Royal palm in Phoenix AZ

[Xerarch]

Someone told me that there was a Royal palm at the Arizona state capitol. Not that I didn't believe it but I had to see it for myself. I can't believe that it is in such good shape and is so large in this climate. Here are some pics

[Xerarch]

Another pic

[nachocarl]

Another pic

Is it actually at the capitol building complex? Where is it in Phoenix? I'm here for spring training and business next week and would like to see it. There are some huge, fat W. filifera's here at the hotel, simply amazing.

[Xerarch]

It is on the south side of the complex, there are a number of other interesting palms there as well that are not common in Phoenix. There is a descent triangle palm and a few others. The capitol is just east of 19th ave and in between Jefferson and Adams.

[DoomsDave]

XERACH!

First, welcome to our band!

Second, after only thirteen posts you've made me SWOON!

Does that Royal set seeds?

Pant pant pant pant pant . . . . .

Etc

[Xerarch]

XERACH!

First, welcome to our band!

Second, after only thirteen posts you've made me SWOON!

Does that Royal set seeds?

Pant pant pant pant pant . . . . .

Etc

That's a good question, I didn't see any but if it does, I need to collect some

[DoomsDave]

XERACH!

First, welcome to our band!

Second, after only thirteen posts you've made me SWOON!

Does that Royal set seeds?

Pant pant pant pant pant . . . . .

Etc

That's a good question, I didn't see any but if it does, I need to collect some

You certainly do!

LOLOL!

[sonoranfans]

The heat here is not the problem with royals, its the cold, and lack of water. Inside the 101 loop it rarely gets below 30F, so that royal has no cold problems. It looks underwatered though, very common in public plantings here as the drip irragation fails or is underdone. I have seen a royal at a local nursery that looks pretty good, and its seen 20F, abeit briefly. I have 2 roystonea borinquenas that I bought as bareroots, they are now about 5-6 ft and doing fine. If you want to see some massive washie filiferas go to the phoenix zoo, especially on the path to the childrens petting zoo. Some of those washies have up to 3' thick trunks, 50ft tall or so and 20'+ of beard/skirt. You really cant take a pic as they are planted fairly densely. When I walk through them, its like being in natures church, I am awestruck by their massive presence as I look up into the crowns.

[iamjv]

Wow impressive Royal indeed!!! Good pics as well....

The washies at the zoo sound fabulous, wish there was a way to capture that scene you described Tom....

Jv

[Paul The Palm Doctor!]

That AZ State Capitol Royal seems mature enough to begin setting seed although mine is 18 y.o, is in a climate that they love and is monstrous in girth...and it still hasn't set any seed. It should have by now ( but hasn't.) I will gather them when they're FINALLY available and take the seedlings to Panama as they do great there!

I'm wondering if Royals set seed faster and have more viable seeds when the temperatures are very hot in summer? Sounds plausible!

Paul

[Xerarch]

The heat here is not the problem with royals, its the cold, and lack of water. Inside the 101 loop it rarely gets below 30F, so that royal has no cold problems. It looks underwatered though, very common in public plantings here as the drip irragation fails or is underdone. I have seen a royal at a local nursery that looks pretty good, and its seen 20F, abeit briefly. I have 2 roystonea borinquenas that I bought as bareroots, they are now about 5-6 ft and doing fine. If you want to see some massive washie filiferas go to the phoenix zoo, especially on the path to the childrens petting zoo. Some of those washies have up to 3' thick trunks, 50ft tall or so and 20'+ of beard/skirt. You really cant take a pic as they are planted fairly densely. When I walk through them, its like being in natures church, I am awestruck by their massive presence as I look up into the crowns.

I agree about the Washies at the zoo, in fact, I have considered going back just to get some pictures. Even if I don't get pics of the ones inside, the mass groups around the pond at the entrance is quite impressive for a W. filifera lover like myself.

[iamjv]

Xerarch, hope you do manage to get some shots of the filifera's. Would love to see them as well being a huge filifera fan. Jv

[sonoranfans]

Xerarch, hope you do manage to get some shots of the filifera's. Would love to see them as well being a huge filifera fan. Jv

I can mail you a waterline shot with 40+ footers that have beards to the ground if you give me an email address. I currently have having problems downsizing on my computer because of software conflicts, but you can post them if you like.

[iamjv]

Tom, will gladly size and post.... sent you a PM. Jv

[SubTropicRay]

That's quite an unusual sight. Then again, it's no more unusual than Florida being inundated with Phoenix dactylifera. It all makes sense, Royal palms in the desert and palms preferring arid regions in humid Florida

[sonoranfans]

That's quite an unusual sight. Then again, it's no more unusual than Florida being inundated with Phoenix dactylifera. It all makes sense, Royal palms in the desert and palms preferring arid regions in humid Florida

.

There are tons of queens here Ray, and many look terrible, dried out. Royals seems to take the hot and dry better than queens, but the are not nearly as cold tolerant. If you look at the pic, the queen next to the royal is doing much worse. At the center of the heat island, inside the 101, there are a few growers that have some nice looking royals, I've seen the pics on gardenweb, but they dont post here. You can always add the water for a royal, and they can take the dry wind and heat. Now a real moisture loving palm like a king, or dypsis thats another matter.

[chris78]

One of the largest royals in the Phoenix area is not the one in downtown...but in NW Phoenix...its in the open and is as high as the washington's in the area.... I will take a better picture soon and post..this poor photo was taken with my cell phone last year.....the palm is around Olive and 43 aves..

Sorry photo to big to upload.... will have to resizes it...

Edited March 15, 2009 by chris78

[iamjv]

Here are Tom's pics of the washingtonia and phoenix palms previously mentioned.... wonderful tropical scene! Throw in a few royals and it could easily be mis-took for somewhere in Florida. JV

[Xerarch]

One of the largest royals in the Phoenix area is not the one in downtown...but in NW Phoenix...its in the open and is as high as the washington's in the area.... I will take a better picture soon and post..this poor photo was taken with my cell phone last year.....the palm is around Olive and 43 aves..

Sorry photo to big to upload.... will have to resizes it...

I would love to pass by and see it, I drive around the west valley a lot for work so it will be easy for me to go take a look. Do you have any more specifics about the location?..... Come to think of it, I may have seen one over there before, it was in someones yard, south of Olive. Maybe the same one you're talking about? Very impressive if I remember correctly.

[chris78]

Yes Xerarch thats where its at... south of Olive on 43 ave..if traveling south its on the left hand side... it is quite tall and can be seen from 43 ave....it took the freeze of two years ago, got damage but came back fine.... its in someone yard but does not looked well care for, but it still a nice tree.....

There is another one off of thunderbird rd and 67 ave... not as tall but still a nice tree..

Edited March 15, 2009 by chris78

[Rod]

I was visiting Tom Blank this past weekend. He's got to post a picture of his back yard. After entering the house and to the back of the house, there is a full wall of glass with a full view of his back yard. What an impressive view. Now note, he did this BEFORE he found out that there were other palms to plant other than queens. Talk about a serene setting, it was like some tropical location ( I did notice a hammock on the patio!). Very impressive. Alas, I didn't have my camera with me. Maybe we can twist his arm and have him post some photos.

rod

p.s. Tom is a very gracious host. I had a terrific time. What a terrific addition to our palm family!! Hopefully he'll stay around for a very long time!

[Palmy]

Thats crazy! I thought royals are just slightly more tolerable of cold than Coconuts! How does it survive in 110+ heat every day in the summer?

[Phil]

Ammon,

Thanks for the photo. It's always great to see what people are growing in Phoenix. And, I'm often surprised at how much is being grown there. The Royal looks great.

Phil

[iamjv]

Rod thanks for the info on Tom's place.... look forward to some pics. I am always astonished at the gardens you can find in your 'non-tropical' locations. Jv

[aztropic]

Here's a pic taken today of some royals that I have grown from seed. 6 years old and totally Arizona grown.Most winters,the older leaves do freeze a bit but then they grow like gangbusters over the summer with our extreme heat.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[iamjv]

Aztropic, they look like they faired well this winter.... good growth for 6 yrs. Jv

[sonoranfans]

This roystonea borinquena spent last summer and the winter in the ground, its starting to open a new frond right now. This one(of two I have in the ground) was grown from a bare root strap leafed seedling around 2' tall, currently its 6' in overall height. The borinquenas are reputed to be more tolerant of alkaline soil than the regias, which was why I chose them. Apparently they grow best in the limestone cliff areas in puerto rico. I have 2 shade trees that are forming a canopy over this palm so it should not see the cold temps of a royal in the open.

Edited March 22, 2009 by sonoranfans

[sonoranfans]

This roystonea borinquena spent last summer and the winter in the ground, its starting to open a new frond right now. This one(of two I have in the ground) was grown from a bare root strap leafed seedling around 2' tall, currently its 6' in overall height. The borinquenas are reputed to be more tolerant of alkaline soil than the regias, which was why I chose them. Apparently they grow best in the limestone cliff areas in puerto rico. I have 2 shade trees that are forming a canopy over this palm so it should not see the cold temps of a royal in the open.

Here are the same borinquena seedlings in august 07, about 5-6 months after I received them.

Edited March 22, 2009 by sonoranfans

[aztropic]

Here's my other set of Royals growing in Arizona.They are definately a contender when trying to plant something a little different in the Phoenix area that will still survive our extremes in temp,and not look too bad while doing it.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic]

Nice fat base on this one.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

Edited March 22, 2009 by aztropic

[chris78]

Here are some photos of the north Phoenix royal.... It is around 43 ave south of Olive.... Don't know much about it... but is one of the largest royals in the Phoenix area and its in the open.....

[Xerarch]

This roystonea borinquena spent last summer and the winter in the ground, its starting to open a new frond right now. This one(of two I have in the ground) was grown from a bare root strap leafed seedling around 2' tall, currently its 6' in overall height. The borinquenas are reputed to be more tolerant of alkaline soil than the regias, which was why I chose them. Apparently they grow best in the limestone cliff areas in puerto rico. I have 2 shade trees that are forming a canopy over this palm so it should not see the cold temps of a royal in the open.

Sonoranfans,

Do you have any information on differences in cold tolerance between regia and borinquena? If borinquena does well in soils here and is equally as cold tolerant I would like to plant some. Do you know where I could aquire some borinquenas around here? Thanks

[sonoranfans]

This roystonea borinquena spent last summer and the winter in the ground, its starting to open a new frond right now. This one(of two I have in the ground) was grown from a bare root strap leafed seedling around 2' tall, currently its 6' in overall height. The borinquenas are reputed to be more tolerant of alkaline soil than the regias, which was why I chose them. Apparently they grow best in the limestone cliff areas in puerto rico. I have 2 shade trees that are forming a canopy over this palm so it should not see the cold temps of a royal in the open.

Sonoranfans,

Do you have any information on differences in cold tolerance between regia and borinquena? If borinquena does well in soils here and is equally as cold tolerant I would like to plant some. Do you know where I could aquire some borinquenas around here? Thanks

If they are equally cold tolerant, I would expect the borinquenas to do better here just because they are well adapted for the alkaline soil. The info on cold tolerance is sparse, most claims are "about equal", while some growers claim the borinquenas are better.

Phil Bergman opins that borinquenas have a "bit more cold tolerance" which is good enough for me.

http://www.junglemusic.net/palmadvice/palms-coldhardy3.htm

I dont expect much of a difference, excect that well adapted palms are stronger and will tolerate the cold better. I dont know where to buy them here(or regias for that matter), I bought mine off Ebay from a socal grower. Wnen the are young strap leaf palms the borinquenas have a purplish stem, which is why they are called purple royals by some.

Edited March 30, 2009 by sonoranfans