Splurging on Palm Purchase

[Tyrone]

Man, some of you guys spend big. $1300, $2000, $10000. Whoooaaaaa.

Us Aussies do not spend that sort of money. I wish we did, because I could start growing up my stuff and sell it all off for a kings ransom.

The most I've ever spent on a palm was $190AUD for a 5m high trunking Hyophorbe verschafeltia, which was a steal. It was worth $500-$1000 if you could find one that size over here, and if you could find a buyer. Noone would pay $2000 for a Dypsis OCWS over here, no matter how rare it is.

Incidentally I have a palm here that I bought as D canaliculata that looks like the Big Curly pic in post number 9 for $2.75 as a seedling. It's now as big as the pic in post 9.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Kim]

Thanks from the bottom of my heart to each and every one of you for your candid confessions. I showed this post to my husband, and now I am totally off the hook for all my paltry palm binges.

[Breadfruit Bill]

My most expensive palm ever purchased was $600... What was I thinking?

Oh yeah... that's what.

[realarch]

Bo, I'll remember your post # 18 the next time I'm at your place. JUST KIDDING!

Tim

[paulgila]

mattyb spent all his lunch money on a palm once.

[_Keith]

Wow. I have been beating myself up for spending $175 each on a couple of Mule palms. I couldn't sleep at night spending some of those sums on palms, or any other plant for that matter.

[bgl]

Tim,

No problem. I'm not going to quote you anything but very reasonable prirces! And I don't have any Cycas circinalis!

Bo-Göran

[Walter John]

My most expensive palm ever purchased was $600... What was I thinking?

Oh yeah... that's what.

Wow, they are way more expensive there after all. That's about 5 times more expensive than here, unless they threw in the footware as well, that'd be a better deal then.

[The Palm Nut]

The most I have spent on a palm is 75 dollars which was a Pseudophoenix sargentii. That was a few years ago and boy are these slow growers.

Cheers

Mike

[Palmetro]

50 dolares for this beauty!

A bottle palm! I think it was a good deal!

[BS Man about Palms]

Man, some of you guys spend big. $1300, $2000, $10000. Whoooaaaaa.

Us Aussies do not spend that sort of money. I wish we did, because I could start growing up my stuff and sell it all off for a kings ransom.

The most I've ever spent on a palm was $190AUD for a 5m high trunking Hyophorbe verschafeltia, which was a steal. It was worth $500-$1000 if you could find one that size over here, and if you could find a buyer. Noone would pay $2000 for a Dypsis OCWS over here, no matter how rare it is.

Incidentally I have a palm here that I bought as D canaliculata that looks like the Big Curly pic in post number 9 for $2.75 as a seedling. It's now as big as the pic in post 9.

Best regards

Tyrone

Tyrone, If my palms in general grew at twice the speed they do here, I'd pay half the price. I then could "experiment" more with the various seedlings that came along that are supposed to be the latest and greatest. THEN, the "for sure" cool palms that were here might seed in 15-20 years and I could get seedlings that would be cool in my lifetime. It takes longer for the "big Dypsis" to become "big Dypsis" over here, and who's to say that whatever IS here IS available anywhere else? Until they seed which is probably in the 25+ year range, assuming survival until then no one knows for sure what some of these guys will turn out to be.

Don't worry, I'm not offended and I hope you aren't by my response either. But, I love big Dypsis palms and if I COULD walk up to a vendor here and find a big 15 gal palm here (big dypsis) for 1/4 the price, I'd do it. As soon as my old home equity loan evaporates, you'll see my buying drop precipitously. Thats the other reason why I want EVERYONE to post "what they would shell out for", its all a relative thing.

Sorry for a rambling response....

Oh yes, I won't say I thought any of those were "bargains", but I would probably do it again given the chance.

[Palm Hound]

I bought a long board (surf) for 20 bucks, then sold it for 300 bucks. I then took my lump of cash to Jungle Music. My most expensive was a Parajubaea torallyi that I bought that day at only 70 bucks after phil's discount.

(Really the free majesty palm was more of a cost - imagine that water bill - then the stupid thing rotted and died on me. I just now stopped seeing my therapist (200 buck per hour))

[Alan_Tampa]

I traded a bunch of B. sambibarensis seeds (spelling?) for a whole truck load of palms, plus 400 bucks. Got some goodies that day.

A big V. splendida, Siphokentia biguini, a whole mess of goodies.

I have no idea what the individual costs would have been, but the v. spendida was 175 and it was a "good deal".

Alan

[Neofolis]

It's wierd the way we each justify spending different amounts on different things. Palms don't grow more slowly in many places than here, other than places where they die straight away. As such, it follows that availability is poor on most species and prices are extremely high even by North California standards. Surprisingly the most I have spent on a palm was one from Florida, but most of the price was delivery. It was still not a big palm, a 3g Bottle, which cost about $100 including freight. I was only able to justify that much, because it was a birthday present for my Farther-In-Law and, yes, it's now dead. The most I have spent on myself was $60, based on current exchange rates, for my Butia X Jubaea, which was a seedling with three strap leaves at the time. Despite not being willing to spend much on plants, I seem to have no problem spending a fortune on keeping them alive. The running costs for the heating and lighting in my polytunnel seem to go up every month. It is quite tempting, however, to sell off most of my collection, mostly grown cheaply from seed, and spend more on a few select, slightly larger plants of the species that I like most.

[Tyrone]

Man, some of you guys spend big. $1300, $2000, $10000. Whoooaaaaa.

Us Aussies do not spend that sort of money. I wish we did, because I could start growing up my stuff and sell it all off for a kings ransom.

The most I've ever spent on a palm was $190AUD for a 5m high trunking Hyophorbe verschafeltia, which was a steal. It was worth $500-$1000 if you could find one that size over here, and if you could find a buyer. Noone would pay $2000 for a Dypsis OCWS over here, no matter how rare it is.

Incidentally I have a palm here that I bought as D canaliculata that looks like the Big Curly pic in post number 9 for $2.75 as a seedling. It's now as big as the pic in post 9.

Best regards

Tyrone

Tyrone, If my palms in general grew at twice the speed they do here, I'd pay half the price. I then could "experiment" more with the various seedlings that came along that are supposed to be the latest and greatest. THEN, the "for sure" cool palms that were here might seed in 15-20 years and I could get seedlings that would be cool in my lifetime. It takes longer for the "big Dypsis" to become "big Dypsis" over here, and who's to say that whatever IS here IS available anywhere else? Until they seed which is probably in the 25+ year range, assuming survival until then no one knows for sure what some of these guys will turn out to be.

Don't worry, I'm not offended and I hope you aren't by my response either. But, I love big Dypsis palms and if I COULD walk up to a vendor here and find a big 15 gal palm here (big dypsis) for 1/4 the price, I'd do it. As soon as my old home equity loan evaporates, you'll see my buying drop precipitously. Thats the other reason why I want EVERYONE to post "what they would shell out for", its all a relative thing.

Sorry for a rambling response....

Oh yes, I won't say I thought any of those were "bargains", but I would probably do it again given the chance.

Bill, no offence taken, and I wasn't poking fun at you, or those that spend large money on palms. I was just astounded at the value put on these plants in the US market. The market after all determines what a commodity etc will sell for, and from a sellers point of view, you have a great market in the US. Australia is totally different. The public here thinks plants should be worth as much as a cabbage, or a tomatoe bush.

As for the fact that rare big Dypsis are hard to find, exceedingly rare, and almost extinct, so growing them is a great way to maybe perpetuate the species, I would have to totally agree with you. I would also have a hard time convincing my wife that spending $2000 on a rare Dypsis was worthwhile, but in 20 years time when the thing seeds, and Madagascar has been bulldozed, burnt, flattened and totally destroyed, the $2000 you spent on it would be the least of your concerns, and the seedlings would be worth a packet. Let's hope Madagascar never gets to that point.

Now I've rambled.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Jim in Los Altos]

I make very little money on big palms like those CIDPs at $10,000.00. My take is usually about $500.00 each after purchasing them from the nursery, getting the huge holes properly prepared, paying the crane operator, and so on and so on. The clients are so impressed though that it's all worth the trouble.

Jim, what does your planting regimen entail for a large CIDP like that? Do you dig a hole a foot deeper than the root ball and use a sandy mix for good drainage?

Do you provide your clients any guarantee on a $10,000 palm? Do they ask for one?

Mats,

First off my guys have to dig a square hole that measures 9'wide by 9' long by 6' deep. A huge planting hole. fine gravel or sand is placed at the bottom at a depth of 18''. After the palm is lowered into the hole sand is backfilled into the remaining space around the palms rootball and moistened and tamped down. I like to mound sand up to the trunk and a little higher onto the trunk if it has lots of ariel root stubs. They will root into the mound quickly and further stabilize the big palm.

There are no guarantees with these huge field dug palms. It's a risk many home owners are willing to take.

[Kris]

No Comments !

Since i do not keep track of the expenses incured due to growing & buying palms..

love,

Kris

[Mark Heath]

The most i have spent on one single palm was $400.00 on a very large Cuban Royal, which is MUCH larger now w/ 10ft of clean trunk and doing great! My wife and i look back and say "it was worth it"!

[FRITO]

$269 for a large 25 gal silver bizmarkia. (still have the sticker, lol) about a year and a half ago. thats a ton of money for me but I couldnt find them this large locally and had to have it when I did, I havnt seen any near this size for sale since.

.

I rather grow from seed or small liners and buy in quantity now since I have my bigger palms planted.

Edited August 7, 2008 by FRITO

[_Keith]

$269 for a large 25 gal silver bizmarkia. (still have the sticker, lol) about a year and a half ago. thats a ton of money for me but I couldnt find them this large locally and had to have it when I did, I havnt seen any near this size for sale since.

.

I rather grow from seed or small liners and buy in quantity now since I have my bigger palms planted.

"$269 for a large 25 gal silver bizmarkia" in Tally. You are a brave one indeed.

[PalmGuyWC]

The most I ever spent was $2500 when I first moved to Walnut Creek in 1973 and was planting my palm garden. It was a package deal from an older gentleman who had cancer, and he knew he wasn't long on this earth. He made an offer I couldn't refuse, and I think he was really just looking for a nice home for the palms he had been growing for years. Oddly, the palms were Chamaerops, but they were very old single trunked specimens growing in huge boxes. They had several feet of woody trunk and were probably well over 50 years old when I purchased them. I was looking for single trunked, fool proof palms to plant near, and on the north side of my house and the Chamaerops fit the bill perfectly. 35 years later the palms look great and some are above my roof, and they created just the effect I was looking for.

Along with the palms were some speciman Japanese maples and his entire cactus collection including some huge golden barrels which I enjoyed for many years, but were wiped out in the 89/90 freeze. One of the golden barrels survived the freeze and now has many multiple heads, and should be divided, but I don't think I want to tangle with it.

I have found over the years that a nice 5 gal palm planted will outgrow a much larger palm if one is patient. At that size they are ready to grow many new roots and they establish better than a much larger palm.

I've also spent big bucks on various Rhapis over the years, but I haven't kept track for what I paid for them. I remember I paid $450 for one of them, but I lost the label and don't even know what it is.

Dick

[DoomsDave]

50 dolares for this beauty!

A bottle palm! I think it was a good deal!

Here in the Land O'La La it's a FABULOUS deal, for one that size!

[_Keith]

The most I ever spent was $2500 when I first moved to Walnut Creek in 1973 and was planting my palm garden. It was a package deal from an older gentleman who had cancer, and he knew he wasn't long on this earth. He made an offer I couldn't refuse, and I think he was really just looking for a nice home for the palms he had been growing for years. Oddly, the palms were Chamaerops, but they were very old single trunked specimens growing in huge boxes. They had several feet of woody trunk and were probably well over 50 years old when I purchased them. I was looking for single trunked, fool proof palms to plant near, and on the north side of my house and the Chamaerops fit the bill perfectly. 35 years later the palms look great and some are above my roof, and they created just the effect I was looking for.

Along with the palms were some speciman Japanese maples and his entire cactus collection including some huge golden barrels which I enjoyed for many years, but were wiped out in the 89/90 freeze. One of the golden barrels survived the freeze and now has many multiple heads, and should be divided, but I don't think I want to tangle with it.

I have found over the years that a nice 5 gal palm planted will outgrow a much larger palm if one is patient. At that size they are ready to grow many new roots and they establish better than a much larger palm.

I've also spent big bucks on various Rhapis over the years, but I haven't kept track for what I paid for them. I remember I paid $450 for one of them, but I lost the label and don't even know what it is.

Dick

I love plants with a story.

[_Keith]

50 dolares for this beauty!

A bottle palm! I think it was a good deal!

Here in the Land O'La La it's a FABULOUS deal, for one that size!

Dave, that is a good deal anywhere, not just in La La Land.

[kakariki]

Jim, That was the most expensive tree of the lot. Of course, which one dies, the most expensive one. I actually only paid $2,500.00 for the tree. The rest was digging, cranes, permits, freight, etc. I found a lot of smaller Jubaeas at higher prices, too. In the end I feel bad for the tree, but I don't regret the purchase.

[Phil]

From a nurseryman's point of view, what is charged for a plant is an intersting thing. This thread is about the "most expensive palm you've ever bought". I thought I'd approach it from another viewpoint; the nurseryman and talk about the philosophy of pricing palms. Believe it or not, the most expensive palm you can buy at Jungle Music is a really old and large Howea forsteriana. This is because it's taken about 12 years or more to produce a 14 foot sun grown plant. Big boxed Rhopalostylis are a real slow product to produce as well. It doesn't make a lot of sense that you can get a really rare palm for 20% of this or less than what you'd pay for a huge Howea, but that's the way it is. And, interestingly enough, many of our older rare palms may indeed be about the same age. But, they haven't developed the size yet. At our nursery I think the best buys are typically our 5g size. Many of these are oversized and ready for 15g. If one just looks around, you can find the biggest 5 gallons. 5g and 15g are the most popular sizes purchased. We always charge for palms by the container size and stick to that and publish our prices on the net and in our pricebooks. We don't "upcharge" because a particular plant in any size is bigger. I feel this gives the customer a chance to find the best deal and customers like that. Customers tend to like plastic containers as opposed to wooden boxes. If there's the same sized plant in plastic and a box, a customer will take the plastic pot 90% of the time. Therefore we're using more 25 and 30g plastic pots rather than wood.

The least profitable palm for us to sell is the "band size". Sometimes our bands are 4 or 5 years old and we've just not gotten around to repotting them. Thus, sometimes these can be good buys and often 2g size or larger but still in the band at their price. Consumers forget that it's the most trouble to produce band sized plants. It takes correspondence and buying seeds, germination, repotting little seedlings and typically 2 to 3 years just to get a sellable product. And, a grower suffers losses at this size. Because of this, we tend to put a bit of premium on rare band sized plants, but it is the least expensive starting point. As our bands are not pampered at all, they tend to produce nice 5 gallons in 12 to 18 months. Because I've seen local competition put such a price premium on 15g and larger plants, we are trying to produce a large volume of this size and at a more competitive price. This includes fairly rare species from New Caledonia and Madagascar. In gemeral, the profit margin for a nurseryman is larger on the bigger plants.

Also, if we get something really "hot" and currently highly sought after, I tend to price it as if it's just another palm. This is because I've seen so many species come and go as the "hot item". I can't honestly put too much of a premium on such a thing just because people are demanding it today; tomorrow things will change and the "plant to get" will change. This is particularly true with the "super" this and "speckled" that Dypsis. Also, if a plant gets a special name like "Madagascar Rocket" or "Purple Striped Dypsis" (fictitious names to make a point), watch out because someone's going to jack the price. I just can't honestly get into that. In time, all hobbyists are going to have some colored striping and a lot of speckles no matter what they buy with Dypsis.

One will often find cheaper plants from a back yard grower than from a specialty nursery. Remember that such growers typically don't pay income tax on sales (pocket the money), don't obtain permits, don't have Ag checks, don't fill out compliance reports, don't pay payroll taxes & workman's compensatiion insurance, spray chemicals as they wish and without controls, and many times don't charge sales tax, etc. So, that means less overhead. Another thing is that a good nursery compensates its employees well. They have to make a living as well. Getting top notch staff to help a customer when he purchases material is not inexpensive at all. And this includes people that study palms and can guide one with their purchases with good advice. They are definitely professionals in the field. With these restrictions, one can see that there's a lot to keeping a specialty nursery profitable so it can survive.

One final point. A unaware consumer might think that nursery owners are "getting rich". I can almost guarantee you that this is not the case and that almost every grower would probably make more money doing almost anything else. This is probably the reason that so many nuseries fold and vanish. Or, a they must have alternative income just to survive. Most nurserymen do it because they love it and not because they make much money. And, they inherit for life a labor intense, hard working job. Ask any palm grower on this list and he will probably agree. I haven't had a free Saturday for decades. Sometimes I envy the fellow who has off every weekend and comes by to buy palms. Just sometimes.

Phil

[mjff]

Jim, That was the most expensive tree of the lot. Of course, which one dies, the most expensive one. I actually only paid $2,500.00 for the tree. The rest was digging, cranes, permits, freight, etc. I found a lot of smaller Jubaeas at higher prices, too. In the end I feel bad for the tree, but I don't regret the purchase.

Man, I can't believe getting a mature Jubea for $2500.00. America has everything. The palms in this photo cost us about $3800 of your dollars each, in the ground. This was taken after they were re-planted, also for a client as yours were. What did yours die of? Just shock or was it injured? Though it can be hard to know for sure.

The tree died when a spot on the trunk rotted and the head fell over. The bruise that started everything was probably caused by the blocks that supported the trunk during transport.

[elHoagie]

I just bought a Jubaea from Gary Levine for $275. A few years ago, before I knew what I was doing, I purchased a large Bismarckia in a 25 gallon pot for about the same price (I can't remember the exact amount). Those two are by far the most expensive plants I've ever purchased. Most of what I have was purchased as a small plant for about $10-20. Like Wal said, most of the time I'd rather have 15 small plants than one big one. The only exceptions are super slow palms, like Jubaeas and Pseudophoenixs...

[kakariki]

Jim, That was the most expensive tree of the lot. Of course, which one dies, the most expensive one. I actually only paid $2,500.00 for the tree. The rest was digging, cranes, permits, freight, etc. I found a lot of smaller Jubaeas at higher prices, too. In the end I feel bad for the tree, but I don't regret the purchase.

Man, I can't believe getting a mature Jubea for $2500.00. America has everything. The palms in this photo cost us about $3800 of your dollars each, in the ground. This was taken after they were re-planted, also for a client as yours were. What did yours die of? Just shock or was it injured? Though it can be hard to know for sure.

The tree died when a spot on the trunk rotted and the head fell over. The bruise that started everything was probably caused by the blocks that supported the trunk during transport.

thanks for the info, I appreciate you being straight about it. If I ever move a big Jubea (and there are only about 15 total in NZ, including twelve protected trees), I'll watch that. Unbelievably gut-wrenching to see one die like that. I guess you don't always know a species' weak points until you start shifting them.

[kakariki]

replying to Phil Bergman's post -

What a great little look at the inside of running your business which is known even over here as a producer of quality and economic palms.

[mjff]

Brent,

The tree is actually mine. I hired some tree movers to move it from California to Texas for me. We moved 6 like this, but on the others the blocks were placed under the fattest parts of the trunk thus spreading the load over a larger area. If I do it again, I will insist that they place a padded 2x12 supported by blocks every few feet to support the length of the trunk and spread the load over a much larger area to minimize the risk of the trunk getting bruised.

[BS Man about Palms]

And, interestingly enough, many of our older rare palms may indeed be about the same age. But, they haven't developed the size yet. At our nursery I think the best buys are typically our 5g size. Many of these are oversized and ready for 15g. If one just looks around, you can find the biggest 5 gallons. 5g and 15g are the most popular sizes purchased. We always charge for palms by the container size and stick to that and publish our prices on the net and in our pricebooks. We don't "upcharge" because a particular plant in any size is bigger. I feel this gives the customer a chance to find the best deal and customers like that.

Phil

Phil, Thats for putting those insights in print so people could understand. As we have talked about before, you have ALOT of regular customers that appreciate your adherance to the above policy. "Mystery pricing" isn't fun.

Bill

[Shon]

I would like to thank you and Jesse also. There is nothing worse than searching and coming up with an overgrown 3 gal and getting told I have to charge you for 5 gal. Many nurseries have lost my business. I bring a big one up to you guys and you say " That's a nice one" and charge for the pot it is in not the size of the palm. Thank you for being consistent.

[Moose]

My most expensive palm came in a trash can. My bigger OCWS. It was $2,000., and the first one I bought at $1,300 seems to be doing great, so since I found another for sale, I bought it. (My luck it will just turn out to be Prestoniana)

Bill - this is one that made it into the ground?

Should be seeing lots of Palm Talk members at the below link.

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/43247-the-16th-annual-fall-searle-brothers-plant-extravaganza-%E2%97%8F%E2%97%8F%E2%97%8F-october-3rd-4th-5th-10th-11th-12th-2014-%E2%97%8F%E2%97%8F-s-florida/#entry666238

[sashaeffer]

$115.00 for a 2ft variegated Pelagodoxa Henryana

[humangenomaproject]

$100 for a five year old Joey Perakensis from Jeff Anderson (thanks Jeff!). No regrets there but definitely at my limit for what I'd pay.

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

With regards to Phils comments as to how he prices palms verses age and rarity seems reasonable.

I have been considered retiring and moving away from my house with several older sun grown rare palms.

Someone once asked specifically about my almost 20 year old ... 5 ft of bare trunk dyspsis decipiens.

Would I sell it or would I leave it if I sold my house.?

Knowing all too well the future owner might just take a chainsaw to it.

I'd take a chance and leave it ....... unless someone offered my some crazy price before I put the house up on the market.

So.... how much value in a full sun, trunking, fast growing 20 year old dyppy?

The first $10,000 might make me part with it.....

But as of now, I have no plans on moving in the near future.

[Palmdude]

My biggest splurges were a $200 K.Oliviformus and $165 for a C. Baileyana. My usual limit is around $40 but I'd been wanting a Bailey (actually I wanted a Fallaence but don't have the $500 to spend so the Bailey was the next best thing, with all of the promiscuity in the genus maybe I have some Fallaence genes in there somewhere)

I'm happy I bought them even though there was a certain amount of guilt involved in both purchases.

[Capnrey]

$500 for this D. Lanceolata and I'm a bit disappointed. I planted it in mid-march, right before the pool remodel was finished. The guy I bought it from threw in 2 1-gals for free that I ended up planting on either side of the main one. After the heat wave in May, the leaves did some frazzling *the main plant*, and one of the stocks broke from some sort of rot. So this $500 palm happens to be one of my bigger challenges in my collection.

All of the canes are pushing new leaves now, and I really hope this group does better next year. I put it in the corner of the yard because I want a multiple canes of something 'tropical' looking, and something that didn't grow past 15' or so because of the telephone pole and wires above. There's a P. Elegans and a Ravenea Glauca in the same corner but closer to the pool - those were purchased from Phil @ JM. Both of those are doing pretty well. Slow, but growing.

It is just the first season- so I guess I shouldn't be complaining - except that I'm really bummed about the cane break.

[Palmdude]

It all looks great to me! Looks like a little paradise you made there for yourself

Is $500 a normal price for such a thing? It seems that stuff in Cali is a lot more expensive than here in Florida but who knows I never tried to buy a Lanceolata that size