really disappointed tht the "Garden state " is now the pebble mulch state.

Chris,

I can understand the frustation. I hope Melbourne will be out of the drought soon. I still remember the time where it RAINED all the time in Melbourne. I guess it is over 12 years ago now since I last lived there. I still remembered that I used to go to the garden behind the Parliament house there (I can't remember the name now) and enjoyed the flowers in spring.

Regards, Ari

Can Dypsis decaryii be grown in southern Victoria and where does one get rare plams like in these photos in Vic, especially Trithrinax!? WOW!

Can Dypsis decaryii be grown in southern Victoria and where does one get rare plams like in these photos in Vic, especially Trithrinax!? WOW!

Gan Eden,

Dypsis decaryi grows quite well here near the bay. It needs a well drained sunny spot with assured moisture to look its best

Thanks for sharing Michael. That ring with the Parajubaea is gonna look sweet!

Nice job Miccles. Keep it up!

Can Dypsis decaryii be grown in southern Victoria and where does one get rare plams like in these photos in Vic, especially Trithrinax!? WOW!

Gan Eden,

Dypsis decaryi grows quite well here near the bay. It needs a well drained sunny spot with assured moisture to look its best

So they'ed also grow well in Warrnambool and Portland? cheers

Not sure if Warrnambool would have enough heat to grow D. decaryii well, certainly worth a try though.

HI Miccles,

Looks like your zone pushing has gone too far, where are the bangalows, kentias, Hedyscepe and Ceroxylon? Kidding you. Well done, I wish I had the ability to import largish grade warm palms from Brisbane on a handshake deal.

You think 38S is a long way from the equator?? Try my 39.5S!!!

Cheers,

Ben

Hi Ben

What are you growing there mate?

Lee

Hi Chris: Yes - got the Macrocarpa from Palmplace. I was walking around there killing time.. waiting to collect someone from the airport. I stumbled across the Macrocarpa and when I asked one of the staff about it, he didn't know what I was talking about either. Some of the people on site there are little more than "waterers" I suspect.

Still, I saw the 2nd one for myself, as I had the choice of which one I wanted. It was similar height, more leaves, but the trunk was not quite as thick. Still a great specimen though !

I guess it depends who you manage to talk to at some of these places.

Long slow drive back to my place from the airport with that lying down on the back of the ute !

Regards

Michael.

Ive been in touch with Palmplace but they wont tell me what else they have in stock, only the common plants. What else do they sell there Michael?

Cheers

Not sure if Warrnambool would have enough heat to grow D. decaryii well, certainly worth a try though.

Thanks Tim.

Regarding importing palms from Qld, is that a daunting task or quite easy?

Well, if you don't move to Victoria, you could always get some from Tyrone... He has heaps of nice stuff all jam packed in his property there...

I know Michael got some stuff sent from Brisbane a few times, and other people from NSW have driven to QLD and get stuff from Brisbane too, so I don't think you have any QT issues there...

Regards, Ari

Palms for Brisbane send palms down to Melbourne. For palms in 200mm pots or larger, you will need to organise trucking details with Palms for Brisbane, and this is not cheap. For smaller palms they send them bare rooted through the mail, once I got about 20 palms for the $30 mail charge. Some palms however have sensitive roots and are not good candidates for bare rooting.

Palms for Brisbane send palms down to Melbourne. For palms in 200mm pots or larger, you will need to organise trucking details with Palms for Brisbane, and this is not cheap. For smaller palms they send them bare rooted through the mail, once I got about 20 palms for the $30 mail charge. Some palms however have sensitive roots and are not good candidates for bare rooting.

Unless I hired a 6 tonner and drove to Brissy!

Well, if you don't move to Victoria, you could always get some from Tyrone... He has heaps of nice stuff all jam packed in his property there...

I know Michael got some stuff sent from Brisbane a few times, and other people from NSW have driven to QLD and get stuff from Brisbane too, so I don't think you have any QT issues there...

Regards, Ari

Hi Ari,

Well we'll see if a door opens to move. I'd love to try Trithrinax (where can I get one from?), Kentia, and some of the other Butia's as well as the more rarer Trachies like wagnerianus.

Thanks for sharing Michael. That ring with the Parajubaea is gonna look sweet!

Thanks MattyB - here's an updated photo. The Parajuaea has thrown its first pinnate leaf...woohoo !

And here's a recent arrival. My Mule palm arrived in October last year and was a little yellow. Putting it into the ground with some manure and Seasol has certainly helped. I hope these are as fast as people are saying. It should love our climate here. Was totally untroubled by the recent scorching heat.

Looking good Michael. Your Butyagrus and Para should just take off. Talk about indestructable palms.

Best regards

Tyrone

Just wondering how this garden is going now??? Whats survived and what is thriving??